Archive for the ‘Cheryl Hines’ Category
Love is in the air for “Suburgatory’s” Valentine’s Day episode (Wed., Feb 13 at 9:30 p.m. EST on ABC), but as is the case with most things in Chatswin, nothing really goes according to plan.
While the Shays deal with the reality of overbearing mothers, and Tessa (Jane Levy) and Ryan (Parker Young) struggle to find common ground on their date, George (Jeremy Sisto) and Dallas (Cheryl Hines) see their lavish V-Day itinerary disrupted after Dallas has an unfortunate reaction to a cosmetic procedure.
HuffPost TV caught up with Cheryl Hines via phone to learn more about the romantic episode (titled “Blowtox and Burlap”), what’s coming up for George and Dallas and how she approaches the show’s more surreal scenes.
Dallas spends most of the Valentine’s Day episode hiding her face and lurking in the shadows because of some cosmetic surgery gone wrong, but the end result is pretty amazing. How was it to work with the prosthetics?
It was really uncomfortable. [Laughs.] It was interesting because, after I got off work one night, they told me to go to this special effects house in the valley. So, I show up and it looks like a warehouse with body parts everywhere and then they put a cast on my face; over my eyes and over my lips and over my ears. So, I couldn’t see or hear anything for 20 minutes. I kept thinking, “What if there’s an earthquake and I just run out into the street like a crazy woman that doesn’t know what’s going on?” I had to dig deep to stay calm during that time and then, when we actually shot, you forget you look like that and then I would be walking down the streets of the backlot at Warner Brothers, and somebody would look at me and just be horrified. They did such a good job of it that it looked like I really got carried away. So people sort of felt sorry for me. They looked at me like, “Oh no. Her self-esteem must be so low.” [Laughs.]
Anyone who watched Curb Your Enthusiasm back in the day when Cheryl Hines played Larry David’s wife, will remember her as a grounding force in a chaotic world. She was always truly funny, but she tended not to be the wacky one in a given scenario.
That all changed when Cheryl joined the cast of Suburgatory. Now she plays Dallas Royce, the super-optimistic, extravagant but lovable woman next door. And anyone who knows her history as an actress, knows that she was well trained to tackle such an out there character.
In a recent exclusive interview, Cheryl recounted, “My experience is at The Groundlings Theater, where we created different characters and did sketch comedy. And sometimes the characters were outrageous, but they always came from a real place. So even working there, we had to create characters from the people that we knew.”
The 47-year-old star noted that it isn’t hard to find inspiration. “When you start looking at the people in your life, you probably know a few outrageous characters. And so you look at those people around you.”She looks to her own mother for one source, “My mom is very Southern and she in real life says things like, ‘If you’ve got it, flaunt it.’” And she recalled another specific incident that she experienced, “I have a friend who did a modern dance presentation for the new harvest moon at her birthday party. And at the same time this person is a mother, she drops her kid off at carpool. So it’s just finding the different levels and aspects of real people.”
Cheryl Hines: Thank you so much for my Norty Award; I was so thrilled to be named Best Supporting Actress.
Al Norton: You’re welcome; you more than deserved it. And thank you for your acceptance speech.
Cheryl Hines: Of course.
Al Norton: Was part of the appeal of Dallas how different she was than who you played on Curb?
Cheryl Hines: Yes, Dallas is a 180 from Cheryl David and I really liked that. My background is with the Groundlings, doing sketch comedy and improve, building different characters, and Dallas seemed like a lot of fun; a little bit out there but still a real person. I was very drawn to her, and not just the role but the project itself was really well written, very smart and at the same time very silly, and I like that combination.
Al Norton: Not that you don’t keep yourself in great shape anyway but is there added pressure when you know the outfits the show is going to put you in?
Cheryl Hines: Yeah (laughing). There is some added pressure. It’s funny because I sort of go in and out of it. I know every week I’m going to have to wear really short, really low cut dresses so I know that already. Sometimes I feel like, “why do I care?” Dallas isn’t a model, she’s a real person with real flaws and doesn’t have to have a perfect figure. I’ll go through that and the next week I’ll think, “10 million people are watching the show, can’t you do a few sit ups?” I go up and down with it.
Tonight’s the big night on SUBURGATORY: George and Dallas have their first date!
To celebrate the occasion, I sat down with SUBURGATORY’s Jeremy Sisto (George) and Cheryl Hines (Dallas), and while I tried to get a couple of answers out of them about their new on-screen relationship, their banter hilariously took our conversation in other directions, too…
How are you feeling now that Dallas and George are finally getting together?
Jeremy Sisto: It’s exciting! I think it’s going to be fun. I really like Cheryl a lot.
Cheryl Hines: [Joking] I’m looking forward to the nude scenes.
JS: We have a good time together. It’s a really cute relationship. I think her character is so sweet. She’s crazy, but then she cries and you feel for her.
CH: George is — can I tell you something?Absolutely.
CH: This is going to embarrass Jeremy, but over the summer, I have had so many women of all ages —teenagers and moms — come up and say, “Oh my God, you’re the luckiest woman to make out with Jeremy Sisto.” [to Sisto] Though a lot of them call you George.
JS: That’s all right. There’s a difference, because until I get my makeup on, I’m a totally different guy. I go into the trailer in the morning and I go [in disgust], “Look at you!” And then I leave –
CH: And not that bad!
JS: I really could have been someone if –
CH: Just a little bit of effort.
JS: Some effort into my face and my hair.
CH: The girls love him. My 21 year old niece is crazy about him.
Question: I know a lot of actors sometimes base characters that they play off someone they know or someone in their life… when you think of Dallas do you think of someone you know?
Cheryl: Well my mom grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and she’s very southern. And she pretty much talks like Dallas. So she definitely inspires me. And my mom also likes to have fun and she likes to wear things that are sparkly and glittery and animal print. And my mom cannot imagine why anybody would wear a black dress for any reason. So you know, I have been around that all my life and my mom saying things like “if you got it flaunt it“. And so she’s just always had this attitude of, you know, “shake what your mama gave you“.It’s like I’m going on a date and I don’t want to shake it. But that’s, you know, my mom. And she’s entertaining. And she’s fun to be around so I do I like to think of her when I’m playing Dallas.
Question: (Is) there any chance that you’ll be showing off your singing skills onSuburgatory? - (Referring to Sudsy Bubbles Seed on Jack’s Big Music Show - Rosa Codero, Accidental Sexiness)
Cheryl: Oh my gosh. I really hope not. Just to call them singing skills as really a stretch. I honestly don’t know how they got me to sing on that show now that I think about it. No,. but I will be doing some dancing. There’s an episode when George and well Tessa and Dalia have a hip-hop dance off and then George – which leads to a Dallas and George dance off. So I’ll be doing enough ridiculous things that hopefully I won’t never have to sing on the show.
With the holiday season some two months away, it’s not too soon to think about what presents to get for the little ones.
This year, children’s record label Golden Records recruited some of Hollywood’s biggest names, and their singing chops, for A Very Merry Golden Records Christmas, featuring the likes of Malin Akerman, Cheryl Hines, Busy Philipps and Dermot Mulroney.
The compilation, which was released on Oct. 16, includes some of the season’s most beloved songs, including “Jingle Bells” (Akerman) and “Winter Wonderland” (Mulroney).
Which other celebs are featured on the children’s holiday album?
In September, the record company released another celebrity-filled album for the kids, The Magic Continues — Celebrity Series Vol. 1, featuring songs that included “Yankee Doodle,” “The Muffin Man” and “Pop Goes the Weasel” from celebs like Alicia Silverstone and Susan Sarandon.
