Allisyn Snyder – A.P. Bio

By starrymag | September 30, 2020

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) “A.P. Bio” was originally on NBC network, now it has transitioned over to Peacock streaming service. How has the show been affected following this transition?

 

A) My character, Heather, has always pushed the boundaries with inappropriate humor. Now that we’re on Peacock, we can take jokes even further and the writers have definitely taken advantage of that.

 

Q) Tell us what Season 3 holds for Heather.

 

A) I get told frequently by the audience of “A.P. Bio” that their favorite Heather moment is the pig butchering scene from Season 1 where I hack up a pig carcass on Jack’s desk with a cleaver. In Season 3, there’s a scene with a watermelon that pays homage to that beloved moment. Glenn Howerton actually directed that episode. Glenn and I share a very dark sense of humor and the scene got pretty morbid…and messy. I loved it.

 

Q) What are some of your favorite episodes that viewers should look out for in Season 3?

 

A) The episode Glenn Howerton directed, “Get Hoppy,” was definitely my favorite to work on. The watermelon sequence was a blast. I also loved getting to watch my cast-mate, Yuyao [Deng], shine. She’s so funny in that episode and we had a lot of trouble not breaking character during her PoPo’s Knee presentation.

 

Q) Going into this season, who were you hoping to share more scenes with?

 

A) The student cast is incredibly close and the adventures we go on while filming on location are always a blast. This season there’s a scene with Geology Dave and a few students out in the woods that was really fun to film. We were filming on the Universal lot right next to the War of the Worlds set, so after we wrapped several of us went exploring. Not sure if we were supposed to, but we totally climbed into the busted plane.

 

Q) Heather has these great one-line quips (“Let’s send that bitch a sectional.”). Is there much room to improv during scenes?

 

A) The classroom scenes make it very difficult to improv. There are so many of us, so they only usually get close up shots of the students that have written lines. If you don’t have any written lines in a particular classroom scene, they don’t even put a mic pack on you so you can’t talk. When I’m not talking, I stay in character and give reactions that might be usable, which is why so many of my iconic Heather moments are non-verbal; the open-mouthed staring, peeking out from behind Jacob Houston, smirks and nods whenever Jack says something sexual, putting my feet up on the desk… Most of the time I don’t have a mic, so I have to come up with ways to be silently funny.

 

Q) That meatball with the eyes…I imagine it was hard to get through that scene without laughing. Who tends to break the most while filming these super funny scenes?

 

A) My cast-mate Miguel [Chavez] especially can’t keep it together and we make fun of him for it. Although we all break character sometimes. It always makes you feel good as a comedian when you can get a scene partner to break.

 

Q) What have you enjoyed and appreciated about working on “A.P. Bio?”

 

A) I’ve met some of my best friends in the entire world because of this show and I’ll always be thankful for that. A lot of casts talk about being great friends and I’ve been on many sets where I got along really well with my co-stars, but the student cast on “A.P. Bio” bonded shockingly fast and became insanely close. As an actor, you don’t just have one group of coworkers. Every project you work on you meet an entirely new set of people, so a lot of times a cast will feel close for the duration of a project and talk about hanging out outside of work, but then they never do. With the “A.P. Bio” student cast, we all began hanging out on a weekly basis, even in the several months between seasons. And it’s not just like, oh we go out for drinks as a group sometimes. We’re the kind of friends that you can call when you need help putting together an Ikea sofa or need a ride to the airport. Hell, several of them were in my wedding party. It’s so hard to imagine not knowing them.

 

Q) Who would you love to have as a guest star on “A.P. Bio?”

 

A) The show has had no shortage of exciting guest stars and I’ve loved working with every one of them. Having Taran Killam on the show was ridiculously cool. He’s hilarious.

 

Q) What do you hope viewers take away from watching Season 3?

 

A) I hope they laugh. That’s really all that matters.

 

Q) Do you have any other upcoming projects that you can share that fans should keep an eye out for?

 

A) I’ve been working more and more behind the camera and focusing my time on developing my career as a writer. My short films have been doing really well at festivals and my team is gearing up for our first feature. Movies take a very long time from start to finish and we’re in the early stages of soft pre-production, so there’s no telling exactly when and where it will be available to see. But if you follow our production company on Twitter and Instagram (@WatchTheFootage) we’ll be posting updates!

 

Q) You’re also an incredible artist. Where can people go online to purchase some of your work?

A) Thank you! I sell my work on Etsy, TheArtOfAllisyn, and you can follow my art pages on Twitter and Instagram (@TheArtOfAllisyn) to see what I’m working on. I also just started streaming on Twitch, so anyone can come hang out and chat with me while I paint live in my bedroom. (Twitch.tv/AlwaysAllisyn)

 

Q) What would you like to say to the fans that supported your work all of these years?

 

A) I’m so fortunate to be able to spend my time doing what I love and that wouldn’t be possible if I didn’t have people who support me and believe in me. There’s an incredible online community that champions my work and I love talking with them and sharing details about upcoming work. Also, my last two short films were funded on Kickstarter and they wouldn’t have been possible without all the wonderful people who contributed and brought my stories to life. To everyone who has helped produce my projects, purchased my artwork and hung out with me on Twitch, THANK YOU! You really keep me going and creating.