Interview March 14th 2006: Stellina Rusich
[Me dialing]
Stellina: Hello [warm, inviting]
MFP: Hello, I’m calling for Stellina Rusich
Stellina: Is this Teresa?
MFP: Yes, it is.
Stellina: Hi. How are you?
MFP: I’m fine. How are you?
Stellina: I’m good.
MFP: I’ve got you on speaker phone. Can you hear me okay?
Stellina: [garbled] Try that.
MFP: Okay, how’s that?
Stellina: That’s a bit better.
MFP: Okay. I really appreciate you’re doing this for me.
Stellina: Oh, you’re very welcome. I’m sorry it took so long to get back to you. I was away.
MFP: That’s okay. Did I pronounce your name correctly?
Stellina: Yes. [Stellina Roo-seech]
MFP: I guess I’ll just start asking questions.
Stellina: Okay.
How did you get the role of Trudy?
Stellina: They were auditioning in Vancouver. They were doing the pilot episode in Vancouver. Originally it was supposed to be a very small part but a very pivotal point for Monk in the show, because of his great love for Trudy. The show was eventually moved to Toronto in the first season after shooting the pilot in Vancouver.
And you were featured in one of those episodes?
Stellina: I was in one in Toronto [Mr. Monk and the Other Woman] and then it was moved again to Los Angeles so Tony [Shalhoub] could be closer to his family.
So was he easy to work with?
Stellina: Yes, definitely. He was very, very engaging. Very talented. As good as he is in the show, he’s really better in person. He’s amazing, just amazing.
Before you were cast in Monk, you also played a dead wife in Unforgettable. Do you think they’d seen that when they cast you?
I’m not sure. That was with Ray Liotta. I’m not sure. It definitely wasn’t the same casting director. It’s another one of those roles where I was very passive.
How do you like those roles?
Stellina: I’m moving away from that.
The role of Trudy started out very small. Were you expecting more as the show went along?
Stellina: I really wasn’t sure. I wasn’t sure at all. You never know with a pilot.
So were you surprised at the success of the show?
Stellina: Yes. I’d heard of Tony Shalhoub obviously… [Garbled] But you never know.
Do you think, I don’t know how much you’ve thought about this, do you think that how Trudy was portrayed was Adrian’s memories of her or was it the real her?
Stellina: I think he’s put her on a bit of a pedestal in terms of…. In a way I think he created an illusion of what she is. I think he created someone sort of beyond her. Because of his great love,he developed a fantasy.
What kind of person did you think she really was?
Stellina: I think she was very practical and she was fun. An intelligentwoman, but fun loving and she had a job that she did well. I think they had a great love.
Do you know why the role was recast?
Stellina: I think the role was recast, and this is what I heard, they don’t tell you directly, to fly a Canadian down for just a day or two is difficult and expensive. If they need a Trudy to come in it’s usually just for one day. For me they can’t do that. They have to bring me in for at least two days and make sure my schedule is clear. But you have a role, an important role, a pivotal role, but it’s not like she has a lot of dialogue and it doesn’t take a lot of time. So they needed another woman there in L.A. they could just bring in for one day.
What kind of effect did the role have on your career? Did you get recognized for it at all?
Stellina: No, not really. The show has done great. I think it was good to be on the show in some ways. It’s good to be on a show that wins awards, but as far as my career or being recognized, not really.
So I noticed, looking through you other credits, you’re listed as a composer on a film.
Stellina: Yes, that was a film called Little Boy Blues. I played piano in that also.
You also teach acting, right?
Stellina: Yes, I teach at a school, in fact I’m doing a workshop today and tomorrow.
Does that help you in your own acting?
Stellina: Yes, definitely. It’s makes me more creative.
Do you find that when you are working that you evaluate the other actors from the standpoint?
When I’m working on the set, you mean? I think you do, because you do it all the time, but you never ever say anything to the other actors in that sort of situation. But I do a lot of coaching as well.
Why did you choose to go into acting?
Stellina: I think originally it was because I wanted to get more attention at home.
So is anyone else in your family an actor?
Stellina: My brother and his daughter.
Are there certain kind of roles you’re looking for now?
Stellina: I’m looking for something daring typically, because there are some things I don’t want to do anymore, because I’ve done a lot of, for lack of a better word, a lot of victim roles where someone is really taking away your power or you’re killed or that sort of thing. So I’m not really interested in that anymore, because there’s no recompense. You know what I mean? Because you don’t get anything back. The character doesn’t get to have revenge or get the other person back in some way. Something is taken away from you and you’re not allowed to get it back. So the things that I’m looking for now are…. I think I like to play pretty complex roles, something that really delves into someone’s psyche, like really conflicted people. That would be of interest to me. I don’t know, it could be something as bizarre as a pedophile or a sociopath.
Have you had a chance to do anything like that yet?
Stellina: I have played some murderers, definitely. In the show that I did last year, it’s called TerminalCity, I was playing this Polish woman who has an affair with a fifteen year old boy. I’ve done three or four episodes of that, but they haven’t really explored her character or why she’s doing what she’s doing. So I’d really like to delve more into her behavior as to why she’s doing this. I find that…. I find human behavior really fascinating. I think if I wasn’t an actress I might have been some kind of, I don’t know, investigator of some sort, because that really does interest me.
So is that series still on, TerminalCity?
Stellina: It was aired and I believe it’s going to be picked up because there’s been a really wonderful response from it. And I think the channels it plays on are the more risqué channels, definitely because of the subject matter. So yes, I think it will be going again.
And that stars Maria Del Mar, who was also in a Monk episode? [Monica Waters “Mr. Monk and the Other Woman”]
Stellina: Yes, and Gil Bellows from that show. You know that show?
Ally McBeal, that’s the one he was in.
Stellina: Ally McBeal. Thank you.
What’s your favorite role?
I think my favorite role…. Actually, I recently did Night of the Iguana, a Tennessee Williams play. And I was cast very unusually in a role and it was this spinster lesbian Texas bible woman teacher.
Oh, right. I’ve seen the film. That’s a great role.
Stellina: It’s a great role and I played that role and no one normally would have cast me for because they see me sort of as more of a leading lady. But this was a really fun role. So that’s one of my favorite roles I’ve done. I love doing character roles. In fact I love doing a lot of comedy. I’ve got a comedy reel which is really, really fun. I love doing that.
So do you think it will be easier to get character roles as you get older?
I think so, but I think I’m moving more into directing and teaching because I find it very gratifying to kind of help others especially young people because they are so mixed up. I just find so many young people are so confused about what they want. They have a lot of talent, but they don’t have someone to nurture them or to mentor them. I find it really rewarding to see some one blossom and develop. So I don’t know what acting holds for me in the future. It has to be very specific things. There are things I’m turning down that I don’t want to do anymore. You know my first job was when I was ten, so I’ve been doing this a long time. I did a commercial when I was ten. So I’ve done like 65 commercials now and I’ve done you know lots of stuff starting at a very young age.
Do you remember what the commercial was for?
Stellina: Oh, yes. It was the anti-pollution commercial. It was to… It was like a public service commercial where I was singing and this girl and I did this little dance and it was about keeping the water clean and putting trash away and you know not littering.
So, you’ll never forget it?
Stellina: I could sing it for you right now.
Oh? Go ahead.
Stellina: Let’s clean up the water
Let’s clean up the air
Let’s all get together
Let’s all do our share
Put trash in the basket
Don’t litter the street
Remember, remember
To keep our world clean
Come on now get busy
Get into the scene
Everyone’s pickin’
to keep our world clean
Let’s clean up the water
Let’s clean up the air
Let’s all get together
Let’s all do our share
Terrific!
Stellina: I think it was a 30 second spot.
Do you remember every role that well?
Stellina: Uh, no. I don’t know why I remember that one. I don’t know why.
Hard to forget I think.
Stellina: I think so.
Okay, just one more question. Do you have any phobias or quirks of your own?
Phobias? Oh, as in how it compares to Monk?
Right.
Well, I really don’t like to fly even though I fly a lot. I do a lot of deep breathing and I really try to distract myself when I’m flying. Hmm… phobias. Not so much phobias I’d say. I do have some quirks. Definitely. I have things that I do that are…. people laugh at me all the time. I have a thing I do with my tongue. I stick out my tongue a little bit when I’m concentrating and I play piano and when I play piano I do this thing with my tongue and it sticks out the front of my mouth like a little a little I don’t know, like a little sheep. I am very fussy about organizing and keeping things neat and clean. I would say that I’m almost fanatic about that and also my teeth. I really do have a thing about keeping my teeth super clean. I’m always flossing and rinsing. My teeth have to be really, rally clean. I think that’s enough.
That’s very good. I thank you very much for doing this. I will email when it’s ready and online.
So are you a big fan of Monk?
Yes a very big fan of the show.