Did you base your character on anyone in particular, or did you just work off of the script?
Amy Smart: I definitely had a couple of ideas of some women that I know, not well (laughs), who just sort of check out in a way. They have good hearts but there’s just some part of them that is not connected to their children and to their life. I think this was based on some of that. Tyler wrote it and he is from a single mom. He does have a really personal experience with this, so I love that it was so meaningful to him in that way. But I just did my own version and also based it on some women that I’ve met.
You’ve been in all sorts of movies that go from one genre to another, but you’re best known for your work in comedies like Rat Race. What would you say is the key for doing comedy right?
Amy Smart: As far as being an actor, I always remember my first acting teacher Howard Fine. Me and this woman Jennifer were doing a scene from some comedy play and I started laughing because she was so funny in it. I started laughing and Howard goes, “Amy! You do not play the audience! You play the character!” So he really shook me up because he was like, “You are in this character. You are not watching this character.” So really if anything with comedy you have to commit to it because it’s really easy to just laugh and be like, “Oh this is really funny,” especially if you’re with someone who is so funny.
Speaking of Rat Race, can you tell us what it was like making that film?
Amy Smart: Oh my gosh, that was great because everyone was a comedian in that movie, so I felt ultimately so challenged to rise to the occasion to be able to compete with all of them. I played a helicopter pilot, I took a few lessons, and I was kind of a jealous woman in that movie (laughs), just a little bit. I loved Rowan Atkinson. He’s such a stud in real life. He’s so goofy onscreen, but he’s such a cool guy. He races cars and he’s a dad and he’s just a cool person. I’ve always loved Whoopi Goldberg and she was amazing to work with. Breckin Meyer was fun to work with. Honestly, that was such a fun movie to make.
It was a fun movie to watch too.
Amy Smart: Yes, it was so over the top. Everything is so fun and so over-the-top. And Jon Lovitz, he was really helpful. He was like, “You should deliver your line like this…” Like at first when I was talking to him he was like, “Let me help you a little. This is how I would do it.” He’s great.
I also wanted to ask you about Starship Troopers, which you had a small role in, because they’ve been showing it on cable a lot recently…
Amy Smart: I know. They keep showing it.
When it first came out it was largely misunderstood, but these days it has become a cult classic and audiences have come to see how director Paul Verhoeven was really doing a satire on war propaganda and fascism. What was it like making that movie?
Amy Smart: To be honest, that was my first real role (laughs) and I was totally clueless and had no idea. I thought this was like a very serious space movie. I don’t even think that I got a script. I think I had just the scenes I was shooting. And he’s (Paul Verhoeven) larger than life and I remember going on this simulator and we were flying it and he was just like on the sidelines jumping up and down like, “YOU’RE GOING UP! YOU’RE GOING UP! YOU’RE GOING UP! THEY’RE COMING AT YOU!” He was just like this flailing director just acting out what the special effects were going to occur. So that was fun, but then when I saw it I was like, “What kind of movie is this?” I didn’t realize the tone of it either. It’s like, “It’s funny?” It was sort of ahead of its time in a way.
I also see that you work with associations like Heal The Bay and the Environmental Media Association. Can you tell us more about that?
Amy Smart: Yeah, I’ve been involved with Heal The Bay for almost 20 years, right out of high school. I grew up in LA and I wanted to do something environmental and local and really active, so I called them and I joined the speaker’s bureau and started talking to kids all over the city for like six years. And then I made a PSA about a mermaid dying from ocean pollution (laughs) on the beach. It makes sense, right? And then I joined up with the Environmental Media Association about 14 years ago, and so that’s always been a dual passion of mine. I love environmental causes and I love causes that help everyone.
That concludes our interview but we’d like to thank Amy very much for her time. Be sure to check out The Single Moms Club when it arrives in theatres this Friday!
