Yeah, um…how random is this? At a recent audition, I saw Kulap V, a funny Asian chick that I acted with on the ‘Benihana Christmas’ episode of ‘The Office.’ We had a lot of fun on set during the taping of that episode and we both talked about the inevitable question that the both of us are asked constantly, “Are you the unmarked or marked Benihana Waitress?”

I think we should go back to Dunder Mifflin.

When I first moved to LA, my friend and I drove down the Sunset Strip and all I could think was..I am far away from the land of greasy cheesesteaks, Rita’s water ice, and people that pronounce water as ‘wuh-dah’. Fast forward a few years, many crappy jobs and fruitless auditions later, and here I am, performing stand up comedy at the Belly Room at the Comedy Store. And I was scared for sure. Not the typical kind of fear though…its a fear of, “Wait, am I really doing this?” “Am I crazy?” “Why did I not become a brain surgeon/lawyer/doctor?” Answer: I suck at math/science.
So, I did my set and added a couple of new jokes, and more importantly, I got up there and just got comfortable being me. Onstage. I have no idea why its a lot easier for me to perform for random strangers onstage, than it is for me to mingle at parties. I. am. weird.

I think I’m related to these two. Somehow somewhere in Scotland there is a Scottish Korean girl who looks just like me. She raps exclusively in Scottish…

You may have already read the interviews with Jon and Andrew for the film, ‘Ruby Booby,’ so I’m pleased to introduce Tara Samuel, who has been tirelessly working as an actress/producer to bring this film into fruition. I had a chance to chat with Tara about how she got started, what inspires her, and what is it about ‘Ruby Booby,’ that got her to do fundraisers, readings, and promo shootings, to get funding started to produce the film. And without further ado…

How did you get involved with producing and acting in “Ruby Booby?” How’d you meet Jon?
Jon Rannells’s wife Kathryn Winslow is an award winning actress from Canada, with whom I had the privilege of performing in a theatre production called “The Affairs of Anatol” produced by celebrated Irish-American actor John O’Callaghan and directed by acclaimed theater director Sue Miner, in Toronto of 2005. Is was then that we discovered we were all planning to move to Los Angeles. Since arriving in L.A., 2006, Jon & I have been collaborating on scripts of his; always with the aim of bringing his work to the big screen. I am honored to be playing alongside Kathryn again; Jon cast us both in “Ruby Booby”.

Very cool. How did you develop the character of “Ruby Booby?” Are there aspects of Ruby’s personality that you had incorporated from your personal life?
Ha! I think all actors smile at this question. I’m pretty sure we would all agree that there are elements from our own personal lives that we incorporate into the characters we play. At least, this is the case for me! This is how explore the personalities of the characters I play; by relating to them through my own personal life experience. – As for developing the character of “Ruby” – I would say that she developed through the hard work of all of us; through the collaboration of Jon’s outstanding writing first and foremost, then through our group script-workshopping, then via Jon’s directing and Karen Stein’s make-up (the make-up really allowed me to feel like Ruby) – and then of course through the brilliant work of the other actors in the film. All of these elements served to develop the character of “Ruby Booby”.

What got you into the acting game? What got you into the producing game?
Acting – I have been in love with it as far back as I can remember. Playing other people is the my absolute favorite thing to do. As for producing – it is the natural bi-product of assembling a group of people I love, to tell a story we are all dying to tell, which hopefully has a delicious part for me to play! Producing is making your dreams come true. Everyone is a producer.

I love that line. So, what is the most rewarding part about being an independent producer and actress?
The most rewarding thing is to walk tall, knowing you are doing exactly what you most love to do on the planet, in exactly the way you want to do it, with the people you want to do it with. This is what every single person on the planet is meant to do.

The most challenging part about being an independent producer and actress?
Hmm – I would say…. to remember that every ‘bump’ in the road; every tricky relationship I didn’t predict; every ‘tough’ spot in the ride – these moments are all as important as every ‘high’ or ‘success’ I have. These are the parts of my journey that invite me to be inventive, creative an gracious. So actually – the most challenging parts are a gift.

Tell us about how you are looking to raise money to finish “Ruby Booby.” Why are you going about fundraising this way?
Ahh yes – fund raising. The reality is, that I am new to fund raising and have been learning about what to do throughout the course of my collaborations with Jon Rannells. (We have some phenomenally silly stories to share – everything from distributing pretty bags with pens door-to-door, to launching balloons in a park – this was a major, front page news event you realize – to throwing huge L.A. wearhouse parties….) You know, I have learned so much about fund raising. I have learned that fund raising is a great thing. It is exciting, adventuresome, community-building, and inspiring to many. It is a noble undertaking, and one should always be proud to raise funds for a cause. Fund raising is simply an assembling of resources. This is how you get your stuff made! So for Ruby Booby – this ‘online contributions’ is one more way that I am learning to raise financing…what I like to call a ‘Barn-Raising’. Three cheers to raising each other’s barn.

What are the types of projects that you hope to produce in the future?
My plan is to continue to produce and perform in feature films that provoke thought, undermine convention and celebrate humanity in every shape and form that it comes in, around the world. I will be on set in countries around the globe, for a long time. Love love love it.

I love your vision. So, tell us what inspires you to pursue this very difficult career?
What is difficult? Everything is difficult and everything is easy.

What inspires you most and keeps you doing what you do?
People do. I am one-thousand-percent driven to represent people everywhere, in all of their states of being, all: earnest, enraged, well-meaning, mis-lead, in-love, ashamed, elated, murderous, enlightened. I am in love with people.

Love it!

Yea boi!!!!(Sorry Laurenne, just stole your line from the 90′s.)

We met. We wrote. We laughed. We made lots of jokes. Good ones. Bad ones. Really bad ones. Funny ones. We know more about each other’s issues than our closest friends and family members. Love these guys. And GERRY KATZMAN…you are amazing!
Just me and Robbie K..doing a little Godzira

The gals…Laurenne Sala of HUMANS ARE FUNNY and the hilarious Carly Murphy

JAE…is that YOU?! We’re the only Asians. Ya heard?
Our pimp class. Jann, Robbie K, J “Asian fetish” Norton, Gerry, Ian Kelk, Jae Yoo, Laurenne!

Kerri B…hilarious spitfire. Just kidding. Don’t kill me Kerri!
We’re trying to be Asian.

For the past 3.5 months, I’ve been in a stand up class taught by the very witty and amazing Gerry Katzman. Its a writing workshop stand up comedy class where we take the funny, painful, bad, strange, weird, and odd aspects and stories of our lives and learn how to make them into premises and act-outs. And our showcase is next week. Freaking A! Is it weird that I’m more comfortable onstage than in social settings? Probably.

And here’s a clip from my favorite stand up comedian ever. Chris Rock. This bit about ‘rap music’ is so true. I think I’m one of those girls who he’s referring to that do not care what the lyrics are. FROM THE WINDOWS TO THE WALL… Sue me

I’m doing stand-up. Thank you Gerry Katzman! I love my stand up class. You guys are crazy sexy cool!

And latest MySpace Entertainment Posts from ‘The Channel’ and ‘Trailer Park’

Zac Efron to Headline Nicholas Sparks Flick

Amanda Bynes Unretires After One Month

‘Sucker Punch’ Trailer Makes Its Debut!

(Originally Posted on MySpace Channel, TV Blog)
Christian Kane is a multi-hyphenate. Actor. Singer. Songwriter. Performer. He portrays the bad boy Eliot Spencer on TNT’s hit show, ‘Leverage,” but what you may not know about Christian is that he’s also a talented singer-songwriter and his song, ‘Thinking of You,’ just made its debut on this past Sunday’s episode entitled, ‘The Studio Job.’

Kat Ahn: Hey Christian, how are you? So, you like being referred to as the B.A. Baracus of the show, or how do you feel about that?

Christian Kane: Good. Well, I took a lot of stuff from Mr. T when I got this role. You know this is a Jason Borne character, it really is, that’s who he was before. And in order for me to be part of the team, if I was Jason Borne, I’d just be sitting there and I’d just be taking everything in. I wouldn’t talk a lot, and I was like how am I going to make this guy you know stand out and be part of a team and be a force to reckon with? And I just took one of my all time heroes, which is you know – you know Mr. T, and I said, you know B.A. Baracus was always pissed off about everything, so I’m just going to make Eliot mad at anything. I mean – and it’s really what I’ve done. If you’ll notice if Hardison drops a fork or if (Beth) spills a glass, it just makes him so mad, he can’t even sit in his seat. And I really stole that from B.A. Baracus, so I have no problem with people telling me that. That’s a great compliment to have, because that’s kind of what I was going for.

Kat Ahn: So, you have a ton of fans on your MySpace page, and you obviously interact a lot with them. Tell us a bit more about your songwriting process. And what do you think sets you apart from all the – you know the other country singers are right now, like what is it that you bring to the table?

Christian Kane: Well, I get paid to be a liar, that’s what it is, I’m an actor. You know what I mean, and that’s just what it is. And you know there’s a lot of truth to what we do, but basically I’m playing a character, I’m not Eliot Spencer you know even though I bring a lot of me to the character, and I know this guy better than anyone. But you know I – that’s – it’s not real. And I think with song writing and songs, you have to be absolutely truthful, especially in country music and so I write about what I know. And I don’t think that there’s really anything that sets me apart, but what I do bring to the table is that you know growing up, spending 10 years of my – 12 – 10 years of my life on Los Angeles, we played country music, I had to be in Los Angeles, and so we played country music, and we played the (Viper) Room, that’s where we played, we played (Sunset), we were the only country band at the time in LA, and there was – that was our venue, the (Viper) Room. Now it’s a Saturday night, and we’re in between grunge and metal and heavy you know and hair bands, but we were playing country music. And so in a sense to not lose the crowd, we incorporated a little bit of rock, we came back to The Almond Brothers, we came back to Skynyrd. And in that sense, I believe I found my sound, and I like to incorporate a little bit more rock and roll than most country people do, and I come to find out that there is a fan base out there for that.

Kat Ahn: That is great; you’re staying true to who you are.

Christian Kane: That’s it.

Kat Ahn: Well, your track, ‘Thinking of You,’ is featured on the “Studio Job” episode of ‘Leverage,’ that’s pretty awesome.

Christian Kane: Oh, that’s just – it’s a blessing, it really is. And you know and I said before where the song comes out, I’ll be so interested to see how many people go and get that. Man, that’d be so much fun. And just – it’s still the same song, but its somewhat of a different version, and I just, you know, I’ve been on MySpace, those guys on MySpace, I’ve got the best fans in the world. I’ve got to be honest with you… they’ve been with me through thick and thin. They understand that sometimes I leave the music to go do – to go do an acting job, and no one’s really criticized me that hard for it yet, and I just – and I owe it all to them, I really do. You know I think that’s why “Leverage” is such a great show, just because we’ve got – we’ve got all these people that are following us, and it’s just – they’re die hard, man, and we couldn’t do it without them you know we wouldn’t exist without them.

Thanks for your time Christian and check out his latest single, ‘Thinking of You,” on his MySpace Page. And check out ‘Leverage,” on TNT on Wednesday nights at 9 pm ET.

Check out “Thinking of You”

I had a chance to speak with DJ Qualls who plays Davey Sutton, a uniform cop who considers himself to be the protégé of Dwight Hendricks (Jason Lee) on the new TNT drama, ‘Memphis Beat.’

On this quirky cop drama set in Memphis, Tennessee, DJ Qualls plays a rookie cop who has a few tricks up his sleeve. He’s in good company with a talented cast including Jason Lee, Alfie Woodward, and Sam Hennings. The soundtrack featuring artists like Elvis and Sam Cooke also adds a unique flavor to this cop drama.

Kat: Hey DJ, so I’m from MySpace Channel and wanted to know how active are you with your fans on social media?

DJ Qualls: So I started basically just to you know to be able to Tweet one message so a bunch of my friends can know that I’m still alive. But I’m really starting to get into it. But I have to – like it’s a weird balance because the other day I realized that TNT is one of my followers. And that night I sent a text saying, ‘At a bar, 3:00 am, please God don’t let me take home a stranger”, as a total joke. First thing the next morning I was waking up, like what did I tweet last night? And then I was like oh no my bosses are on my follow list.

Memphis Beat airs every Tuesday on TNT at 10 p.m.(ET/PT)
(Originally posted on MySpace Channel, the blog for all things TV)