Playing Fetch - Lacey Chabert
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To most of the world, LACEY CHABERT is known as either Claudia Salinger, the youngest sibling on the '90s drama Party Of Five, or as Gretchen Wieners, one of the trash-talking Plastics in the 2004 high-school comedy Mean Girls. But if those are Chabert's most popular roles, they're far from her only ones: In the past 10 years, the now 24-year-old Mississippi-native has starred in a multitude of TV shows and films, including this month's Black Christmas, a horror flick about a group of sorority girls who are stalked by a mysterious killer. Speaking to AP before yet another day on the set of the upcoming In My Step, the hard-working actress got deep with us about the movie biz, being a mean girl and her past as an overzealous teacher's pet.
INTERVIEW: Trevor Kelley PHOTO: Christopher Beyer Even though you are 24 now, do a lot of people still think of you as a "teen actress?" Yeah, they do. Some people think I'm still 16. [Laughs.] I don't know what the deal is. But I guess I would prefer to appear young and have a youthful spirit than to have the opposite. Have you struggled with that over the years? Sure. I feel like [people try] to pigeonhole you into the last thing you did-especially if you did it well and it was a success. Being in someone's living room for six years, they take it so personally. I think people feel like you are that character and it's hard to see you as something else. But I've always tried to be smart about the choices I made. I'm still willing to go in there and fight for the parts that I really want. Whose career do you admire? I really look up to Reese Witherspoon. She's a wonderful actress, she makes amazing choices and now her career is just soaring. I also respect that she has a family and is able to keep her personal life somewhat separate. I think that's really admirable. It's hard [because] if you are more successful, you'll loose your privacy. But I think that she manages it really well. Are there any mentors-that is, actors that have gone through this stuff-that you turn to for advice? I wish I could say that I had more mentors. Yeah, it doesn't seem like there are many of them left. Maybe someone should start a business where you can rent a mentor. That's a good idea! [Adopts serious voice.] "Mentors for actors-everyone needs a little encouragement!" [Laughs.] Well, I have worked with a lot of people that I really respect. I just worked with Armand Assante on this film [The Lost] in Spain and he gave me some great advice-just about hanging in there and making good choices. I really learned a lot from him. I'm sure you get people coming up to you all the time about Mean Girls. Yeah, I meet people every day that are like, "That is so fetch." [Laughs.] I can say that not a day goes by when there isn't some reference made from that movie. As a kid, were you ever involved in any nasty three-way calls, like the one where you and Rachel McAdams' character call Lindsay Lohan and coerce her into talking trash? No, I didn't even know what that was. I had no idea. Wait, didn't every teenager in the world do that! So did someone have to explain it to you? No, I got it. It was just something that I had never thought of before. It was like, "Wow, this is interesting. I could have used this in the past." [Laughs.] Unlike your character in Mean Girls, you didn't go to high school because you were always onset. Did you go to college? Yeah, I did. I took a bunch of writing classes and psychology classes. I started to get the general education stuff out of the way. I haven't really figured out when-or if-I'm actually going to finish, but I hope to. Where did you go? I just went to a junior college. Weren't you on Party Of Five at that point? People had to recognize you. Yeah, they did. But everyone was really cool about it. It's kind of funny. Because I hadn't been to school since the fifth grade, I was so excited. I showed up 45 minutes early [on the first day]. I had all my pencils, colored pencils, sharpeners, notebooks, Trapper Keeper-the whole deal. I'm all set up and ready for school and then nobody gets there until a quarter after. Everyone was like, "Why in the world were you here 45 minutes early?" Did your classmates point out to you that they barely even take attendance in college? Yes, they were like, "Fist of all, you don't really have to show up and you definitely don't show up 45 minutes early." Anyway, after that first class, I chilled out and turned into a normal college student. In your new film, Black Christmas, you play a sorority girl. Had you stayed in college, do you think you would have joined a sorority? I don't know... If I wasn't acting, I would probably be in the drama club or some sort of debate team. But, yeah, maybe. It was fun. ALT LACEY CHABERT AGE: 24 HEADQUARTERS: Los Angeles, CA RÉSUMÉ: At 11 years old, Chabert broke out as Claudia Salinger on the mid-'90s melodrama Party Of Five; a few years later she turned up as Gretchen Wieners in the wickedly funny teen flick Mean Girls; this month she plays Dana Mathis, a sorority sister being stalked by a mysterious killer in Black Christmas. SOUTHERN COMFORT: After spending many years in Los Angeles, the majority of Chabert's family has moved back to Purvis, the small town in Mississippi where Lacey was raised. "I travel there a lot," Chabert says. "It's like a retreat for me. You fly into New Orleans, you drive an hour to get to our hometown, and no one cares about Hollywood." WHOA, LACEY!: Though Chabert says she often rolls through L.A. pumping Gnarls Barkley in her car, she is just as likely to be blaring Loose by Nelly Furtado. "I love how she was able to change her image," Chabert says. "A lot of people try to do that, but you don't actually buy it. I thought her voice sounded great." ALT |
