I landed the role in 'Caddyshack' auditioning, like everybody else. It wasn't a role I thought I'd get, so I had nothing to lose.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I kind of fell into acting. I was very lucky.
I had two jobs coming out of school: I did a play, 'The Great White Hope.' I played the boxer Jack Johnson. And I was the lead in this indie film. Then I moved to Los Angeles because New York was cold and it was really too quiet for me at that time. I was out of school; I was hungry. The auditions were trickling in, and I was antsy and ready to go.
I've made a career of taking roles that other actresses didn't want.
I got my first acting role because I was a singer.
My very first role was the character of Barbara Winslow in the movie 'Marmaduke.' Up until that point, I had only done commercials. I had never done a guest star role or a series, and yet they cast me!
I didn't want to be known as the reality-show star trying to be an actress, so I kept a lot of the failed auditions to myself.
I'm used to working really hard to get a role. I was always auditioning and talking my way into roles.
The first audition my manger sent me on was 'The Hunger Games,' and I got the role.
A month and a half after my first audition, I won the role on 'Lost.'
So the only things I was being allowed to audition for were small roles in comedies. It broke my heart. No one would see me for anything else. I knew, in order to open up my career, I had to leave or that's all I would ever be given.