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In pursuit of drama
Actress Laura Silverman to perform in her hometown
By Heidi Masek hmasek@hippopress.com
Actress Laura Silverman grew up in Bedford and attended Manchester West High School. She lives in Los Angeles and plays a fictionalized version of herself on The Sarah Silverman Program on Comedy Central.
Silverman has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Tufts University but didn’t study acting there. Mostly, she “messed around in” the film department at the affiliated School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. She went on to have roles on Dr. Katz, Family Guy, “a bunch of other cartoons,” Curb Your Enthusiasm, King of Queens, House, and The Comeback on HBO with Lisa Kudrow. She’s worked on a few movies, including an independent one last year.
Q:What was the name of that film you were talking about?
It’s called Cummings Farm. We shot it in Louisiana. It was just the most fun I’ve ever had, and I just made the greatest friends. It was really cool. It was a dark comedy, but it is more dramatic, which is really what I hope to be able to do a lot more of.
The Sarah Silverman Program is running for a third season, right?
Yeah — we’re calling it Season 3A because they have a tendency to stretch our season out into basically two seasons. Like we’ve done every season in two parts, like a year apart.
Do you know what’s going to happen on the show next, or when people might be able to start seeing it on TV?
It’s not going to air until February of 2010 — we start shooting next week. We’re doing 10 new episodes and we’ve read eight of them ... at table reads. They’re really, really good. I think the show is really growing. There’s some really cool stuff coming up.
What other projects do you have coming up?
This friend of mine, Jason Nash, always uses me in all his new ventures, and he has a Web series he launched now called The Shaman. And I have a story in a book coming out. They keep on wanting me to promote that, too. It’s called Sex, Lies and Gefilte Fish, and it comes out in October I think. It’s a collection of personal essays by a whole lot of really cool people — and me.
I’m also the new advice columnist for Heeb magazine. I just did my second column.
Besides, you know, work stuff, I’ve been focusing lately on doing a lot of music, like performing around town doing sort of like comedy shows, and doing musical acts and songs that I’m writing, and characters and stuff.
So do you like to keep expanding characters and pieces that you’re working on — do you always need to be working on some new project or exploring something new?
I really like to perform live. It’s really exciting, but I don’t like to do stand-up. I mean I tried doing stand-up for a while, and it just didn’t really suit me. I didn’t enjoy it.
I started just doing sort of improvised storytelling-type shows, which there are quite a few of in town, and also shows that you read pieces that you’ve written. I did one of them last year for the [New Thalian] benefit.
But lately I’m just more into music. Like I’m starting to learn to play guitar so I don’t always need to find someone to play for me. I just love doing music on stage, in sort of like a comedic way ... I wouldn’t say they’re comedy songs, but they’re quirky. I don’t know, I guess I’m just comfortable in that venue of sort of a comedy-type variety show.
I’ve written music for my sister’s show, and we’re going to be going on tour in January ... to promote the show, and there’s going to be a lot of music in that. I already have a couple of ... songs. It’s just fun. I’m not the greatest singer and I really stink at guitar, but it’s just so much fun, I just love it, and it tends to go well.
You said last year that people in New Hampshire don’t necessarily know you as a comedic performer. Can you tell me more about that aspect of your career?
I don’t know what people in New Hampshire think ... I’m not known as a comedian. I think that if I’m known at all it’s as a comedic actress, but I really, really want to do more drama-type stuff. I really always have. Because comedy just sort of came to me and I really appreciate it because it’s great to work in and it’s really fun, and I enjoy comedy a lot. I mean humor is like probably the most important thing in my life in terms of just survival, but I’ve studied acting a lot and I have a more subtle nature, I think. I’m not real big or over the top, and I really like doing more dramatic type roles. So I’m kinda trying to make that happen.
As an actor, how difficult is it to be frequently searching for the next role?
It’s pretty hard. When you’re first starting out, you think when you get these breaks and ... roles on these well-known shows ... that it’s going to open everything up. But it’s just been a real slow, steady climb for me — you know, just these little steps. And I’m pretty happy with everything that I’ve gotten to do. I feel good about the quality ... of the shows that I’ve been able to work on. It’s hard, but you just keep pushing.
Like with House — I had really wanted to be on House because I love the show and I’m a big fan of Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry from back in the old days, in their British comedy days. I actually had three separate auditions for that show and got the third one, which was the biggest part of the three. So you know, when you lose out you’ve just got to believe it’s because something better is going to come.
You’ve worked on animated series — are there any aspects about voice acting that you prefer to being on screen or do you prefer to be on screen?
I prefer being on screen because I don’t really like to have to talk as much, I mean — that doesn’t really sound right — but you get to do a lot more subtle acting on screen.... When it’s just your voice you have be a little more — animated, I guess would be the word. I love it, though; I mean I’ll take any voiceover work I can get. ... it’s great work if you can get these parts. It doesn’t take a lot of time and you don’t have to wash your hair or anything or shave your legs. And it’s fun.
I pretty much do whatever anyone wants me to do acting-wise.... it’s always a chance to see what you can do with something and just get more experience and get better, and … to me it’s the most fun thing to be doing.
What kind of performing did you do in New Hampshire?
Very little. ... We did plays when we were kids at the Palace Theatre. I think I was only in one production, which was The King and I. I was in sixth grade and both of my sisters were in it. And then I think my older sister directed me in a school play in ninth grade. That’s about it. I wasn’t an actress; actually I always wanted to be a novelist or a writer. I, like, did want to be an actress, I just thought I was too shy and that I wouldn’t be able to do it, but eventually it got the best of me.
So did anything about growing up in New Hampshire influence your career at all?
Growing up in New Hampshire you lead a very normal life, you’re kind of in the country, and … I think that’s been a really good thing to have — a good grasp of being a regular person. You know, I think of kids that grow up in Hollywood, I think maybe have a harder time playing normal people … And also I feel like I grew up in this weird, like, Jewish, super-liberal Democrats sort of artsy family. So we were sort of oddballs and so we had the other side going on, for comparison or contrasting to what life was generally like, because we were always going to plays — we’d go to New York every spring to see the new shows. We were always going to museums and things like that. And talking about politics and campaigning and all kinds of stuff that, like, other kids weren’t necessarily doing.
My mom’s just very involved in theater — obviously.
Was it then college that you really decided to move towards acting?
Yeah, I think so. I really wanted to do it, but I just didn’t know if I had it in me to live the lifestyle of a struggling actor. But I started doing some sketch comedy in Boston and then ended up just sort of stumbling into the Dr. Katz show. Once I was doing that there was no turning back. I started getting a lot of voice work, and moved to New York and then to L.A.
I do a lot of different things ... but acting is one thing I might not even be the best at it, you know, there might be other things I’m better at, but it’s the one thing that I never stop wanting to be better at, and I just never stopped wanting to do it, so it stuck.
So this year, for the show at the Palace do you know what you’re going to perform?
I’m actually not sure yet. I was supposed to do another written piece, but I was really feeling like I’d rather do music, especially ’cause my niece is going to be there and she’s a little singer-songwriter herself. She’s 16 now. I would love to work out something that I could do with her, like some music that we could do together — that would be the most fun thing. — Heidi Masek
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