Amy Huberman
Amy Huberman is a woman who obviously likes to keep things busy.
The Irish actress is not only the star of Comedy Central’s hit comedy Threesome, but is also a part of Chris O’Dowd’s new show Moone Boy, has had her second book just hit the shelves as well as having a baby on the way with her husband Brian O’Driscoll.
With Threesome in its second series, we spoke to the Irish actress about the show, her writing and her brief adventure in American TV.
So, what’s it like being in Ireland’s power couple?
Wow, I have no idea! I guess we don’t see each other like that, so it’s business as usually really? Ireland’s a very small place so you can often be in the spotlight quite a bit but everyone here’s really lovely and supportive so it’s all good.
What was being proclaimed Tattler’s Woman Of The Year like?
I was woman of the year for drama, so I can’t claim the overall title. Actually, that was nearly a year ago, so I’ll have to hand over my crown soon. That was lovely, such a gorgeous accolade to get and I was in the company of some pretty cool women that night, so it was a great honour to get that.
Where does series two of Threesome see Alice and the guys?
So, they obviously have the baby now, as at the end of series one we saw Alice go into labour. This series, they’ve had to deal with parenthood I suppose and I think they cope quite well. The writers wanted to show a different side of parenting and not go down the regular roads of it being a struggle and no-one sleeping, that whole thing.
So they went the different way of getting them out in the world with the baby. In series one we were mostly in the flat, we had a lot more location based stuff this time around. It’s just getting them out there as new parents in all sorts of crazy situations.
It’s refreshing in a way that the three of them are getting on with their lives; they’re still themselves with the same foibles but testing the waters of the real world with a child. They’ve all matured a little bit but they’re all still half mad, which is nice.
It must have been a nice palette swap after you’d done Rewind.
Yeah it was. A lot of the stuff I’ve done over here, particularly when I was starting out was drama and I did that for a long time. I was involved in a drama series here for seven years, I was playing a lighter character in that show, but it was still a drama.
Then I did Rewind which was very heavy and very dark, so I feel lucky that I’ve been able to exercise all different sides of acting. Actors usually love doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that but certainly the last couple of years have been geared towards comedy which is I’ve been having a great time doing.
Do you get to improvise at all on Threesome?
We improvise quite a bit. It’s a very fair system, we’ll do a couple of takes of everything. One take we’ll just do the script, the next we’ll do what we want with it and then there’s other ones where it kind of fuses together and then the editors use the ones they like best. Everyone’s box is ticked and everyone has their stuff recognised.
The thing with comedy is that it’s great to improvise because it keeps things fresh especially when you’re doing scenes over and over again. Even if they don’t use some of the stuff, it keeps us entertained.
You’ve just done an episode of Moone Boy with Chris O’Dowd, what was that like?
It was brilliant. I’ve done an episode of Sue Perkins new comedy Heading Out too so I was over and back between Manchester and Ireland, but it was great. I’ve known Chris for years; we went to University College Dublin together many moons ago so we’ve been pals for years. Actually, Chris was in The Clinic and Showbands, another drama we did again a while ago. Chris came for me for the second series saying “I’ve got an idea for a part for you’ and without even reading it I just said “Sign me up.” The show’s been such a success and it’s great to work with friends and he’s such a hugely talented writer and director I trusted him. I wasn’t too sure the hell he would have me doing, but it was great fun, I play this half-mad art teacher when Martin Moone starts secondary school.
Can you clarify for us what happened with Animal Practice, as you did the pilot then were dropped.
Well I went over in February with my agents to try and get representation. It was just on a whim really, I’d never been to LA before and thought why not go over for a week, meet with some managers and come with no great designs in my head. I signed with a management company in a day or two and they sent me for an audition the next, which was Animal Practice. That lasted for three days with the call-backs and what not, I ended up getting it and flew back the next day. It was all very crazy. So I went back a few weeks later to shoot the pilot, kind of knowing that it might not be picked up and that they could re-cast if other people become available. Subsequently it’s been cancelled by NBC. There’s so many of the those out there, I only ever went over thinking it was a seven day job and I was going to see what would happen with it afterwards, but it was a great experience. It’s just the way it works over there; it’s a very different system to over here. You’re dealing with a massive machine, and you’re a very small part of it. So you go over there knowing that and just try and enjoy it.
So there’s no evil side to you cackling away then?
No, but it would have hard to stomach if it had been the number one comedy in America, but at the same time I worked with really lovely people and I wanted it to work for them because I know how hard they’d worked and the people I worked with didn’t make the decision. That’s network people and I understand it as well, they’ve got certain things they need to do and oversee. For so many reasons I know that so many actors get moved about in pilots or get recast and then put in something else next year. You just can’t take it personally. Lisa Kudrow was meant to play a part in Frasier then got recast, so they put her in Friends a couple of years later. It’s just how they work. There’s so many pilots going on month in month out. I was disappointed for the cast who I really liked and hoped it had worked out for, but that’s dead and buried now so it’s the end of a journey for everyone so you’ve got to let it go.
You’re a big fan of the show, so what was it like getting VIP tickets to The X Factor?
That was good fun. A friend of mine knows some of the people involved, so it was very last minute. It was a friend’s birthday and we just decided to go over and surprise her, so it was great fun. We got the red eye over though and nearly missed the show just from faffing around London too much, which wouldn’t have been good. It’s always very interesting to see the mechanics of that stuff happen live, it’s always very different. Like most jobs, it always looks far more glamorous than it is, but I had a great time and I’d been missing London, so it great to go back there even just for a couple of days.
You’re not just an actress though, you’ve just released your second book haven’t you?
Yep, the second book’s out now, I had my first book come out in 2009 and it’s a little late, because I’ve been so busy. It’s kind of scary; the first book went to number one for three weeks so there’s a little bit of pressure to do the same. It feels like a long time ago that the last one came out so this one I have to treat as its own little entity and see what happens. It’s great, I love writing. It’s a good, fun story about this girl going through a bit of a tough time in her life. I’ve been trying to get it finished for quite some time. I think my publishers are just relieved that’s it’s actually done, as am I. I’m still celebrating! A lot of writer might have eight or nine months after they finish a book before it comes out, but I only finished the book in August because we’d just finished Threesome and I had to lock myself away for two months and finish it so it’s weird that it’s out so soon. It’s slightly surreal to see it in book form and on the self after you’ve been tinkering away on it on the laptop for ages.
What got you into writing then?
I started writing when I loved in London a few years ago between jobs. I’d moved over to London and coming over to Ireland for work and also working in shops and bars but I wanted something else. A creative outlet that I was in control of if you will. With acting there’s such little control and you’re just waiting around for someone else to give you a job. So I decided to take it into my own hands and do something for myself. I didn’t think it was ever going to turn into something, it was just something methodical to get me through days when I was going “What am I doing!” waiting for the phone to ring. It started like that, but when I was doing it, I loved it and writing is not a million miles away from acting. It’s storytelling, obviously in a different medium, but it’s all about getting the creative juices flowing. I was the master of my own universe too which I liked because with acting you have very little control over your routine, so I did it just for myself really to start with and it really developed into something. Now I can’t imagine it not being a part of things so I’m just really glad that took off.
So, you’ve got a film called The Stag coming up, but what have you got lined up after that?
Well, after that I’m probably going to put my feet up and have a child! That’s my next job. Then, after that, I’ll take a couple of months off and then get back on the horse, whatever that ends up being. But it’s been lovely to work through the pregnancy and for people to be cool with it. I thought that no-one would touch me with a barge poll but I’ve been proved wrong and people have surprised me. So it’s been nice that it’s been a very busy few months, so when I’ve wrapped on The Stag I’ll have earned my stripes and put my feet up.
Amy stars in Series 2 of 'Threesome', airing on Comedy Central UK (Sky 112 & Virgin 132), Mondays at 9.30pm. Her second novel I Wished for You is available now to order on Amazon or kindle
Click here to buy I Wished for You on Amazon
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