Flower Girl Marla SokoloffSokoloff currently stars in Flower Girl from the classic cinema-for-television of The Hallmark Channel. The November 15 premiere of Flower Girl on the network hits TV screens at 8 pm.

Sokoloff phoned SheKnows for an exclusive chat about being a Flower Girl on the Hallmark Channel while simultaneously planning her own wedding and how wedding scenes from the film are inspiring her own nuptials.

Marla Sokoloff: Hello, Joel.

SheKnows: Well, hello, Marla, how are you?

Marla Sokoloff: I’m excellent, how are you?

SheKnows: I’m doing great, thanks for phoning SheKnows about your new Hallmark movie, Flower Girl. I have to start by asking what was it like just to spend time with Marion Ross?

Marla Sokoloff: (Laughs) It was amazing. She’s such a talent and such a legend and an absolute sweetheart to boot. My favorite part of Marion was that she has kind of a wicked sense of humor. Every once and a while she would say something totally jolting that you would never expect Marion Ross to say (laughs).

SheKnows: What was the big appeal for you — not just for Flower Girl — but about your character in Flower Girl?

Marla Sokoloff: It’s really funny. I got the job about a week after I got engaged in my real life.

SheKnows: You kidding! Congratulations.

Marla Sokoloff: Yeah! Thanks, I was really excited to be involved in a project that was wedding related. Because when you are engaged, that is really all you care about or want to talk about (laughs). So it was fun to be completely obsessed with it in my real life and go to work and dealing with beautiful flowers and trying on beautiful wedding dresses.

Marla SokoloffSheKnows: Talk about timing, too…

Marla Sokoloff: Yeah, it was very strange.

SheKnows: Did you get any ideas for your own wedding?

Marla Sokoloff: I did, it’s funny, mainly flower ideas.

SheKnows: Sure…

Marla Sokoloff: I took a lot of pictures and emailed them to my wedding planner when an arrangement would come in that I liked.

SheKnows: I wondered.

Marla Sokoloff: Laughs

SheKnows: The idea of the film, I think a lot of women can identify with that it is when they realize that maybe that person isn’t out there, that in fact he arrives.

Marla Sokoloff: I think there’s so much pressure on women to find “the one.” Everybody’s seems to think that there is the ideal man out there, but you really don’t know who your ideal man is until he comes out of nowhere. I think the message of the movie is to not settle. I think that’s really important because I think women feel the pressure to have children, get married…yeah, everybody wants that, but you need to do it with the right person. Lauren, in the movie, really stays true to her beliefs about waiting for the right person. I think it’s a great message to send.

SheKnows: Absolutely, something that also strikes me, that the Hallmark movie is such a pop culture icon. For you to be a part of one here, what does that mean to you as an actress?

Marla Sokoloff: I grew up watching them. For me, it was exciting to be a part of the Hallmark family. (Laughs) I’ve always wanted to do a Hallmark movie because the Hallmark building is actually right by my house. So, whenever they have a movie on, they put up a billboard. Now, the Flower Girl billboard is finally up there. I always wondered if I’d ever be up there (laughs).

SheKnows: Well, there you go!

Marla Sokoloff: Exactly…

SheKnows: Honestly, that could be one of the reasons to do this movie…

Marla Sokoloff: Seriously (laughs)! It’s definitely something you consider.

SheKnows: It is a big deal.

Marla Sokoloff: You know, it’s funny. I’ve been doing this acting thing for so long now, my family is unfazed by what I do, but this Billboard is a big deal (laughs).

SheKnows: Working with David Kelley, that’s fine…but a billboard…(laughs)

Marla Sokoloff: Your show won an Emmy, no big deal. You got a billboard? Yes! It’s on!

SheKnows: What was that like working with David E Kelley on The Practice, the guy is prolific, but still at the end of the day, not a lot of actors get to work with him.

Marla Sokoloff: Completely prolific…and such a surreal experience. I was 17 when I got that job. I didn’t understand the enormity of it all. David Kelly and this prestigious show and working with such amazing actors, it took me a couple of years to understand how massive that was and then when you get off of a show like that, it’s not easy to back on a show like that. That’s also when you realize, ‘wow, I had a pretty awesome situation there.’

From She Knows

Forget about always being the bridesmaid. Sokoloff was always the bride. And she gets to be again (walk down the aisle number five) in the Hallmark Channel movie “Flower Girl,” premiering at 8 p.m. Saturday. The romantic comedy finds Sokoloff, 28, playing a florist who’s always attracted to the wrong men, but who finally finds true love.

But it turns out that all of Sokoloff’s “altar” egos are going to have a purpose beyond a paycheck for her after all. Sunday, just six days before her latest TV wedding, she did the marital thing for real when the star of “The Practice” exchanged vows with her boyfriend of five years, film and TV composer Alec Puro, in Beverly Hills.

Trying to recall a similar instance of television and life dovetailing with a nuptial twist produces no examples. Perhaps the closest thing would be Lucille Ball’s delivering her actual son on the same night (Jan. 19, 1953) as her TV character Lucy Ricardo gave birth on “I Love Lucy.”

“It’s pretty wild, isn’t it?” gushes Sokoloff of this momentous example of life-imitating-art. Or is it art-imitating-life? “It was pretty exciting to be doing ‘Flower Girl’ at the same time I was actually engaged, which happened just before we started shooting the movie in October of ’08.

“I feel like I’ve had enough practice for this in my career, you know? I’m more than ready for the real thing.”

The plotline of “Flower Girl” finds Sokoloff portraying a florist named Laurel Haverford, who’s losing hope that her prince is ever going to ride up on a white horse after having gone through an assortment of toads. It’s her grandmother, Rose Durham — played by Marion Ross, the legendary star of “Happy Days” — who keeps fixing her up under the theory that the path to Mr. Right may be littered with potholes but eventually will bear fruit.

Is there any sort of autobiographical element to the story for Sokoloff? She admits to having gone through her share of guys en route to finding The One, including a long-term relationship with actor James Franco.

“It’s never a simple journey,” she admits, “but that just makes it better when you meet the one you want to spend the rest of your life with.”

Sokoloff’s breakthrough role as a sassy receptionist on “The Practice” led to movie roles in the comedy “Dude, Where’s My Car” opposite Ashton Kutcher and on the tube in everything from “Desperate Housewives” to the comedy series “Big Day” to “Modern Men.”

From News OK

Just in time for the holiday season comes Flower Girl, the story of a lovelorn florist torn between the perfect guy “and a perfect stranger. After years of doing flowers for other people`s weddings, eternally single Laurel Haverford (Marla Sokoloff, The Practice) has almost given up on finding love ” until her marriage-minded grandmother, Rose Durham (5-time Emmy nominee Marion Ross from Happy Days), fixes her up with a charming doctor (Terry Maratos). But when Laurel meets a mysterious writer (Kieren Hutchison, One Tree Hill) determined to sweep her off her feet, she soon finds herself forced to choose between two very different men. For a florist who has had never been lucky in love, it`s about time everything started coming up roses!

The second film by Brooklyn-based writer (and publicist) Marjorie Sweeney, Flower Girl will have its broadcast premiere on Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 9:00 pm, with encores on Saturday, November 14 (11pm/10c), Sunday, November 15 (1am/12c) and (9pm/8c) and throughout the holiday season.

From The SOP

“I don’t know what it is about me that has a bridal look or something. How is this possible? I guess if I were asked to play a stripper seven times, that would bum me out,” says the former “The Practice” actress.

Sokoloff says that as far as picking up pointers from all those faux nuptials, “the main thing would be the dress. I’ve been to so many bridal dress fittings, I knew what was flattering.”

She and Puro, who met via mutual friends Jessica Capshaw and her husband, Christopher Gavigan, “knew we had so much in common when we first started talking … Love kind of comes when you don’t expect it,” notes Sokoloff.

They expect about 115 guests to be on hand when they make their vows. As far as the style of their wedding, well, “mine could not be further from the fantasy wedding in the movie,” she says, referring to the fairy-tale-worthy affair in “Flower Girl.” “I love my character. She’s a complete romantic, yet sensible, too.”

And then there’s her movie grandmother, Marion Ross. “I’ve always been such a huge fan of hers, since ‘Happy Days.’ She has a wicked sense of humor, kind of dirty at times. I loved that about her.” Mrs. C.? Goodness.

From the National Ledger

Sokoloff, who is set to marry film and TV composer fiancé Alec Puro early next month, will play a florist who is always attracted to the wrong men, but finally finds true love in the end.

She will play Laurel Haverford, who is starting to lose hope that her prince is ever going to show up after going through an assortment of toads. TV icon Marion Ross will play her grandmother, who keeps fixing her up.

“Flower Girl” will premiere on November 14 on Hallmark Channel.

Hallmark Channel is marrying off Marla Sokoloff in the network’s original movie “Flower Girl.” The romantic comedy will see the actress wed on TV six days after her real-life walk down the aisle.

Sokoloff, who is set to marry film and TV composer fiancé Alec Puro early next month, will play a florist who is always attracted to the wrong men, but finally finds true love in the end.

She will play Laurel Haverford, who is starting to lose hope that her prince is ever going to show up after going through an assortment of toads. TV icon Marion Ross will play her grandmother, who keeps fixing her up.

“Flower Girl” will premiere on November 14 on Hallmark Channel.

Read more: All Headline News

But now, Sokoloff is getting married in real life, and she says that the fact she has tried on so many wedding gowns as a part of her job affected her enjoyment when it came time to select her own bridal ensemble.

“I felt like when I was looking for my real-life dress that it was anti-climactic because I had done it so many times,” Sokoloff tells ET. “I just didn’t feel that excitement you are supposed to feel when you find the dress. But then, when my actual dress was delivered to my house [a gown by Amsale] last week, I was so excited, I ripped it open like it was ‘Sex and the City,’ and I finally had my moment.”

In contrast to the gown that she wears in “Flower Girl,” which is pouffy, Sokoloff says her own dress is simple. “I didn’t want to do anything crazy,” says the actress, who also decided to only have two bridesmaids. “I didn’t want to have a princess ball gown or anything like that. I am definitely more of a subtle bride. That is all I want to say. What if my fiancé reads this?!”

Sokoloff is marrying film and TV composer Alec Puro in a black/white themed November wedding. The couple met through a mutual friend, but the actress says even though she has found her prince, she can relate to her “Flower Girl” character, who kissed a lot of toads. “I think we have all had our share of bad choices in that department,” she says, laughing.

“Flower Girl” premieres on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 9 p.m. on the Hallmark Channel.

From ET Online

As scientist Imogene O’Neil, she must continue the work of her boss, Dr. Lehman (Christopher Lloyd), and get information to a government scientist, Dr. Chetwyn (Jason Alexander), that may prevent the planet from being blasted to smithereens.

And Sokoloff wasn’t about to do all this in a pair of flats or running shoes, despite the fact that she was covering a lot of rough ground in the desert just outside of Los Angeles last summer.

“I had high-heeled boots on,” Sokoloff says. “It was a huge fight with the producer, because I did have to do a lot of running. I’m 5-2, and I have never, ever been on film in my entire career without having height. That’s just not fair. No, I need my high heels.”

While Sokoloff may not be the equal of “Alias” star Jennifer Garner for saving the world in stilettos, she does get to do a lot of action-hero stuff in “Meteor,” along with being a scientist.

“I actually thought it was quite hilarious when I got offered this job, and I was playing a scientist” she says. “Not only a scientist, but one who saves the world. I’m like, ‘Really? Me? OK.’ ”

“Meteor” also stars Stacy Keach (“Prison Break”) as small-town California Sheriff Crowe, and Billy Campbell as his son, Jack, an LAPD officer who’s hot on the trail of his corrupt partner, Calvin Stark (Michael Rooker).

As a native of Northern California, Sokoloff is quite used to earthquakes, but that doesn’t mean she likes them.

“I would say I do worry about the earthquakes, but not meteors. Not to sound naive, but really, a meteor? I don’t know if that even crossed my mind in the 28 years I’ve been on this planet.”

From News OK

The bubbly actress talked about her jump into the world of TV sci-fi.

Question: This seems like a different kind of project for you.

Answer: It was something I’ve never done before. I was on a law show for many years. I’ve done drama and comedy. I’ve never done an action film, and I wanted to try the physicality of it all. You know, kicking butt, being tough.

Q: Are you a disaster-movie fan?

A: I wouldn’t say that I was a fan or was not a fan. We’ve all watched the same end-of-the-world movies, but it’s not like I’ve been die-hard about seeking them out. (Giggling) I did like “Armageddon.”

Q: You face the end of the world in “Meteor.” What would you do in real life?

A: Oh, I would hide out. I would be wishing I had a panic room. I’d probably freak out. I wouldn’t go into how-do-we-fix-this mode like Imogene. I’d be terrified and hiding.

Q: Regarding Imogene, did you really understand her dialogue?

A: (Laughing) I understood it for the most part. The hardest thing for me was all the numbers. I was having a difficult time with that. I would have to recite these numbers that would just go on forever. As an actor, you learn things by memorizing, so I’d be memorizing a group of numbers that meant nothing to me.

Q: You have a lot of scenes with Christopher Lloyd. Is he as quirky as he seems?

A: A little bit. He has that side to him. He’s really kind of shy. You have to really engage him to pull the conversation out a little bit more. He does have an insane sweet tooth. He can eat an entire plate of Reese’s Pieces. He’s like a freak about the stuff.

Q: When you make a project like this, what do you talk about between scenes? Do you try to stay in character?

A: I’m one of those actors who just like to have fun. Basically, we just sat around and tried to keep cool. It was literally the hottest movie experience I’ve had in my life.

Q: When did you shoot it?

A: Last summer from June to August in areas that were like the armpits of California. It was a million times hotter than my house. The sun was blaring, there was no shade. Crew guys went down regularly because they weren’t drinking enough water.

Q: Was it a tough shoot for you physically?

A: There is a scene where I’m in a police station and I almost get raped, and I wind up killing a couple of guys. They were actual stuntmen! That was a little bit scary. It was a challenge.

Q: That road trip Imogene goes on is horrible. You ever had one that bad?

A: No, certainly nothing like hers, where everybody that gets into her car basically dies. (Laughing) Well, knock wood.

From AZ Central

Starring in Meteor is Marla Sokoloff. While perhaps best known for her role on The Practice, Sokoloff’s many credits include a recent episode of Burn Notice and the miniseries Maneater. I sat down with Sokoloff to talk about what it was like jumping into the disaster movie genre and working with an impressive cast which includes Christopher Lloyd, Michael Rooker and Billy Campbell.

IGN TV: You’ve done comedies and dramas, but this seems like the biggest action/effects heavy project you’ve done.

Marla Sokoloff: Totally. It’s definitely the most out there thing I’ve ever done, as far as action and special effects. I’ve actually never done anything with special effects, so that really attracted me to the role and was really exciting to me. As far as the special effects and such, people ask, “How was it doing that?” I don’t really know, because it wasn’t a green screen or blue screen, it was just kind of plugged in later. So it was more just me staring off into the sky – feeling like an idiot, staring at nothing! [Laughs]

IGN: The disaster movie is a pretty classic genre. Was it fun to leap into something like that?

Sokoloff: It was so fun. I had a great time doing it and also playing a scientist and somebody who’s super intelligent enough to save the world. That was also really fun and challenging! [Laughs]

IGN: Tell me a bit about your character.

Sokoloff: Her name is Imogene. She is a scientist, and she works with her professor, played by the incredible Christopher Lloyd. He’s kind of her mentor and helps her through a lot of things, but [after the disaster begins] she’s left to her own devices and with his lap top computer, which has a lot of information to help her. But she needs to get from point A to point B in order to do that… and it’s very difficult when there’s meteors flying everywhere to call people, get in a car and what not!

IGN: [Laughs] Yeah, it sounds like there would be some difficulties.

Sokoloff: It’s a little bit tricky!

IGN: Did you have any scientific terms you had to use that were a bit awkward?

Sokoloff: I did have some awkward dialogue, but that wasn’t as hard for me as numbering. There was a lot of times when I had to give someone a code, and I had to say “18… 12… 6.. 39…!” – and you’d have to rattle off all these numbers. It’s really difficult and there was one day when it was just so hot outside… It was one of those days when you can hardly breathe, it’s so hot. And my brain apparently got fried and I couldn’t remember them! So I taped them onto a computer monitor, and that was the only way I could spit them out.

IGN: There are a lot of different tones material like this take, from very straightforward to purposely campy or tongue-in-cheek. What’s the tone of Meteor?

Sokoloff: I think it has different levels throughout, with what different characters are going through. But there is no comedy on my end, because I’m alone, someone tried to rape me, I’ve killed people along the way and she is just an empty shell of herself. It’s a very serious time for my character!

IGN: Is it difficult to balance the fact that you have some pretty heavy emotions to play, but also have to deal with moments where, as you mentioned, you’re reacting to things that aren’t there?

Sokoloff: Yes. Exactly. And not working with other actors! Nine times out of ten, I’m in scenes by myself, which is tricky. When you’re walking alone in the desert, and you don’t have anybody to connect with, as a human being it starts to make you a little loopy. And when you’re an actor portraying somebody like that, you kind of feel like it’s easier to play off of other people and have the help of other actors. When you don’t have that, it’s tricky.

IGN: Speaking of other actors, you mentioned Christopher Lloyd, and you also have guys like Michael Rooker in this. That’s quite a fun cast.

Sokoloff: I know! Jason Alexander, Billy Campbell… really cool people in this movie.

IGN: I’m a fan of Billy Campbell’s. How was he to work with?

Sokoloff: He was amazing and so fun. He’s really quiet and he reads a lot on set – I think he said he read eight books while we were filming! And he’s just a sweetheart. A really, really nice guy.

From IGN

In Mexico, scientists Imogene O’Neil (Sokoloff) and Dr. Lehman (Christopher Lloyd) are the only ones who know the trajectory coordinates, and they must get them to the military before Kassandra destroys the planet.

[Note: Spoilers follow.]

Sokoloff told SCI FI Wire a bit about her role. “She’s an incredibly smart scientist, who I was incredibly pleased to play. She’s handed the very tricky task of saving the world.” Imogene loses her mentor, Lehman, early in the story, and she’s forced to make her way to JPL Labs in California by herself, in an increasingly militarized world.

She comes up against almost insurmountable obstacles, including being nearly raped in a Mexican police station. “That was definitely my hardest day … these were actual stunt guys that they cast … they weren’t actors, and they were really tough. We had a safe word, because we wanted them to actually make me uncomfortable.”

There are some big names in the miniseries, from Lloyd to Jason Alexander, Stacey Keach and Billy Campbell. Sokoloff talked about working with the star of Back to the Future. “It was insane. My very first day of work was with Christopher Lloyd, and I just remember feeling … so intimidated and awestruck, but so impressed with how sweet he was. He’s such a nice man, and really funny. … I was actually sad because he didn’t get to stick around very long.”

Disaster films seem to be pretty popular lately, and Sokoloff speculated why. “I think there’s just a general panic that has filled the world as far as natural disasters. Living in Los Angeles, you’re waiting for the big earthquake, more fires and whatnot. And I think people, if they have four hours to sit and watch a disaster movie, kind of take their minds off the reality of their lives. … People obviously have the desire to watch them.”

About whether this could really happen, Sokoloff laughed, “I try to not even think about that, but evidently, yes, this could happen, and don’t come calling me when it does, because there’s nothing I’m going to be doing except for hiding somewhere with my dog.”

Meteor airs Sunday, July 12 and 19, from 9 to 11 pm on NBC.

From SciFi Wire

“We were both about to get married. I asked Sarah if she wanted to see a picture of my dress. We pulled out our iPhones and saw we’d both picked out the same wedding dress,” Sokoloff said in a telephone interview.

The actress joked she wants it on the record she picked out her dress first. First or not, it was also a little anticlimactic. Sokoloff has played a bride in her last five acting jobs, including “Maneater,” so she has had plenty of practice trying on wedding gowns.

“Maneater” is based on Gigi Levangie Grazer’s best-selling book about shallow socialite Clarissa Alpert (Chalke). The years she’s spent hanging out with Hollywood’s power players have started to add up. Alpert decides she’s getting married. All she needs is the right groom.

She shares her ups and downs with three very different friends played by Noureen DeWulf, Judy Greer and Sokoloff. The four women are the West Coast answer to “Sex and the City.”

Sokoloff wanted the role of Jennifer, a reserved society woman who hides a passionate side. Although the 28-year-old Danville, Calif., native has been acting since she was 12, she had never played a character like this.

“She’s that country club, pearl-wearing kind of person. They did ask me to cut my hair for the part. I originally didn’t want to because I was getting married in November and I wanted long hair. I finally decided to do it and it really helped me get into the character,” Sokoloff said.

There’s a chance Sokoloff could return to the role of Jennifer. The last miniseries based on a Grazer novel, “The Starter Wife,” was turned into a cable series. It depends on how well the mini-series does in the ratings.

Sokoloff’s credits include the TV shows “Home Improvement,” “Friends” and “7th Heaven” and the films “Dude, Where’s My Car?” and “Crazylove.” She spent five seasons on the law drama “The Practice” but it is her eight episodes on “Full House” as Gia Mahan that most people recall.

“I don’t know why that role is they one they remember. It seems to me a different lifetime ago,” Sokoloff says.

Sokoloff didn’t need a wedding gown for her next acting job. She plays a scientist out to save the world in the NBC miniseries “Meteor,” to air July 12 and 19.

From the Brandenton Herald