Alice Amter
Alice Amter is best known for her role as Mrs. Koothrappali in the award winning comedy ‘The Big Bang Theory - five seasons in and the show is still going strong.
I caught up with the British born actress to talk about the show, why it is still so popular and what lies ahead.
- The Big Bang Theory Season 5 will be heading to the UK this year so what can we expect this time around?
Season 4 left off with a cliff-hanger with Leonard and Priya, Priya returning to India, so the beginning of season five picks up where that left off.
Leonard tries to add some long distance spice to his relationship with Priya which is very funny - and without giving too much away he does get busted, I suppose that is the right term.
(Laughs) Our son, Raj, is dating and we have to intervene because we are not happy with who he is dating and how she is going about dating our son.
So that is pretty much all I can say about my character and my Koothrappali clan.
- In America we are seeing shows get cut left, right and centre so what do you think has made The Big Bang Theory so enduring because it is still as popular as ever?
Basically I think it’s about imperfect people and their awkwardness in dealing in the most fundamental sort of situations. I think it s very well written, it’s funny and I think it coincides with the whole technology boom.
There in the eighties and nineties it was all about Baywatch and beautiful people and people were fantasising about that sort of thing and a whole section of society got ignored and now I think it’s their turn.
Of course there is a great cast, great writing and great production all have a hand in it but fundamentally people from all over the world can relate to those characters - there are those kinds of characters in every country I think.
- The series was created by Chuck Lorre so how do you find working with him - he is a massive name in American sitcoms?
I love it, I love Chuck!! I have no complaints about Chuck whatsoever he is a very nice guy. Had I know that I was auditioning for him, I had not idea who was in the room, I probably would have melted or something but I am just thankful that I was selected.
The casting process was pretty intense and there was a point where I thought I had dropped the ball but luckily I didn’t, or not as seriously as I thought I had. I just knew that I had to get that job - I don’t know why I knew that unless it was some psychic awareness that it was going to become the phenomenon that it is today.
- You have touched on my next question really you have been with the show for several year but what originally drew you to the character and the series?
At the time I had been auditioning quite a bit as an Indian woman so I felt that I down tight; the sari, the make- up the accent - being born and raised in England totally helped as I had been surrounded by a lot of Mrs Koothrapali types. So I kind of related to what they wanted.
There was also a girlfriend role for Raj in that first episode that I did and age wise I was more suited to that role, I am not actually as old as Mrs Koothrapali.
So age wise I could have played the girlfriend but I decided to go for the mother because I knew that being a relative you had more chances of coming back than if you are just a girlfriend as they come and go.
- Comedy is something that many actors shy away from so how comfortable are you with this genre in the beginning?
I had done a couple of comedy bits, I was in the Good Girl with Jennifer Aniston; but that was dry comedy almost black comedy. The only think I kept thinking in the audition was ‘take the material and make them laugh’ if you take the material and you are not funny with it and no on is laughing in the room then you are not going to get a job in comedy are you?
It came at a time when I wasn’t shying away from anything (laughs) I just wanted to work and I was ready to give anything a go - if I’m crap I’m crap but at least I gave it a shot. I had no problem with it.
I love it and I really enjoy going to work. You start laughing the night before when you get the script and you are reading it aloud but the next day at the table read when everyone is reading it you are laughing your socks off because everyone injects their twist on the dialogue.
Everytime I go into work there is a real and legitimate excitement in the room and also a level of intelligence as well as a desire to keep on polishing and tweaking to make it as funny and entertaining as possible - it’s a great education in a way.
- You are based for a lot of the year now in the States so how have you found the move to America?
I had to learn the language so that was tough (laughs). No. I had lived in Germany, France and Japan before so in comparison I found moving to the States really easy because of the cultural and linguistic similarities to the UK.
It’s very intimidating when you get to go to one of the big studios such as Warner Bros for the first time your hands are shaking because you can’t believe that you are there. So you have to overcome the nerves and not being intimidating and saying ‘I am valid too. I am just one little person Hollywood but I am valid too’ if you believe in that then that will stand you in good stead.
They are very sort of welcoming in general over there, especially to Brits; although I don’t often audition as a Brit.
- But you were originally a teacher so what made you leave that profession behind for acting? Is it something that you always wanted to do?
Yeah I wanted to be an actress from childhood and I remember when I was young people use to say that I looked like Sophia Loren, I had no idea who that was so I made a point of finding out and when I did my draw dropped.
I was very good academically and growing up in industrially declining Birmingham you weren’t encouraged… it’s not like now where everyone wants to get involved in acting. I was good a foreign languages and I was encouraged to go to uni and all of that.
So I ended up in Japan teaching English with a great salary, two holidays a year - it was a fabulous life. I only sent one application for a job and got hired, I was the envy of the whole school who had been applying left and right and going down to London for interviews.
I felt creatively stifled in Japan. I did all of the Addams Family movie promotions in Japan, they dressed me up as Morticia Addams. Basically I just asked myself what kind of life I wanted and that childhood dream was still there so I decided to go for it.
- Throughout your career we have seen you move between TV and movies so how do you find the two mediums compare/contrast do you have a favourite?
They are different, they are very very different. For a while I did focus on film and I would like to return to film but it is just a question of finding the right project and role and who is involved - in the beginning you will do anything to gain experience but now I am more picky.
What I like about television is the immediacy and you know that you are going to be on screen - what you have shoot will be seen pretty soon after you have done it.
With film I have got projects that I shot back in 2006/7 that are still in post production - films can get shelved and funding can fall out of film; even if you make a piece of work that you think is good. I am talking about independent films and there are a lot of independent filmmakers - especially in LA.
I would love to work with the studios because I love studio projects (laughs) but a good indie with real hear to it would be of interest.
I would also be interested in doing some work here in the UK and Europe to see how everything is over here - I think there is a lot more serious drama going on here that I would like to get my teeth into.
- We see a lot of actors move behind the camera so is that of any interest to you?
Well actually you caught me off guard when you phoned as I am doing some research… my life story, without sounding really vain, is sort of cinema worthy I am realising.
I am currently in Birmingham, where I was born and raised, I am revisiting parts of my childhood and it’s very interesting and I am thinking that it would make a great reality TV show, documentary or feature film.
Definitely down the line I see myself writing and producing, directing I’m not too sure. Writing and producing is like cooking really it’s about getting a bunch of ingredients together and seeing if it’s worth of an audience.
- Finally what's next for you over the next 12 months or so?
Really just branching out I suppose in terms of being not just in the United States but also over here (UK) and in Europe.
But I also want to branch out in other areas of entertainment. I am very aware that everything takes time but I just think that you will be seeing more of me (laughs).
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Alice Amter is best known for her role as Mrs. Koothrappali in the award winning comedy ‘The Big Bang Theory - five seasons in and the show is still going strong.
I caught up with the British born actress to talk about the show, why it is still so popular and what lies ahead.
- The Big Bang Theory Season 5 will be heading to the UK this year so what can we expect this time around?
Season 4 left off with a cliff-hanger with Leonard and Priya, Priya returning to India, so the beginning of season five picks up where that left off.
Leonard tries to add some long distance spice to his relationship with Priya which is very funny - and without giving too much away he does get busted, I suppose that is the right term.
(Laughs) Our son, Raj, is dating and we have to intervene because we are not happy with who he is dating and how she is going about dating our son.
So that is pretty much all I can say about my character and my Koothrappali clan.
- In America we are seeing shows get cut left, right and centre so what do you think has made The Big Bang Theory so enduring because it is still as popular as ever?
Basically I think it’s about imperfect people and their awkwardness in dealing in the most fundamental sort of situations. I think it s very well written, it’s funny and I think it coincides with the whole technology boom.
There in the eighties and nineties it was all about Baywatch and beautiful people and people were fantasising about that sort of thing and a whole section of society got ignored and now I think it’s their turn.
Of course there is a great cast, great writing and great production all have a hand in it but fundamentally people from all over the world can relate to those characters - there are those kinds of characters in every country I think.
- The series was created by Chuck Lorre so how do you find working with him - he is a massive name in American sitcoms?
I love it, I love Chuck!! I have no complaints about Chuck whatsoever he is a very nice guy. Had I know that I was auditioning for him, I had not idea who was in the room, I probably would have melted or something but I am just thankful that I was selected.
The casting process was pretty intense and there was a point where I thought I had dropped the ball but luckily I didn’t, or not as seriously as I thought I had. I just knew that I had to get that job - I don’t know why I knew that unless it was some psychic awareness that it was going to become the phenomenon that it is today.
- You have touched on my next question really you have been with the show for several year but what originally drew you to the character and the series?
At the time I had been auditioning quite a bit as an Indian woman so I felt that I down tight; the sari, the make- up the accent - being born and raised in England totally helped as I had been surrounded by a lot of Mrs Koothrapali types. So I kind of related to what they wanted.
There was also a girlfriend role for Raj in that first episode that I did and age wise I was more suited to that role, I am not actually as old as Mrs Koothrapali.
So age wise I could have played the girlfriend but I decided to go for the mother because I knew that being a relative you had more chances of coming back than if you are just a girlfriend as they come and go.
- Comedy is something that many actors shy away from so how comfortable are you with this genre in the beginning?
I had done a couple of comedy bits, I was in the Good Girl with Jennifer Aniston; but that was dry comedy almost black comedy. The only think I kept thinking in the audition was ‘take the material and make them laugh’ if you take the material and you are not funny with it and no on is laughing in the room then you are not going to get a job in comedy are you?
Tagged in The Big Bang Theory