411Mania Interviews: Leven Rambin (Scoundrels)
Posted by Al Norton on 06.20.2010
411's Al Norton sits down for an exclusive interview with Leven Rambin, star of ABC's new dramedy Scoundrels.
Leven Rambin got her first big break when she joined the cast of All My Children just before her 14th birthday, and during her stint on the show she was nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards. From there she signed on to Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles for its second season, and this past year had a big storyline on Grey's Anatomy, including a crossover onto Private Practice. She can be seen staring in the new dramedy Scoundrels, premiering tonight at 9 pm on ABC.
Al Norton: How did Scoundrels come to you?
Leven Rambin: I was doing Grey's Anatomy and I knew I would be wrapping up there so I was auditioning for pilot season and when I read the script I just loved it. All my friends were talking about it; it was getting a lot of buzz among the actors that I knew. I read for it and I really clicked with the director, Julian Robinson, who is amazing, and I booked it a couple of days later. It's usually a hard process but I've never had so much fun auditioning and testing and meeting all the creative people behind the show, so I knew it was going to be a good match.
Al Norton: What appealed to you about the show in general and the character specifically?
Leven Rambin: The show is really smartly written. It's by Richard Levine and Lynnie Greene, who did Nip/Tuck, so I knew it would have an edge, which is what I would gravitate to myself as a viewer. When I read it I thought, "wow, this is really different than anything I've read before, any pilot I've read in the last two years." It stood out as being very funny and dark and yet also light hearted at times, and the characters were so distinct and so cool.
My character Heather is kind of like an airhead, she's a wannabe model, but she's actually really smart at the end of the day, and that's what we'll learn about all the characters on the show, that there are so many layers to everyone. She's very sly, she's very manipulative, and she always gets what she wants. It's really fun to play her.
Al Norton: You mentioned pilot season; is it as intense and tough as we're led to believe?
Leven Rambin: Yeah, it is. Definitely. There are so many pilots out there and some of them are about the law, or procedurals, or college based, and the hard part is picking the things you like that you think will actually do something, and then hoping you get the role. Scoundrels stood out to me as something really different, a family drama that was also funny.
I also tested for another ABC show that got picked up, My Generation, and it was also really well done. I am really glad it got picked up and I'm looking forward to seeing it.
You can have two or three auditions a day during pilot season so it's exhausting but if you book something it's all worth it. I was fortunate to test for two things I really liked a lot, and both got picked up, which is really rare.
Al Norton: When you watch My Generation this fall will you pay attention to the character you auditioned for and in your head wonder if that's how you would have played it?
Leven Rambin: Sure. I watched the preview on-line and the scene that I did in the test was in the preview and it was pretty cool to see that. Jamie King did a great job and I am really going to enjoy seeing her work on the show.
Al Norton: Obviously people had seen your work in the past but did you notice a whole new awareness of you after your first Grey's Anatomy episode?
Leven Rambin: Yes. It's the most high profile thing that I've done. It was such a cool thing to be a part of; everyone there is a movie star. It was very cool to be an up and comer in that arena and try and hold my own with everyone. I got a lot more credibility and recognition from that. It was an awesome step in the right direction for me and my career. I am super blessed.
Al Norton: Was it hard to step into a show that is such a well established hit?
Leven Rambin: Totally. I was super nervous but I met Shonda (Rhimes, Grey's Anatomy's creator) and she seemed to like me a lot so that made a lot of it go away. Meeting her was incredible; she is so brilliant and amazing at writing and developing characters and storylines and seems to have a knack for picking talent (laughing). I was a little star struck on my first day but after that Eric Dane really made me feel comfortable and calmed me down a bit. I really loved working with Chlyer Leigh, too. Ellen Pompeo was so sweet and nurturing.
Al Norton: Daytime TV is famous for its very long hours and the overall grind of putting on a show five days a week. Did you find that to be true and do you think it helped you as an actor?
Leven Rambin: I have a photographic memory for lines thanks to working on All My Children, so that's a great example of how that kind of work helps you. Especially playing two characters the way I did, it was 100's of pages of dialogue. It was all I knew at the time so it may not have been as difficult for me. When I got to primetime I thought, "wow, this is really slow paced (laughing)." Daytime is super fast paced but when you're there you don't notice it as much because you are in the middle of it.
Al Norton: What's it like to be a teenager and getting Emmy nominations?
Leven Rambin: It's pretty cool, I'm not gonna lie (laughing). All My Children was the first audition I ever went on, and everyone knows that the show is. To be a part of something that has such a history the way the show does was amazing. And the role evolved and expanded over time and they were writing so much for me it ended up being so much more than I ever expected. To be so young and to be nominated was awesome. No one can ever take that away from me, ever. One year I was the only person from the show nominated and to represent the show that way was amazing.
Al Norton: Tell me something about Scoundrels that might surprise people a little bit.
Leven Rambin: It looks like a silly, petty crime comedy but it's actually a lot about family, about how strong the relationships between the members of the family really are. It's really smart and really charming, and the messes we get ourselves in each week are very entertaining.
