Kelly Carlson – Living on the Edge

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

A.  Well, I have a movie coming out for Twentieth Century Fox called The Marine.  It’s an action-adventure movie that comes out October 13th.  I am alongside John Cena and Robert Patrick.

Q.  What can you tell us about the premise for The Marine and about your character?

A.  Very simple, I am Kate Triton and John Cena plays John Triton and he plays the marine.  He gets discharged from the marines and is very depressed about it.  I suggest we go on a vacation and in the mean time I get kidnapped by Robert Patrick.  And my husband, John Cena, annihilates anything in his path in order to save me.  It sounds like a very clichéd storyline, but the movie is very funny.  If you’re a movie buff, especially an action movie buff, you’ll appreciate it because it goes back to sort of the Lethal Weapon days.  It’s like this action movie, but unscripted humor.  The movie is so over the top that it doesn’t take itself seriously, but it’s not a mockumentary.  It just has this organic humor about it that says we have made this incredibly ridiculous, over the top action movie and we’re having fun with it. 

Q.  We read that you did your own stunts for the movie, what made you want to take that on?

A.  I love doing stunts!  But, I’m also kind of an aggressive person anyways.  I took Muay Tai for a few years, I love that stuff!  I was very excited to do my own stunts.  There were two I couldn’t do but I love fighting, I love choreographed fighting, it’s the best.  So, hopefully this movie will open up doors for me to do more action movies, that’s what I’m hoping. 

Q.  Did you train to do stunt work or did you just tackle as it came?

A.  I tackled it as it came.  I took Muay Tai back in Minnesota but I still had to have a coordinator teach me how to do this and do it safely.  There are rules and all different fighting techniques and they all have their own rules.  I was perfectly willing to learn how to throw punches, fall, kick and receive punches.  Which is so fun to me!  I’m a girl but I am such a tomboy sometimes.  The fighting and just getting dirty, I love!  Falling in the dirt, there is something about playing a very glamorous person and then going to the other end of the spectrum and being very fulfilled by the end of the spectrum.  I grew up with horses my whole life so I have no problem not wearing makeup, being dirty.  That is just second nature to me!  I have been begging for a fight scene on “Nip/Tuck” and they must think I’m nuts, I don’t know!  They sort of gave me one in season four, which I just shot the other day, and that was exhausting.

Q.  You also recently did a film called The Break In, what made you want to be a part of this project?

A.  That’s a good question!  I love playing dynamic characters and when I read the script from this movie, she had a double life going on.  For me as an artist, that always keeps me interested, because there are subplots going on even with what’s happening at the moment.  I play two people throughout the whole thing.  Literally, as an artist period, that is interesting to me.  Because you’re not just playing a flawed character, you’re playing two flawed characters that have different agendas.  For me, that is what attracted me and it was a movie for Lifetime.  I’ve always wanted to build a relationship with them and I also got to work with some great actors.  It was a very interesting project, I’ll leave it at that.  What I got out of it was, practicing my craft, building a relationship with Lifetime and I met some incredible actors.  I think they all would probably answer those questions the same way about why they took that movie. 

Q.  Do you have a most memorable moment from working on the film?

A.  Yes, several!  I was filming this scene, which is not in the movie.  I was directed to pour my pina colada on my husband.  He didn’t know about it, it was supposed to be kind of an impromptu thing.  Well, I think he kind of understood what I was going to do.  Right when I did he poured his on me and I didn’t know.  I was frozen, it was so cold!  He just got me, I thought I was going to get him, but I ended up getting it in the end.  So many things happened, my friend ended up breaking his foot.  I got sick, I got really sick in the middle of filming.  So many crazy things ended up happening on the island.  I met some great, great people so it was fun.

Q.  The new season of Nip/Tuck will be premiering soon.  What can you tell us about some of the changes we can expect to see with your character?

A.  Sure, I’ll give you a few things about the series.  First of all, she finds a new found religion which will be thoroughly entertaining to everybody because it’s sort of current.  It’s definitely current with what’s going on with this world.  We have a ton of guest stars!  I’ll just give you a few, Kathleen Turner, Catherine Deneuve, Jacqueline  Bisset and Brooke Shields.  My all time favorite is Rosie O’Donnell!  I love her, she’s an incredible woman, I’m telling you.  She has this aura about her that is just super loving.  I don’t know how quite to describe it, she’s one of those people that exudes this aura that makes an impact on the world.  She has that energy, she’s just super great.  I don’t even know how else to put it.  I was so nervous about meeting her and she was so lovely and funny.  So, I wish there was more of her, I wish she was a regular on the show. 

Q.  How has the role of Kimber challenged you?

A.  Well, it’s very simple and it’s from the very beginning, I personally always have to dive into that very broken side of myself.  Which everybody has, that also sounds clichéd, but I have to find that very vulnerable, very insecure, lack of self esteem and sort of combine it with a facade.  That’s hard to play everyday.  I am not totally like her but I am very much like that, but I think everybody is.  The whole story of it is how you kind of lie about it.  You know how you present yourself very in control, together, smart and wise.  If you dig deep under the layers, you’re not really that way. 

Q.  What do you think it is about the show that continues to grip viewers?

A.  I think it’s a voyeuristic show and kind of like “The Sopranos” is in a way or maybe “Entourage.”  Any sort of form of lifestyle that most people are very removed from but yet can relate to on a certain level because they tend to tackle issues that are found everywhere in the world.  It doesn’t depend on race or anything like that or religion.  It’s internal conflict that you find in everyone and I think that’s what the show is about.  It’s sensationalized, the storylines, even though they are very real and you should know ninety-nine percent of the storylines on the show have happened.  But, they are sensationalized and that’s where the voyeurism comes in.

Q.  You work with the charity Smile Network.  What is it about this charity that is so important to you?

A.  The reason why I joined the group was because of the people from Minnesota and my friends and family that were involved.  So, it was sort of a natural thing that I would become involved because it’s from my town and a lot of the doctors I have known since I was a little kid and were family friends.  That’s why I joined it, and obviously it’s a great cause.  It sort of balances out the stereotype of plastic surgeons because of the show that I am on, so I thought it was sort of ironic.  It just all seemed to fit. 

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

A.  I go to a spa a lot, I know it sounds kind of boring.  I like all kinds of music but I’ve been going to a spa called Bliss.  It’s an incredible spa and I never in my life took time to get a massage or facial or do anything to take care of myself in that regard.  So, I have been doing that a lot lately in my spare time.  I think it’s helping me relax!

Q.  What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?

A.  Thank you!  Thank you!  We’re on cable and it’s hard because we don’t have the viewers that regular network television does.  If we didn’t have the viewers that we did I wouldn’t have a job.  I hope people will still enjoy “Nip/Tuck,” everybody works really hard to please our viewers.  They are so passionate about “Nip/Tuck” and that’s what motivates me to go to work everyday.  I like doing things that inspire people or bring out some sort of feeling in them.  I think we do a good job at that and hope that we continue doing that.  I hope that the viewers are happy because it’s why we make movies and shows!