Cathy Shim – Reno 911!: Miami

By starrymag | March 10, 2014

Q.  What are some of the recent projects that you’ve been working on?

 

A.  This year has been a very fortunate one for me and I’ve been blessed with some really good work. I worked on the feature films Reno 911!: Miami and Balls of Fury earlier in the year. And over the last few months, I did an appearance on James Woods’ new show “Shark” and can be seen recurring on the new seasons of “Mad TV”, “Reno 911!”, “Drake & Josh”, and one other show that has to remain unnamed until its episodes begin airing.

 

Q.  You’ll be appearing in the upcoming “Reno 911” film, what can you tell us about your character and the premise of the film?

 

A.  “Reno 911!: Miami” will be very much like the Comedy Central show “Reno 911!” with the same cast and completely improvised style of comedy that it’s known for. It follows the Reno cops to a national police convention in Miami Beach during the height of spring break. A terrorist attack occurs at the convention center forcing the Reno Sheriffs Department to come to the rescue of the city and save the day. My character is the Spring Break Dream Girl and I play the love interest for Travis Junior. I remember discussing with the director whether or not she should be given a name, and it was decided it would be best to keep her identity unattainable and mythical kind of like the girl in the convertible in American Graffiti. Anyway, she’s in Miami on Spring Break looking for some fun, much like all the spring breakers in town, meets Travis in a rather precarious way, and falls for him. I won’t give away too much but she’ll definitely leave the audience very surprised in the end.

 

Q.  “Reno 911” is known for it’s comedy, is comedic timing something natural for you or is it something you work at?

 

A.  I started training in classical piano at a very early age and I treat a lot of what I read and translate from scripts as I would a musical composition. I think comedic timing is very much like the internal rhythm you feel with music. Some of it is learned and some of it is very innate. I think some moments come very natural to me, but some of the comedic techniques I learn in my training are a constant work in progress. “Reno 911” being completely improv is a lot like jazz whereas scripted projects are like classical music. There’s a lot less rules with improv, more room for creativity, but scary in that none of the notes are written for you, and it all comes from you and the truth of what you’re feeling at that moment. I’ve done a lot of improv training and I’d say you work your butt off at making it appear seamless.

 

Q.  When the “Reno 911” film is released, why should viewers take the time to check it out?

 

A.  Um, besides the fact the movie is going to freaking ROCK?!?! I think the “Reno 911” people have created a cast of characters that are very real and completely singular. There’s a chemistry between the cast members that’s very natural and unforced, and you never know what anyone’s going to say or what’s going to happen next. They’re not afraid to let their characters push the boundary of “Oh my God, did that just come out of his/her mouth?!” I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed when you see this in theatres.

 

Q.  You’ve done acting and producing, is there anything else you’d like to try your hand at?

 

A.  I just finished my first screenplay and I would love to further my experience in the producing end of this industry. I’d like to continue to write and produce and one day hopefully direct my own projects while still taking part in the creative process of acting.

 

Q.  You’ll also soon be seen in the film Balls of Fury, how was getting to work alongside legendary actor Christopher Walken?

 

A.  It was incredible. It was so inspiring and such a great learning experience to see Christopher Walken in his own process of getting into and becoming his character. It was amazing to see the choices he made with each take and all of his performances were flawless. You pay all this money to get really good training but being on set and watching a legendary actor just do his work was the most invaluable education of all. There were days when I was on set that I asked myself, “and I’m getting paid to be here?” Besides being a consummate professional, he never failed to say hello each morning and was genuinely a very nice person.

 

Q.  Do you have a really memorable moment from filming Balls of Fury?

 

A.  When I first booked the film, my start date was scheduled for a week after my wedding. Through the course of synching schedules with all the other talent, my start date ended up being the Thursday before my Sunday wedding. Besides having to prep everything in advance since I wouldn’t have those last crucial days before the wedding, I moved my Friday rehearsal to a 6 AM Saturday morning in-your-pajamas rehearsal, which really showed me how much my family and friends love and support what I do. I got married late Sunday evening and had a call time of 6 AM the Monday morning right after. I showed up on set and it turned out the shot was turned around and they wouldn’t get to me for a few hours. The director sent a message that I was ordered to return to the hotel to my husband and they had a car whisk me off to have a very nice unexpected first breakfast as a newly married couple.

 

Q.  You graduated from USC with a degree in Kinesiology.  What made you turn your attentions to acting?

 

A.  My attention was directed to acting during my entire time at USC. My parents are very Korean and very conservative and until early this year, they had no idea that acting was something I was even remotely interested in. Acting was always that thing my heart wanted to pursue but out of respect for everything my parents sacrificed to bring us here to America, I followed their plans and got the B.S. they wanted with a music minor while taking theater classes at USC and using most of my school loans to take acting classes and workshops at other facilities.

 

Q.  What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

 

A.  I really enjoy activities that allow me to enjoy a moment of solitude. I really like puzzles and I like to read, I especially like reading memoirs. When I’m feeling especially creative, I like to make earrings and necklaces for myself and friends. And when I’m feeling especially motivated, I’ll pick up my sewing or crochet needles and try to learn a new stitch.

 

Q.  Do you have a latest obsession?  Are you into any particular book, sport, activity or music group?

 

A.  I’ve always been a very active person, I obviously had to as a Kinesiology major. But earlier this year I started training in Wushu and I really enjoy the discipline and beauty of its form. I’ve done other forms of martial arts and some boxing/kickboxing, but never in as structured a format as the training I’ve done as of late. I’m also hoping to get involved in some stunts and wire work training as well.