Archive for the ‘Articles’ Category
Talk about type casting. In her past five acting roles, Marla Sokoloff has played a bride. You might remember her as the bride in “Drop Dead Diva” who wanted to sue because she caught her fiancé in flagrante delicto with her best friend? Coming up on Nov. 14, she plays a woman who finally makes it to the altar after dating a lot of Mr. Wrongs, when Hallmark Channel premieres “Flower Girl.”
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
In the new two-part NBC TV movie “Meteor,” airing from 8 to 10 p.m. Sunday and July 19, Marla Sokoloff (“The Practice”) tries to save the world from a giant meteor strike that means a fiery doom for every living thing.
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
Marla Sokoloff avoided on-screen disasters during her run as receptionist Lucy Hatcher on “The Practice.” No such luck with her latest effort: In NBC’s big-budget miniseries “Meteor,” she runs headfirst into all kinds of pitfalls as Imogene, a brainy scientist trying to stop the titular object from destroying the planet.
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
NBC’s new two-part miniseries Meteor debuts this Sunday, telling the story of what happens when a meteor approximately three times the size of Mount Everest is on a collision course with Earth – while meteorites are already causing untold disaster around the planet.
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!
It’s up to Marla Sokoloff (The Practice) to save the world in the upcoming NBC miniseries Meteor. That’s because a giant meteor named Kassandra has been struck by a comet and knocked out of its orbit. This thing is three times the size of Mount Everest and it’s hurtling towards Earth. Showers of meteorites are destroying cities, no matter how many the military intercepts with missiles.
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.]
Marla Sokoloff immediately knew she and Sarah Chalke were going to get along when they met for drinks before the start of filming their Lifetime miniseries “Maneater.”
“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
