Elisha Cuthbert stars in ‘Happy Endings’
Interview by Michael Aaron Gallagher of StayFamous.Net
Elisha Cuthbert
Actress Elisha Cuthbert, who is best known for her role as Kim Bauer on the FOX drama “24” (starring Keifer Sutherland), and such films as “The Girl Next Door,” “House of Wax” (2005), and the heart-pounding thriller “Captivity” (2007), returns to television in the new ABC comedy series “Happy Endings.” Although she is known for her dramatic on-screen performances, Cuthbert is taking on a new challenge – the television sitcom.
In the modern romantic comedy, “Happy Endings,” which recently premiered on ABC, she plays Alex, a runaway bride who leaves her fiancé at the altar. But her tightly knit group of friends is still bound together by their determination to negotiate the breakup, while still remaining friends with both Alex and her fiancé Dave.
In a recent interview with the series creator David Caspe (who also wrote the pilot episode) and series star Elisha Cuthbert, they talked about her decision to take on the role of Alex.
“I mean first off, she is hilarious,” said Caspe, who describes Cuthbert as “super cute and super fun.”
“She’s been in some comedies, but I think her role in those comedies was, in a lot of cases, the Object of Desire,” he said. “But she’s so funny that I think people are going to see her in a completely different light in this show.”
With a diverse group of friends based on Caspe’s own real-life friendships, and its playful mix of sarcasm and quick-witted responses, “Happy Endings” provides Cuthbert with an opportunity to explore physical comedy as well.
“Basically we expected a lot,” Caspe said, “but we got way more than we expected when we cast her.”
Actress Elisha Cuthbert stars in “Happy Endings.”
Born in Calgary, Alberta, 28 year-old Cuthbert first began her work in children’s television in Nickelodeon’s “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” and as a co-host on “Popular Mechanics for Kids.” In 2001, she received the Gemini Award for “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series” for “My Daughter’s Secret Life.” She eventually made the jump to the big screen with small roles in “Old School” and “Love Actually.”
Because of the strong performances on her resume and her on-screen likeability, she was ranked #1 on StayFamous.Net’s list of “Five Canadian Actresses You Should Know” in 2009. But after a multi-year stint on FOX’s “24” was over, she took some time off to evaluate the direction of her acting career.
“I think I felt like I did everything I needed to do in television with the one hour drama,” Cuthbert said. “I spent a lot of years working very hard and trying to bring this dramatic character to life. And I guess once that journey was over… I sat for like a year and a half going, you know, all of these one hour dramas are sort of coming at me and I just didn’t sit well with it. And I just felt like what is this? Have I decided that I’m not interested in doing TV anymore? I was really questioning what it was that I was sort of going through.”
Cuthbert explained that her decision to venture into the realm of the TV sitcom was partly based on her desire to show audiences the lighter side of her personality.
“With ’24’ you didn’t really get to smile all that much,” Cuthbert said. “So to be able to be a part of a show that I can show that part of me was exciting and also a challenge. And I think that’s what we need in our lives, you know, sort of like this challenge to keep things interesting. And after 17 years of acting I guess it was just – it was the next thing to conquer really.”
“Happy Endings,” stars Elisha Cuthbert, Zachary Knighton, Eliza Coupe, Damon Wayans, Jr. and Casey Wilson. It airs at 10 p.m. Wednesdays on ABC. For more information visit abc.go.com/shows/happy-endings
Elisha Cuthbert stars in ‘Happy Endings’
Copyright © 2011 by Michael Aaron Gallagher – All rights reserved.
Photographs Courtesy of SONY Pictures Television
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