Sunday Post, Katherine Kupiecki interview

Katherine Kupiecki is with me. Katherine is an actress I saw perform in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" at Dreamland Arts.

Katherine, what was the most extreme change to personality, hair, body, etc that you have done to prepare for a role?

I cut 5 inches off my hair for Martha in Virginia Woolf. That was actually big for me!

In the play, 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" your character was very loud and had a very engaging personality. Have you had to play roles like this before ?(If so which ones)

I do often play women like Martha. I've played Medea and Clytemnestra, twice, for a few more well known examples! I played a lead role in GABRIEL, a play about a tough-as-nails woman in wartime Britain, Joy Gresham in SHADOWLANDS (married to CS Lewis). I feel very lucky to portray these women who are often ahead of their time (and often punished for it). It's an honor to tell their stories.

What is a question you’ve always wanted to be asked in an interview?

You never really get asked when you started acting or when you knew you wanted to be an actor-  and I love hearing my fellow actors tell those stories! 

(Answer, if you want it:  I would put on plays for the neighborhood kids at our local park, when I was itty bitty -like a toddler. I was always doing something like that. And then I saw Drew Barrymore in ET, I thought "I could do that!" I had the knowledge even at that age that she was performing. I was five.) 

Are you currently working on anything?

I've worked with The Mystery Cafe, on and off, since 2006 doing their holiday season. it's a very fun, high-end comedy dinner theater. I'm back again for this season and we have various performances through February! I also have done the Mill City Museum's holiday show on and for about five years. I'm back for their weekend of shows in mid-December. I used to take the holidays off from performing, but I enjoy the work so much. Many, many smiling faces.

Of all the roles you played in the past which is your favorite?

I played Sharla Smith in KILLER JOE with Theatre Pro Rata in 2008. The role and the show - cast, crew, audience- were all amazing. It's a very challenging show and I was with people who understood and rose to that challenge in big ways. Loved it and I loved figuring Sharla out.

CURRENTLY

Reading: Good to Great by Jim Collins, Gratitude by Angeles Arrien

Listening: to talks by Pema Chodron

ON THE BLOG

On another note, I had a chat with two military personnel- one of them was in the navy and the other-the army.  The one in the navy talked about the length of time at sea, approximately nine months. He talked about PTSD, and how this can occur in the navy as your standing on the flight deck and you have no idea what may happen next. 

The veteran talked about planes landing all hours of the day. He said he used to position himself in an area where he could avoid the exhaust from planes. He said that the exhaust would sometimes send crew members flying into the sea.He talked about the tail hooks that are supposed to snag and catch onto cables when landing and how he’s seen some guys’ legs torn off because the line would become like  a bungee and snap back and/or send the aircraft into the sea. Luckily, many pilots can eject.

I also took my son to a big indoor play place and went to an improv show.

I'll also be in an improv show on December 11th (7-9) at Theater in the Round so I've been going over notes from my improv teacher.  Things like tag outs, edits, walk-ins, etc.