This week Ken welcomes Vanessa Angel(Weird Science, Kingpin, Baywatch) to the show.
TV Guidance Counselor
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 38: Vanessa Angel
- Wait, you have a TV? - No. I just like to read the TV guide. Read the TV guide. You don't need a TV guide. ♪ Come on, listen, let it ♪ ♪ Come on, listen, let it ♪ ♪ Come on, listen, let it ♪ ♪ Ah ♪ - Hello everybody, it's Wednesday. It's time for an all-new episode of "TV Guidance Counselor." As always, I am Ken Reid, your TV guidance counselor. And I am very excited this week to present my guest. It is the one and only Miss Vanessa Angel. Now, most of you probably know Vanessa from Kingpin, which we do discuss in this episode. But she's been in a ton of things, a lot of episodic TV, including Weird Science, a show that I very much enjoy, and it's all up on Hulu, you can watch it there now. Vanessa was nice enough to speak with me. She's incredibly funny and charming and very gracious. And I think you will enjoy this episode. So please enjoy this week's episode of "TV Guidance Counselor" with my guest, Vanessa Angel. ♪ So what's on TV ♪ ♪ So what's on TV ♪ ♪ So what's on TV ♪ - Vanessa Angel, thank you so much for doing the show. - Thanks for being here. I'm happy to be here with you. - I'm so happy to be out on the West Coast. It's always a nice break from Boston and our sort of pre-winter trip before putting to snow, jail for four months. - Well, at least you missed the heat wave before you got here. - Yeah, that's what got here. It was literally a hundred degrees, it was really-- - Yeah, we just usually miss out on your bed, whether which is nice. So I had brought a couple of TV times for you from sort of the early '80s, late '70s, which was the last time that you sort of watched TV in England on a regular basis when you were up there. And did you grew up right outside of London, right? - Yes, I grew up in a place called Harrow, which is a suburb of London. It's about 25 minutes from central London. - Right. And did you hang out in London a lot? Or were you kind of just staying home? - I did. I used to go, I mean, that's really, I have a 13 year old daughter. And I think of the things that I was doing at that age. I was going into London by myself, 'cause you know, Harrow was on the underground, so it was very easy access. - Right. - And I would never let her do that. - No, I would never let her go into like a major city. - Right. - Just go yourself. - Yeah, call me in a day or two. - Yeah, when I think back, I was in a, when I was like 15 through 19, I was in punk rock band. - Really? - And my parents, you know, we'd drive to like Philadelphia, which is like six hours away from Boston for the weekend in new shows. And I'm like 16, 16 year old now I'm like, that's a child. Why don't let them drive a call? - I know. - I don't drive six hours away. - I know. I moved to New York when I was just 17. So. - Which seems, which you probably felt very adult at the time though. - You did, well, that's the thing. I mean, I think that, you know, when you're young, you're very resilient and you don't really think of the dangers that may be. - Right, right, all right. - I remember my first weekend in New York. I was staying on the Upper East Side with Eileen Ford. - Okay, yep. - Who was this model agent. And I remember I was supposed to meet someone in the sort of Times Square area. So I walked like the night. - And at that time. - From the Upper East Side to Times Square and in 1983 it wasn't the safest place. - No, that's, yeah. - And I was completely oblivious. - That's like the Gumba. - I mean, it's getting dangerous. - Oh yeah, that's like escape from New York era. - Yeah. - I mean, London was, especially in the 70s, early 80s, was not the safest place either in some spots. But compared to New York, it seemed almost quaint. I imagine like where you could kind of go and it wouldn't be a sort of dangerous feeling. - Yeah, I mean, I never really felt, I mean, and actually when I first got to New York, I felt like, you know, when you go to a certain place and you feel an affinity towards it. And you just feel like you're meant to be there. And I remember driving from Kennedy airport to the city and you see the skyline of New York. And I just, and I actually had gone there originally just to spend some of there for modeling. And I just remember thinking, I am never gonna go back to England. - Right, I'm here and I'm going to go back to England. - I mean, I just felt like this, it was, you know, they say you have like five major cathartic moments that you're like, and that was one of them. - That was one of them. - And I really, and then I never did end up going to England. - It's interesting. - My wife is British and from Stafford, but we met in London and it's interesting, the sort of friends that I know that are English, that move here for comedy, or just for whatever reason, that are like, yeah, I never go back. But it's not any sort of animosity towards them. They're like, why would you go back? - Yeah, I mean, I like to go back to visit my mom's or my sister's there, but I'm a niece and nephew. But I could never really imagine living there. Although it's changed a lot, like now it's very diverse. - Yeah. - When I left there, it was kind of, you know, stodgy, kind of British. It was, I mean, it was starting to get a little more diverse, but it's so different now and I see great city. I love to visit, but I don't think I could live there again. - No, it's like, I feel like we always say that you can have a better quality of life here with less resources just 'cause from the space. And when like Rachel's parents come and visit her, mother's like, this sidewalk, it's just so wide. There's so much room. - I know, that was the first thing. - It was funny, I had a friend in town from London this weekend and they were saying that Beverly Hilton and that was the first place I ever stayed in America. And I remember, and I was I think 16 and I remember, I was so flabbergasted by the size of the cars 'cause back then they were still quite big. - Oh yeah. - And the width of the streets 'cause, you know, in London and so forth, everything is like, no, it's like, everything's very tight. - So the first place you came to LA was the first place I came to LA with my mom and my sister was a sort of little vacation and it was the first time I'd ever been in the States. And then I moved to New York, well I didn't intend to move to New York but I was invited to New York by Eileen Ford to do some modeling in 1983 and then I ended up staying. - Because New York is, maybe as close to London as you can get in America. - Yeah, it's still very much a solvent city. - Right, so that seems like an easy transition but I imagine like LA is almost as opposite from what it means you can get. - It is and plus 'cause you can't really join me with that drive in here. And actually when I first moved to LA, I didn't drive. So that was really good. - My wife still doesn't drive and then you come visit. Yeah, it's really difficult if you don't drive. - It's in a walking city. - No, and it's so spread out and there's not really a center and so it's not, it's actually, I think it's a difficult place to move. I mean it's a lovely place once you get used to it and obviously the quality of life and the weather and all the obvious things. - Right, it's a lovely adjustment. - But yeah, it's very, and I actually love a city city. I mean I think, I mean New York is still my favorite city. - Right, yeah, I love downtown here in LA because it's more like New York. - Yeah, it's a lot nicer now than it. - But it doesn't quite have the energy. Like this New York just has that. - There's like a vibe that people are downtown and they're like, oh, we can just leave downtown whenever we want, but in New York, like we live here, like we learn in London, we live here. So when you were growing up, there was a few American shows that would kind of get over to the UK in the 70s. And I imagine not, you know, maybe 10% of the stuff we had over here, but that probably colored the way you thought it would be here when you got here. And how did that measure up? - Well, I remember Saturday nights, they played a lot of American TV and I remember the lineup was "Star Skin Hut", which I loved. And you know this really funny thing is that this house used to belong, used to be owned by Paul Michael Lays. - Really? - Yeah, and I literally, I mean, I love when I was a kid, I loved "Star Skin Hut" and then I remember Hawaii 5.0, the original was really big there. And Charlie's "Angels" was really-- - So all the hours of action shows. - Yeah, all the sort of action, yeah. - And that's the thing I have fun too with friends and people that have talked about that grew up in countries outside of the US, is that the stuff that was always exported was these sort of action shows because they seem to translate the best and you would almost never get comedies and drama shows less often because it's harder to guess that there will be-- - Right, well, let's just say when I move these, I guess, the things that like, you know, export better or the big action things 'cause everybody can-- - There's no language there. - There's no language there. - So the universe, so where, yeah, comedy is very, and plus British comedy is so specific, I think. - It is, and I think that people don't realize that now who maybe didn't grow up in the same sort of time frame we sort of did where there was much more of a divide. And I think US comedy, especially in the last 10 years, has been so influenced by British comedy of the '80s that it's a lot less jarring to see a difference. Now, when people watch a lot of US shows versus UK shows. - Right. - But here, I mean, we would get, you had mentioned earlier, we weren't chatting that "Folty Towers" is one of the-- - Oh, yeah, I love "Folty Towers." - Is it just your favorite comedy of all time? - Probably, yeah, it's definitely out there. Although, I mean, I love "Riki Gervais." More recently, I love extras as well. - But he is sort of a similar-- - Yeah. - It's a very similar thing to "Kleece Head" in that show. - "Kleece" had such a physical kind of comedy too, though. Like, he was so brilliant with the physical comedy. - True, which is something that definitely, you don't see very often in any comedy now, is much on television. It's very much avoiding the physical comedy stuff. - Right. - But when you get someone like "Kleece" who is very smart and it's a lot about the words in the character interaction and is still also able to do physical stuff-- - I know, in a Monty Python, do I go up a Monty Python? I mean, "Life of Brian" was one of my favorite movies. - So here, they were sort of just cult things, which is very strange 'cause they were basically mainstream comedy shows there. Everybody likes things, yeah. Your grandmother would watch faulty towers and you would watch it with your family. And here it was sort of in the late night fringe hours, you had to get in a PBS station. So the people who sort of weren't to that and knew about it were almost like a little club. Which, one of the reasons that I think that the US television is less different now is because those are the people that went on to start making comedy in the US later and so changing the way it was. - But so you're watching these sort of big action shows. So you imagine that it's all cops running around in car chases and things? - Yeah, I guess that was sort of my view of America. And then when I first moved to LA, I mean, it does kind of have that vibe in a way. - It does really, yeah. I mean, even for me, I grew up in Boston, which when I first moved to London, it was kind of the thing that you had said about when you moved to New York. I was like, "Oh, this just kind of feels "like a part of Boston I've never been to before." And it just, it wasn't very alien and I've gone to places down in the South in America and been like, "I do not feel right here." Like it just, and it's the same country. And so, yeah, I could see that being like, when I come out here to LA, I'm like, "Yes, it is very much like all the shows "that I watch going up." It's not like, no, it is like that. It's very, very strange and is also sort of very familiar because you all drive by something and be like, "Oh, I recognize that from where do I know that from?" - Right. - Which is odd. And so you started modeling when you were 16? - Yeah, well, I actually started at 15 in London and I used to go to Paris in Milan. I would go to school, but I, you know, Europe is so accessible that you can go to Paris, literally for a certain day. - It's like a Chicago or something. - Right. So, yeah, I started sort of, I just fell into it and... - Did someone just sort of see you? - Yeah, I was literally sitting in a restaurant. I was just turned 15 and I was with my mom and these two women were like staring at me. I thought there was a really strange thing. And then they came over and he said, "Oh, you know, we run this model agency "and we think you have the right look." And this was sort of the book, you know, around the same time. - Right, right. - She wasn't that sort of school girl model thing. - Right. - It was very in and so... And I never, honestly, I mean, I was very tall and sort of gangly and but I never thought of myself as, you know, model material. But that, so I, but they took their card and my dad sort of checked them out and they happened to be like this really great agency. So, and I think I was in the, it was like the Easter holidays or something. You get like a month off school there. And so I went to see them and they sent me on a couple of go-sees. - Right. - And the first photographer who ever took a test photo, when he was first at model do the test photos, it was Mario Testino who's now like the biggest photographer ever. And he used to live in London and he would, you know, at that time he was right. - So you kind of got like a right place right now. - Yeah. - And then another photographer called Terence Donovan really took a shine to me. So then I started working right away and then I sort of just, you know, just fell into it. - And your family, like were they very, was that completely bizarre for you? Like were there no performers or anything like that? - No, no, no, no, no, you know, I mean, you know, my mom loved the theater and then on my dad's side they were all professional musicians but more classical but not really in the acting world. But yeah, I mean, they were very conservative, kind of, you know, people. And when I think of like, what they let me do. - Right, right. - 'Cause I, you know, I keep thinking of my own daughter. Like, would I want her to do that at that age? - Just go to, yeah, yeah, just go to New York, go to Paris, go to, I mean, they were very sort of trusting for, you know, I mean, and I think that, you know, even though you think you're very mature and coming in, you're very resilient and you're not really afraid of much, at least I wasn't afraid of much at that age. You are young, you know, so you are impressionable. - Yeah. - And I think it, you know, and I think I kind of paid the price for some of those experiences later on. Like it wasn't until I hit my mid 20s that I thought, you know, I sort of realized that, you know, you're not really mature and, you know, you're really thrown into an adult world. - Right, oh, absolutely. - And you're not really mature enough to handle it even though you think you are. - Right, which is almost worse because then you tend to get yourself another, you know, I can do this. - Yeah, I mean, I grew up too fast and I mean, I was actually very good at school. I mean, I got straight A's and I, you know, kind of wish that I, in some way, looking back now, I, not that you should regret, but like I do feel like I would have liked to have gone to university and maybe continued my, I mean, I got an education in the real world. - Right, which is different though. - Which is very different. - I mean, I have similar things too, obviously, very different, but ultimately I always try to, it's hard to sort of separate where you are now, which I presume you're happy as am I. - Yeah, yeah. - And you go, oh, every single thing that happened is a result of that, whatever it was. So it's kind of hard to parse them out as much as you might see. - Yeah, I mean, I do believe somewhat in destiny and that like things happen the way they're supposed to and that was, you know, and same with the acting, it kind of fell in my lap too. So, you know, you look back and think, well, that was just meant to be my path. - Right, right. - You know, I mean, I never, I used to do all the school plays and I really loved drama, but it was never something I thought it was a career. I mean, in England, it's much more, you know, - It's more formal. - It's more formal, you know, if you're into that, you go to Rata and you do, you know, I mean, it's not like something here where everybody who's, you know. - I'll give it a try. - You want to go into it because it seems like, you know, an easy way to make money and fame or something, which, you know, is even worse now than ever. But in England, it's, you know, you do your repertoire and you, it's a couple of career, yeah. - Yeah, absolutely. It's almost like I'm going in to learn how to do carpentry. Like I'm a master carpenter, I'm a master actor. And here a lot of times you get that you look right, we'll hire you, and then we'll try to figure out how to make you ask. - Exactly, well, I mean, and that really essentially happened to me even though I had done my school plays and I mean, and I remember doing the Caucasian chalk circle at like age 11. - Right. - So it's like the drama teaches there are very, you know, you read Chekhov and Shakespeare. - Oh yeah. - You read Shakespeare from like beginning at age like eight or nine. - Right, which is so different from the U.S. educational system and you're also seem to be on a career path sort of earlier in the UK 'cause you're done with school at 16 generally. - Yeah, you finish sort of the equivalent of high school at 16. You do O levels and then you do, you can go, you do two years A levels and then which allows you to go to university. - Right, which is always much more focused, like I remember when I went to college there and I transferred after going here and here when you go to college, it's like, here's a bunch of stuff you aren't interested in that you have to take about all those stuff. You have to figure out your mentor for a while. - But then they're like, oh, all the classes you take are about the thing you're learning. - Yeah, well, when you do A level, you do three subjects usually and if you wanna do, you law, you do Latin and English and you know, you do specific things. Yeah, you like, but then I guess you have to kind of zero in on what you wanna do earlier there. But so I do kind of wish that I had, you know, had more-- - What do you think you would've, you would've got into if you didn't do it. - Well, I mean, you know, I was, I mean, I was interested in a lot of things, I mean, you know, I liked history and English and I mean, I don't know, I mean, I wasn't like, oh my gosh, I have to be a doctor or something like that. But I think, I mean, I had a good brain for studying, so I just sort of, you know, sometimes I-- - We've got to tell someone more. - When you have to like fill out forms and you know, what was your education? And you're like, I'm almost like embarrassed. - 'Cause it's not on paper, yeah. - No, I was like, I don't know, I left school, you know, a little high school and it's like, just seems, you know. It's like you want to carry around this like three sheet or you can just staple to the thing, but let me explain. Here it is. - I know, exactly, and for like, for my daughter, I really want her to go to college 'cause I just, you know, and I think it's, you know, you sort of learn about yourself in this sort of normal transgression where is what-- - Right. - When you're thrown into an adult world, very-- - It's much more accelerated. - Yeah, it's just much more accelerated. I was kind of, you know, got my opportunity as an actress and I wish that I had, you know, had that sort of rod training or, you know, because when you, the thing is when you're thrown in and you get an opportunity because of the way you look, you know, it's sort of unfair because then you get sort of like scrutinized-- - Yeah. - But you haven't had a chance. - It's like you pursued it, but you did, it's like-- - Yeah. - You wanted to do this and said, no, you asked me to do it, right. - Right, and so you know, you know, sometimes you're not really ready for it or you have, I mean, some people are just naturally sort of gifted and having a natural ability. But I think if you're judged on a performance, you know, because you get, from the way you look, it's not really fair. - And it's a very high profile business. It's not like, you know, your first time out, a lot of people are gonna see it and it's like you're learning as you go. - Right, right. - And you know, I do sound comedy and it's a sort of similar way where it's impossible to practice it without people watching it, which is really weird. If you were learning guitar, it's like, I just got this guitar so I booked a show and I'm gonna practice my scales with the whole crowd of people that aren't watching me. - And you can't practice comedy, stand up unless you have an audience to figure out what's working and not working, right? - Right, and even acting is a similar way. - Yeah. - So you kind of don't know until you're doing it. - And so you're doing it, I know. - So you, and you can't say if someone offers you this opportunity, you can't be like, can you ask me in two years, I'd like to really just practice first. - Exactly. - Was spies like us the first thing you did? - Yeah, yeah, John Landis had seen some photos of me and he was actually in London at the time and I happened to be in London. It was, you know, Christmas holidays or something. - Right. - And he'd seen some photos of me and had asked me to come in to meet him for spies like us and I hadn't, you know, I hadn't read the story. I didn't know anything about it. I just met him and he thought that I had the right look for the Russian girl. And so literally like, I mean, I didn't hear right away but then I met him a couple of months later and then I got the part and I just was sort of thrown right - Like I guess I'm an actress now. - I mean, it wasn't a very challenging role. I mean, there was hardly any dialogue. - But it's comedy though, which is-- - Window dressing. But yeah, I mean, yeah, and Sherry Chase and Dan Aykroyd were, you know, really big at the time. - That was the height of their movie fame and that was, that was a big movie. - It was a big movie. I mean, it was like a huge budget and shot at Pinewood Studios and in Norway and a little bit in LA. So it was, and I, you know, I kind of naively thought that that was like how all movies-- - Right, it's very big budget still in the movie. - Yeah, so I sort of, you know, got my feet wet doing that and obviously it was so exciting. I mean, I just loved it. So I was sort of hooked at that point. And then, you know, from that, I got to be with William Morris and I mean, that was a tricky thing too because, you know, I got signed right away by a huge agency and they're sending me out to meet, like, on major projects for that, I mean, I was only 18, but for that age range, which was actually a lot of, you know, huge, there was a lot of sort of late teen things at that time. - So you went for it, Johnny, he was a movie at that time? - I remember going out for, I went out for weird science. - Really? - Yeah. - Very strange. - And it was like right at that same time. - Yeah. - Was it the same role, or were that a girlfriend? - It was the, yeah, it was the same role. - No, it was very strange. - Yeah, I know. - So there was a lot going on for 18 at that time, but I was just not ready. I mean, I was not ready for it. I mean, I, you know, I mean, yeah, I wasn't ready and so I realized that I needed to study and I met this casting director called Bonnie Tirmaman, who was a big casting director. She, she got me with this teacher called Sandra Lee and Sandra Lee actually was associated with the ACTRA studio, so I actually went to the ACTRA studio for three years. - She's gonna learn, go to the top. - Oh my gosh, she was like thrown in the deep bed. It was really, it was actually kind of brutal. But, you know, I learned a lot and I went out on, you know, I realized that I didn't even want to go out on big things at that point because I didn't want to embarrass myself. - A lot of people would not have that sort of foresight to, I think people would just go, I'll just, I mean, you hear so many stories about actors that go out for stuff that they're not ready for. They're not even qualified for it. It's like, we need to do stunt driving this, I can do it. - Yeah, yeah. - Yeah, I'll look at that out later, I can ride a horse. So it's, I think it says a lot about you that you were kind of like, I really would rather make sure that I know how to do this before you, you hire me to do this job. I don't want to build that bookshelf if I know it's going to fall down in two days. - Exactly, well, I mean, I think I fell on my face a couple of times in some auditions. I remember, what was the movie? I think it was Big Trouble and Little China. - Okay, John Carpenter. - Right, and I remember reading the script and I really didn't, I mean, I just was so naive. And I remember thinking it was kind of like a crazy ending that was, to me, I didn't really believe it. And I remember going in and meeting with John Carpenter and just, he's like, what do you think of the script? And I was like, well, you know, actually, and I'm, you know, and I sort of critiqued it. - Right, it's a little crazy, it's unbelievable. - And he didn't even have me read. I was like, he was so insulted. But I had, I was so naive that I didn't read it. - Why do you ask me if you didn't want to know? And my agent was like, you never do that. You never like tell them exactly what you think about it. You won't, you know, and so-- - That's so kind of intuitive. Why would you think, oh, yes, me a question. I should probably lie. - Well, I think you can do that if you're a big established star. But like, you know, at the stage I was at, you don't do that, apparently. - But you, I mean, you were being seen by in the mid '80s, all of the major directors. I mean, John Landis was at the absolute height of his powers and he had just come off the thriller video. And I assume he was in London finishing American Werewolf, which ended up being a huge movie, maybe '83, '84-ish. - It was '85, I met him in '85. So I'm not sure why I was in that. I think he had spent some time in London for that, but I don't know why I was there, but-- - And hues and carpet. I mean, these are just all the big movies in that time. So that is, that's exciting. But also, I feel your pain of terror as you go into these things, especially when you're kind of thrown into it. And I think a lot of British actors that come over end up having a lot more career first and then come over here and it's still jarring for them 'cause it's so different, even though they have all that sort of skill set that they've been training for for years and years and years. And you know, you look at someone like Steve Coogan or someone like that, that's a big star of them that you're here and it's difficult. And that's with all of this experience in that ground. So you have, you said you have one sister, the older sister. - Yeah, I have an older sister. She lives in English as a teacher. She actually teaches at the American school. - Oh, interesting. So when you guys were growing up, did she sort of control the television and what you watched? Or were you kind of, did you have sort of negotiations? - I remember my, well, like sometimes during the week, I didn't really watch much TV during the week, but like once there was like a special show that one of us liked, we would be able to watch it like have a dinner. - There was a TV in the, but the main TV was like in the lounge. - Right, right, come through the lounge. - Right, so that was more, I remember my dad, like he loved Dr. Hu and Star Trek. So I guess he was a bit of like, I don't think he was a sci-fi guy, but I guess he was. I mean, he liked those two shows. And I remember Dr. Hu was on Saturday and Saturday afternoon and the whole family would watch that. But I don't really remember like who had come out. I don't think we even had a remote, maybe. - Oh, you wouldn't have, and also you got up to turn. - As you had mentioned, there was three channels forever and then you kind of got a fourth, like right around the time you left. - Yeah. - And one thing that was shocking to me when I lived in England and this was, you know, 10, 15 years ago was television was not, I think it is now, but it was not 24 hours. - No, no. - And it definitely wasn't. - I mean, it would go off like at midnight. I mean, I wasn't up that late when I was a kid, but like I remember, you know, and then you got the like the fuzzy line. - Yeah. - I remember my first, like my first TV watching was when I was really like a toddler. There was a show called Watch With Mother. - Okay. - Which was on like in the late, late mornings and they had the show called - What's it lookin'? - Bill and Ben, the flower department. - The flower department. Was it like a Blue Peter or the launch? - And it was Blue Peter. Blue Peter was on like sort of five in the afternoon. So I watched that sometimes when I got home from school and I was sort of like how, you know, it sort of had to do things. - Right, let's make a Christmas ceremony. - Yeah, it was like good for like being a brownie or something. - 'Cause it seemed like. - Daytime TV in the UK, and obviously there's a lot less channels as we mentioned, but it was so much more aimed at children. Like they kind of, - Yeah. - They were here. - Children were here. - Yeah. - All children shows, you have like Rainbow and that kind of stuff. And was it on Magpie? Was so good Blue Peter. - Magpie, right. - Yeah, I don't remember there being adults TV on during the day. I remember like, I remember my coming home and my mom would watch like Wimbledon in the afternoon when that was on, but I don't remember there. I don't think there was like soap operas or anything like that. - Well, I think you had like coronation street. - Oh, right. - But that was still that night, right. Which is so much different than here. 'Cause I remember, you know, kids here, you have sort of the, I'm homesick from school memories where it's like it's game shows and then once the soaps come on I have nothing. And the kids shows are off at like eight o'clock. But some of the channels in the UK don't even, didn't even start till eight o'clock in the morning. - No, they didn't even start. - There's no early morning stuff. So it's definitely a different perspective of we know who's home during the day. It's children. They can watch these kind of long kids shows with little cartoons and stuff like that. And I remember a lot of terrifying science fiction shows. Doctor, who's the one that was mentioned? - Yeah, Doctor, that was a big thing about, it was on Saturday afternoon and I remember we would all watch that. And then we had the Daleks, I remember. I remember in terrified shit. - Yeah, oh, absolutely. Do you have to do one with your daughter or anything? - I haven't actually, to be honest. No, she's not, she's not really, she's into watching sports, she's very athletic. So she's not really into the side by things. - 'Cause there's still very few shows that are still on that people watch with their parents. - Yeah. - And that show is the longest running television series in history right now. It's been on for, I think this is the 50th anniversary. - Oh my gosh, wow. - So it's gone on for 50 years, which is very, very unusual. And it's strange here, too, seeing how big it is in America now after being sort of a whole thing. Like we had talked about before, that people would kind of see, knew about Monty Python and Black Adder, the people who kind of watched Doctor Who were sort of a weird little club. It wasn't, you know, you can't go to, yeah, you can't go to Target and get all kinds of toys. - Right. - And two shirts of Doctor Who in 1985. Yeah, it was very, very strange. I remember my wife and I went to, like, the official Doctor Who merchandise store or something. And I think it wasn't like Campbell Well or something like that. And it was the two bus journeys and it was a teeny little. (laughs) And like, that's what you had to go to if you wanted a Dalek shirt, whatever it was. - Well, the sci-fi has gotten so, because I did a few episodes of Stargate about a long time ago now. But, and from that, I mean, the fans are so loyal. - Yeah. - I mean, they have conventions all over the world. And I remember, I mean, I've done several conventions, one in London, actually, couple in London, just from doing literally three episodes of Stargate. And when you go to those conventions, some of them are, you know, a sort of wide range of, you know, for sort of-- - All pop culture. - Yeah, all pop culture. But it's usually more sci-fi based. And then some are very specifically Stargate or whatever. But, I mean, it's like, the fans are so-- - Oh, yeah, they were available. - Loyal and they're just, can't get enough of it. - With the internet and stuff now, it's so much easier for them to meet each other and really just move into their fandom. - Yeah, exactly. - And just have that consume them in a good way. - It is, essentially. I mean, I really learned from doing those conventions that it's a really a chance for people to get together and connect and they connect over this subject. And it's actually quite wonderful. I mean, the people are very, very, very sweet. And I kind of, you know, was a little judgmental of it, initially. - I think everyone is. - Right. But it's actually, you know, I've really grown to kind of really appreciate that whole world. - Right. I think if you look at it, like, this is their sports team. - Yeah, exactly. - It's not really any different than they get together and watch the game or, you know, they talk about who's at the news. - And it really, you know, it really helps fulfill their life and I think that's great. - And the world is much smaller now. It's easier for them to kind of connect with people. Was there anything that you were just huge, like the thing that you were like the biggest fan of, either on television or at when you were that age that you were just like, I, this is my number one thing. - Well, I remember being obsessed with Joanna lonely and the Avengers. - Okay, yes. - It's just like one of my favorite shows. And I remember like, I even got like my haircut, like her and like the perdy haircut. - Did you want to turn sapphire and steel as well? Did you ever say that? - No, no, I didn't actually. - It's very weird. She plays the human personification of sapphires. - Really? - Yeah, and it's like this weird sci-fi, yeah. I think it was around the same time as when she was on the Avengers. - Okay. - It was very, very strange show that we got here for no apparent reason. - Right. - And I remember I knew her from that. And when Abfab came out, I was like, is that the woman from sapphire and steel during comedy? It was very, very hard. - Well, I mean, it's funny because I mean, I never really, I mean, I used to love comedy. I mean, I loved "Faultytown". I loved all the, you know, the comedic shows, but I never, as an actress, I never really thought that that was something I could do. - But that's really weird. - And now I thought I was comedy, it was just so, it was just so strange. I remember when the TV show of "A Weird Science" came down the pike and I was like, well, and I do remember an agent saying, well, if you're good looking and you can do comedy, you know, if you're a woman and you're good looking, it's like a slam dunk, you know. It's like, right, you should really work on comedy because, you know, not many good looking women can do it well. - Right. - And I didn't really think that I, I mean, I was, you know, I mean, it was kind of like, you know, I have my own sense of humor. It's not like I was humorless, but I just didn't think that I had this sort of timing. - You didn't think of yourself as fun. - The ability to like, no, not really. And then when I did, then when that show came down the pike, I was like, okay, well, let me see how I can do this. And, you know, and I figured out a way to sort of make it work for me. - Right. - And I sort of approached it more like she was a child. And like everything she was seeing was for the first time. So it had that kind of child-like enthusiasm and that kind of, you know, that was a sort of hope that I could figure out. - When you went in for that show, did you remember that you had gone out for the movie originally? - Yeah, yeah, I did. And I remember having a hard time with the material from the movie, just because I, you know, I just wasn't-- - Did you see the movie? - Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. - So that must have been extra weirders. Like, how do I not do this just like-- - I know, and they kind of wanted, like, you know, they kind of wanted to Kelly Lebrock, you know, they kind of wanted that same vibe, I think, because I remember my, you know, my British accent sort of wasn't that strong. And they wanted me to do it with a more British accent originally. And I just thought, well, that's going to seem like I'm like copying Kelly or like, and plus it's actually, like, I have to think about like doing a more British accent now, even though I have a little accent, but it's not like super British. - Did you really have to work to get rid of it when you came there, or do you kind of just naturally instead of fade? - I mean, I remember age and saying, oh, we should be, you know, you need to be able to do like a good American accent for auditions. So I did kind of consciously try to get rid of it, but then I would just, then it just sort of happened, naturally, like, just because I've been in the States. - It just goes right, yeah. - Although I do, I mean, I have friends who have been here a long time too, and they still sound really British. So I think I did consciously try to do it, just so that I could, you know, get a better American accent. I would just practice all the time. And then before I knew it, I was just talking all the time like that. - And then someone's like, please do your British accent. - Like now I have to agree. - Yeah, no, I do like, I do actually have to consciously think when, you know, something comes along that's British. - I think the first television show you got here was maybe Equalizer. - Yeah. - Was that the word word, speaking of British? - Yeah. - Yeah. - And that was very dramatic stuff. - Yeah. - And that's really gritty. - It was, I mean, and I think I was really attracted to that, going to the actor studio at that time. You work on very dramatic play, you know, like serious. - Heavy stuff. - Heavy stuff. Miss Julie and stuff like that. So I think that I just sort of gravitated towards that kind of thing. And plus I was actually, I mean, I was not as, you know, I think people think that models are, you know, a very sort of light and fluffy or something. - Right. - And there, I mean, and I really wasn't, you know, I was like struggling with a lot of stuff. And I liked to kind of tap into the deeper, darker-- - You got to exercise that stuff. - Yeah. - Absolutely. - And I was actually, you know, getting weird science was really great for me because I mean, my dad had passed away and I was just dealing with a lot of stuff and it really helped lighten me up. - Right. - But it really sort of, when you go to work every day and you're doing fun, silly, and it's very silly, weird science. I mean, it's so fantastical that you couldn't help but kind of step into that fantasy of it. - Right. And that show, there was, I think it was the third series they attempted to make based on the John Hughes movie. There were two previous-- - Really? I didn't know that. - There was, maybe four if you count Animal House. - Oh, okay, yeah. - I kind of worked a little bit on and the National Imprune stuff, but yeah, they tried to do a first, Bueller, which was a huge failure. - Yeah, I think I do remember that. - And Uncle Block lasted one season. - Yeah, yeah. - What kind of me in the role? And so when weird science came around, I remember people kind of saying like, you're still trying to do John Hughes movie? - Yeah, I know, 'cause everybody said it was like 10 years later, it's like, or eight years later or something. It was like, why so long? - But dinner was, it was a four or five season? I mean, it was one time. - It did, it went, I mean, it went 88 episodes, so it was like, over four years. - It is. - But I think it was also 'cause it was on USA network, it wasn't on Big Network, where you get yanked off after two bearings if they don't do well. - And USA was really trying to branch out and do these original programming at the time. - Exactly, that was one. - Duckman, that was the same kind of a step. - Pacific Blue, the bike cop show, and a couple other things. So I think, yeah, they really were saying, we kind of believe in these shows 'cause these are our flagship shows. But I think that the TV series is a lot better than the movie. - Oh, really though? - It really is, I think that the premise of the movie and the TV series actually lends itself to a TV series more. 'Cause it's essentially an update of like "I Dream of Genius," which was on "Forever." - Right, and you have more time, obviously TV series, to sort of, you know, do a movie. You've got two hour window to get it all in there. So yeah, I think it probably, yeah, it is. That's how I used to describe it as an updated "I Dream of Genius." - Which it exactly isn't. I think you had this whole generation of people that grew up in that being rerun forever and ever and ever. - Right. - I don't know if that reared in the UK. So it kind of was familiar, but also like a new thing. - Right. - So I think people really latched onto it. The first regular series you got was-- - Reasonable dance. - Reasonable dance. - Yeah, although that was only one season. And I had just done that right before "We're Inside." So I sort of into like, and I played a, you know, a uniformed police officer. - Right, very different, yeah. - I mean, like, you know, no one would ever cast me as a uniform police officer. But I had actually, I had read for the pilot, for the, I don't know if you remember the show, but the role of the bartender, who was the sort of on-again, off-again, love and trust of Mark Harmon. And the show runner really liked me, but they'd given it to this other actress. So the next season, when they were adding this character, he just sort of loved having me in mind, which was great. And it was, that was great. It was one of my best experiences, actually. I mean, Mark Harmon is the nicest actor in person. You will ever meet or work with. He's just lovely. He's another guy that's almost in a, it was in a similar situation to you, where he was doing these dramatic roles, but then it's actually very funny. And when I would do a comedy, I would always, why doesn't he do more comedy stuff? And then he's in this sort of- - And now he's known for these sort of our procedural moments, and yeah. - He's got like, you know, that kind of, I'm trying to think of a less offensive word than smell, but sort of a, like a James Garner, you know, he kind of lies assy, like kind of fun sense of humor, that, you know, I think he made worth winning in summer school, like the only two comedies that I remember him being in. So it's odd that people get, you're a dramatic person because of the dark stuff. - I know, it's really, it's funny how that works. I know. - And then you got, was Baywatch before that or after that? - Yeah, Baywatch was right before that. Yeah, I did, I think that was the first job I did when I moved here, actually. - And what an LA job that is. I mean, that's the- - I got it so, like, I know, it's almost like embarrassing, you know? - But that she was, I mean, that was the biggest show in television in the world. - It was you, I know. I remember the producer, this is the biggest show in the world, but my character was a marine biologist. I was like, yeah, well, she was a marine biologist. - I think they had you be Australian or something as well as like an Australian marine biologist. There's some heavy stuff. I mean, you're like, man, it's by serial flow. - Yes, that's right. - It's something else. - You really know your stuff. - I watched a lot of television. - That's funny. - Were you like, I don't even know how to approach this or? - Yeah, I remember, I remember doing that. I mean, because we were under the pier in Santa Monica and it was scary, like, yeah. I mean, when you, when, 'cause when you're acting at that stuff, I mean, you do have to try and tap into the reality of what that would be like. So, yeah, you know, it's funny as I've gotten older. Now, I don't, I kind of shy away from material like that because I don't like sometimes- - Why would you put yourself through that? - I don't want to go through. I mean, when I was in my 20s, it was like, yeah, I just want to feel everything. - It's a badge of honor, yeah. - I did it, yeah. - But, you know, it's funny. Now, now I'm older and now I have a daughter and, you know, I just, I don't know. I just don't, I mean, there is something magical about being able to feel that deeply. I think that is one of the draws of being an actor is that it makes you live in the moment. It makes you have to really deal with the truth of your feelings. And I think that, you know, sometimes in life, you don't want to feel the feelings as intensely. - Right, it's almost a way to get a, like, a cathartic release of you for a day. - But then, you know, I think it probably says good things about where you already know that you're like, I really need that. I really need that right now, which is kind of great. - Yeah, very, which was interesting. It was, it was actually hard. I didn't really care for like, you know, it was always like getting to the beach, like early in the morning, it was freezing. And you have to, oh, jump in the water and like swim. Like, it was like, oh, I didn't really like that aspect of it. - The most stunts you've had to do, yeah. - Right, and you were always in a bathing suit. And you always said, it meant not that I was really conscious of, you know, my weight at that time at all. - But I think anyone who has to do their job in a bathing suit feels a little weird about it. No matter what the job is, like, if you showed up to work at a cafe and they're like, oh, the uniforms of bathing suit today. I was like, I don't know. - I think I got so used to that just being a model and doing, I did a lot of commercials, like, beer, commercials where it was always like, okay, dance run. And I remember the auditions always like, dance run in a bathing suit. And then you'd get the commercial and there was no like, dancing around. - Right, right. - And I'm like, I'm sure that-- - How did this work out? - Yeah, it was just like the casting people just, you know, they just wanna see girls like dancing around and bathing suits. - I swear, oh, like some guys, like, you know, I gotta open afternoon, give me some girls and bathing suits. - I swear, I mean, like 80% of the commercials I would go in on was like, bring a bathing suit. Wear a bathing suit. You know, sometimes the commercial would actually be in a bathing suit, but like, a lot of times it wasn't. - That's fair, yeah. That's something I definitely would not affect it. Like, really, so I, you know, I do comedy and I'll get called in for auditions sometimes for stuff and commercials, and they've had me do photo shoots weirdly, and so I never really consider that sort of thing 'cause it's so bizarre when I do them, but if it was sort of the day to day stuff, and I mean, my weirdest thing is if they have me come in playing like a dad, and like a toy commercial, and they, I remember once they paired me up with like, this kid who was a little Asian kid. And I was like, you know, this is weird, man. And so I always sort of defeat any potential that I would get there, but I couldn't imagine if they're like, you come in and a bathing suit and I'm like, what is this commercial for? We don't know yet, we'll figure it out later. - I know, it's funny. I mean, you know, when you, when you've modeled and you know, you're literally like, put through some of what you just get, so yeah. I mean, I remember doing fashion shows and everybody's just like, changing in the back, like you're super fast, and it's like, you know, you just get so, I mean, plus actually, nudity in Europe isn't that big a deal. I hear it's like more sort of like, oh, nudity. - Oh yeah, well, if you look at TV in the UK, there's nudity in primetime and swearing and they'll cut out the violence. - Yeah, I know, I know, it is, it is, it's weird. - Although, I mean, that being said, I'm not like, I've actually never done any nudity just because I'm, you know, on film, 'cause I always felt like, I did this one horrible movie, (mumbles) one movie, a long time ago, and they had a body double for me, but like, but that-- - Did they give you that option? - Yeah, I mean, I just, I was never like comfortable, like on, it's one thing doing like, I mean, I haven't done it in still either, but it's one thing being kind of comfortable in a bathing suit, but like, to be on film-- - Yeah, moving is different. - Like, yeah. - Yeah. - I just felt too vulnerable doing that. I wish I had was more bold and able to do it, actually. - Did they let you pick who the body told you? - Yeah, they did. - Which ones do you think they did? - They have an audition, and they're like, they-- - That's more awkward than just doing it. - They're very casting, a boob casting. - Strange. - I would be like, you know what, I was, I don't, I feel so uncomfortable having to cast this person. I was just easier to do it. - Yeah, I know, really. - Very, very strange. - It was really, it was one of the strangest things I've ever done, I think. - What's on your phone today? I have to go cast my boobs. - Seriously, it was, yeah, very funny. - So, are you sort of happy to leave modeling and get into acting, even though you kind of fell into it? Where you're like, oh, this feels right to me. This feels like New York now. - Yeah, yeah, I always felt like there was something more, because you were really just a sort of close hanger for hire. - Right. - I mean, your input was never really wanted, you know? I mean, I think now maybe it's a little different, and if you're like a super model. I mean, I did very well as a model, but they, but they didn't really, you know, I just felt like I was a sort of voiceless person. - Right. - So, when you're an actress, you're using your whole instrument and you're, you know, I mean, not that you always have the final say, obviously, but-- - Yeah, you can't say that between-- - No. - We're trying to her silly. (laughing) - Right. - But you have, you know, you're using more of yourself, I think. - And you did, you were in the pilot for, on the air, I think, with David Lynch. - Yeah, yeah. - And that was an interesting kind of experiments, first show. - Yeah, that was great. I mean, I love David Lynch, and he just meets people like he does. I mean, not that I was like the chorus girl, so there wasn't really, you know, much to audition, but he just meets people and sits and talks. - He don't read any questions, yeah. - Yeah, and so, and I remember meeting him and having a nice little chat, and then finding out, you know, a couple of weeks later that he wants you to do. And it was, it was, it was great. And because it's just the costumes and just the whole-- - Oh yeah, it was the first-- - Sensibility is-- - Sort of period. - It was very exciting. - It did, yeah. - It was really cool. - In comedy, I think that might be even the first comedy you're casting, as it is, of course. - Yeah, I guess so, yeah. - And there was the height of Twin Peaks, and sort of the David Lynch mania, so that show got green light, which was a very, very different show from Twin Peaks, which is kind of like the more like, "What is happening?" - Yeah, I know. - Were you familiar with any of his work or anything before you went in for that? - Yeah, I mean, I had watched Twin Peaks, and yeah, I was, I really, I really, and I just, and he's very, he's just very kind of humble, and very like, you wouldn't really expect just meeting him that he has this amazing kind of creative mind. - Well, you expect this regular guy. - Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So, you were watching a lot of stuff then while you were here, it sounds like, were you going out on stuff? Which, weirdly, from the people that I talked to, seems to be not the case. A lot of people don't watch a lot of things. - No, I mean, I remember, I mean, I remember an age and also saying, "Oh, you need to, like, be familiar "with like the shows that are on the air." That is, if so, if you get a casting, you know what the sensibility of the show is, and that was before you could just sort of access on computer, like, you know. - So many of these, you should check it out, yeah. - Right, that was before you could really do that, so I would try and watch, you know, get a little sampling of everything that was out there, so I knew sort of what the feeling of it was. - Well, you said earlier too that when you first got to New York, you saw a TV guide and you were kind of amazed. - I remember that, literally, the first day I arrived in New York, and there was a TV guide on the table, and it was so thick, I literally was like, my eyes were like popping out of my head because I couldn't believe how many TV shows were on. Like, one day, when I was like 15 pages, I was like, in England, you know, at that time, there was like three, four, maybe, I think Channel 4 was just-- - Yeah, I think it just launched with sort of the young ones that I was doing, the like five-go-med and door-sit, and that kind of stuff they were doing. - Right, but there was very, you know, little choice. Although the choice, I think the choices were pretty good, you know, just more-- - Yeah, it's quality versus quality. - Well, they're versus quality. - So you're just like, I need to just sit down and watch stuff for a bit just to kind of see, like, put MTV on or something, you know, and let me see what-- - Yeah, I mean, I remember, I just, I remember like, really like, cruising it and seeing all the, and I remember discovering that honeymooners, it was on-- - Yes. - Late, late, it was like 11 o'clock at night or something, the honeymooners and-- - And had you never seen it before? - No, I never seen it before. - Well, that's interesting. So you sort of gravitated to some of the older stuff. - And what was the other one, the odd couple, I thought that was on like right after? - Jack Clubman. - Right, I loved that show too. I mean, that was, that was like, older even than that. That was, I think-- - It was late '60s or the '70s, yeah, the odd couple. - But it was on like, yeah, I think 11 and 11 30, and I remember-- - So you grew between the comedy stuff then as well too, yeah. - Yeah, yeah, I guess though, yeah. - So you always, in the things that you like to watch, it sounds like you enjoyed watching comedy sort of above all everything else. - Yes. - You didn't think that you had, you were probably learning this timing and humor without really kind of realizing it, probably absorbing it anyway. - Yeah, I think so. I mean, and then we'd go back to weird science, I think, that once I allowed myself to sort of have the freedom to be really silly, you know, I remember one of the best pieces of advice. I actually, I got, I did, I got offered this part in this movie called The Pickup Artist, right after Farm Baby. - Farm Baby, all right, yep. - And I remember, and you know, he was very notorious for those days, and I remember, and I ended up turning the roll down because it was to play the, it was just like one scene, and it was, you know, a girl that was in this coffee shop that was picked up by-- - It was like no substance. - Yeah, no, and I was like, I know, I want to do substance, you know? - Right. - But I remember, you know, getting to meet warm baby through this process, and he said, the best advice, he said, is that when you're on camera, you can't like be conscious or worried about how you look for someone who'd been modeling and very conscious of the camera, it was the exact opposite. And so I remember being very thoughtful of that, and when I did weird science, I kind of learned to get so out of myself and be silly. I mean, obviously she always had to look a certain way, but like, I would really kind of throw caution with the wind and just just step out of myself. - Yeah, and the plots were so crazy, but it probably would be easier to do that, because you're like-- - Yeah, it's-- - I don't even know what I would even tap into, to try and-- - Yeah, yeah, exactly. You just have to sort of use your fantasy, and there was a lot of blue screen, I mean, you know, where you'd have to sort of look into something and imagine some creature, a monster, a rocket ship, or something, it's a fantastical thing. And so I did really learn to kind of use my imagination more than diving into my real life. - Would you watch the show? - I think I'd probably watch the first few, but then, you know, then you kind of get, yeah, then you're experiencing actually shooting it, so I wasn't like-- - It's a bit lost. - Yeah, I wasn't as concerned about the finished product, 'cause it really becomes, you know, when you're shooting anything, it's the experience of shooting the thing and the entire experience, as opposed to what ends up on film, and is the finished product, which I think is, I don't know if you find that, but you know, you kind of have, your memory of it is not the script, is the whole thing. - Right, right, the perception is very different from your reality of it. - Right. - Yeah, I mean, doing this podcast has sort of made me have to look at things differently, 'cause I'm so used to doing stand-up, which is very fleeting. - Yeah. - And it's sort of just the thing that happened for the people who are there, and then it's gone, and I never see it, I kind of think I know how it went, and it's always interesting when people go, "Oh, who are watching it tell you something?" I'm like, "Oh, that, it's very, very different perceptions." So it's interesting to have these conversations with people, and then I go back to edit them, and I'm listening to them, and it's very different. I would imagine, yeah, watching it would be, would be an equal sort of situation. - Well, I think stand-up must be the hardest thing, though. I remember being in a class, and they had us like attempt to do that just as a part of, you know, learning. - A module, yeah. - Other things, yeah. And it was, I mean, that's, I mean, talk about gold and courageous. - See, to me, I think I might just be wired wrong, because it's a lot easier than we do, and it was always like, if someone was like, "All right, we'll order in a pizza you call." I'd be like, "Ugh, I don't want it." But it's like, "Oh, go in front of these 500 people "and talk about yourself." I'm like, "No, probably." So it's very odd in that respect, but at the same time, I've never, one of the reasons I always had difficulty pursuing anything acting-wise is, aside from not being talented in that area, is that it's difficult for me to not be something that's just kind of me anyway. And so, stand-up is very much you're being you, and you're talking about your experiences and your point of view, and it's almost the opposite of sort of losing yourself in a character. So that's very difficult for me to imagine where the character's doing this and be like, "I wouldn't do that." It's almost like, "This is the still ending. "What am I doing this?" So losing yourself in the role. I have difficulty imagining doing that. - That's interesting, 'cause I'm sort of the opposite. I find it actually, and I actually, when roles come along and they're very, and they're sort of closer to who I am, I find that really hard. I find it very hard doing on-camera interviews as myself. I have a hard time being me. - Right. - You know, I get self-conscious when I'm me. - But you always like that, though, or do you think that's from like, knowledge? - I've never been shy-ish, actually. That's my natural sensibility, I think, that I'm not really an outgoing person, strangely enough. It's like people always presume that actors are like, "Oh, yeah, life is hard," and so outgoing. But I'm actually quite shy, and I'm much before one-on-one time with people, and I don't like really doing junkets, and those kind of things always like, made me way more nervous than I'd be doing. - You sort of have to have a politician in you to do that, and it's very different. - It is exactly. - And I think a lot of performers, that's true of them. I mean, my family, if you ask them what I'm like, they think I'm very quiet and very conservative, and that's just 'cause that's how I am around most of my family, and that kind of stuff, but I like speaking to people, and I like doing, staying up and stuff, but it's very, very different, and when people hear you do that kind of thing, they're like, "Tell me a joke, can you do dance?" And then it's like, "That's not what I do." It's like, "You're an actor." "All right, start doing acting." - Right, well, I think a lot of comics are quite tortured. - Oh, I think. - And they have this, obviously, this ability to be so funny, but then there often are quite introspective as well. - Yeah, well, I think it's, I think, you know, with acting, too, you have people who are sort of overly sensitive or unusually sensitive to things in order to recognize sort of the way that people react to things and then do what they will with it, either write it or represent it or say funny about it. You have to be sort of open to and aware all the time to sort of observe things in a way that's different or interesting enough, and then also it's absolutely a defense mechanism that people develop as a sense of humor in a lot of ways because you cope with things. - Or it's a way to get your parents' attention. I do remember being a kid and my sister was a couple of years, she's three years older, and we had a friend, a neighborhood friend, who we would put on these little plays for my family at a holiday time or something. And I remember because my sister and her friend were older, I would always play the grandma, the character part, the funny, silly part. And I do remember making my parents laugh. - Which is so satisfying. - I was like the comic relief, I'm talking nine 10 years old. And I do, and I think there's a part of me that I do remember getting attention for that and that that was something that people responded to. And so I was kind of like, as a kid, more of the sort of silly goofy one in the family, but then when I became a sort of teenager and moved to New York, I think I do not think I do not. - Oh yeah, that's right. - But I think that-- - That's what teenagers do, right? - And ones that are in a situation like that, where you're like, yes, the angst is coming up. - Right, that's what's going on, but then I saw it. So I guess that that silly side of me was always in there and which I was able to tap into doing weird science. - Yeah, I mean, it's clear, obviously come from the outset that you definitely have a natural comedic ability and an affinity for it. And that seems to be where you fit very well. So it's interesting to say like, I don't know how to do this because to me comedy, you can't teach people, you absolutely can't. And when comedy fails, it just fails. And I feel like all other genres, if you're doing a dramatic role and it's really bad, it's now comedy. If you're doing a fun movie and it's really bad, it's now comedy. If you're doing comedy, it's really bad, it's just bad. 'Cause there's no other level you can enjoy it on, it's just like, no, why are you all doing, it's just horrible. - That's so true. - So you can't even get a sort of different take on it in that way. Did your family watch you in things? Like, what was the first thing that they saw you in? 'Cause the mission of a lot of the shows you didn't-- - Yeah, and I used to have to like, put everything on VHS. - Right, I can't refer it to Kyle. - Yeah. - Dude, it refers to Kyle. - Doesn't work, can they? - And I'd send my parents. And a lot of times they didn't even watch the stuff, so I was like, okay. - Did it seem like it was me? - They won't leave that into it, actually, you know? I mean, I remember Kingpin came out, and I think, you know, it played in the theaters in England, and I think they went to see that. No, it was kind of weird that they weren't really that into it, and my niece and nephew, they would watch weird science. Like, I would send them the tapes, and they would watch that, but no, they weren't really, I think if I was sort of doing Macbeth, or something, like, you know-- - They expected to have this real, yeah. - They would have been like, you know, they wouldn't be, my mom loved the theater, and it was sort of like, they're just snob, so. I think that they kind of felt that, you know, American TV, and I was-- - It was the nature of the work, not so much like it. So even if you were on, like, Coronation Street, or something, or the bill, they still would have kind of been like, hmm. - Yeah, I think probably, you know? - Yeah. - Did you ever want to be on any British television? Have you ever got offers to go back over there? - No, I haven't. - It's a great different system. - It's so weird, I mean, I really, and I've been thinking about lately, actually, because things get really tough out here, you know? When you're over 40, it's like, not a kind industry, and I have, you know, I kind of wish that I had, you know, gone to England and spent some time there in the last 20 years, and like, sort of established myself there, because people don't even really think of me as British anymore. - Right. - And I haven't, you know, I haven't ever worked in London, in England, on any kind of British productions. - Right. - And I think that, I mean, I don't know if it's too late now, but I kind of, you know, part of me would like to explore that, actually, and I kind of wish that I had before. - Yeah, but you just worked with Steven-- - Yeah, I just worked with him. - But that was here. - Here, right. - You know, it was on "Hello, Ladies" and then "Haul Pass." So those were two, you know, sort of Americanly, but I love him, he's amazing. - Right, but is a decent bridge into the things going on there? - Yeah, I guess, I mean, I really probably need to sort of look into getting a British agent and that kind of thing. - One of the weird things I have fun, 'cause we used to go back every year, until my wife figured out that it's the same cost and flight duration to come out here instead. We can just have her parents visit us, but, you know, I would do shows out there and I would do shows with British comics who are very successful, I mean, they-- It's interesting, so I started doing "Stand Up There," which was interesting. - Oh, wow. - And it's funny because I have this huge love of television movies and pop culture stuff, but it never comes up in my act. And I think part of that is because I started in the UK where I couldn't really, I had to be more universal, so the max all sorts of stories about my family and growing up and stuff that like people can relate to a little more. - Right. - And so that, which one of the reasons I love doing this, 'cause I get to sort of exercise this part of my brain, but it was interesting and I think it made me better at it than when I did move back here, because I was able to perform for a lot more different kinds of audiences and kind of tap into that a little bit. Plus, I think the caliber of comedian was a lot better over there. - Really? - Well, 'cause in the '80s, there was sort of an alt-comedy revolution in the UK, where you had like, work mail, and the Ab-Fab people, and that became the mainstream. And so as a result, in the '90s and stuff, the path went this way, so people were used to sort of smarter, weirder stuff, and they expect that. And here we had this sort of like, "Oh, what's the deal with this thing?" Which was very, very different. Like the old Northern Club comics in the UK, it was almost like, "That's exactly what we had here." But it never went away. And so it gave you different sensibility, which was interesting. But some of the really, they're doing very well, like they have their own TV series in the UK, and it's a great show, and I would do a show with them, and they would be talking to me about America, and I'm like, "Oh, well, like I'm nothing," you know, it's not, but I think that it has that appeal, like, "Oh, if I could really just make it over there." - Right. - And I do get a sense of like, it's not that it's never good enough, but they're like, "It's just England." It's not, and I'm like, "That's great. "I would move over there." - Right, right. - It's gonna be a series, what do you-- - I mean, you kidding me? I mean, there's so much cat, they cast so many British people in all American TV now, with dramas. I mean, it's sort of like, you know, they're like the flavor of the mod. - Right, it's like a stamp of quality, yeah. - Yeah, I mean, to cast British people, it's like, they definitely, I think, view British actors as just superior, just too. I mean, they just do. - So it has that sort of blossom moment? - Sometimes I'm like, "I should just speak "in a British accent all the time." - Go back and get my, go back to the elocution lessons to go back to the old thing. Yeah, absolutely. Although you would probably be cast as a villainous. - Right, well, one of my friends is Alex Kingston. She came over, I mean, she's very respected, yeah. She's very respected British. She, I mean, she came out here for a long time to do ER, but then, you know, she's working so much in England again now. But her daughter's out here, so she has to kind of like-- - Trailback, yeah. - Which is very hard for her, but, yeah. But she had, you know, I wish that I had that, you know, that kind of-- - Be able to go. - Yeah. - At some point? - Yeah, I should, yeah, I should probably look into it because, yeah, I mean, I don't know how I would be received, but-- - I mean, they definitely see, one thing I really enjoyed about over there is that they respect skill so much. - Yeah. - And there seems to be less baggage with, you wouldn't be like, "Oh, American actress coming over "and like that." I think it's like, "You're good in this, that's it." And I think you get that more here, where people are like, "What do you think you'd do when coming in here "and trying to get on stuff?" Which I think is, it's hard to break out of that mentality when you get so used to it. - Right. - In Kingpin's huge movie, I mean, most people probably recognize your talk about Kingpin I imagine. - Yeah, but that's the go to, go to credit. - Right. - Which is, I mean, it's just great, it was the go. And it's funny because the movie didn't do that well when it first came out. - Well, I saw it in theaters, but-- - Oh, you do that, oh, gosh. - I do go to see all of his brothers' movies, really? - Yeah. - And it became like this cult kind of classic almost since then, which is so weird. - Yeah, I mean, I think people discovered it on television and on video, and that's kind of the setting that it played best in for people where they could rewatch. - Exactly, and I think, you know, obviously their movie before that was done and done, which did really well. And then after there's something about Mary came out and that did so well, the people started to say, "Oh, finally brother's in the movie." - Let's go back. - And then let's go back and that's when they discovered Kingpin, but yeah, that was, you know, that was-- - Was that odd for you, that role? Because I imagine if you hadn't done "Weird Science" and had this sort of epiphany about comedy, if they had already, you know where you were. - No, I would never have been. I mean, in fact, I was shooting "Weird Science." I mean, I was still in the middle of doing like, I think I was finished, just finished the third season. And, you know, I mean, I know that the Farley brothers had seen "Weird Science," so that was part of the reason why they brought me in and that there's no question that that like, I mean, even though she was really the sort of straight person in the movie, I mean, she wasn't really the funny one, but they definitely helped having "Weird Science." You know, and plus just the ability to be able to feel like I can handle this kind of material and-- - Right, and that you can play ball with-- - Yeah, with the souvenirs. Yeah, absolutely. - I mean, the Farley brothers add a lot of that gross, sad, crazy stuff as they're going. Like, the script that I remember reading was, there was quite a lot of stuff added. - Right. - As we-- - It's very on the fly. - It's very on the fly. - And was that a different style of working that you were used to before? 'Cause I imagine the episodic TV, there's stuff like, "We gotta stick to this game." - Yeah, old TV is so like, I mean, TV is very much, you can't really change a word in TV without a committee sort of deciding on it, 'cause it's, you know, nine, 12 writers, and yeah, you very much have to stick to this script, but the Farley brothers really kind of like to, you know, I mean, Bill Murray, I mean, he obviously-- - He probably didn't say a scripted line that way. - No, he just does whatever he wants to do pretty much. And Woody's, you know, obviously very super talented, but they would just add a lot of, I mean, I remember that scene with the mechanical boobs where the, I mean, that wasn't in the script, and so they would just sort of think of these funny, like, sight gags things as well as things-- - And then some poor guys to go build it. - Yeah. - We need some poor ones. - Some mechanical booms, like in the next 12 hours. - Some mechanical boobs, right after it goes right up for you. - So you had to kind of like just go with the flow with them and just to trust that it was all gonna work out. - And then you go see, you're like, how let's, were you kind of like, I don't know what to-- - Oh, the first time I saw a screening of it, I mean, it was the, because Bill Murray didn't sign on until after we'd been shooting for a couple of weeks. Yeah, I mean, in fact, Jim Carrey was gonna do that part and then he couldn't do it last minute. And I actually knew Bill Murray through Dan Aykroyd. - Oh, right, thanks for the cuts. - That I could introduce. Like I said, he was living in New York and I was living in New York and so I met Bill and so we were sort of quasi-friends and I remember having, we went to a hockey game. I was with Peter Farrelly and he was racking his brain for who can we get for this part. And I remember that they had brought up Bill Murray and I said, well, I know Bill Murray, this is true story. I know Bill Murray. - 'Cause he's hard to get a hold of. He's very hard to get a hold of it. I'm sorry, it's like, that is really true. He has this like 1-800 number of back then he did. And so I actually called him and-- - You called him? - I called him. This is true story and he called me back and I said, I'm doing this movie and the fact that it wasn't, you're amazing and when you look at it and he was also at CAA and I think that there's also things going on agent wise too, but-- - You can take full credit. - I know, I want to take full credit. But I do really think that there's a little tiny part of him was excited that I was doing it as well. - Well yeah, I mean, he seems to just take work that he seems like would be fine. - Yeah, he's very like-- - And if somebody already knows and likes. He's like, yeah, yeah. So I do think it was a little tiny factor. And so he signed on and then when that happened they kind of built up the beginning of the movie and the end of the movie. The middle of the movie was a lot more on the road. So there was a lot cut from the middle, which was me and Woody on the road. So I was kind of disappointed because a lot of my stuff was actually cut from the movie. But Bill's stuff was so great that looking at it now, like it totally makes sense. But when you-- - At the time, I'm sure-- - When you've shot all the stuff, I'm like, well, what's that crazy when I was-- - I wish I didn't call him if Jim Carrey was the one that just wouldn't happen. Your parents went and saw that movie? I imagine that would have been sort of a shock for that movie. - Yeah, I can't remember her response. I mean, I don't know. - She's kind of like, I saw it. - I don't think she thought it was right. It wasn't a hard cut. - No, that's not really. I can't imagine that the target audience for Kingpin is a lot of middle-ish people. Would not be the people who would see this. Excellent. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to talk. - Oh, thank you. - I really enjoyed this conversation. And I end every episode. TV Guide does not just inform us of what is on. Cheers and jeers and has opinions. So always ask my guests if they had a cheer and a cheer for television. What would they be? - For right now. - Right now, or historically, or anything that comes to mind. - Oh gosh. Well, a cheer would definitely have to be faulty towers. A cheer would have to be. - That's always the harder one. 'Cause there's so much to pick from. - Who do I offend? Oh God, I was trying to think of something now that. - Do you watch a lot of stuff now? - Not too much. Obviously, I don't watch the things that I don't like. - Right, right. - Okay, what would be a cheer? - I think that there's nothing worth watching. (laughing) - Gosh, let me think. - It probably says good things about you to not have an immediate jeer. (laughing) Well, I have a list that I've been waiting for someone to ask you this. And now that I have an opportunity. - Oh God, I'm sorry. I'm completely blanking. - It's quite alright. - It sounds like the, it'd be nicer that the US model was more like the British model of television where you have, it's almost more like the Fairly Brothers movie. You have kind of one or two people in charge and they have the authority to do this if you're on committee. - Right, exactly. It's like, I just find a lot of the network TV comedies just seem so, like you can tell that there's like 15 voices that have come down. - Yeah, just factory. - So it becomes so middle of the road. - So stuff doesn't have an individual vision as much as it could. - Right, exactly. - We need David Lynch to do another comedy series. - Yeah, I hate the way that like one show does well. And then so the next season, like every year. - It gets on like the bandwagon. Okay, we got to do this kind of show. - Our version of that, it's very, very weird. - Hello ladies, I thought it was brilliant too. And I'm so sad that it got canceled. - Yeah. - That was such a good one. - Yeah, that might be one of the things too is that these great things, that stuff is not allowed to exist if it doesn't become a hit immediately. - I know, and that was an HBO, which is usually, you know, usually they're better, you know, giving something a chance. But yeah, that was a, and there was a show called "Board to Deck" that he was so good at that. - With Jason Schwartzman. - Yeah, it's so good. - Yeah, it's maybe, maybe they'll smarten up and we'll get longer series of better shows at some point. - Yeah. - Thank you so much for taking time. We really appreciate it, you're welcome. (upbeat music) - And there you go, that was Vanessa Angel. I hope you enjoyed that episode. I very much enjoyed speaking with her. As always, you can email me at can@icemread.com if you have any questions or comments or guest requests, I can try to get people that you wanna hear, I can try to get them, I can't guarantee anything, but I can do my best. Also, I spoke with Vanessa after we recorded that and she thought of a better gear. So her gear is keeping up with the Kardashians, a classic gear, a gear that I think everyone could agree with. As always, as I said, please continue to email me, go to tvguidenscounselor.com where you can see more information about all the shows that we do, all of the links to my guests, various social media entities, or any of their projects they might be working on, clips, pictures, all that kind of stuff. You can also like us on Facebook, and I always enjoy the interactions that happen there. We have contests, there's a lot of quiz questions, people have discussions about all kinds of things that we discuss on the show. So definitely go on there. And if we do more live events, that's where you'll hear about it, so make sure you go on there. And I will see you next Wednesday for an all-new episode of TV Guidenscounselor. (upbeat music) - Isn't that a casting, a boob casting?