Leslie Grossman – Ms. Popularity

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

A.  Well, in addition to “What I Like About You,” which is always my main project that takes up most of my time, I’m working on a movie called Running With Scissors.  Which stars Annette Bening and Gwyneth Paltrow and Brian Cox and I’ll be working on that this week.  So, that’s really cool it’s a period piece so I’ve got really crazy hair and clothes which is fun.  I’m also looking for new projects so that’s kind of what I’m working on right now.

Q.  We know you just appeared in the Miss Congeniality sequel, what made you want to be a part of that project?

A.  Well, I was a big fan of the first movie it was so much fun and I was thrilled when they asked me to come be a part of it.  It was really fun, it was a great experience, I got to travel for it.  I got to go to New York, and go to Las Vegas and I had all of my scenes with Sandra Bullock and that was really exciting and she was terrific.  So, it was just a great experience to be on a big budget movie and learn a lot so it was a really good experience.

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

A.  All the moments were pretty memorable, it was kind of fun when we were filming in Las Vegas at the Venetian Casino.  We were filming in a hotel room and we all had to walk back and forth through the casino and it was really funny to see people see Sandra Bullock. They weren’t expecting to see her, they didn’t have any idea she was going to be there, people got so excited to see a real movie star.  So, it was probably one of the most memorable moments.

Q.  What was it like getting to work with the incredible Sandra Bullock?

A.  It was great, she was incredibly friendly and very, very friendly and you could tell that the whole crew really liked working with her.  It was a really good experience, I always try to learn as much as I can when I am on a set so I observed her a lot and I tried to learn from her.  I also worked with Regina King who is amazing, she was amazing, and I mostly sort of kept my mouth shut and watched so it was a really, really neat experience as an actor.

Q.  Val and Lauren on the show “What I Like About You” have this unique friendship. With all that goes on between the two of them, how do they stay such good friends?

A.  That’s a really good questions, there are so many times when we do an episode that I’ll just look at Jennie and say “Why are you still speaking to me, why would Val ever talk to me?”  But, I think that Val sees the lovable silly side of Lauren and I think that all the crazy stuff that Lauren does always comes from a really good loving place for Val.  She does forgive her over and over again, lucky for me, but it’s funny because some of the stuff I do is pretty ridiculous and in the real world I don’t know if that girl would have a lot of friends.  I think that a lot of people would probably steer clear of her. 

Q.  The cast of “What I Like About You” has this incredible dynamic on screen, is it the same off set?

A.  You know I have to be honest, it really, really is, and people think that you’re lying when you say it.  I need to emphasize that we are all such good friends, all of us, me and Amanda, Jennie and Allison just threw a baby shower for three women that are on our crew.  We had so much fun planning it and putting it together and the guys are all really good friends and we’re all really good friends with the guys.  We hang out a lot away from work, like Nick Zano has become really good friends with my husband and they have their own totally separate friendship that has nothing to do with me.  So it’s a really, really good group of people and I think we’re all aware of how rare it is that we like each other so much and we look forward to spending time with each other.  We laugh, we really, really do laugh, it’s a great, great experience for me.  It’s sad because I know it’s not going to go on forever and we all sort of all know that it will never be like this ever again, this is a special group.

Q.  “What I like About You” has been around now for three years, how does the show stay so fresh and funny?

A.  We have a great executive producer, her name is Karen Lucas, and Karen has never ending ideas.  Every time I am like “What are they gonna come up with next?” When you get the script, it’s completely new to us, just like it’s new to the audience when it airs, we have no idea what is going to happen.  So, we’re always surprised and the writers are incredible, they are so good at what they do, they just keep coming up with really great ideas to take directions for the show to go in.  We’re having a really good time with it, I’m impressed by their ability to stay fresh and keep coming up with new stuff.

Q.  On both “What I Like About You” and the show “Popular” you have such great comedic timing.  Is it something that comes naturally to you or are you constantly working at it?

A.  Well, I do think when it comes to comedy there are certain elements that are either you have it or you don’t.  I don’t think you can teach someone to be funny, or not be funny, luckily people who have hired me have thought I was funny.  I am sure there are some people who didn’t think I was so funny, but I did take improv comedy classes for years, for years.  That really helped hone listening to the other person and coming off that other person, knowing when to hit your beats and I think it’s kind of a combo of both.  I grew up in a family where everybody was really funny and really encouraged me to be as crazy and weird and funny as I wanted to be.  I think it was a little seed of it was me and I think in my acting classes I kind of learned how to hone it.  Working on a sitcom is a very specific kind of acting and it lends itself well to timing, if that makes any sense, like it’s a very sort of similar pattern, and if you follow the pattern the jokes work pretty well.  So it’s kind of combination of good writing, training and I do think it’s kind sort of having the ability to do it on your own. 

Q.  Do you keep in touch with any of your former “Popular” cast mates?

A.  I do, you know everybody is so busy, everybody is really working and doing their own projects.  I still talk to Chris Gorham and he’s married to a woman who played Papi Fresh on the show and he has two gorgeous children and I see them.  I actually spent New Years with them which was really fun.  I still talk to Tammy Lynn Michaels and Tamara Mello and I love Bryce Johnson, who I have actually see kind of regularly, he guest starred on my show and it was so much fun.  It was a really nice group of people, we definitely still keep in touch, it’s hard because everybody has kind of gone off in a different direction.  But, we do still try to keep in touch which is nice.

Q.  Your character “Mary Cherry” from “Popular” is one of the most beloved characters that was ever on TV.  Did you ever think that she would have such a big following or fan base?

A.  It’s really funny that you asked that because the show was only on for two years, and it’s not like it was such a ratings sensation when it was on.  What I am most surprised about is the life that the show has had after getting canceled.  I am recognized for being “Mary Cherry” all the time, by all different kinds of people.  Young, old, all different ethnicities, I was just in Dallas for a wedding and I was approached by a group of young men who all took out their cell phones and they had pictures of “Mary Cherry” on their cell phones which made me laugh.  It’s really fun to become such a character that people find so funny, it was all about the writing, Ryan Murphy who created the show wrote every word that “Mary Cherry” said and he’s a great collaborator because he really wrote to my strengths.  So he was really the one who made the character as memorable and as incredible as she was and I just kind of felt like, don’t get in the way.  Just read the lines and say it like he wrote and hopefully it will be funny, so I am surprised.   I am surprised that people are still so interested, particularly because it wasn’t such a huge show when it wasn’t on the air.  But, because of the release of the DVDs I think it has a new life and it’s really funny, my parents get a huge kick out of it.

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

A.  Well, I am very lucky I have really close friends and family, we all love to hang out together and we love to go shopping.  I’m really good friends with Amanda Bynes and she is like my shopping partner and we see movies and I love to travel, I’m married and I love to spend time with my husband.  Mostly when we’re working, we’re working really hard, and it’s sort of the focus of our lives.  So, when we’re away from work I try to spend as much time with my friends and family as possible, just hanging out and doing fun stuff and talking and napping and I love to go hiking.  Different stuff like that, I live in Los Angeles so there are a lot of great places to go, I love to go to the beach but mostly my main hobby is shopping.  I wish it wasn’t, but it is.

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

A.  I’d like to thank them for always being so friendly, you know because I’m a character actor people feel like they know me I think, people feel like I am familiar.  Because I look like everyone else, it’s not like I am so glamorous or that I am wearing a bikini on some show, I think that I look like somebody that everybody went to school with, or that somebody is related to.  I have the nicest people who come up to me and say the nicest things, and I would just like to thank them for always being so positive and being supportive and to continue to watch my projects.  I hope that I am able to continue to do good work and more fun stuff and I really enjoy doing it.  Mostly, I’d like to say thank you, I really, really appreciate it, it’s nice when somebody other than your grandma says they think you’re good.  When your grandma says it, it doesn’t really count but it’s nice when a stranger comes up and says it to you.  I am very appreciative of all the support.