Kicking and screaming
The star of Glow Alison Brie on how she processed her Golden Globe nomination.
ALISON Brie may play a character in need of a career boost on TV, but she’s doing just fine in real life.
The Glow actress was among the actors who got good news when the Golden Globe nominations were announced this week. Brie was nominated for lead actress in a musical or comedy for her Netflix series role as Ruth Wilder, a struggling actress looking for her big break who finds her way into a female wrestling show. Brie is nominated alongside Pamela Adlon( Better Things), Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Issa Rae (Insecure) and Frankie Shaw (SMILF).
We spoke to Brie by phone while she was in her trailer preparing for a day of shooting on the second season of Glow.
An obvious question to get out of the way: How did you get the news?
I was running out the door to go to work. And I ran in to kiss my husband goodbye, and he had it streaming on his phone. And he was like, the Golden Globe nominations are happening right now. And I was like, oh my God, well, I gotta go.
I gave him a kiss and then we heard my name right then. And then we just looked at each other and screamed and like kicked our legs. We did kicks. I was jumping up and down. I was like, “I have to go to work!” I was late.
How were you greeted on set? No one is here! I’m the first per-son. I was jumping up and down with the hair and makeup people. I’ll be shooting here all day. I’m sure I’ll be doing more happy dancing here with my co-stars because I’ve never worked with a more supportive group.
I just can’t wait for all the girls to get here so I can jump and down with all of them.
Does a Golden Globe nomination cure soreness?
Oh my God, it’s funny you ask because I did wake up super-sore today, and I was so tired and think-ing, how will I get through this day? And then I got this jolt of energy and was doing kicks. So many kicks.
How would Ruth Wilder take the news, if she were the one nominated?
Crying. Tears of joy everywhere. She’s practised this speech thousands of times. I picture her taking a private moment – Ruth doesn’t have very many friends she could be celebrating this with. I picture her running into a bathroom and just bursting into tears.
When the show starts, Ruth is frustrated with her career, and the kind of parts she is auditioning for – a criticism women in the industry still face.
I think that’s one of the great things about our show, that it’s offering so many incredible roles for women.
We have 14 female regulars on our show. Even looking at the nominations today, you see how many amazing roles there are for women today.
But it’s a constant battle. We’re always trying to move forward and diversify and create more interesting roles for women.
Actresses will always be looking for something more interesting than “the wife” or “the girlfriend” parts. It’s an exciting time because we’re seeing those opportunities be less hard to find. There can always be more.
And, I’ll say, it was life-changing being on a show with a predominantly female cast. And having women at the top and so many women behind the camera changed the way we all worked.
It was a really comfortable set. It was a really ego-free set all of the time.
Very collaborative, open and free. I think that enabled myself and all the women to take bigger risks with our performances.
You’ve talked about how much you wanted this part and about the audition process. Why did you fight so hard to play Ruth? What did you see in her?
I loved the writing so much and, I guess, I just realised opportunities like this don’t come around all that often where you find a role in which you are going to showcase every tool in your actor’s toolbox. And this was that show.
For a long time, I felt like: I have more to show you, if you’d only let me. This show, certainly, was that opportunity for me.
The show hit Netflix just as we were starting see the rumblings of a feminist revolution taking shape. What’s it been like working on Season Two, being a part of a show like this – of women demanding to be heard and seen in a male-driven world?
I feel like we’re really on the right side of history. More than anything, I think I feel relieved and grateful that I get to come to work in such a safe and encouraging environment – working with all these women on material that I really believe in. The stuff that we’re reading about every day did not exist on this set.
And, if anything, we’re creating a forum to talk about that through the art that we’re making. So in that way, too, it’s really gratifying. – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service