Cassie Fliegel is the lucky actress who was picked of all the basketball team to make-out with one Mr. Dwight K. Schrute during April 24th's episode of "The Office" entitled "Night Out".I caught up with Cassie after the episode aired to get her thoughts on everything about the episode - acting, trailers and of course the big kissing scene!
ScrantonBranchOffice: Could you please tell our readers a little bit about yourself and how you got your start in the "biz"?
Cassie Fliegel: Sure, I moved to LA after graduating from Harvard (2006), to pursue a career in film and television. I had done a lot of theater back in Boston, but had to start from scratch when I got to California. You know, doing background work to get my vouchers, acting in student films to add to my reel, sending out headshots and resumes to agencies, etc. Eventually I landed an agent and got some smaller parts in films, television, commercials, infomercials, all that good stuff...
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Cassie Fliegel is the lucky actress who was picked of all the basketball team to make-out with one Mr. Dwight K. Schrute during April 24th's episode of "The Office" entitled "Night Out".
ReplyDeleteI caught up with Cassie after the episode aired to get her thoughts on everything about the episode - acting, trailers and of course the big kissing scene!
ScrantonBranchOffice: Could you please tell our readers a little bit about yourself and how you got your start in the "biz"?
Cassie Fliegel: Sure, I moved to LA after graduating from Harvard (2006), to pursue a career in film and television. I had done a lot of theater back in Boston, but had to start from scratch when I got to California. You know, doing background work to get my vouchers, acting in student films to add to my reel, sending out headshots and resumes to agencies, etc. Eventually I landed an agent and got some smaller parts in films, television, commercials, infomercials, all that good stuff...
Then I saw the casting notice for The Office: "female, 20's, basketball player, TALL 6'1"+." Well, I'm 5'11", but I played varsity basketball in college, and I'm a huge fan of The Office, so I submitted myself and then called my agent and made sure they submitted me too. Normally I wouldn't have even been able to see that casting notice, but they were looking for something so specific that they opened it up to everyone, not just agents.
Anyway, I got called in to read for the casting director, Allison Jones, which was a big deal in and of itself. She kept emphasizing the importance of subtley, and a flat affect, because the humor comes from them playing off me. I guess I did something right...
SBO: You've been seen in shows such as "Greek" and "Hell's Kitchen" how did you end up in the bar in the "Night Out" episode of "The Office"?
CF: The audition was on Thursday. I hit the gym the night before just to work on my biceps, which in retrospect, was kind of unnecessary, but it made me feel better. I showed up in gym pants and a tank top, walking as tall as possible. We did three takes, on camera, and I spent the whole weekend thinking the odds were against me, seeing as there was one girl at the audition who was 6'8".
When I got a call on Monday, saying that I got the part of "Tall Girl #1," and we'd be shooting Tuesday and Wednesday, it was pretty awesome! It was a matter of the right place, the right time, and being right for that role.
SBO: Did you prepare a backstory for your character? Does she even have a name? Tell us anything you know about her.
CF: You know, basketball--the sport, the culture, and all the types of people you meet--is in my blood. I played varsity basketball in high school, my brother just got drafted to play overseas, my grandfather played pro-ball back in the day, before the NBA was official, so I had a lot of different experiences to draw from.
In this scene, my team had just won the championship game, and we're out on the town celebrating. So I was focusing on that team-mentality going into the club, and not so much on getting all cute and meeting guys. I definitely toned down my feminity for this role, which helped with the dynamic when Dwight starts to hit on me.
But of course, by the end of the night, I kinda liked his attention. I only wish we'd actually played a little one-on-one. That would have been funny.
SBO: Your big moment during "Night Out" was an awkward make-out session with Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson). How long did you have to sit there and kiss before the take was ready for print? Could you tell us about shooting that scene? Any hints if we'll see you back again, stalking Dwight on the beet farm maybe?
CF: Believe it or not, I didn't know about that scene when I first got to set. We went straight to hair and makeup, and the makeup artist asked me if I was the girl making out with Dwight later, since she had to factor that into her lipstick and all? I was like, "No, I don't think so...that wasn't part of my audition." Then a woman from production asked me to come outside, and informed me that I was in fact going to be kissing Dwight, and that it was a small footnote at the bottom of the script, which they hadn't sent me, but that we wouldn't be shooting that part until tomorrow.
She was like, "They didn't send you a script!? That is so unacceptable! I'm so sorry! We'll have a script for you in two minutes, in your trailer." I'm like, "I have a trailer?!" I didn't even care about the script! I went straight to my trailer!
The next day, I was basically just there to makeout with Dwight, since we'd shot all the dialogue the day before. We were sitting next to each other, with all these people watching, and he turns to me and goes, all matter-of-factly, "Ok. So...This is how this is gonna go. Mostly lips--a little tongue--but mostly lips." I was like, "I don't have to use my tongue at all if you don't want me to?" And he thought about it, "Nah...I think a little tongue is good."
And so we did about six or seven takes, starting and stopping when the camera panned over to Steve Carell, and then starting again, so he could take that camera-phone picture of us. Steve suggested that in the future, that picture should turn up at the office, and make Angela jealous. So we will see...
That whole day was funny. Dwight kept telling the director, "I think we need another take of that!" He's hilarious.
SBO: What can we look forward to seeing you in coming up?
CF: I should be coming up on Hell's Kitchen, playing a "Beverly Hill's Housewife" that one of the chef's has to teach how to cook, which was the challenge for that episode, and which is nowhere near as cool as The Office. But I'm working on some lower-budget films, and I'll hopefully be going out on more auditions once this episode airs.
Bonus Question:
SBO: If someone were to climb off a desert island and only have time to watch five movies to learn what American cinema is all about, what five movies would you show them?
CF: Chinatown, Casablanca, and Who Framed Rogger Rabbit. I'll get back to you on the other two.
Many many thanks to Cassie for shedding some light on herself and on that scene that got everyone saying "WHAT!?!" last night!
How the heck to you get all these dawesome interviews? You rock KP! Thanks!~Netter
ReplyDeleteThat chick was super hot! We gotta get her back on the Office!
ReplyDelete"We would LOVE to see Cassie in future episodes of The Office!" Why did it take shows like The Office to find such a talented beautiful actor? She really MADE the evening for us ... for that part and episode...PLEASE GET HER BACK on the show as a regular, to spice things up!! But, from reading her incredibly impressive bio, she should not be solely typecast as a basketball player, with a limited amount of dialogue. Bring in some twists that allow her best talents to shine: her multi-dimensional long-proven acting genius; her EXTREMELY passionate in-depth roles in which she takes challenging parts -- far different from one another and from what her beautiful looks might typecast her as (think Charlize, think Winslet, and the types of roles they have chosen); her wide range of abilities beyond acting that she can bring into her parts: from Harvard BA intelligence-requiring scripts, to writing music and singing. Did you know she has a song out that is earning rave reviews?
ReplyDeleteEnough for now...
Alden Lancaster, Takoma Park, Maryland