Interview with Miracle Laurie

Over a year after the end of "Dollhouse" we had the opportunitie to talk to Miracle Laurie, who played Mellie aka November aka Madeline in the show. She talked about her time befor and after "Dollhouse", her new projects, the support of the fans and many other things.

Foto: Copyright: David Muller Photography
© David Muller Photography

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1. Your television career more or less started with "Dollhouse". Could you tell us a little bit of what you did before getting the part of Mellie?

I studied first at Orange Coast College and eventually obtained my B.A. in Drama from U.C. Irvine. While putting myself through college I continued to audition and attend workshops/classes in Los Angeles. My first co-star role was on a short-lived show called "Medical Investigation". I did a couple indie films as well over the years, but most of my training and experience was in theatre. It’s the best place to really learn your craft. To this day a certain phrase that one of my favorite teachers and directors said to me years ago, still stays with me when I approach certain scenes.

2. How much did your life change since you got the part?

In all kinds of ways. As an actor, it was really the best thing that could have ever happened to me. To be on a show created by such a brilliant and respected mind was a dream come true for any actor, and especially me – having been a fan since "Buffy" days. I was blessed to have a character I loved to play while taking a crash course in the business at the same time. There are things you can only learn once you’re "in it". If you pay attention they are lessons that will stay with you forever. It’s a priceless experience. As a person, it taught me a lot about myself. It reaffirmed the dream I’ve had since the age of 5…the dream to make it as an actor. It lit a fire in me that will keep me impassioned for a long time. "Dollhouse" not only gave me a bunch of new friends from the production side, but the mightiest group of fans I could ask for.

3. Joss Whedon seems to be a huge fan of yours and your acting. How did the two of you meet?

I met a casting director that worked on "Buffy" with him about 10 years ago. She took a liking to me and brought me in repeatedly for smaller co-star roles, then guest star roles, then a recurring guest star role and then eventually I went in for Kaylee on "Firefly". I didn’t book one of those roles. Haha, but having a bunch of loving casting directors like those ladies are, looking out for me all these years, was everything. When the role of "November" came up, they saw me, loved me and had me come in for Joss. Beforehand they reminded him that he already met me when I read for Kaylee and I don’t really think he remembered. We joked later that I was just "a baby" then. But with "Dollhouse" he said later that after I left the room that day he said, "Miracle…well that name fits."

4. In the beginning of the production of "Dollhouse" there have been a lot of ups and downs behind the scenes regarding the tone of the show. Were you afraid at some point that your character would be written out of the story before it even aired one episode?

To be honest, I was constantly afraid I’d be written off the show. HaHa, when I booked "Dollhouse" I was told that I’d be a recurring guest star. There was no guarantee of how many episodes I’d actually shoot. I was thinking, "if I get 3 eps out of this it’ll be amazing!" (I ended up doing 10 that season) And at the end of Season 1 when they released November/Madeline from the Dollhouse I thought, "ohmygod, what did I do?!?!?" The answer was, nothing. They were just trying to wrap up some story lines in case the show didn’t come back.

5. Did you know from the beginning that Mellie was an active? If so, did this affect your interpretation of the character?

I was originally cast as November. That’s what I auditioned for and got. Mellie came out of thin air because all of a sudden the writers had to come up with a way to introduce me into the show that made sense and served the story and the other characters. Their original story for November got rejected. When the writers sat me down and explained what Mellie would be, I thought it sounded great. All I was told is that it would eventually be revealed that I was a doll. But I didn’t know how, when or where, or if the plot would even allow us to get there. When it came to playing Mellie, I never thought of her as an active, because she didn’t know that’s what she was. All she thought about was how much she loved Paul.

6. What’s the main difference in playing Mellie/November and her real personality Madeleine?

Mellie was super comfortable for me from the beginning. The goofiness was already there in me, the "love being in love or infatuated" part was already there, I love Italian food and Tahmoh was pretty dreamy, so it was all a piece of cake. Mellie is also pretty vulnerable and wears her heart on her sleeve. I’m kind of like that too. All the writers wrote her voice so clearly that no matter who was writing for me in each episode, we were all always on the same page. It was beautiful.

November was fun because being in that "Doll" state and making it your own is an enjoyable challenge. One of the audition scenes we had to read was as a doll…you felt kind of goofy at first because you had no example to go by, so you just had to go for it! I loved when I got to play November, because it meant I got to play in the BEAUTIFUL dollhouse Stuart built. It was just stunning. The pods and the chair were super fun too! And if you were in the Dollhouse it probably meant that you had a scene with Fran or Olivia – that was always a special treat.

With Madeline, she was a surprising challenge for me. She was more complicated than I originally thought her to be. But I think it was a difficult fit for everyone. I don’t think the fans dug her either…it’s hard making an audience fall for one character for an entire season and then take it away from them and say, "here…love this instead." I think bringing Mellie back at the end was absolutely the right thing to do.

7. "Dollhouse" was a show that dealt with a controversial theme – manipulating the human mind. What would you say if there really was a secret organization like the Dollhouse?

The fascinating thing about our show and its concept was that I don’t think it was so far away from the truth or what the future might hold. I think we’d be fools to pretend that some kind of experimentation like that isn’t at least being thought of right now. The amount of tech that we’re already clued to as a society kind of grosses me out when I think about it, as does the speed at which it all keeps changing and growing.

8. With playing a part on “Dollhouse” you also became part of the so-called Whedonverse. There is a huge fan base supporting the shows and projects of Joss Whedon and they also have high expectations. Do you feel this has any impact on your choice of future projects?

I LOVE the Whedonverse and am honored to be a part of it. Up until recently I have kind of been an ignoramus when it came to the internet. I’m much more of a hippy girl, dancing, hanging outside, watching movies and playing music kind of girl. I’ve gotten "better"…I Tweet and Facebook and check my email constantly so at least it doesn’t all scare me anymore. All of that to say that I didn’t even know about www.whedonesque.com until Joss told me himself! He said one day after I was cast, "I can’t believe the fans haven’t figured out it’s you yet! So I posted it myself." "Where?!?!" I screamed, "Whedonesque.com". When I saw his post about me I almost lost it! "I made it" I thought, "This is it!" And watching the show with all the fans for 2 years, and seeing all their comments (good and bad) and communicating with them on FB and Twitter have really been a pleasant addition to my life. I started to feel pressure about my performance only because the fans were so supportive and I didn’t want to let them down. I hope no matter what projects await me in the future that as long as I do my best work, they’ll like it and stick with me.

9. What do you prefer – working at a theatre on stage or in front of the camera for television or a movie? Where will we see you more often in the future?

I love them both equally for completely different reasons and I think you get specific experiences in each medium that you can’t get anywhere else, which makes them invaluable. You’ll see me wherever people hire me to go!

10. Can you tell us something about your web series "Goodnight Burbank"? What can we expect from you and the project?

Goodnight Burbank is a half-hour, sit-com style webseries created by Hayden Black in its 2nd incarnation actually…mostly new cast and will premier on Hulu.com. RDF Media just signed up to shop our show around to TV Networks all over the globe – so that’s pretty exciting. You can visit www.goodnightburbank.com for updates and we have a Facebook page too. The two stars of the show are Hayden Black and Laura Silverman (who incidentally is one of the funniest and loveliest women I’ve ever met!) along with a gaggle of a bunch of other guest stars (Dominic Monaghan, Parvesh Cheena, Fran Kranz, John Barrowman, Clare Kramer, Juliet Landau, Christopher May, etc.) for each of our 6 episodes. I play Elizabeth Chivers, the Entertainment Reporter who just so happens to have Asbergers. That was a challenge I was almost too afraid to take on, but I’ve loved learning about Aspies and I think my character has turned out to be quite charming. Her honesty and candor bringing out the "real" sides of the Hollywood Celebrities she interviews is quite refreshing and enjoyable I think. It’s been really fun to do something new and different like this and with such wonderful fellow actors.

11. Do you have any other new projects you like to tell us about?

Aside from getting married just a few months ago, in November, which was kind of my main project for a while, "Goodnight Burbank" took up some time in the last year, but we just finished shooting all 6 episodes. I also did a couple features that will come out in 2012, I imagine. One is with the same Writer/Director & Producer from "S.F. 2177" and about Zombies, which was fun. And the other is my first Western, called "The First Ride of Wyatt Earp" starring Val Kilmer. Talk about a dream come true! I also just wrapped a pilot presentation with some pretty heavy hitters in the comedy world that will hopefully find a home on some network some time this year.

12. You have been a guest on a lot of conventions. What do you like most about them? What was the funniest, nicest or maybe even scariest experience that you made at one of the conventions?

I love the face-time I get with the fans. I love meeting certain fans that say, "hey, I’m so-and-so on Twitter, but my real name is this" and actually knowing exactly who they are and getting to know them in person finally. Conventions are all about the love…the fans want to show up and talk about their favorite projects and maybe favorite characters, and it’s fun to vibe with them about everything because in reality, you’re a fan too! The generosity of the fans has blown me away. I’ve received bottles of wine as a wedding gift, hand-crafted jewelry…most recently hand made poi balls from New Zealand and I’ve even received several vases with 3 flowers in them (no joke)! Maybe one of my favorite moments was during the Fancy Dress Competition during Echo-1 (put on by the brilliant Sean Harry) when a group of people dressed up as characters from "Legend". Made My Day! They took first place, thank you very much!

13. You were recently married. Did your life change a lot since then?

Only for the better. The wedding was absolutely beautiful and utter perfection! I’d do it over and over again. Haha, our honeymoon wasn’t bad either. ;) Chris is a GREAT man and I love being able to finally call him my husband and to be called his wife. We’re having a lot of fun together as always.

14. You are also a musician and play the ukulele in the band Uke Box Heroes with your husband. Are you going to focus more on that in the future?

We’re a little behind this year, but are desperately trying to get our 2nd album out this spring and maybe even plan a couple shows this summer. The fan reaction to that has been lovely too! (what up UK?!?) ;)

15. Since myFanbase is an online magazine about TV series, do you have a favorite show?

I’m kind of addicted to "Fringe - Grenzfälle des FBI" I think it’s brilliant and the actors are ridiculously talented! "Modern Family" is kind of awesome too. And my favorite reality TV indulgence is "The Amazing Race"…it’s…amazing. ;)

We wish you all the best for your future!

And to you…thank you so much for all the great questions.

All the best from the States. :)
Miracle


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