‘Glee’ alum savors chance to portray evildoer in movie

For Heather Morris, life has been moving at a high speed for the past eight months.

The California native who exploded into stardom as Brittany Pierce on “Glee” competed this year on “Dancing With the Stars” and, after her run there, stepped in in July as a member of the ABC reality competition’s live tour, “Dancing With the Stars: Hot Summer Nights.”

The mother of two young children (with husband Taylor Hubbell) did all that soon after making the Lifetime movie “Psycho Wedding Crasher” in December 2016.

The made-for-cable production, set to premiere Sunday, features Morris co-starring with Joan Van Ark, one of television’s best-known actors from prime-time soap-opera dramas.

Morris said she was drawn to the “Psycho” role of Jenna Kravitz, a wedding-dress maker who develops a one-sided obsession with the groom (Jason Cermak) of her latest client (Fiona Vroom).

Her effort to get close to the man she is certain secretly loves her starts by making friends with the bride; then it escalates to stalking and, eventually, a highly dangerous encounter.

The actress, 30, has long wanted to play a villain, she said, adding that she hopes the role “is the first of many I get to play.”

“This character is a little off in that she doesn’t see things the way others see them,” Morris said. “She’s emotionally unstable, so she doesn’t see herself as a villain. She just thinks she’s doing the right thing.”

The clues to Jenna’s emotional state come via Aunt Daisy (Van Ark), who runs both the wedding-gown shop and her niece’s life with an evil nature that would put Cinderella’s stepmother to shame.

The only way for Jenna to have a life is to slip away when possible and try to take over someone else’s happily ever after.

Morris, who wasn’t born when Van Ark’s “Knots Landing” launched, had to call her mother for a quick update on her co-star.

“My mother is a big fan of hers,” she said, “and once I mentioned it, she was really excited.”

What Morris learned was that Van Ark’s years of working on prime-time network dramas gave her ample opportunities to master a character who shows great cruelty — techniques from which the younger actress could learn.

Acting, though, wasn’t Morris’ first love.

She has been dancing since she was a 9-year-old growing up in Scottsdale, Arizona, where she studied jazz, contemporary and tap dancing. The training served as a solid foundation for her professional career, including her work as a backup dancer for Beyonce and her role on “Glee.”

Morris prefers the pacing of a small film to a TV show such as “Glee” because the downtime is minimal, especially when she is portraying the central character.

“Glee,” for all its work, had its share of lulls, she said.

Overall, Morris said, the demands of dance — mentally, physically and emotionally — have helped her with the fast pace of her life of late.

“I love dancing, and it feels amazing. Dancing gives you a very good work ethic.”