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A Q&A with Beth Behrs, UCLA alumna and star of new sitcom “˜2 Broke Girls’

CBS

By Arit John

Oct. 7, 2011 12:02 a.m.

After graduating from UCLA’s Theater, Film and Television program in 2008, alumna Beth Behrs spent years working and auditioning for film and TV before landing her breakout role as Caroline Channing in the freshman CBS sitcom “2 Broke Girls.” Daily Bruin reporter Arit John talked to Behrs about the show, her time at UCLA and actually being a broke girl.

Daily Bruin: What was your time like at UCLA?

Beth Behrs: Well, I was in the Theater, Film and Television school so I was there most of the time. My favorite place to hang out ““ well, first of all I loved going to the sporting events, that was one of my favorite things to do, the football, basketball games, especially. I worked at the Geffen Playhouse, so I hung out there a lot with people I worked with.

DB: Tell me about the day you got the part. Where were you, who did you call first?

BB: I was actually driving ““ I tested with (co-star Kat Dennings) on a Sunday morning and then they didn’t tell us in the room that I had gotten the part, we had to wait a couple of hours and then the casting director called me to officially give me the news. And I was driving, so I pulled over and I started crying and then I called my parents first. So it was great, so wonderful to finally just hear ““ because it had been such a long process and I was the only one there with Kat, so I knew my odds were good, but they still weren’t telling us officially. So it was wonderful and my parents cried, they were so happy, it was great, it was a great day. It was actually the day of the Oscars, this year, which was funny, because then I went to an Oscar party afterwards with friends, which was so much fun.

DB: You were kind of broke yourself, between graduating and getting this role. How bad off were you and what were some of the worst jobs that you worked in between?

BB: I worked at a restaurant where I was a hostess, but it was kind of not a very classy restaurant … and I quit because the manager wanted us to start wearing these referee uniforms for football season and I was like “˜I’m not doing that.’ So that was probably the worst job I’ve had. And I worked seven days a week after college. I was a nanny for a family five days a week during the week and then I would work at the Geffen Playhouse on the weekend, which ““ the Geffen was awesome because all my friends from UCLA still worked there, so it was more of a fun job, but it was so exhausting. I remember I did that for six or seven months and finally realized “˜You have got to give yourself a break. You can not work seven days a week.’ So I think I gave myself one day a week off, like Saturday. But yeah, it was rough, I mean paycheck to paycheck. My parents were so great and helped me with paying my cell phone and car bill and then scraping by to pay the rent. Me and my roommate shared a one bedroom for a while after school. It was crazy.

DB: Do you think that you’re similar to Caroline at all?

BB: I mean, I didn’t come from the, you know, obviously Upper East Side, trust fund background. My parents were both teachers. But I can definitely relate … I mean, (personally) going to UCLA and she’s very business savvy and smart and did really well in school. I can definitely relate to that sort of type A, go-getter personality she has for sure, a hundred percent. I also can really relate to the way she tries to make everything okay for (Dennings’s character) Max and stick up for Max and … her friendship with Max. I can definitely relate to that. I love the way that Caroline was written not mean. Even though she comes from a spoiled, Upper East Side background, she’s never mean. And I also love the fact that she was written as having come from Wharton School and was a business student and was smart. I thought that was something really refreshing to see on TV.

DB: When did you realize acting was something you wanted to do full time?

BB: I’ve actually always known since I was a little girl. I used to watch “The Sound of Music” over and over again when I was like 4 years old and act it all out and then I kept telling my parents that I wanted to do that, pointing at the screen. And so then they started letting me do community theater and getting involved in classes and stuff. I’ve been doing it since I was a super little kid.

DB: Do you think that getting a degree has helped you?

BB: I am so glad I have a degree. And I’m mostly glad though that I had the experience of being at UCLA because, I mean besides making the best friends I’ll have for the rest of my life, I also just really enjoyed ““ I think, as an actor it’s really important to have education because you’re, as you know, as an actress you’re kind of basing all of your characters on humanity and what’s going on in the world. I’m really happy I went to school and I think it’s important for actors to read and to be educated and know what’s going on in the world because that’s what we’re portraying, is humanity.

DB: What appeals more to you, comedic acting or dramatic acting?

BB: I mean, I always had a funny bone in me. I’ve always been kind of like the class clown and liked to make people laugh. So I think naturally comedy has always kind of been there, but, you know, I love making people laugh and this is a dream job doing a sitcom in front of a live audience every week, because I come from the theater, so it’s a lot of fun to be able to kind of have the best of both worlds in that sense. But I’d love to try doing a drama on our hiatuses or whenever the opportunity presents itself because it’s always great to be able to do it all. But comedy is definitely something I’ve always loved and have always had in me.

DB: Do you and Kat Dennings hang out a lot off set?

BB: We do. Actually our whole cast does. We’re here most of the time and Kat and I are doing press a lot of times on the weekends and together when we’re not filming, so we’re always kind of with each other, which is awesome. We have Jonathan Kite (Oleg) and Matt Moy (Han Lee) and Nick Zano (Johnny), we’re all relatively in the same age so we all hang out and it sometimes feels like summer camp at rehearsal. Sometimes we’ll have to be like “˜You guys, stop talking and goofing off!’ It’s like sometimes we’re in school. So yeah, no, it’s great. We have such a great group of people. It’s a really magical, awesome set.

DB: “2 Broke Girls” is part of a wave of female-led comedy. What are some of your favorite female-centered comedies, both movies and shows on TV?

BB: Well I grew up loving “I Love Lucy” and “The Carol Burnett Show.” So, you know, (I’ve been a fan of) Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett ever since I was a little kid. “¦ I just bought “Bridesmaids” on DVD. I think Kristen Wiig is unbelievable. I keep telling my agents, “˜I just want to work with her, please let me work with Kristen Wiig.’ I think she’s amazing and I love “Bridesmaids.” I also love Chelsea Handler and I’ve read all of her books and was a fan of her show (“The Chelsea Handler Show”), the one that she had even before “Chelsea Lately.” I’ve been watching her for years, too. Yeah, it’s a great time for female comedians right now.

DB: What was it like auditioning for the role of Caroline? How long did the whole process take and how did you stay motivated?

BB: I had never been that close on something before, so I’d never had the experience of testing for the studio and the network. You know Julie Ashton, who was the casting director, was so awesome and really helped me along the whole process and guided me and cheered me on and was there was for me. So I probably ““ I definitely couldn’t have done it without her being there for me. She let me know what was going on and “˜Okay, this is what happens in the studio test, this is what happens in the network test and this was what it was going to be like.’ So I was really lucky to have her, and also Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cummings (producers and co-creators of the show) “¦ were super supportive during that process. They had great notes for the scenes each time and really just ““ everyone was super supportive and helped me along. And then my final audition was with Kat Dennings, which was wonderful. I mean as soon as we met it was instant friendship and we just really connected and I think they probably could see, the network and studio could probably see, that that chemistry was there from the beginning. So it was great that I got to actually read with her as well.

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