411Mania Interviews Friday Night Lights' Stacey Oristano
Posted by Al Norton on 04.29.2009
411's Al Norton sits down for an exclusive chat with Stacey Oristano about Friday Night Lights and her guest spot on Thursday's CSI.
Stacey Oristano has appeared in multiple national commercials and on Chappelle's Show but is most certainly best know for her role as Mindy on Friday Night Lights the last three years. She is guest starring on this Thursday's CSI.
Al Norton: Congratulations on Friday Night Lights getting a two season pick up!
Stacey Oristano: Thank you. I'm really excited about it.
Al Norton: To go from sweating out word of a renewal to getting two seasons, what's that swing like?
Stacey Oristano: I really honestly didn't think we would be back but apparently Direct TV had so much faith in us and they decided if they were going to put enough money into us for one season, why not do three.
Al Norton: Are you confirmed as returning for the 4th season?
Stacey Oristano: No, I don't know. Derek Phillips who plays Billy Riggins, and I, are both sort of sitting and waiting to hear if we are coming back. In the last episode we got married and you found out that I was pregnant and I am hoping that that comes back as a storyline but we don't know.
Al Norton: You grew up in Texas…
Stacey Oristano: Yes, Dallas.
Al Norton: So how accurate is Friday Night Lights, both in terms of football but also lifestyle?
Stacey Oristano: I think it's dead on. I didn't come from a football town at all but I definitely understood the whole football mentality of it, of that's where you come from and that's what you do, and it is really important.
Al Norton: Do you see people you knew growing up in the characters on the show?
Stacey Oristano: I think I knew everybody, even Mindy and Angela. We had a definite Smash, and not so much Jason Street but a leader like that, and we had the bad girl who turned good, and the Christian right wingers, and the bad boys. I sort of know every single one of those characters really well.
Al Norton: Did people from your past start reaching out to you after they started seeing you on the show?
Stacey Oristano: Just in the sense of me getting calls from people saying, "was that you on my TV?" Yes it was. They are a little surprised I am working, I guess (laughing).
Al Norton: Is your portrayal of Mindy based on anyone in particular?
Stacey Oristano: No, she's kind of mish-mosh of a lot of really strong women I've met in my life. I started to really study not so much people that I knew but girls out in public who were strong and also a bit louder than everybody else. I would watch what they do because that's just not me at all; I'm not that girl at all.
Al Norton: That must make it fun to play a character who is always at such emotional extremes.
Stacey Oristano: No, there is nothing apathetic about Mindy (laughing). She's hard core, whatever it is that she's feeling or doing at that moment. I love that and it's really great writing I get to play with.
Al Norton: Did you folks have any mixed feelings when you were hired, like "it's great that you got a big job but why do you have to play a stripper?"
Stacey Oristano: No, I think they're used to it. I've been playing hookers and strippers since I graduated college. I think it's my lot in life. People tell me that I am paying my dues but I am wondering, "haven't I paid my dues yet?" I played a hooker on The Chappelle Show and then I played a stripper on Friday Night Lights and now on CSI I am playing a girl in a bikini contest, so I think I am moving up the ladder (laughing).
Al Norton: Tell me more about your CSI episode.
Stacey Oristano: What's funny is that the episode is about a disease epidemic that takes over the city, so that's interesting timing. I have the side story, not the main one, but it's really funny.
Al Norton: How different was the production process and how difficult was it for you to adjust after three years on Friday Night Lights?
Stacey Oristano: It was so completely different. We have four or five hand held cameras on us at all times on Friday Night Lights and we don't worry about continuity, plus we improve most of what we do, so every take is different. I went to CSI and the first thing I noticed was all the tape on the interrogation room floor, the box I'm not allowed to move out of and the screen where they make sure every strand of my hair looks the same each time.
One time in between takes I leaned against a wall and got that sort of crease in your skin from leaning against something and we had to wait for it to go away before we could start filming again. I was like, "this so new to me. We don't do this on Friday Night Lights; we're dirty.
Don't miss Stacey Oristano on CSI Thursday at 9 pm on CBS
