|
|
"Not only are Apple products ridiculously user- friendly -- they’re hip and sexy"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Christina Moore: Actress, Comedienne, and True Blue Mac Enthusiast
By: Words and interview by Vanessa Pascale
“It’s monster-like. You want some of my super oatmeal?” Christina Moore asks, as an uncharacteristically hearty bowl of oats piled high with fruit is placed before her. “I thought I'd go light --this is not what I expected,” she says jokingly. The waiter teases me about my order and scurries off. “The waiter is very sassy. He’s a flirty, sassy guy,” notes Christina. We share a laugh. (She had me laughing throughout the entire interview.) The din in the small café swirls around us. Christina gestures toward my digital recorder. “I hope it’s getting this. I have a feeling you’re going to be listening and trying to remember what I said while you hear clinkety, clink, clink (the sound of glasses and dishes). I’m sorry. You can make it up-- just make me sound smart,” she adds with a laugh.
The fusion of Christina’s remarkably genial demeanor and sharp comedic wit is captivating, and in her line of work that’s exactly what the TV networks are looking for. Christina has been a part of the casts of That 70’s Show, MADtv, Hot Properties, Hyperion Bay… and made guest appearances on TV favorites: Two & a Half Men, Friends, 24, Will & Grace… the list goes on.
Presently, Christina is showing off her wide-ranging acting skills on not one, but two, entertaining new television shows, TNT’s HawthoRNe as Candy Sullivan and the CW’s 90210 as AnnaLynne McCord’s mother, Tracy Clark. (Both shows are entering their 2nd season.) “I couldn’t be happier… This is not my first rodeo. The number of TV shows that I’ve been on and had a season or half a season. The fact that it’s coming around, and to be on stuff that’s new and hot...” replies Christina elatedly.
HawthorRNe, executive-produced and starred in by Jada Pinkett Smith, is a show that follows the lives of Richmond Trinity Hospital’s nurses. “It’s a big deal at TNT-- we kicked off a new night for them and came out with their 2nd highest numbers. The producer called me personally to say congratulations. Really, until you get that phone call -- you can hear things in the news, but you wonder, ‘Am I part of the team that’s going next year?’” explains Christina.
The CW introduced the next generation of high school royalty in the new 90210 as well as embraced the return of Beverly Hills, 90210 faves: Kelly, Brenda and Donna. Christina, casted as the M.I.L.F of Queen Bee Naomi, was excited to join the hot new show as her first TV appearance was on the original and enabled her to receive her SAG card. “I was part of their age group. Ten years later, I’m the mother to one of them,” Christina laughs. “That’s how TV works! It's like this big benchmark in my career that ten years later I’m part of a team and not just coming in as a one-liner. ‘Oh look at me, I have a career now. I can handle more dialogue,’” she says jokingly.
Her career has certainly escalated since then. As soon as she finished shooting HawthroRNe, Christina landed a guest spot on USA’s sizzling show, Burn Notice, and was off to Miami. “Being on the set of Burn Notice was so sexy, definitely compared to HawthoRNe, where we shoot in an abandoned hospital and all you wear are scrubs. Your new invention is how to make an updo look sloppy and as if you did it yourself. Then you go to Burn Notice and we’re shooting in the Viceroy --mercy, the highest level of glamour. We shot at a location in Coral Gables that was my house. I was like, ‘Get off!’ There was a swimming pool running through the middle of the home,” she says in awe. “And my wardrobe and hair, and Jeffrey Donovan with his snappy suits-- it’s all so high glam. They’re all really nice, so that was really fun.”
Christina soaked up much of what makes Miami so amazing—perhaps in a more literal sense than she would have liked. “It was raining a little everyday, but not like any rain that any Los Angeleno has experienced,” she says in shock. “I poked my head around an awning to see if it was raining and it was as if I’d been in the shower. Not like sprinkle, sprinkle, la, la, la. It was as if someone took a bucket of water and went shuck.” Though our torrential weather can be a bit of a hindrance; this didn’t stop Christina from taking advantage of one of Miami’s best features. “Miami has great shopping. Actually, these sandals are from a store on CocoWalk.” Christina shows me the gorgeous gold and jeweled sandals she’s wearing. “That’s what Miami has -- they have kick-ass sandals.”
Wanting to make the most of her trip to the south, Christina rented a car and drove up to Sarasota to visit with her uncle. “I saw all of Florida. I really made Florida my lady,” she says, flashing a smile. The effortless way she slips clever comedic undertones into the conversation is the sign of a true comedienne. Christina credits her finding humor in the ordinary to growing up in Chicago. “The weather is such a difficult thing. I feel like everybody gets that smartass sensibility about them. My family is crazy pants.” After coming out to L.A., Christina and a few girlfriends started an all-female sketch comedy group called, “Bitches Funny.” They wrote all their own material and performed in N.Y. and L.A. This went on for three years and led to her joining the cast of MADtv.
She’s found great success in television, but would like to do more movies. “I’ve done a couple. They’re a bit of a funny nut for me to crack. I have up on my vanity mirror hiatus movie, so I can just put that out there everyday.” While in Miami, Christina saw The Hangover. “My favorite movie-- I have not laughed that hard in a theater since Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” Now this is the type of movie Christina dreams about. “I’m not going to lie, this comedy thing is a rough road. It’s different being a girl. The number of movies made about three boys like, Without a Paddle, which I was in. I remember saying to the director, ‘What if you made this movie and didn’t change a single thing and just cast females in the male roles?’ Now, if The Hangover had 3 women…” Christina continues, “When I did comedies, you’re so often playing the uptight woman to the wacky guy who’s like, ‘Whaahhaa, paging Dr. Fagot!’ Isla Fisher in Wedding Crashers -- amazing. They’re so notable when they’re created that way. But for everyone one of those, there’s a henpecky woman...”
Fully supporting her observations, I suggest that she begin negotiations with those that can bring her ideas to fruition. “I’m going to negotiate it! I have plenty of time to do it. Audition in September; shoot in October, November—done. There’s my plan. I’m a good negotiator; I’m going to do that,” she says robustly. I hope she does, because I know it will be hilarious.
This true-blue Mac enthusiast was happy to share that when it comes to Mac vs. PC she’s definitely a Mac, and has never had anything but a Mac. “Not only Apple products are ridiculously user- friendly, but they’re hip and sexy. I’ve always been intimidated by PCs—they’re tricky and coded. And if I never learn a F anything key, I'll be happy. They make everything very easy, from iTunes to iPhoto to Word --the world is only a mouse drag and a click away,” says Christina.
Speaking of iTunes, Christina is quite attached to her iPod and iShuffle. “I was given an iPod as a wrap gift after shooting Without A Paddle in 2005, I still have that same dinosaur. It barely holds a charge, but I have it docked in my car and it gets me everywhere I want to go. The iShuffle is for working out. I wouldn't dare suffer through a half hour with an elliptical machine without it.” What can you expect to hear her listening to? “I would like to open with the fact that I am super cool and last time I checked super cool people had country, easy listening and show tunes on their iPods, right? My current favorite playlist is "Legally Blonde- the Musical." That opening number "Oh My God You Guys" totally ROCKS!”
Bet You Didn’t Know… Moore Facts
Nacho Cheese Doritos, please!
“I love Nacho Cheese Doritos-- it’s honestly the one thing I can eat to my death if you left me alone in a Doritos factory.”
Master Negotiator
A semester shy of receiving her college degree, Christina convinced her professor to let her finish the semester in L.A. on the grounds that she submitted a paper each week about what she accomplished there. “I received my diploma.” To cover the cost of living in L.A., Christina convinced her dad (who covered her college expenses as long as she graduated in fours years) to give her the tuition money. “I was like, ‘That’s really generous Dad, but guess what? I’m getting out a semester, so you would be giving the school $7,000—but I’ll move out to L.A. with it.’ So I had him basically paying for that first 5 months.”
She owned and traveled the country with a racecar company
“I don’t know anything about cars--it had to do with business and negotiating, which apparently I’m very good at. I was there more as the mouth piece and charmer. He (her partner) was the brains behind building the cars, making them go fast and managing the team.”
Photo Credit: Eric McCandless, Raquel Krelle
Cast Photo Credit: Robert Trachtenberg
Video Credit: MADtv - Dr. Phil makes house calls. Michael McDonald - Dr Phil Frank Caliendo - Lowell Christina Moore - Peggy Debra Wilson - Oprah Winfrey
For more info visit:
Christina Moore
|
|
Loading image. Please wait
Photo by: Eric McCandless
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
Alert
|
|
|
|
|
|
Set up an exclusive alert. We'll email you similar postings directly to your email. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
