QQ. What are some of your most recent projects?
A. I am in the movies Kinsey and Christmas With the Kranks; both of them came out in November. Kinsey is the Liam Neeson movie about the sex doctor and Christmas With the Kranks is with Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis. I also did an indie, which is called Heart of the Beholder. I don't know when that one is coming out and I just did a pilot for Comedy Central, which if it get picks up, should come on after "The Daily Show" some time next year.
Q. Please tell us a little bit about your character Emily in the movie Kinsey.
A. I am part of a couple, this sort of a young farm couple, that goes to see Dr. Kinsey and (I haven't seen it yet, but from what I can tell from the script), but I was probably a virgin until I got married to this guy. We're newlyweds and things aren't going very well. I have all these misconceptions about sex and I think that Emily and her husband are full of so many wrong facts that we're the final couple that makes Dr. Kinsey realize that America needs to be better informed.
Q. Please tell us a bit about your character in Christmas With the Kranks.
A. I play a character named Daisy. I play a very very tan owner of a tanning salon that Tim Allen goes to when he is trying to get ready for their cruise. He brings Jamie Lee Curtis to try and talk her into going into the tanning bed. I'm super tan, like spray painted tan. I have weird raccoon eyes from the goggles and weird tan lines. I'm kind of really friendly to him and not as friendly to her, but it is a very funny part. I love my part!
Q. For your role, did you have to get a spray on tan or did they use makeup?
A. I've never done an old school screen test before, but we had to do two or three screen tests before I started shooting. I had to do like four days of self-tanner at home. I'm not very tan naturally so it was pretty crazy. It was four days of me putting on this self-tanner. My friend had to put it on for me. It was a three-step thing and I was hanging out with all the blinds shut in my house. I was hanging out in my living room because it was this weird tan stuff that sort of stains your skin. I had to stand up for an hour with all that stuff on me and wait for it to dry. You sleep in it and then you wash it off. It was a whole huge process and then I would get there and it was just my base tan! They would air brush me and then apply extra white areas for weird tan lines. It was crazy and really funny! I had to get long hooker fingernails, the acrylic ones with the diamonds on them. It was fun because it was just not how I normally look. I ruined a lot of towels trying to get the tanner off and I did ruin one set of sheets. You can only hang out standing with tanner on for so long before it is time to go to bed. It was like a science experiment, but I was the guinea pig.
Q. What was it about the film Kinsey that made you want to take part in it?
A. I usually do comic stuff. The movie was written and directed by Bill Condon who did Gods and Monsters and wrote Chicago, which was pretty exciting. I really loved Chicago and to get to work with him was very cool. Even within a sort of serious movie I have sort of a funny scene. It was very cool to get to work with Bill Condon and with Liam Neeson, just to see that it doesn't have to be the sitcom stuff from when you do comedy that you can do something straight and have it be funny.
Q. You guest starred on the show "Friends." What was it like being on such an incredible show?
A. It was cool! It was interesting! It was a show that I had watched a lot so it was exciting to all of a sudden be in the "Friends" apartment. I had watched it and it was very surreal to be on a set of a show that I had watched a lot. I called my brother and I was like I accidentally (during one of the rehearsals) knocked her in the head. I moved before she moved her head out and I called my brother from the trailer and was like, "Oh my God! I almost hit America's sweetheart in the head!" Everyone was very tight and it was very exciting. By the time I had done it, I think it was the seventh season, or the eighth season that they were so good at what they did that you just hope that you don't mess up. They didn't need to rehearse that much because they are so good and you are just praying that you can hold up your end of the bargain.
Q. You have gotten to work with so many amazing actors like Helen Hunt, Fred Savage and Liam Neeson. Who would you most like to work with in the future?
A. That's a good question! I would love to do a Wes Anderson movie. I loved Rushmore and Bottle Rocket. I'd love to work with Bill Murray who is hilarious. I had a little part in Deconstructing Harry, but I would love to work with Woody Allen again. I think Wes Anderson would be number one. I think Alexander Payne who did Election would also be cool to work with. As far as actors, I love Jennifer Coolidge because I think she is hilarious. I like Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo; I think he's a really interesting actor. I would also like to work with Spike Jones.
Q. What has been your favorite project to work on so far and why?
A. I had the best time doing this one series on the WB that I don't know if anyone knew it existed! It premiered the night that the war started so everyone was watching the Shock and Awe coverage. It was a show called "On the Spot" and it was an improv show. We'd have like Jack Black come on and Cheri Oteri, Andy Dick and Andy Richter. I played the singing maid named Caramel and Dweezil Zappa was our band. It was a sitcom that was half scripted and half improvised. It was completely out of hand, just filming it was so much fun. Mike Hitchcock who was in all the Waiting For Guffman movies played this crazy magician and Mindy Sterling from Austin Powers was there. It was insane! It was the most fun job that no one ever saw.
Q. You recently guest starred on an episode of "Reno 911." What was your experience like on the set?
A. They were so nice! I was intimidated! I was Ms. Nude Reno. That was around the same time that I got the tan part. It was really fun and it really is all improvised. They just sort of give you a vague idea of what the scene is and then they just shoot it a couple of times. People were so welcoming and nice. Thomas Lennon's shorts are so hilarious! I would love to do that show again.
Q. What inspired you to get into acting?
A. I always knew this is what I wanted to do. I was really inspired as a little kid. They would always show old MGM musicals on TV and when I pictured acting I sort of pictured like a 1940's hatcheck girl. I remember going to see Broadway plays like "Annie" when I was little and "42nd Street" and I sort of pictured this 1930's or 1940's vision of Hollywood. I always liked making people laugh. I just always knew this is what I wanted to do.
Q. What was your transition like from Rhode Island to Hollywood?
A. I actually lived in New York first. LA was a whole other planet! I lived in a couple different places; I lived in Chicago in college. I moved out here to be on "Working" with Fred Savage and I had no friends. I got the part from New York so I moved out here and all of my friends were in New York. It was hard in at first. It was exciting to have this great job, but I didn't know anyone. The first couple years were a little lonely, but now I love it. I have amazing friends, but it took a little while. I'd never been anywhere like it so it was a whole other planet.
Q. Do you keep in touch with people you worked with in the past?
A. I do! I just went to Fred Savage's wedding and Steve Hytner who was also on working, who was Bania on "Seinfeld" wrote a show here and we did it in New York and Chicago. I actually keep in touch with a lot of people. It's nice because you kind of gather with so many great, nice and funny people. I think that's one thing I didn't realize about LA; a lot of the people are really nice and warm. I'm sure there is a part of it that is super hip, but for the most part people are down to Earth.
Q. Do you have any advice for up and coming actors/actresses?
A. If this is what you always wanted to do, go for it! I never had a "B plan." I didn't go to grad school. I'm a huge believer in the school of internship. I was an intern for a casting director, I was an intern at Conan O'Brien and I was an intern at this improv place. I sort of feel like I learned a lot by working behind the scenes and just the people you meet, all the people I met at my internship, when I was ready they helped me out. I've actually ended up working for a lot of them since then. I also lived in Chicago for a little while. I think that's a great place to live, if you can't afford New York or LA. There are tons of great theater there and a lot of great improv. I started in New York and, if you can afford it, I personally think it is easier to start in New York because it's a smaller pool. That's just me, but some people might just want to go straight to LA. I liked starting in New York, it seemed some how more manageable. I also think you should get on stage as much as you can just to keep practicing so you are ready when your time cans. I wrote a lot of my own stuff, if you can't get cast in the school play than put on your own plays. The more you can do for yourself, it's amazing how people will want to jump in and help you and participate with you.
Q. What do you do in your spare time?
A. I draw and I have dinner parties with my friends. I hike and I like dancing, although my boyfriend hasn't learned. We're going to take dance lessons so he can learn how to dance. I wrote a show with my friend. I do improv every week, I read, go to movies a lot and make things.
Q. What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?
A. Thank you so much. Just doing this for a living has been such a dream, I just love people laugh. If I ever made anybody out there laugh, that's the greatest honor of all. I really feel like, in general, sometimes life is up and sometimes life is down, but it's important to follow your own heart. I'm just grateful for all the jobs I've had and any support that people have given. I hope that you have success in whatever dream you have too!
