ITINERARY
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OPPOSITEPAGE, CHEF: CSA IMAGES
16
APRIL 15, 2012
AA.COM/AMERICANWAY
early lastyear—and
fornoreason in
particular—AlisonBrie
wouldtransformherself from
aborn-and-bredCalifornian
intoa full-fledgedBrit fora few
minuteseachmorning.Ona
lark, shestartedpoppingan
English-accentCD intohercar
stereoonherwaytowork,with
noplanstousehernewskill for
anythingspecific.
Sowhen,a fewweeks into
her informal training,Brie’s
agentcalled inaslightpanic
askinghertopreparean
English lilt foratablereadof
thismonth’s
TheFive-Year
Engagement
,Briedidn’tsweat
itonebit.
“Ithought, ‘Oh,how
perfect,’”the29-year-old
actressrecalls. “It felt like it
wasmeanttobe.”
Briestarsasthesisterof
VioletBarnes(EmilyBlunt),a
bride-to-bewhosenuptialsto
herfiancé(JasonSegel)are
continuallydelayed.Toperfect
theaccent,Brieworkedclosely
withadialectcoachpriorto
filming,andduringproduction,
shereceivedaudial instruction
fromheron-screensis.
“Emilyhadmadeatape
forme justtellingastoryso
Icouldstart listeningtoher
accent,”Briesays. “Attheend
of it, shewouldgivemethis
littlepeptalk: ‘Allright,Alison,
you’regoingtonail it.’AndI
was like, ‘Yeah, Iam!’”
Brie’s forays intofilm—
which includethisyear’s
Save
theDate
,anotherwedding
flickthatdebutedatSundance
—werepre-emptedbysmall-
screenpartsthatearnedher
plentyofpraiseandscores
of loyal fans.Oneof thefirst
wasTrudyCampbell, thewife
ofa1960sadvertisingexec
onAMC’s
MadMen
,which
premiered itsfifthseason
lastmonth.Briewon’to¤er
upanyhintsaboutthenew
season—notthatshecould if
shewantedto; the laudedshow
isnotoriouslytight-lippedwith
itsstorylines.
“Itkindofmakes itmore
honest,”shesays. “Because, if
you lookatthepast fewseasons,
Trudydoesn’tknowwhat’s
goingon.”
Totop ito¤,Brie is
balancinganotherregulargig
—asAnnieonNBC’scritical
darling
Community
— leaving
herwithapackedschedulethat
has forcedhertomastertime
management.Justa fewyears
removed fromherdaysdoing
regional theater inCalifornia,
she isamazedhowsuchgood
fortunebefellher.
“Totaldumb luck,”shesays.
“Itwas likethrowingspaghetti
atawall. Idon’tknowhowI
gotso luckyto landall these
amazingprojects.”
CURLYCUES
{ ©ª«¬® ª¯.
ª }
Withhis résuméboastingavarietyof sitcoms
(
LessThanPerfect,$#*!MyDadSays
), aswell as
fiveyearson thesketch-comedyshow
MADtv
,
WILLSASSO
’s face isoneyou’ll undoubtedly
recognize.But it’shis roleasCurly in thismonth’s
Farrelly-brothers film
TheThreeStooges
—which
Sassocallsa“love letter” to theexalted trio—
that justmight securehisplaceon thecomedy
mapasheslaps, pokesandnyukshisway into
theheartsofanewgenerationofStooge fans.
WithSassostepping intosome legendaryshoes,
AmericanWay
asked the funnyman todivulgehis
owncomedy idols.
JOHNCANDY
“I thinkJohnCandy
wasoneof the finest
actors toeverdo
comedy.He’s just
extremelyhuman
[inhis roles].He
minedcomedyout
of themost real
andmundane life
scenarios.”
MONTYPYTHON
“What thePythons
didwasavant-garde,
where theywere
takingcomedy
andgetting ridof
thepunch lines. It
was really the first
alternativecomedy. If
SaturdayNightLive
and
SCTV
(
Second
CityTelevision
) is
themaincourse,
Python isdefinitely
thedessert, because
it’s reallysweetand
reallyweird.”
DAVIDLETTERMAN
“Watchinghimevery
nightgrowingup,
DavidLetterman
really influenced
me.Yousee thisguy
completelyatease in
finding the funniest
things ineveryone,
andhe’sbeenvery
successful atbringing
whohe is intoa form
that’salready there.”
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