Katherine LaNasa – Katy Keene

By starrymag | February 6, 2020

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

 

Q) What are the recent projects that you have been working on outside of “Katy Keene?”

 

A) well I had a show with Octavia Spencer that I did right before “Katy Keene” called “Truth Be Told” that premiered on Apple TV+ in December. It’s a very different role. There is sort of two ends of the spectrum – someone that seems sort of good and altruistic and straightforward with no ulterior your motives, kind of norm-core and a little androgynous. Very down-to-earth and grounded. The complete opposite of Gloria. [laughs] And Southern. They asked me to play her Southern, which was also really fun.

 

Q) How was Gloria originally described to you?

 

A) I don’t even know. I have no idea. I think maybe on the page was something of that Meryl Streep Devil Wears Prada character – that Anna Wintour thing. All I remember about reading it was I had an audition in between. Say it was on a Wednesday and my audition was a Friday. On Wednesday two auditions came through and on Thursday I had an audition for something that I just kind of knew I wasn’t going to get. So, I was over at my friend’s house borrowing a dress to wear to this thing on Thursday and I started telling her about “Katy Keene.” I told her, “I know I am borrowing a dress for this thing, but I’m not going to get it. But if I get it, I know I’m going to have to put Eloise (my kid) in school with Grant [Show] in Georgia and I’m going to have to do this, that and the other…” She said, “Slow down! You haven’t even had the audition yet.” I was like, “Eh. Details.” I just knew it was my part. There was something about it where I felt that if they liked what I was doing I felt that I could bring something to it that was very uniquely mine and that nobody else would be bringing to it. And I felt excited about what I was doing in it. I always try to turn myself on and surprise myself and sort of take big risks that excite me for when I’m creating a character. I kind of like to feel unsure if it’s going to be great or if it’s going to suck. [laughs] I like to have that much out there because I think that’s what’s exciting for an audience as well. I just try to do something that I really like and that I’m excited by. I felt really excited about what I could do with it. I just thought it was hilarious. To me, it was a comedy. [laughs]

 

Q) Did you do much research into fashion industry to prepare for the role?

 

A) I did a ton of research into the fashion industry. But honestly no one is going to be better than Meryl Streep, especially at Meryl Streep. So, there is no point in copying that. What I did was a lot of research, a lot a lot of research into just the fashion industry coming from so many different sides. I probably watched about twenty-five documentaries and I watched documentaries on Coco Chanel and documentaries on Madden and Bergdorf’s and Selfridges and the roots of the first American department store. I watched documentaries about Jeremy Scott. I watched about designers and about the business. There is one about the Met Gala and another one about the September issue of Vogue because I felt this is all stuff that Gloria would love and that would be her environment, even if it’s in a fantasy environment. Let’s just say it’s going to be a parallel environment to the real fashion world. So, it was a really nice process because I didn’t really have to work at it. I could let all of that information go into me. Of course, you’re learning subconsciously about the generalities of designers in general and about the business of fashion and the pace. I watched a documentary about Andre Leon Talley out about Diana Vreeland. I just let that sort of simmer in me and I felt I didn’t really have to… I’m not very intellectual about my work so I didn’t say, “Oh, I’m going to pull that little piece of that and put that here.” I just trusted that it was in there and that my instrument was going to attach whatever aspects of my research that it needs and pull that up into the work as needed.

 

Q) Did you have much input into Gloria or add anything after all that research?

 

A) I think that the writing is so divine and then whatever instinctually came up for me that created the pace in the physicality of the character was already set. I didn’t do any research before the pilot. I found out that I was doing the pilot about two days before I was shooting. I had just gone on an addition so that was with one day of prep with an audition in between. It was just an audition, so I really did the legwork as we were starting the shooting and I don’t think it necessarily…It wasn’t like I came in and changed anything. I just had such of a more a multi layered perspective on everything in the business of fashion from having done that research. So, I think it was just working in my conscious as I approach the material. But I will say the thing that I think that I really added again subconsciously to it… I had this idea…To me, Gloria was really funny. I had this part on “Future Man” last year where I played this season long villain. It was very serious. I would describe her as kind of like “George C. Scott and Patton meets Leslie Nielsen in Airplane.” She was kind of the person that was so serious that she was kind of a boob but that’s what made it really funny. I kind of really want to bring some element of that into Gloria – someone that is sort of overly serious and always trying to be in control. To me that’s very, very funny. People that take themselves too seriously are funny. I kept leaning towards the quirky offbeat things. There was a quirky quality that was coming out when I was doing it in about four or five episodes and I realized I was a lot like Gene Wilder in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. So, I feel it was sort of Meryl Streep in Devil Wears Prada meets Gene Wilder in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He’s very serious and sort of strange and he don’t really know what’s going on with him and he’s a little scary and yet at the end of the day he was a pretty benign character. He is a pretty good character. So, I think you’ll see a lot of that in Gloria as well – the weirdness and taking oneself too seriously and a little bit of scariness.

 

Q) Talk about working with costar Lucy Hale.

 

A) There is no one more delightful. She’s such a great number one, which is so rare for someone of her age and the amount of success that she’s had. She really knows how to be the leader and is a great leader. She’s on point, alive in her work and always prepared. She’s kind and just a good egg all around. I adore her.

 

Q) What were some of your favorite scenes to film?

 

A) There is a scene where Gloria has a migraine and it’s just completely ridiculous. [laughs] She is sort of hallucinating. And that’s not really a funny scene. It doesn’t really tell you much about the plot. It was so ridiculous but so much fun for me to have…Gloria is so put together and it was fun to have her physically and emotionally out of sorts because of this migraine on the frustration of that. So, that was really fun to play and I think fun to see when she can’t keep herself together because she is in agony. And she’s pissed about other things, too, which she usually is. [laughs]

 

Q) What does it mean to you to be a part of series based on such an iconic character?

 

A) I grew up on Archie comics so it’s very cool. I didn’t grow up with Katy Keene. She was kind of before and after me so I was really reading comic books in the 70s and Katy was in the 50s and 60s and then again in the 80s. But I was familiar with certain characters coming up like I remember Alexandra Cabot from some of them. I remember different people. I remember Josie and the Pussycats. So, it’s very cool. I love comic books and I will go to Summer camps and our moms would mail us comic books in a gift package and we’d all trade our comic books around. That was really our entertainment when we were kids. That was our thing. There weren’t even video games when I was growing up! There was something called “Pong” and then eventually there was something called “Space Invaders.” So, we read comic books. It’s wonderful. The whole world is very charming. I think people will be surprised at how beautiful and uplifting it is. That it is a spinoff of “Riverdale.” It’s like the other side of the coin. It’s not dark.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Are you excited for the fan feedback you’ll be receiving to this new series?

 

A) Sure. [laughs] I joined and then I didn’t really do any social media until I think the pilot of the show got picked up. I started thinking, “Okay, I have to start doing some of this some more.” It’s been fun. I do like the interaction with fans and generally people are pretty nice. I think sometimes I get a little kick back from my environmental activism, but they can suck it. I’m saving the world for their grandchildren. [laughs] I’m not personally, but I think it’s of the utmost importance. I don’t usually take too much flack. I think it’s a little hard being someone my age and social media is such a different beast when you’re younger. I think activism begins with a single step. I was definitely at first thinking, “Well, why isn’t anybody doing anything about this?!” Then, when I saw Jane Fonda on The Capitol steps the very first day, I thought…I don’t know why, but something in me thought, “That’s my boat. I need to get on that boat.” We have a mutual friend, Lily Tomlin, who played my mother in a series a long time ago. I got in touch with Lily who put me in touch with Jane and I ended up going down there. It was such a wonderful movement. It was really like a college course in environmental activism. It was so thoughtful! She had so many wonderful speakers and there was just so much education. There was a lot of fellowship, too. I started to realize that is kind of what a movement is all about. You find your people. I could be at home thinking, “I’m very bothered by the fact that these rivers in West Virginia run orange sometimes at night and that chemicals are allowed to be dumped in them,” or “There are poor people out in Alabama that aren’t even being counted in the census and they don’t even have clean drinking water.” I would not know where to turn, except maybe to go on a website and give money. But now I know people that know people. I know what is a good organization and how I can help and how to reach out to them. They created a real network there and that was so useful. I think it can really relieve a sense of a depression that maybe a lot of us are carrying around and a feeling of hopelessness because it’s so overwhelming. But you start where you are and you can really make a difference.

 

Q) What else do you want to be sure our readers know about “Katy Keene?”

 

A) It’s just so great. I feel so lucky to be a part of it. It’s so beautiful. I’ve just had a wonderful time. I can’t say enough. I hope it is as well received as I think it deserves to be.