Interview with Actress Allison McCurdy

I recently interviewed actress Allison McCurdy.

Bell: You were in the movie "Bruce Almighty," and you were in the well-known television series "Beverly Hills 90210," "Profiler," and "Pacific Blue." Any comments?

McCurdy: "Bruce Almighty" was a very fun gig for me. Myself and three other girls were picked for this party scene, and, although we only worked for two days, we all had a great time. We were all under contract, although we were never given any lines. The director Tom Shadyac was great to work with; he was very nice to all of us. Jennifer Aniston was very sweet and polite.

The day that I shot for "Beverly Hills 90210" was the first day for Tori Spelling to work as a director. It was Tori that made the final decision in picking me out of all the other girls.

I had met the writer for "Pacific Blue," Paul Brown, in Hawaii right before I moved here to LA, and I had also met the Executive Producer, Bill Nuss. They had both given me their business cards and told me that if I was ever in LA to call them and they would put me on their show. So a week later I was in LA, called them up, they put me on their show, I met other people on the set; made more connections which lead to more work, and that's how I ended up living here. I am actually currently working with Paul Brown on a script that I've been writing. He has been kind enough to help me "clean it up." My script is actually my focus for right now. I have taken about two years off from acting and modeling so that I can concentrate on writing this script. Hopefully I will be done before the end of the year so I can either begin pitching it or just start shooting it myself.

Bell: Any behind the scenes or memorable moments, and did you become acquainted with any of the actors?

McCurdy: I was a guest host for a pilot titled "The John Henson Show," and after shooting when I came back to my trailer, I had this huge basket with a bunch of goodies in it. I thought "wow, this is a pretty fun industry: people give you free stuff."

As far as being acquainted with any actors I did go to dinner with Jim Carrey. He was very polite. He picked me up at my house, was right on time, and would open every door for me and pull out my chair. He's very funny and entertaining in person but with less silliness.

Bell: What was the most challenging scene for you, as an actress, and what was the most exciting scene and why?

McCurdy: I can't think of one particular memorable moment, but the first few years that I was here, everything was so new and exciting: making new friends, figuring out my way around town, constantly working, and not knowing the downfalls of this industry.

I can't think of a challenging scene for myself, as acting seems easy, especially if it's comedy. I guess though I would say that it's when I have lines that have very little emotion in them and there's not much to the character that's when I find it a little bit hard.

As for my most exciting scene, I would say it would be when I worked on "Fatal Kiss" and had a scene with James Karen. He was very nice and a wonderful actor whom has been in numerous big movies. This was a short that did well in the film festivals and was picked up by HBO.

Bell: You were also in an MTV Video Award Promo on MTV, and you were a guest host on ESPN for boxing. Any comments?

McCurdy: The MTV promo was funny to me. Myself and about four other girls were the principles plus one male host and about 80 background girls. Myself and the four other principles were the winners of a pageant and the 80 background girls were the other pageant girls that did not win. These girls (the 80 background) were so catty, they were talking bad about us principles all day; they acted like we were in a real pageant. They would say stuff like "I hope she trips and falls down" or "I can't believe she's one of the winners," when there were no real winners at all because it was not a real beauty pageant. Anyway, it makes me laugh when I think back as to how serious these girls were.

The ESPN boxing event I shot while living in Texas. I believe we shot this in Dallas. That was a lot of fun since boxing is my favorite sport. There's nothing more exciting to me than watching two men beat each other up.

Bell: In addition, I read that you were a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. Anything you would like to share with us about that?

McCurdy: Being a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader was a lot of fun, along with a lot of work both physically and mentally. The director Kelli McGonagill Finglass is not the nicest woman on earth nor were most of the other cheerleaders. A lot of catty, insecure women. But I must say it did help me book a lot of other jobs once I moved here. I am still friends with one of the girls that I cheered with: she moved out here to LA about a year before I did.

Bell: Anything else you would like to share with us? During your free time, in what activities do you like to participate?

McCurdy: In the two years that I have taken off from the industry, I have also received my real estate license and have become a certified corporate flight attendant working on private planes for companies such as the Venetian hotel & casino. I love to travel, cook, eat, go hiking, write, scuba dive, snorkel, go to the movies, and ride horses. I send myself to Hawaii for vacation every year and I usually just go by myself and make new friends once I get there. My over goal in life is to continue writing and maybe put myself in my own movies as an actress.

I would like to thank Allison McCurdy for allowing me to interview her.