TVSquad Talks To Shannon Woodward on "Raising Hope"

[JamesG]

"Raising Hope" Star Shannon Woodward Talks Family, Fame & the Awesome Cloris Leachman
by Maggie Furlong
posted Sept 21st 2010


In a new season full of big dramas and not so many exciting, fresh comedies, "Raising Hope" (premieres Tues., Sept. 21, 9PM ET on Fox) is an unexpected standout.



Greg Garcia's latest follows the Chance family as they adjust to having a new baby in their already semi-dysfunctional but totally realistic lives.

They mean well, but with a clueless 23-year-old dad, Jimmy (Lucas Neff), grandparents who thought they were done raising kids (Martha Plimpton and Garret Dillahunt) and a grandma who's more than little out there (Cloris Leachman), they've definitely got their hands full.



Shannon Woodward plays Sabrina, an outspoken checkout clerk whose skepticism is actually a bright spot in Jimmy's life.

I caught up with Woodward (remember her as Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver's daughter Di Di on "The Riches"?) to hear all about the show, the genius that is Cloris, being confused for Ellen Page.




This is a tough show to break down -- can you tell me in your own words what it's about?

Oh gosh ... the logline is kind of long, which is funny.


It's like: an average boy from a very average family has a one-night stand with a girl who ends up being a serial killer, and she gets pregnant, invites him to the jail, she gets executed and he gets stuck with a baby and re-experiences his own childhood through the eyes of being a parent.

I think it's a satire of what it's like to become a parent -- realizing that you think your parents did everything wrong, but it doesn't mean that they didn't love you.






And it doesn't mean it was absolutely wrong either.

There is no right!






This show definitely proves that ...

It's just a comedy of errors. Being a family in general is a comedy of errors.
This is just actually a comedy about having a family.














How would you describe your character, Sabrina?

I think I'm kind of the audience's eyes to some extent ... the voice of sanity.

They've started to kind of allude to the fact that maybe my character's family was a little more cookie cutter, and yet it sounds like they were pretty unhappy.

And I think that's what's interesting ... sure, maybe the Chance family's situation is a little abnormal or appears a little haphazard, but they really love each other.






At the end of the pilot, it looks like we'll be seeing a lot of Sabrina, but will you be at home with the Chance family, or at the grocery store mostly?

In the next episode, I'm over at their house. They managed to do it really quickly -- I was really surprised and happy about it.

Also a lot of time at the grocery store, too. But we become friends pretty quickly and naturally, which is good.














The grocery store gig seems pretty depressing for Sabrina.
What's the worst job you've ever had in real life?

Not acting? Oh ... you mean like a real job? [Laughs]

This is so embarrassing. I worked for a charity for a while, but ... well, I started acting while I was in high school. I kind of just got lucky enough to live at my parents' house until I was actually making enough money to be somebody's roommate. [Laughs]

I am a very lucky girl.






"The Riches" is one of those shows that's gained cult status in its afterlife ...

I never got stopped when the show was on, and now people are like, "I just watched 'The Riches' on DVD!"

I'm like, "Man, why weren't you watching then?"






Do you get stopped a lot? Or can you stay pretty incognito sometimes?

Oh my god, sometimes? All the time.

People just usually think I'm someone else. They'll look at me twice, and I'll just say, "Not Ellen Page." [Laughs]














Your costar Lucas Neff really is a newcomer.
Are you guys having fun seeing your faces on billboards?

I don't want to speak for him, but it's exciting for a second, then I just start thinking about other things. I find it hard to self-congratulate.

It would've been awesome when I was in high school and nobody wanted to make out with me, you know what I mean? [Laughs] Now it's great, and I'm happy to see them put money behind the show -- that's a big difference from "The Riches" -- and it's really fun to be part of something that it seems like the network believes in.







Have you been reading the reviews?

I actually have. Usually I don't but, especially in the pilot, I'm such an isolated component that I'm not afraid to read the reviews because I know they probably won't talk about me at all. [Laughs] I feel protected.









The cast is really just brilliant ... Martha Plimpton, Garret Dillahunt ... wow.

It's amazing. They're amazing. They're all idol material.
I'm so lucky to be able to learn from them.






And Cloris Leachman is there to make you laugh every day!
She's hysterical and crazy and awesome.

As an actress, I've never seen anyone more committed. She's so committed to the joke, which is why she's so funny. I think that kind of carries over into her personality.

She's so committed that she'll be joking and she'll just keep moving with the joke and never let on that it was ever a joke and you'll never know. [Laughs]

http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/09/21/sh...-raising-hope/