Drama Queens - Work in Progress: Annaleigh Ashford

Episode Date: May 1, 2025

It's no secret that Tony Award-winning actress Annaleigh Ashford is a versatile force to be reckoned with! From her captivating performances on Broadway in 'Legally Blonde' and 'Wicked' to her current role on the small screen in the true crime drama "Happy Place," she's proven she can do it all! Act, sing, and dance, but did you know she's also good at impressions?Ever get together with a friend you're comfortable around, and you let loose and start making silly voices? That happens a lot when Annaleigh joins Sophia on the pod, and it's hilarious! Besides slipping into her 'puppet Judy Garland' character, the actress talks about her new series based on a real-life story and why it's different from other true crime drama shows, making the transition from stage to television, and why it's so easy to slip into people-pleasing mode on sets. Plus, she opens up about working alongside the late great James Earl Jones on the Broadway revival of "You Can't Take It With You" and the surprising request he made near the end of their show's run that taught her an unforgettable lesson! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hi, everyone. It's Sophia. Welcome to work in progress. Hello, Whipsmarties. Today we are joined by an actress that I absolutely adore. I think she is one of the most talented people in my generation. from Broadway to film to TV. She is an absolute legend. She earned a primetime Emmy Award nomination for her performance as Irene in the Hulu Limited series. Welcome to Chippendales.

She received her first Grammy nomination in the category, Best Musical Theater Recording of Sweeney Todd, and like I mentioned, won a Tony in 2015. She is so funny, so charming, and just so wise. And next up, she is starring

in the new series Happy Face, now streaming on Paramount Plus, it is a true crime story inspired by the true life story of Melissa G. Moore, a young woman who discovered that her beloved father was actually the prolific serial killer known as Happy Face. As an adult, she changed her name and guarded her secret, but eventually decided to start working in advocacy supporting victims who have experienced with this kind of crime. She's absolutely incredible. And today I'm going to ask Annalie all about what it's like to do this show,

what her favorite lessons are from Broadway film and or television, and what Real Housewives series is her favorite. Let's dive in with Annalie Ashford. Hi, I'm so amped that you're here and I'm also laughing because we've had the most ridiculous. I don't know how long we've been doing this 10 minutes of trying to get our audio things to work. I don't know if you folks at home are going to get any of that treat, but we've had a nice giggle. It was really good. I feel really good about how I look.

My posture right now. My posture is not a result of me trying to have good posture or me trying to be good to my spine. but it's really just because my microphone set up is bizarre. I was going to say, did you get one of those chairs that, like, you put your calves in and then it's supposed to make you sit up straight? I don't know if you can see my chair has ears. Can you see his, like, bunny ears? No, but maybe I should get one of those.

You put your calves in it. Is that a real thing? I think it's like an ergonomic thing. Is that the right word? Do you get it in the magazine that you get on when you go on the plane? Probably Sky Mall. Sky mall. That feels like something you could get on sky.

Have you seen a sky mall lately? I have not. I haven't, but honestly, I think they should bring them back. In paper, please. Yeah. That sounds like a very delightful treat when boarding an airplane. Yes. I think we deserve more air traffic controllers and more skymow.

Hallelujah. Right? Amen to both. As two people talking about our travel schedules, I'm like, just please, please keep the planes in the air. That's all I want. I've had a couple rough landings recently, and I have prayed in a way that was different. That would feel very uncomfortable. Yeah.

You're like, oh, this is what it means to strike terror into one's heart. It's happening to me. I understand that turn of phrase now. Oh, my God. It's so many ways. Oye, yoy, which is also a lot, like, people who do what we do, who, you know, play in the circus for a living and try to pretend they're not anxious all the time. What are you talking about? What are you talking about?

to feel that kind of like gripping anxiety that's worse every once in a while when that happens to me I'm like oh interesting I didn't know it could go up from 10 but now we're at a 12 and that's what a 12 feels like yeah we live in like a low level constant pulse of anxiety and then you know yeah when it gets ramped up you're like oh do I need a full Xanax right now or just a sensible propanel yeah would you like a rancel or would you just like a propanol which is the fancy name for beta blocker. Is that what that is? Yeah, propanol. It's a beta blocker. Propanol. Have you dived into beta blockers? Um, yeah. I, I had like a weird COVID thing almost two years ago, which was deeply scary and also really humbling because when I was like,

no, I'm a very healthy person and I understand that like, you know, a fourth COVID infection could probably be really bad for you, but also my job requires me to be in large theaters full of people. What do you want for me? Yeah. And then the, doctor after a few weeks was like, I don't think you're taking this as seriously as you should be. You do know that the number one horrible side effect of COVID for women between 40 and 50 is cardiac issues. And I literally, if I was like, it was like he'd smacked me like straight into gone with the wind. I was so offended and I was like, I'm barely 40. I'm 40. Oh no. And it was this very rude awakening because I was like, no, but I have, you know, that sort of like trauma

that freezes you a little bit stunted. And I think I'm perpetually 26. And are you saying I need to like go to the doctor regularly to see what's up with this? And they were kind of like, welcome to adulthood lady. And I really didn't like it. You said, where's my lorazepam? I was like, I guess I'll take all this heart medication and go sit next to Morty at the cardiac center. No, it was like, me and a bunch of old dudes all summer long. And actually they were adorable and I did have moments where my actor brain kicked in. And I was like, this would be like such a cute little series of shorts. And then I was like probably super inappropriate to ask all these people to violate their own HIPAA as well to be on camera with me.

But if I could, it would just be so cute. Yeah, and you could, I want to know their life stories already. I'm in. It was like, it was me and the old guys. You and Morty, did Morty take Lorenzo Pan? I didn't ask him what he was taking, but he walked with his little cane, like he was in a little dance routine a lot, and it really was adorable to me. Wardy sounds fantastic. He had a great sense of humor.

Is he in Shobis? You know. Shob's adjacent? I feel like probably going to, like, the nice hospital in the middle of L.A. I bet, like, most of those guys were. You had no idea, but he was the boom operator on taxi. Right. He's like, I was the one who taught Robert De Niro

How to act He would have been amazing Did you take Propanol? I mean, I like took all sorts of things I had to get like One of the worst things was They would do these like contrast MRIs That I had to do

And those I really didn't like Because at least once I did the first one I knew what was coming But like when I first, you know Got back From this stage play I was doing in London And they were basically like, well, we've got to run all the tests again here to, like, go through the proper levels of insurance and whatever. And they were like, oh, and you haven't had a contrast MRI.

We're going to give you this thing. And we're just going to push this dye. You're going to get a little bit of a warm flush. In your pelvic region? Uh-huh. I know. And I was like a warm flush. I was like, I feel like someone just dumped a pot of almost boiling water.

like up my crotch. What are you talking about a warm flush? Like this? I was like, I must be dying. And they were like, you're not dying. It'll pass in about 90 seconds. It's such a weird feeling. It's not great.

No, it's also like, why don't you just say you're going to make it? It's going to feel like you peed your pants, but you didn't. It's going to feel like you peed your pants with boiling water. Yeah, I didn't feel like it felt as boiling. I'm sorry you had that experience. I mean, I was very unwell at the time. The next time I did it like three months later to get my official, like, you're in the clear. You can get on longer flights again.

It wasn't as bad, but I also thought maybe that was just because I knew what was coming. You know, it could have been a combo platter. It could have been a little, it could have been a leftover COVID in your pelvic region. It could have just been the high inflammation I was dealing with that made like warm feel like fire. Do you know what else does that to you is magnesium pushes? Have you ever gotten a magnesium push? Wait, no, but I got an NAD one. How do you feel?

That's the one thing I haven't done. What did it feel like? Will you tell me? It felt like someone put from like tit to tit, rib cage, like in a vice and went and I was like, oh my God, oh my God. The chest compression is so crazy. But also I went down a little bit of like a nerdy rabbit hole that whole fall, like post being told I wasn't going to die because I was like, well, I.

I have to figure out how to like, not to be one of those crazy, like, guys who's changing out his blood with his kid's blood. I'm not like that nuts. Yeah. But I was like, there are, there definitely have to be advances in versions of like biohacking or cell therapy or whatever. Like the cool stuff they're doing in Switzerland. I was like, what are the things I could do here that won't bankrupt me, but that might help me, like, recover from this? And I did a lot of research on NAD and was like, yeah, I'll give this thing a try. And then I was like, oh, this is why people say if you feel like you're having a cardiac arrest, tell us and we'll slow down the drip.

And I was like, I just don't know if I'm made for this stuff, you guys. Like, I was like, now I'm 40. I don't want to touch it. But it was surreal. I've taken it orally. Okay. I've taken it orally. Just the pills, you know, like.

With the laurasopam or separately? Not at the same time. Okay. You know, sometimes if nobody was around it, take them at the same time. My lorazepan is usually like a night and before a bed situation when I'm having like bad anxiety and I can't sleep. I use it instead of like a sleeping aid. Got it. I take like a half of half.

Like I take such a low dose. And if it's, but I can tell if I'm really like really struggling. If I'm having like, I'm going to have a panic attack moment, then I'll take a full one and not pass out, which really means you needed it. Wow, because your adrenaline's really burning through it. And then, but the NAD, I didn't, I just was taking it for immune system stuff, but I've never gotten the drip. I've never gotten a push. Yeah, I did it. And it was, it was wild.

Welcome to our medical show, everyone. I know, I literally, I could talk about the gut microbiome for the next hour if you want. Oh my God, me too. I have a friend who literally became like an expert in it after a postpartum thing and like started one of like the best health companies in the world. That's amazing. It's just like, there have to be better options for moms than this. She's the coolest person I know. That's amazing.

Yeah, I ask her like all my nerdy questions about what is legit. Do I have candida? Do I have sebel? Should I take probiotics? I should get a test, right? What should I do? Yeah. She's always like, hey, just remember that anybody who's trying to sell you like 46 supplements

is trying to profit off of your checkout of 46 items. I'm like, right, right, right, right. Yeah. But also, when you go to certain health food stores, a.k.a. Airwann, sometimes in that aisle, I get, like, lost in good packaging. Yes. The packaging for me. Oh, God. I'll be like, I need this colostrum because it's in a beautiful, mossy green bottle. Okay, if you love packaging, there's a show that came out on Netflix many years ago called Abstract. Have you ever seen it? I've heard about it.

Oh, it is my favorite show. Every episode, they profile an artist or a designer, and there's an episode on typography that literally, it's like someone scratching an itch that your brain has wanted scratched for your whole life. It's so soothing and pleasurable and gorgeous to look at. That is my, that's my gift to you. Okay, I can't wait. For today. I'm excited about, I just was in D.C.

for a day and I drove past a like a cleaning of a cleaners it was just like a laundromat but the advertised like their logo was so clean gorgeous did you take a pick I almost did but I was like what am I going to do with this like go start a cleaning company like a brand of laundromats that just have really good logo but really then I had a whole thought process of sometimes we do pick a place for their logo you know because you're like that looks like a really clean lovely logo go. So the place must be clean and lovely. Yeah. Well, it's like, look how much they care about the details. I want people who care about details to that level to care about my details.

Thank you for figuring that out for me. Yeah, I understand it. I'm one of those people who can't not take the picture and who also can't not take the screenshot to the point that when I realized I'd hit over 250,000 screenshots on my phone. I was like, I sat with myself for a minute. I was like, is this a thing I should address with my therapist? I don't think so. Or is that the most insufferable question I've ever asked myself in a sort of self-inventory? You know what I think it means? You're an artist.

Thank you. Thank you for figuring that out for me. It makes sense to me. I have screenshots stuff all the time. My husband does not. And he's sort of like bewildered by why I do that. I also, you know, when you have to go somewhere and you need them for me, you have a flight. and you don't want to like open your email or open your app like 1,800 times.

Just screenshot it. Oh, yeah, I always. Right away. Oh, the boarding. Can everybody do that? Yeah. Done. I screenshot the boarding pass and then favorite it.

And it's my last thing in my favorites album. Done. So I have it one touch and then when I get on the plane, I delete it. Are your pictures organized? They really go in waves. I will be the most organized person and then also, The to-do to organize pile or cluster is also very overwhelming. Yeah, me too.

But when I do it, I do it really well. Good for you. I never do that part well. Mine's just a big mess. It's just kind of bad. Okay, so this is a thing, and I will be honest, I haven't been doing it every day. But a friend of mine started this on January 1st, and she's really good. She's doing it every day.

and she said every single day starting for New Year's search the date in your phone okay so you know today is april 15th plug in April 15th in your eye photos and it will bring up every photo from every April 15th in your entire photo album and then you can do a clean out that's a great way to clean I know and she's been doing it every single day of the year and I'm so enamored with it but I was like you know what even if I do it twice a week. It's more than I've done in the last 10 years. Oh my God, that's a great hack. Okay, I'm going to take that because that will help me.

I also, I just had a baby. I have a six-month-old, which is very fun. She's really silly and sweet. And then I have an eight-year-old. But I have become that person that somebody's like, hey, let me see the baby. And I want to see, you know, you know, your little boy Jack. And then I go, okay, hold on. I'll help me find the picture.

And I turn into, you know, like a 75-year-old woman on my phone. trying to find the picture and people waiting, you know, and just like that. Because you also want to find the best picture. Yeah, you know, I want to, I want to really show off her, her little blonde roots that are coming in because she, she was born with dark hair and she is, her hair, usually their hair falls out. And then they like have new hair that grows in. Hers did not fall out. And now she's got blonde roots. She's got like a reverse dye job. Yes, she looks like a guy who did like just for men and hasn't done his roots it's so funny so i'm always trying to find like the picture that really shows her blonde roots that feels very spiritually aligned because you are one of

the funniest people in our universe so for you to have a baby with a reverse die job that's also natural is like it's chef's kiss to me i love that it's so wacky you're like oh the universe really gave me a cookie here it's so funny and she also has no idea you know she's just like smiling and living dreams she's a baby she's living baby dreams it's really it's a look i love it yeah she's funny and now a word from our sponsors who make this show possible i hate when women get asked this question but i'm also i mean it genuinely because I'm fascinated with all the things that you have going on and especially like Broadway schedules how do you how do you do the thing and have the family well you know

eight shows a week is like no joke no it's the hardest it's like a crazy mission I always say you know when I go back into TV film land you know when we have a big day or night shoots are crazy that is a that is a unique thing but i still always say we don't have to sing like we don't have to like hit a note that everybody knows you hit or you didn't there's something like really vulnerable about being on stage period because you can't say can we try again uh but also um singing in particular is and dancing is because it's a it's also it's an athletic event you know yeah uh and i've always loved the olympics but the older i get the more i'm like really oh i also you know when uh um when a kicker goes to make the filled goal in like a really

high pressure situation and it doesn't go well i almost can't look like you know it feels like opening night or something it's like very uncomfortable that makes me so uncomfortable like adam sandler movies i love him but if i'm watching in Adam Sandler movie at home, I have to pause it and go for a walk around the house and then come back. The secondhand embarrassment feeling, which is the whole point of that kind of comedy, right, is like you're supposed to feel embarrassed by everything going wrong. Yeah. It is so physically almost painful for me. Yes, I hear you. And I thought about this a lot when I, because I hadn't done a stage play, you know, in my adult career until I went and did this show. I was telling you about

on the West End. And I had days where I was like, I feel like I've been beaten. Yeah. It's like someone beat me in my sleep from my head to my toes. I don't know what's happening. And I would think about people like you and be like, what would I have, how would I do this and be singing? Because I was just talking. And then, you know, yelling and crying and having all sorts of insane physical experiences.

But like, I didn't have to sing. They're all different. You know, I was just like being like a basketball. basketball player or baseball players have to play every day, basketball players have to play every day, you know, the same kind of thing. But you get your endurance up, you train. And then there's also, it's a marathon, it's not a sprint, you know, but and that's why your body hurts so bad. You're in this like long-term event, you know, it's just,

sometimes it just feels like it goes on. And it's such a gift, you have so much gratitude. You know, there's, it's always coupled with immense gratitude and joy. And, you know, the communion that you have with the audience every night is magic. but there's definitely an emotional hangover and physical hangover every day. You know what I mean? You wake up, you're like, oh. You know what helps me kind of understand it?

Especially because you do feel like when you get to do this and you love your job so much, you always feel like any time you voice, any truth of anything that's difficult, you're like, but I love it. Please don't think I'm complaining. I just did it. But it's like I know what that is. And I think what has comforted me weirdly, and this is so, um, of the kind of nerd I was in school is understanding like the scientific theory of how every

action has an equal and opposite reaction, like the idea of a pendulum swing. So I think if you're going to get that much joy from the art and the danger of like what's going to happen tonight and the experience like you're saying that you have with the audience, the equal and opposite reaction is like sometimes you wake up and you're like, who ran me over with a magic? truck in my sleep last night. Totally. You know, the other part of it, my husband did this play. He's done it twice now where he plays a guy who hits rock bottom and then ultimately get sober and it's about addiction. It's this great play called The White Chip and he played this really intense arc, you know, and also he spoke nonstop. He was just basically talking for 90 minutes

straight and one of our friends who's a fantastic actress named crystal dickinson she was like joe you know that you're not playing that part but your body doesn't know that you're not playing that part yeah so you know that great book the body keeps the score yes you know that's actually like a great such a beautiful book and sometimes i think it's a great book for actors to read because it's a really like healthy reminder um that you do indeed need rest because you're putting your body through this marathon not only physically but like emotionally and I'm I'm really steadfast in like we leave it at the door when we leave you know leave it leave it at your trailer when you walk you know when you walk away and I really believe in

like the separation of it like I loved I have one of the things I loved about severance when it came out was that it like helped me explain actor brain you know really and it's like kind of like severance you're like you become a different person for a little bit and then you got to be like and come back to you. You can't live in it. You can't sit in that, especially when you're playing the dark stuff.

Totally. But you're right. Your body doesn't know the difference. So if you film a scene where your partner or your sibling dies for eight hours on set one day, like it's in your body. And you've got to figure out how to get it out of your body and also not apologize for how insane it sounds to say, oh, this trauma is in my body. Totally.

certain scores too and musicals stay inside your bones in a way that you're like why do I feel so heavy like when we were doing Sunday in the park with George the score is one of the best scores that's ever been written in my opinion but it's also half of it's in minor it doesn't really resolve until the last song there's this beautiful chord that resolves and it's kind of when the piece resolves So the majority of the play, you're kind of living in this, there's a chord that's repeated over and over again, and it's a minor. So it's uncomfortable. And it's like, it sounds simple to just say it's sad, but it's like very, it's like melancholy. And then the last song of the first act and the second act, it's called Sunday.

And it's a funeral march, which is also like beautiful, but, you know, it's melancholy. Yeah. It's sad. So it stays in your bones. It stays in your guts. It really does. How do you work on processing that out? Like when you talk about the severance experience and you and your husband both, you know, do this job. So thank God someone gets your thing when you come home. But how have you kind of figured out in your personal life and your individual life how to shake all those cobwebs and cords out of your body. I disassociate. Cool. I did that for a really long time. It's really healthy. I used to sort of wear it as a badge of honor. I'd be like, nothing gets to me. And then eventually I was like, this is deeply,

emotionally unhealthy. You're like, I'm exploding. I don't know why. It's so weird that I woke up and I don't know whose life I'm living or who lives in my house with me. I don't know. why this happened um i don't i mean you know that's one way uh i a long time ago i watched this great interview that emma thompson did on larry king and she explains that um she liked the game of being able to walk on and pop right in like walk right on stage and be able to be right in Like, do enough homework that you can slip in and slip out, like, really with ease. And so really, like, the goal is to have as much homework as you can done. And also, flexibility.

Yeah. Have, for me, I find that if all the homework is there and I'm in a safe environment, then I feel comfortable being really flexible. And I can kind of slide in and out. and I make myself kind of slide in and out. So if we're doing something really dark, I kind of give the crew and everybody there like a breath to know that they can laugh, that we can joke around.

Like, let's have some light, but that does not work for everybody. So I'm like really careful making sure kind of what the other actors need. But I sometimes need that because I'm such an empath. Yeah. I can feel the crew. And I feel like what everybody else is kind of navigating. and I don't want them to, like, be in a state for five hours where they feel like they have to be, like, silent and walk on it. You know, I don't know.

There's something kind of about the energy of the whole day that feels lighter and brighter if we can all laugh. Like, we need to be reverent of whatever we're working on in the moment. But I always think back to that amazing interview that Emma Thompson did, and I just kind of want to be like her. So I kind of, I like, this is going to sound insane, but I play like a little game with myself. I'm like, okay, when can you say? slip out? Can you slip back in? Like, how can you weave in and out of character? Like, basically, can you go through the severance elevator? Um, yeah, but that doesn't always, like, make sense for everybody. So I don't, I kind of take a tip from whoever I'm working with and kind of

navigate around them as well. What do you do? Oh, that's really cool. I think I'm always kind of learning, you know? Me too. I feel like part of the goal, right, of being alive is to learn more and navigate better and like the the thing I've really been so I'm kind of meditating on and I didn't have the language for it when I turned 30 I think I discovered the language for it when I turned 40 and I realize it's been this exploration over the last 10 years um is how to hold more and more things to be true at the same time so to be able to say the set I'm on let's say we're doing a movie together. Our set is incredibly safe, and it's dangerous. Yeah. It has to be so we can be in the scene. You know, I am completely in control, and I am completely out of control in this space. I've done

all my homework so I can slip in. And also, I don't know what the fuck's going on, and I could be surprised. Like, yeah. And, and, you know, I can, in my personal world, in activism, I can hold things I know to be true to be true, i.e. what makes democracy work and what doesn't. Social science data matters. Like kids do better when they have lunch at school. Defunding school lunches is psychotic. And I have to figure out why someone who is pro defunding school lunches got that way. And I have to be able to listen to what they believe to be true so that I can then have a conversation with them rather than an argument and maybe we come to a new thing instead of we get in a fight and then they never want to change their mind you know so it's like that there's something about

that for me and so the way I think about it is like every year I want to feel like I've learned more and shifted my capability or expanded my opinion or tolerance or whatever but also it's weird because it's like, sometimes I find that the interest in so many things and wanting to take a cue from my coworkers or my crew means that I start thinking about what everybody else is doing and what everybody else needs and making sure everybody else has everything that is going to make their day go great

and then I realize I haven't done anything for myself. Yeah. And so it's like, I don't know, it's a bit like being in like the spin cycle, but I think if I can stay aware of it at least, I can sort of stay on top of the water. Totally. You know, as you were saying all of that, the first thing I thought of was my husband says two things can be true at the same time all the time. And it's actually like it's a great way to argue with somebody.

Yeah. It's a great way to resolve. It's a great way to reset. And it's also a great way to have common ground and also keep a conversation going. And then the other thing that you just said, as you were. talking, I had a realization that my whole explanation was about people-pleasing and just making everybody else feel good. But it's hard enough, too.

Yeah, you know, sometimes the one thing about what we do for a living, which is super fun and all the things, but it is also navigating personalities constant. It's a really social profession, and sometimes it's just easier when everybody's happy. or it's easier when everybody is having a better day. It's easier when the vibe is good. I would say that that's true for anybody's job. Yeah. And sometimes I think, unfortunately,

when you should be able to just invest in the scene and be completely focused on that, sometimes you can't. You have to also be wearing other hats. And sometimes I think that that makes. my job easier to make everybody else happy, but really now that I'm listening to myself, I'm like, I'm just people placing and making people. Well, but I think it's both.

You think it can be true at the same time. Yeah. They sure can. I think the thing about it is my natural instinct is to make sure everybody else is good first. I'm trying to learn to also make sure I'm good in that first pass. Yeah. and I think there's something interesting too, right?

Like, the longer you do this job, the more gratitude you have for the, you know, relative success you have, then it's like, if a new kid comes on set and isn't checking on every department head, nobody expects them to. They're like, do you even know what a department head is? Yeah. But when you've been doing this as long as we have, if you don't, it's kind of like, well, I'm a actor with an attitude. And you're like, no, I'm just, I have to deliver like a two.

page monologue today and I'm running my lines in my head. I'm so sorry. I'm not actually not thinking about what you need. I just don't want to waste your time. Yes. So again, it's spin cycle stuff. And I think a lot about when I thought about it a lot, getting ready for today, because you have such an amazing career from like Broadway to film to TV. You know, it's crazy to think that you wanted Tony in 2015, like, talk about the spin cycle of you've got so many irons in the fire. When you look back at sort of all these spaces you've worked in and different environments, like, is there a mentor who stands out to you? Is there a kind of advice, you know, whether it's how to stay focused as an actor or, I don't know, how to like not lose your mind

on location? Like, what are the standouts for you when you kind of look back and you realize what your biggest sort of inspirations or maybe nuggets of wisdom are for the next chapter? Well, that was really nice of you to talk about my career that way. Also, I like to say it in the mic like this. Amazing. You've had the really amazing career. Congratulations. I'm just, hey, I'm just really happy that I've gotten to work. You know, I always love when people are like, so how did you choose this role? I'm always like, no. Is that a, like, you know, we answer that question a lot too, like we chose it. Most of the time actors don't choose what they're doing. Most of the time, we really, that's like the, that would be the dream. You know,

well, that is the dream. Some people do. And I think you, yes, you do choose the things you get to work on because you say yes or no, but the majority of your career is you seeking out work. and also I just think it's so rare that we get to go yes I will bless you with my blessings you know it's usually like a collab it's a collaborative art form so I think it comes together as collaboration as well too yeah I like that so the few jobs that I have just been offered in my life oh it's felt like a miracle yeah you know with the moment that I got to choose for the first time it was like it also felt really scary you're like I get to choose you're like I get to choose this feels crazy but on that note the people that I've learned from I learned from everybody that I ever work with whether it's a good experience or a bad experience because there's always something to learn but I just recently got to go to James Earl Jones's memorial which was like it was like theater church it was so beautiful it was really overwhelming and you know I

felt like the end of an era in so many ways. He felt like somebody who was just going to live forever to me, and he will live forever. The thing that he taught me while working was something that you said earlier is he was the forever student. He was always learning. He was always finding something new in the play.

Up until the last weekend, he brought me and Christine Nilsen, who played my mom into his dressing room, and he was like, I would like to try something new in the scene that comes right after you enter. And, you know, he had an idea that he wanted to try. We had four performances left. Wow.

He would run scenes from Othello with my husband in his dressing room on Thursday afternoons. Like halfway through the run, he was like, I'd like to run these scenes with you. I always, you know, wanted to work on them again. I never quite cracked them. They've just always, you know, the poetry's always been a thorn in my side. there were things about that piece that he wanted to revisit. So he just, like, came in and worked on them. Talk about a forever student.

And then the other person who also just recently passed and I thought would just live forever was Linda Lavin. She, like, was so, such a dear friend and so funny and warm and hilarious. You know, she was such a, such a legend, but. also such a pro. And the way she would walk on to the set of a multi-cam was like, ready or not, here comes mama. That is her medium. And she knew like the back for hand, but she could make you laugh and still be honest at the same time. But what she taught me was, you know, I'd have a couple of rough moments here or there and I'd come in her, in her dressing room. And we would talk about Al-Anon together. She was a big Al-Anon person. And I'm an Al-Anon person. And we would talk about

forgiveness and letting things go and I think that's a forgiveness is something that we don't talk enough about in the workspace whether it be our business that we're in or every workspace you have to be able to like let go and let God and move on and forgive people and reset you have to really be able to reset without holding on to resentment so I would say you know those two were great teachers. Wow, that's so cool. And now a word from our wonderful sponsors. What made you want to shift from all these mediums to come into this new space and do happy face? Like, where did it come from? When somebody says, do you want to come do this job.

You're like, yeah. That's one of those. I know. You know, well, I'm so lucky I've kind of been, I've been an actor who people often connect me with whatever they saw me in last, which is actually like sort of the greatest gift. You know, they kind of just, you know, some people think of me as buddy and masters of sex. And some people are like, oh, I saw you play Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney Todd. you know dot and whatever yeah i mean kinky boots or um or they sobby positive whatever um but these

are all like really different kinds of shows like they've all been really really different pieces tonally genre um you know some are comedy summer drama and then yeah it's like a crime drama there's levity michael show walter directed it and he's so funny and great um so he gave he really set the tone for us and gave us um a breath of uh dark comedy, which I think was important for peace. But yeah, I was, hey, it's a fantastic true story with a great character with an incredible conflict. She's really vulnerable and cannot not be vulnerable. There's nothing better at playing a character that's just like the given circumstances will just forever be complicated and uncomfortable for her. So she's going to be

vulnerable. Yeah, it's like she can't hold it back. Yeah. I mean, if you had a father who was a serial killer, that would just be a conflict that just never ends. I literally can't imagine. Okay, well, you tell the folks at home who are like, what are they talking about? What is Happy Face in case they've been living under a rock? Can you give them the log line? Yes, there was a real-life serial killer in the 90s called the Happy Face Murderer, and his daughter came out as his daughter and has become an advocate for folks who've been touched by the trauma of true crime.

And so this is the telling of her story. Um, her story is, is all based on true events, but we've really wanted to be respectful of the victims, um, involved in, in the real life crime. So the crime elements are fictionalized. Okay. So they're inspired by things that have happened, but then fictionalized so that it doesn't drudge up sort of historical trauma for people who've survived or for surviving family. Absolutely. And, you know, one of the things that I think the show reminds us is not only, only are we unaware of all of the victims and the victims' families when we consume true crime, you know, as the, you know, the way that we do in pop culture, me included. And why do we like to watch them? Like, what's, why do we like true crime? Right. If you think about it, it's mystery. We want to know who solved it, you know, like who did it. And then we want to know why and how because it helps keep us safer, helps protect us from it happening to us. And then also, I think one of the questions that my character and the real life Melissa

grapples with is why and how. And if it happened to somebody that is related to you, can it happen to you? You know, and she carries around this like bag of guilt and shame for the rest of her life because of something that her father did, not because of something she did. Yeah. What has it been like to get to know Melissa more? Because she is the woman that you portray, have you two been able to just sit and kind of unpack those things together? Or does that feel too intimate to you? And are you like, I want to have a dinner, but I don't want to know so I don't drive myself crazy? Like how do you thread that needle as a performer? Well, as you know, most of your information you should hopefully be able to get from the script. And if you don't, that's when you go looking out elsewhere. So I really

had everything I needed in the script. And so when we first started working, you know, our incredible showrunner, Juncasisio, was like, do you want to talk to Melissa? And she's like, I also have letters. I have all the letters that her dad sent her, which are a big part of our story. which side note this is crazy jen had all of her letters had all of melissa's letters our showrunner had all of the real melissa moore's letters from her dad from prison in her house in altadena and her house burnt down no so when we started doing the press tour she had to tell melissa i have to tell you all of your letters were in my house and they're gone and melissa was like you know that's actually a relief because i never knew what to do with him this was such a

conflict for me, which is really the inner struggle, the inner conflict of my character throughout, you know, the series, um, not just this season is, you know, what do you do when you love the memory of the man before he was the monster? You know, what do you do with that? Yes. Um, so how about, isn't that crazy? So anyways, I actually, when I would look at those letters, I started to read some of them and I went, you know, I actually don't need to read this. It felt like I was like looking into somebody's drawers that I didn't need to look into. Um, and also So Melissa and I actually didn't connect before, and I almost was relieved because I knew that we

would connect on the other side. And during the press tour, I learned so much from her about the machine of true crime and how it affects real people and how every time one of these shows happens, how it can re-traumatize families on both side of the courthouse. and we just we learned so much from her but I but I actually didn't need didn't need that before we started oh well yeah I almost imagine it allowed you to have your own journey and experience without the pressure of trying to also carry someone else's yeah I mean you know you also you feel a responsibility to to share their story with compassion and her advocacy

because she work was really important to us. Yeah. And also she's got great empathy in the way that she talks to victims. So that was really important. That's beautiful. Yeah, wild story. Something I thought was so cool that you said talking about this was that, yes, it's a true crime show, but it's really a different kind of take. You said in another interview that it doesn't glorify the killer or show any acts of violence against women.

And that was such a light bulb for me. I was like, that's so important because whether we realize it or not, these things we show, these reenactments that are on so many shows, you know, in this genre, they show things. They normalize by nature. You watch something and you become desensitized in a way, even if you're shocked or scared or whatever. Do you think now that, you know, you're on the other side? of so much of that press tour and everything, has it made you think about the ways we approach these stories and maybe how we should think about

the way we engage with true crime? It has absolutely changed the way that I consume true crime. Wow. It has, you know, we know that it's real people, but we don't know it's real people. We're not really acknowledging it. It's just another way that we're consuming entertainment. And most of the shows in this genre are through the male lens.

They're oftentimes, even from the serial killer's point of view, you know, we spend a lot of time with the killer, why, how, where. And we're never really with a female point of view in this world. And then the other thing that was really unique about the show is it's a show about violence, with no violence. We don't see dead bodies all over the forest. That's always a relief to not have to see a dead girl in the forest. You know, you don't have to see that on our show.

You hear about it, which is maybe even sometimes more uncomfortable in some ways. But I think that there's no way around that because it's a reminder that this person did these horrific things to women. And the way he talks about them is so flippant and disgusting. But again, it's, I think it's a show that is trying to give back agency to women in a space where men have had it all. You know, they've been the detectives, they've been the killers. Right. And really, the women have just been the victims and the family.

And now for our sponsors. What was it like to unpack this stuff with Dennis Quaid? Because, you know, he's got to play your father, which means he has to play this. this man you're talking about, you know, this person who speaks about women so flippantly and was so violent toward them, like, were there ever days where he just said, I really hate this? You know, how do you, as actors, figure that out? He was very clear right when we started working on this that he wanted to make sure that there would be no glorification of this man.

Yeah. And I think that's why he was interested in working on it because, you know, it's her story. It's not his. He's very outspoken about that. You know, when we talk about the show, he's like, this is not my story. This is Melissa's story. Yeah. And I also think the two of us had a really natural, easy chemistry.

You know, I keep saying, like, we always talk about the chemistry that you have with actors when you're playing, like, romantic scenes. with them but we forget about like you need chemistry when you're playing friends with people and you really need a unique chemistry to play family with somebody and they have this totally complicated uncomfortable father-daughter relationship but it was really easy for us yeah it was just like you could feel that there was love right away which was great because that's the thing that she has to fight and that's the that's the conflict So, yeah, he was, he's, he was such a great cast, casting choice because he's so, like charming and naturally likable and, uh, he's still really vulnerable in moments, which he could have just played it like a, you know, like a psychopath. But psychopaths are also complicated. That's what makes them interesting to watch.

Well, and how cool to have an actor who really wanted to help an audience understand. why people were charmed by this man why it took so long probably to catch him why you know all of these things it's like weirdly in order to do Melissa's story the service it deserves her father has to be played well absolutely yeah it you don't understand her conflict if you don't like him a little bit yeah which is also makes you feel uncomfortable it makes me uncomfortable no it makes me really at the end of it it makes you question what would you do if your parent or your sibling or your spouse or your child or your friend what would you do if somebody did something like this i can't imagine you would blame a part of yourself you would forever live with shame you would forever

live with guilt and you would forever want to be of service to the people that he affected and the victim's families you know which is what this woman has done she's become an advocate yes absolutely wow it's pretty amazing and i'm so glad that you know despite what a what a strange world it is to dip into it's been such a positive experience i want to ask you something completely opposite for um you know our aforementioned need for levity yeah it's a heavy chat yeah you want to take a left turn two things can be true at the same time totally we can be um very vulnerable and also very silly. I Getting away from true

crime, but in the reality genre, I know you are a very big Bravo fan. Yeah. What do you want to talk about? Let's go. I just want to know what your favorite Bravo show is. Right now? Well, Beverly Hills, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is always the highlight.

But I would also say I think that Summerhouse is giving us a nice run right now because the page and Craig break up we've been watching it play out both in Southern Charm and now in Summerhouse and to watch it from it goes across shows yeah Craig knew nothing was happening and then you watch Summerhouse and you're like Craig how did you not know page was clearly like not doing well last summer and not happy with you and you had no idea there were cracks that he did not see oh boy also I love New Jersey we'll always love

New Jersey. And Salt Lake City has become one of the tops. Like Salt Lake City is kind of wild. Everybody says that, but Salt Lake City is so great. No. That's okay. That's okay. It's not everybody's thing. Do you watch the traders? No. Do you watch any reality TV? I watch home shows. I watch home shows too. Hey, it's not everybody's thing. It's how I disassociate. Well, here's the thing. It's one of those things that I know the world is so big that it feels daunting to start. But through friends, I know little bits and pieces of the drama. And then I do have a friend who will be like, you don't need to watch anything, but you need to watch this TikTok. So you understand what everyone on the internet is talking about. Yeah, like Vanderpump Rules probably.

Yeah. So now I'm in this space where I'm like, but I want more. I'm scared to give it to myself. Because I think then I might really go down the rabbit hole. But I have a friend who's also a huge Bravo fan who will just voice memo me catch phrases. Amazing. So that you're just up to date. Yeah. On a random day, I get in this town and it makes me laugh. I mean, the one I have one?

I feel, well, what I will say is that I think you should maybe go back and watch Vanderpump Rules, like the last four seasons. Oh, okay. Just the last four seasons. It's a delightful treat. And it's also, now it's parts of it are a lot. like being in pop culture you know what i mean like yeah i did not want to watch the traders and then i was like oh now it's become a pop culture thing now i have to watch it's kind of everywhere it's kind

do you watch drag race i do okay so drag race is is one that i would dip in and out of throughout the years so that's i was that's what i was going to say i go i go in and out sometimes i'm all in and then there's seasons i haven't seen i need to really fine okay i went back after i had lucy you know When you're nursing, you're kind of like stuck in one spot. And sometimes you're just like, oh, God, you can't really get anything done. So I was like, you know what I'm going to get done? I'm going to watch every episode of Drag Race that's ever happened. Oh, my God.

How fun. It was so, so fun. It was a blast. And I'm like so up to date on Drag Race that I can really talk about anything. Drag Race related. I love that. That was a fun one to go back and watch from the very beginning. Because also, you know, in 2010 or nine, I don't know, when did it?

start like 2009 or something that like glossy camera thing that they did on um america's next top model it was MTV at the time so it still is MTV you know it's changed networks throughout the years but uh they have that funny like it's just so funny and then everybody's like outfits that they were wearing like their streetwear was crazy you know wow fashion has changed and not that long of of time and also it was like almost 20 years ago what no it feels like yesterday and also like another millennia and it's upsetting it makes it makes me like feel like I need to wear like low-rise jeans with a with a tank top I just think I'm never going to go back I missed I didn't know how much I missed the top half of my pants until I got it and then was like oh I'm never going to

give this back to you do you have a high butt crack I don't think so you would know I don't either. My best friend Craig has a very high butt crack. Oh, so he could never wear the low-rise jeans. It was not a good moment for him. He just always had butt crack out. We recently came out. I was like, your buck crack is hanging out and your pants are high.

Like, you have the highest buck crack of anybody I know. Oh, not in a low-rise. No. He just has a very high buck crack. That's just a fun thing to look out for. Do you have a high buck crack or a low buck crack? It feels like a late-night info. commercial. You can sue. You know what we should put it in? We should put it in Sky Mall.

Some underwear for people with high buck cracks. Yes. Do you have a high buck crack? We've got some underwear for you. So niche. It's probably a billion dollar idea. Um, you just did a Judy Garland puppet impression. Yeah, so weird. And watch what happens live. It's so weird. How long have you been a puppeteer? This was a character. that was created in New World Plaza. How did you... Do you know how it, where it happened? No.

Somehow I was with my friends, and we were like, somebody was like, you do the worst impression of Liza Minnellia I've ever seen. And I was like, I know. You know, my Liza Minnelly impression is like, if Puppet Judy came back from the dead, or if Judy LaGarland came back from the dead as the puppet, that's my, that's what my Liza Manelli is. It's really, that's how it came from Liza.

It really... The origin story of Puppet Judy is Liza. again niche again I love it that's some game magic right there it sure is oh my god I want to be in the room for the next one well Judy Judy makes an appearance she loves making the appearance she sounds like she sounds like she's had a little rasop painted the prop in the same time I was going to say it sounds like Judy's really been hitting the watch what happens live bar who goes back there mixing martinis for her has done it right sweet Judy it was like

it was like the Judy Garland show Judy you know like last five years Judy poor Judy poor poor sweet Judy poor Judy oh I know it makes me the last five years Judy what if Judy did the last five years nobody wants to see that nobody wants to see it put it away

put it away don't mind me saying well the show is amazing there's so many wonderful things happening in your life. You probably have a million things coming down the pipeline. When you kind of look around and think about the rest of the year, what feels like your work in progress? My work in progress is I would say making sure that I say yes to myself

and take care of myself. So I'm getting a second chance at being a mom with a newborn again. You know, I had my little boy eight years ago. And when you have a little person that you're taking care of, not just a little person, it can be any person in your life that you're taking care of. If you have a partner, if you have a, you know, if you have a roommate, like we take care of a lot of people, but one of those people that doesn't take as good of care of myself.

And what I mean by that is, like, I'm good at taking my vitamins. and drinking my water, but I don't always say what I need. And I just took something from our conversation about you saying, you know, I'm trying to learn and I'm learning and learning every day and talking about James and talking about Sweet Linda and kind of the students of life, not just our craft that they were. Like the lesson that I take away from this conversation today was when you were asking me about my process.

And I said, well, I basically put everybody first and make sure that it feels good for everybody else before it feels good for myself. So that's something I'm working on. It's like telling people what I need and telling myself what I need. Because I think that's actually something I'm missing. So yeah, I think that's going to be kind of one of the goals of the year. You know, we've got to take care of mama. You got to take care of put your oxygen mask on before your neighbor. Mama, mama, mama. We're seeing Gypsy this week, actually. On that note. Mama. I know. Can't wait. I'm so excited. It's my favorite. It's one of my favorite shows. I think it's in my top five very favorite shows.

Oh, my goodness. You ever seen it? I have not seen it in so long that you're making me realize I should probably go see this new run. This production, yes. I can't wait to see Audra be Mama. Ready or not. Here comes Mama. Nothing better. Oh, it's going to be amazing. Well, let's go see some theater. Let's plan for you for the next year. Oh, my goodness. Um, I don't totally know. It's like a, you know, we're in the like, I don't know what's happening moment. Well, we've been in the, I don't know what's happening moment also in our like industry for so many years now.

I'm like, um, guys. Try not to be in fear space. Yeah, I'm trying to be in abundance. I have a thing in development with some friends. I am working on getting this like really funny, uh, queer rom-com. off the ground with a great comedian that I know. I have a movie coming out in June. Awesome.

Yeah, and I'm going to do like my favorite nerdy time. I'm guest directing a documentary film festival Memorial Day. That's amazing. That's so cool. So I'm like very amped about that. And yeah, just kind of leaning into the, to your point, like to things that feel joyful and being excited about like the rooms, the people, the learning. I think the thing I've begun learning about how obsessed with work and productivity

I learned to be when it became a badge of honor because I was working on a show and like 17-hour days were exhausting. So we had to be convinced they were amazing and like a proof of our dedication. You know, now I'm starting to try to learn. how to really love my days even when they're not like overly adrenalineized and exhausting. Yeah. And so I'm overwhelmed by all the things I'm doing in a way, but I also realize, you know, at 6 o'clock, on many days now I can turn it off.

And I just have never had that before. And I'm trying to think of that as a privilege rather than to be worried that I'm not doing enough. Amen. Yeah. Enjoy 6 o'clock. Go to Airwan and buy $50 worth of dinner. Hottest Club in L.A. Did you see that TikTok that went around about the $20 strawberry? The single strawberry at Airwan in a plastic container? I was like, we've jumped the shark. You were like, this is crazy. We've jumped the shark. What's it taste like? Well, yeah. I was like, clearly I want one, but I'm not going to be that person. It's like, I've also always wanted to go to space, but I'm not going for 11 minutes in the middle of a recession.

Totally agree with you. We get to the, thank you too for claiming that it's a recession. Thank you. What are we doing? What are we doing? I completely agree. It feels like upside down world. Yes, I do.

There are, I love you, Airwant, but when I go to your produce section, I'm like, I'll see you later. I will go get the other things, but I will go get that weird key lime pie that's made out of coconut, and I don't know how it tastes like key lime pie, but it has an after taste that reminds you that it's not key lime pie. but I will not buy your $15 grapes. No, it's like there are things

that I really want from there and then I also am the person that's like I'm not going to pay that for blueberries I'll go to the farmer's market

on Sunday. Yes, yeah, for sure. Yeah, I know. And that's where my Judy comes out. I'm not paying for those berries. She would have been like bears. I don't even know

we have bears. I've been since 1945 I live on vodka and a prayer That's right Let me over and stick some of cocaine

on my Call it a day Oh my god I love it Thank you for today Congrats on the show I'm amped for you Thank you so much

Thank you for having me Thank you for inviting me Into your magic space Oh You sweet soul This is an I-Heart podcast.