Continued from previous page...

Coming up to its fifth season, Angel has become acclaimed on numerous levels including writing, directing, and acting. Series creator Joss Whedon is directing the first episode of the season, something that has not been done since the pilot. Despite the cast changes, (Vincent Kartheiser and Charisma Carpenter are no longer regulars), everyone is very excited about the upcoming season, "With Joss on the first episode, it's such a good way to start off the season because he always does one that is just on its own and quirky and magical. This one will actually be a story one, so it will be interesting. When he's writing or directing, every episode that he's done while I have been there has been really, really fun."

BRANCHING OUT: DiCaprio, SHATNER, AND BATMAN?

In FW Magazine, one of many trades to feature Amy

Despite a rigorous, time-consuming schedule on Angel, Amy has participated in many other projects. She always strives to hone her craft, even when the project may have failed to meet expectations. When mentioning Groom Lake, Amy let out a quick "Oh no." Still, she never regrets taking on any job. She believes that everything should be a learning experience, "I think that's the only way you can look at it. I had literally been out here about two days when I got that. It seemed like it was going to be interesting because we got to go for five weeks to Arizona and William Shatner and a couple of people who want to do quality projects were involved. It was just exciting to be new and out here and have the opportunity to do a movie. I definitely learned a lot from doing it just because we had pretty much one take to do every scene and the sound was never recorded while we were doing it so I had to loop [ed. re-recording sound post filming] every singl! e line. It was definitely a learning experience. I think that now, especially after having the opportunity to be on Angel, that you can look and be like, 'I kind of learned that already so I don't have to do something like that again,'" she laughed.

Last year Amy popped up as stewardess, Miggy, in Steven Spielberg's huge film Catch Me If you Can starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. The role, while minor, was a great experience for Amy, "I auditioned for the main girl on the film but they had already cast [her] by the time that I auditioned. I guess they just liked my tape and said that they wanted me to do a little part as one of the stewardess' in it. Originally I had lines, and then when we got there they decided we were just going to do improv with Leonardo DiCaprio. He was sitting there sort of interviewing us and had an earpiece that Spielberg was feeding him questions to ask us.

"I'd love to do a remake of 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'. I love that movie and Audrey Hepburn" ~ Amy on her dream role

We had to do about a fifteen-minute improv each by ourselves. None of my lines made it, but it was still really fun." The shoot, which became more complicated than originally planned, became a testament to the willingness of the Angel staff to let their actors branch out. "It was kind of a weird story," she began. "They told us it was only going to shoot for two days. Everyone at Angel was super cool and let me get out, and then the scene actually ended up shooting for four days. I couldn't get out for the other two days. If you notice, when I'm walking into the airport it's me, and when the girls get inside the airport they got a girl who was supposed to kind of look like me," she said. "But I don't think anyone would notice."

Most recently, Amy did work on CBS' made-for-television movie "Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt." Adam West and Burt Ward, the original Batman and Robin, play fictionalized versions of themselves in a comedic, intentionally campy, behind-the-scenes tale of the creation of the 1960's television series. While Fred is, at times, a comedic role as well, Amy does not lock herself into any one genre, "Oh, I like doing everything," she enthuse. "That's the great thing about Angel, there's really no defined lines of how the show has to be. One episode it's like total comedy and the next is a drama. Return To The Bat Cave was fun just because it was written exactly how that old show was. It was just sort of crazy and not really how anything now is written. I played Burt Ward's first wife that he was married to before he was on the show. They had been married when they were 16 or 17. So when he got the show they ended up g! etting a divorce because she was really jealous and couldn't handle him being around all the women and having to kiss people. I got to dress like a little flower child; it was great!"

THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

Amy Acker with husband James Carpinello at the 2003 Saturn Awards

While retaining her regular status on Angel, and pursuing other positions, Amy has made time for what is most important: family. On April 25th, 2003, Amy wed her actor boyfriend James Carpinello at a winery in Calistoga, Northern California's Napa Valley. Carpinello popped the question while Amy was visiting him in Australia on the set up his upcoming feature film: The Great Raid, starring Benjamin Bratt, Joseph Fiennes and James Franco. Amy was even generous enough to cut her Italian honeymoon short to attend the UK End of Days Convention, despite the gorgeous places they were visiting, "We went to the Amalfi Coast and Capri. We could have stayed longer but we wanted to go out to London and see everyone. It really was amazing." For this past summer, Amy has been content with relaxing, "You know, once you go back to work there is so little time to do anything and see your friends, so it was nice to have the summer to just sort of relax." Still, once Angel is back in gear for the fifth season Amy may be taking some more outside jobs. "[The producers] are really nice about trying their best to let us do something. And it may be easier this year because they are really working on making each show separate. In the past, when we've had like five episodes of an arc that starts the same, it's been really hard. Angel is pretty fulltime and exhausting, it's a lot of wo! rk and to try to do something else while you are doing it, I think would be almost not fair because you want to invest so much in the show."

There are vast possibilities for Amy in her post-Angel future. While she does like to think ahead, Amy feels that ultimately, concerning her career options, "It's hard to say. Hopefully, I would love to be doing films. I saw "Pirates of the Caribbean" last night; I was like, 'Wow, I'd love to do a period piece or something like that.' That would just be heaven for me; I like those sort of bigger-than-life projects." Should the opportunity arise, it would be hard to resist the temptation of remaking a classic film female role, "I'd love to do a remake of Breakfast at Tiffany's or something like that. I love that movie and Audrey Hepburn, I think that would be fun. I don't know what new exciting thing I would bring to it, I think you would have to be invested in it and see." Regardless of what Amy chooses to pursue, her undeniable talents are sure to continue and carry her into fame.

Written by CoA Writer, Jeff Ritchie

---

CityofAngel.com would like to graciously thank Amy Acker for being extremely kind and taking time out of her schedule to give us the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful interview.

Special Thanks to Allison Rome for all her assistance in this interview.

If you have any comments for CityofAngel.com regarding this 'Spotlight' feature, we would love to hear from you. Just email us at: comments@CityofAngel.com