Vanessa Lengies – Second Chance

By: Lisa Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects you have been working on?

A) Actually, I did an animated series that might be out a year from now that is “LEGO: Star Wars.” I did that right after “Glee” and then I started “Second Chance” in August. I definitely auditioned during pilot season and went out for so many great shows and was very close on a bunch. I was sad when I didn’t book any pilots, but I also felt like I had been running a marathon right from “Hawthrone” to “Glee” and then “Mixology.” So, I felt like I hadn’t had a break in between. It was kind of nice. Then, doing an animated series is the best because you get to be goofy and fun and dress in your pjs to go to work. So, there was a little time off and then the animated series.

Q) Your new show “Second Chance” was originally called “The Frankenstein Code.”

A) It was originally called “The Frankenstein Code” because the main character gets brought back to life. He gets brought back to life through a genetic code that optimizes his body on a cellular level. Then, “Looking Glass” was the next name because the corporation that the two other leads work for and created is called Looking Glass. My character, Alexa, is the assistant to the President of the company. I think they watched the first four episodes and realized the show has so much heart and it is very much about the relationship of the family of this man who gets a second chance at being a father and having a relationship with his son, daughter and his grandchildren. It’s how that can really strike a chord in every human. Look at the ways within their relationship in their own families that if they could go back and have a second chance what would they change, how would they act, would they be more understanding and would they be more understanding. It’s just in our human storyline to have those moments with your family. If I could go back and realize that my dad was only ever doing the best for me; even though in my twelve-year-old mind I thought he was being controlling…I think that they watched the show that they realized there is so much heart to the story and this man who gets to try being a dad again.

Q) What drew you to take on another drama or drew you to audition for the role?

A) It’s actually kind of a magical story. I am Canadian. I am from Montreal and I have been living in Los Angeles for thirteen years now. I had decided in July after I went home for my thirtieth birthday that I wanted to try living in Canada for a bit, specifically Vancouver. I had filmed a movie there for Showtime once and a couple pilots. I told my friends around the beginning of August and then this came up around mid-August. I really loved this pilot script when I read it. I was in love with it from the get-go. They said, “They really love you for it, but it films in Vancouver.” It felt like the universe was just answering my desire that I spoke aloud in July. It was kind of that magical coincidence not coincidence with things falling into place for me.

Q) Where does Alexa come into the mix of things and what is her background?

A) She has to balance between being professional as the assistant to Mary (Dilshad Vadsaria) and running the behind the scenes of Looking Glass and also her devotion and love for Mary on a personal level. Mary is diagnosed with cancer and that is the whole reason they are trying to bring this particular man back to life. It’s about his DNA. Alexa would probably be the one who knows the most about the Goodwins. Mary doesn’t even tell Alexa about Otto (Adhir Kalyan) and her bringing Pritchard (Rob Kazinsky) back to life. Alexa has to put things together by herself and she is very smart and intuitive. I think she knows something is up and that kind of drives her character to get closer to what is really going on behind the scenes. It was really fun to go from doing two comedies to do a drama. It was challenging and outside of my comfort zone at the time, especially because I love playing strange characters with a lot of quirkiness. I tried to add some of that to Alexa as well. It’s definitely a grounded character and as the season progresses you find out that there is more that meets the eye about Alexa.

Q) Since the show went through so many changes, did Alexa change at all?

A) Absolutely! They released the script to everyone at the same time so it came out in sequence so we wouldn’t find out what was happening next until the script was released, which was episode by episode. There is a huge twist for my character in episode seven that I only found out about as I was reading it. So, she most definitely changed from the description I got in August, but only for the better and it only gets juicier and more awesome. I get to be a better of huge action sequences, which has been a dream of mine for a long time. All of my dreams are coming true!

Q) What did you take away from learning to do your own action sequences?

A) I have learned that when you are in your wardrobe fitting picking out what outfit to wear it might benefit you to choose the most comfortable shoes even if they don’t look as good as the higher, more delicate ones. I have bruises on the top of both feet from running in high heels the past week and a half that I could have avoided if I had chosen the more sensible shoe choice. That would be my advice to anyone wanting to be a kickass female action star: choose your shoes wisely.

Q) How will dynamics between the characters be evolving this season?

A) Like I was saying before, I really loved the father-son relationship that develops on the show. I think that it is so compelling and heartwarming. It can teach everyone to take a step back in their familial relationships and try to find the misunderstandings and that loving intention for all parties that is usually the undercurrent for whatever behavior happening. Pritchard (the main character being brought back to life) has a strange relationship with his daughter because he spent his whole life working crazy hours, throwing himself into his job and being a hard-ass father to his kids. So, what he realizes was that his intention was always to provide and make them have a great full life, but the effects of him working all the time and being so strict made his kids feel like he was a completely absent father. He didn’t provide that paternal love that they needed and here he is coming back to life and we get to watch him slowly mend his relationship with his kids, especially his son who you find out even in his angst and hatred towards his father has basically lived his life in his father’s footsteps. He is playing an homage to his father via his behavior by choosing to become a cop and fight crime. He has been living his life to make his father proud, which he never feels he did when his father was alive.

Q) You are a part of social media. Are you looking forward to the instant fan feedback you will receive to the show?

A) I love it! I need to take a crash course in social media. I am so hot and cold and in and out and here and then not with it. I love people’s support. People are so nice, funny and kind with what they write online. That was my favorite part of “Mixology,” getting to be there real time with people to see if they enjoyed it, what they liked, found funny and their questions. I’m excited! I feel so quick since we just started filming in August!

Q) What do you hope fans take away from watching Second Chance?

A) I hope that they can take the lesson of having that second chance with your family and really trying to bring that into the present. Instead of having a second chance, live it right the first time. I think that that show really showcases those moments where you forget that the intention of family is love and it just comes out in all kinds of ways. But really family is family. That’s what I get out of the show. Every time I read a script it fills me with hope that things can be misunderstood and misinterpreted, but really when it comes to family everybody is just trying their best to love each other in the way that comes out for them. Maybe the show will inspire someone to pick up the phone and call a relative that they haven’t spoken to in a while. If they can look back on a story that causes strife for them and see it from a different perspective. Maybe it can heal a relationship that they thought was long gone.

Q) We got to see you at the Brittana wedding. What was it like being brought back for that specifically?

A) One of my besties from the show texted me and said, “You’re coming back,” because they had obviously gotten the script before I did. So, I got to get really excited before the call even went to my representation. I was really happy to be in the wedding because I know the backstory for my character, Brittana and Sugar From The Future (their child sent back to try to keep them together). So, it felt really satisfying to have that behind the scenes fan fiction storyline come to a beautiful end that kind of wrapped up the whole story. That was really satisfying and gratifying. It was so great to see everyone and be there for the end. It was such an amazing series and it changed the lives of so many people, including everyone who worked on the show. We went through so much together and it would have felt wrong not to be there for the finale. So, I was deliriously happy to be involved in the last couple episodes.

Q) What was it like for you to be there watching them get married and it be full circle for them?

A) I think I might have cried for real, just because I love Naya [Rivera] and Heather [Morris] so much. It’s funny because they both have children. They both had boys so that doesn’t really work with Sugar From The Future. I have baby brothers! Sugar is not born yet! [laughs] Heather is pregnant so fingers crossed it is a girl because we are still waiting on Sugar!

Q) You have said before that you invented this backstory and fans invented a backstory for them as well. What do you think Sugar is up to these days?

A) My guess is once the wedding happened she probably went back in her time travel machine and went back to the future. She is just living her real life now because she did what she needed to with it. In my imagination, she probably owns a community garden. She probably lives in Japan. What do you think?

Q) Maybe she opened her own singing school.

A) I’m going with that! Sugar Motta’s School For Kids Who Can’t Sing Good. The headquarters is in Japan so she can get the best, most kawaii fashion at her finger tips.