Julie Ann Emery – Without A Hitch

Q.  Are there any recent projects that you are currently working on?

A.  Well I have Hitch obviously coming out in the theaters, I was on a series last season for ABC and we’re looking at stuff right now but I’m not allowed to talk about it yet!

Q.  Can you tell us a bit about the movie Hitch and your character Casey?

A.  Absolutely, I play Eva Mendes’s best friend Casey, Casey is a hopeless romantic and gets her heart broken at every turn.  She’s a southern New Yorker, which sounds not possible but it is true, there are southern New Yorkers. 

Q.  What attracted you to being a part of this project?

A.  The television series I did was very edgey, very dramatic, very emotionally draining and the role and the movie is so fun, light and enjoyable and hopeful and that really attracted me to the piece, it was really appealing to me.  I also think it is something that everyone will enjoy, it’s a romantic comedy that even the guys will want to go see so I like that.

Q.  What was it like getting to work with the amazing actors Will Smith and Eva Mendes?

A.  It was the nicest cast on the planet.  Will is like the energizer bunny, he has so much energy, he’s such an upstanding guy.  When we shot the bar scene we had what they call a G-d mic, that the first AD kind of put some extras on and Will was on it playing karaoke, he’s a really fun guy.  Eva could not be sweeter and more welcoming, just really, really lovely to work with and sexy!  Oh my G-d, I’m a girl and I was like dang girl!  She’s hot!

Q.  Hitch deals with Will Smith’s character as a sort of date doctor, do you believe in the idea of date doctors?

A.  You know I believe that sometimes we get so nervous that we don’t necessarily make the best first impression.  So, anything that helps us through that, see through to the real person I think is not a bad thing.  So, I don’t know that there are steadfast rules all the time, but I do believe we study everything except relationships in our lives and I don’t think it’s bad to do that a little bit.

Q.  Do you have a most memorable moment from filming Hitch?

A.  Yes, Eva and I shot a scene in this little place called Rice to Riches, it’s a very trendy rice pudding shop in The Village in New York.  On the last take, that I didn’t know was the last take, we finished and Eva picked up her pudding and started throwing it at me.  We continued to have an enormous pudding fight, it was really fun, it was everywhere.  I was showering and I still had pudding all over me! 

Q.  How was it getting to work with director Andy Tennant on the film?

A.  Andy’s great, you know the best thing about Andy is, you now he did Sweet Home Alabama, he did Ever After, as a woman in a movie you really feel like you’re in a good hands.  I mean I think he’s great with actors but he really knows how to show women in a great light so you know when you’re on set with him you know you’re going to come out looking good.

Q.  What was it like getting to reunite and work with director/writer Rod Lurie on “Capital City” after previously working with him on “Line of Fire?”

A.  Actually Capital City came first, I think it aired later but it came first and Line of Fire came second.  Rod, he’s honestly one of my favorite writer/directors, I think he has a great voice and any opportunitythat I get to work with him, I will work with him.  He’s really an amazing guy, so any time he calls I’ll be the maid for him, whatever.

Q.  Leslie Bibb actually worked on both projects as well with you, was that just a coincidence?

A.  Actually, Rod, there were a lot of people on both projects.  Because he’s also a writer, when he sits down to write things he hears people’s voices in his head and he like to work with the same actors over and over, he likes to understand how actors work and know how to pull the best performances out of them that he can.  So, I don’t think it’s an accident that he works with a lot of the same actors over and over again.

Q.  How and when did your passion for theater begin?

A.  I am from a small town in Tennessee called Crossville and I started doing plays at the local community theater.  The first time I was on stage in front of an audience I was so moved by the ability to take someone on a ride with me, or to show them something about another person or a character that they might not have understood before.  So, that’s definitely where I got hooked! 

Q.  You began your career at age sixteen, what’s the best piece of advice that you’ve received?

A.  The best advice that I have received, you know what it is, don’t let your successes go to your head or your failures go to your heart.  I think that’s definitely the best advice that I’ve gotten.  It’s a roller coaster, try to even it out a little!

Q.  Is there anything that you’d like to say to fans and supporters of your career?

A.  Oh gosh, just thank you for watching!  I’m thrilled to just be a working actor so for it to go beyond that for me is icing on the cake.  I just thank you for watching.