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By
Suzanne

Interview with Italia Ricci of "Chasing
Life" on
ABC Family 6/3/14
ABC Family’s Q&A with Italia Ricci
Chasing Life
Moderator: Will we see more of your character’s chemo
process? What sort of research did you conduct to prepare?
Italia: You will see more of that, absolutely, because it’s
all part of the horrible process that cancer throws at
people, but you will see the stages. And the research --
immediately after I booked the role, I thought I was going
to learn everything I could about cancer, become and expert
and be able to handle anything that the writers threw at me.
But then I realized that my character doesn’t know
everything about cancer and so I thought it would be better
for my performance if I didn’t know more about it than April
knew. So I wasn’t anticipating anything that was going to
happen to her.
Moderator: What attracted you to Chasing Life and your role
as April?
Italia: The show itself is just so incredible and it’s real.
It could be happening to anybody. It is happening to
anybody. It has happened and it will be happening and it’s
such a real story and it’s written so well and it’s so
inspiring. It has so much of everything in it that I’ve
wanted to be a part of telling it. I feel so lucky —I was
just an actor sent in on a mission to go in. I wasn’t
sifting through scripts being like “I only want this one.”
This is when I got the audition I was auditioning for
everything during the pilot season and this one was like a
golden ticket. This is the role that you’re just like “Oh my
gosh, this is going to be one that everybody is trying to
get.” I got so lucky.
Moderator: Did you know Scott Michael Foster from Greek?
What’s it like working with him again?
Italia: We didn’t really stay in touch after the episode of
Greek, which was five and a half years ago or something. He
didn’t even remember me at the table read for Chasing Life
for the second episode [laughs]. I introduced myself and I
was like “we worked together” and he’s like “really, when?”
I was like, “oh wow” because we had to kiss in Greek. But we
are so close now. He’s hilarious. You can see we’ve had to
post a couple of videos talking about the show and I can’t
keep a straight face when I’m with him. He’s hilarious and
he’s so talented it’s insane. It’s sort of intimidating
sometimes and I’m like “can you try to suck a little more
because you’re making me look really bad.” [laughs]
Moderator: How would you describe your character April?
Italia: She’s so many things. She’s just a regular girl.
She’s a stubborn, smart, ambitious girl who just wants
happiness and success in her career and love, everything
that most people want. She’s written so well that I feel
like she’s every man’s woman because she’s not always in the
same head space. She gets giddy and girly and goofy and then
she’ll just be an angry drunk, we’re all a little bit
bipolar [laughs]. It’s just the way the world works, but
she’s so inspiring and she makes mistakes and then she
relies on people to help. She’s not a hero. She’s definitely
a role model, but she knows she’s not perfect. I think
that’s really important for a character we want audiences to
relate to.
Moderator: How did you get your start in acting and what do
you enjoy most about it?
Italia: I started when I was really young. I did a lot of
local theatre. I always enjoyed it. I was always putting on
shows for my family or even just myself in the mirror being
a total psychopath just screaming monologues till I was
crying or laughing or a complete nut case. And then I went
to college and got my degree in drama, but I’m very much a
Type A. I’m not really much of a risk taker. I’m very
calculated, so I didn’t really want to just move out to LA
and try my best at something that I didn’t know for sure I
could succeed at.
So I decided to go to law school to do entertainment law.
This way I could be in the industry, but in a controlled
career within it. But before I got to start law school, a
friend of mine is with an agency and was an extra on a movie
near my hometown one summer and asked if I wanted to go for
the day and get paid to pretend I was at a party. And the
writer saw me and asked me to audition for a role and I got
it and they wrote me into the next one and it all just sort
of snowballed. I’m the luckiest girl in the world.
Moderator: Do you think Chasing Life can properly portray
what cancer patients go through?
Italia: The show isn’t all about cancer. From the people that
I’ve spoken to everybody goes through it differently, so
there’s no one way to try and show the world what somebody
would be experiencing. So I did my best to play April as
authentically as we can within the confines of entertainment
television. I’m sure there will be some people who
completely disagree with how she’s reacting to certain
things physically and emotionally and then there’s some
people who might say that’s exactly what they experienced,
or what they saw somebody experience.
I hope people can at least understand. They’re going to know
it’s still television. It’s not a documentary, but at the
same time being on set doing some of those scenes, it does
get scary when you have to remind yourself that you’re not
sick.
Moderator: How do writers keep a show like this from getting
too dark or depressing with such a heavy subject matter?
Italia: People just have to take my word for it, it’s not
depressing. It’s not dark. It’s not going to leave you
feeling heavy after you watch it. The writers are so
brilliant. It’s funny. They deliver the bad stuff or the
dramatic stuff and then it’s right back at it just like real
life is. There’s comedy in it and there’s so much more to it
than the cancer. It’s about friendship and her family and
her romance and there are episodes that you totally forget
that she’s even sick.
Moderator: What was your experience like filming in Boston?
Italia: I had never been to Boston before shooting the
Chasing Life pilot in 2012. I love it there! It’s so amazing
and the sense of community there and it makes you feel like
you’re in the movies. I found myself speaking like the
locals saying “wicked good” and stuff, which I’m sure
everybody in Boston hates, but I had a lot of fun there.
Everybody was go grateful for us to bring the show there and
they were all really informed about it, too. I went beside
the hotel to get a bottle of wine somewhere and the guy
asked me what I was doing. I was like “I’m here for a new
show” and he goes “is it the one about the journalist?” And
I was like “oh my gosh; you know the show! That is so cool.”
Anyhow, I was more excited than he was. I almost wanted to
take him out for dinner I was so excited.
And the food, oh my gosh, the food. Every time we go to do
exterior shots, I leave ten pounds heavier. Good God, I love
the North End. I love it!
Moderator: Are there any other favorite landmarks that stuck
out to you in Boston?
Italia: I don’t have a lot of time off when I’m there to get
to play, but the cast and I did get to go to Harvard, which
is cool, very touristy. We all bought sweatpants. We went to
the Beacon Hill, because that’s where the Carver family
lives, which was also really, really cool. We got to shoot
in Fenway, which actually got cut out of the pilot, but we
spent the whole day shooting in Fenway. It was really,
really cool. I think Fenway was probably the coolest, but I
really do wish that I had more time. I went to the aquarium
one day by myself. That was really nice, too. I want to
explore it so much. There’s one street you feel like you’re
in Europe and then the next street it looks like New York --
there’s just so much to it.
Moderator: What was your favorite part about filming Chasing
Life?
Italia: My favorite part about filming the show, we’ve got
pretty good food on set [laughs]. Yesterday we had a mac and
cheese bar, like four different types of mac and cheese, it
was bizarre; it was amazing. But really, the cast and crew
are my favorite things. I am so excited to go to work every
day. They are some of my favorite people in the entire
world. One camera man moved to another show in the middle of
shooting and I broke down and cried on set. But definitely
the cast and crew.
Moderator: How are you and your character April are alike?
Italia: We’re both pretty stubborn and hyper organized. I
can’t function if there’s a dirty dish in the sink or if
things aren’t where they belong. My friends when they come
over, they’ll just try and mess with me by like turning a
vase, rotating it, so that the handle is not out or
something and I’ll stop in the middle of the room and notice
something is different; this is not okay [laughs]. I’m a
little OCD, so I think April and I share that. There’s a
bunch of jokes in the show about how organized she is and I
think that’s really the writers just taking shots at me. I
wish I was as ballsy as her. I hope to be. She’s actually
inspired me a lot more than I expected her to, which is
great.
Moderator: What was the audition process like for you? What
was your reaction when you found out you got the role?
Italia: The audition process, I was so nervous about this
audition because it was for such a great role. Besides one
other series that I did called Unnatural History, I had only
ever played quintessential stereotypical hot girl one or
something, so when this one came up, I was like “oh my gosh,
it’s real.” It’s something that I can actually lose myself
in and become and something that’s going to scare the hell
out of me because I don’t know if I’m good enough for it.
So I went to the first audition right after getting a couple
of shots because I was getting my green card and I’m not
good with needles, much like April, so I felt a little
green. I didn’t even remember the audition. I remember
getting into the car and just crying and thinking I ruined
it; I screwed it up. I called my agent to see if I could get
another appointment and they’re like “actually you’re screen
testing” and I just about peed my pants [laughs]. Then I
screen tested against two other girls who were amazing and
then I booked it and I got the call October 9, 2012. I was
at McDonalds and I grabbed my Big Mac, forgot my fries and
went and had Big Macs and champagne at my manager’s.
My friend has a video of me getting the call and screaming
and running around McDonalds like a complete psycho.
Moderator: Do you feel like this role will give you more
opportunities as an amazing actress?
Italia: There’s so much to do with April and it’s so exciting
that some days I get to come in and bawl my eyes out; and
some days I get to come in and scream my head off. And some
days I get to come in and laugh like a hyena. April gets to
do so much and I don’t have to wake up and play the same
tone every day, which keeps it so interesting and I think
keeps the performance fresh. I feel like I’m just sitting
here crossing my fingers and hoping people enjoy watching
me, but I just hope that people relate and are interested in
what I’ve done with her. I’m just so terrified still.
Moderator: What is the hardest part about playing April?
Italia: At the beginning the hardest parts were days when I
would have scenes where I’d have to get to a pretty
emotional place and then we would finish the scene and move
on to a happy scene or a regular scene. I would feel like I
hadn’t finished letting all those emotions out, so I would
end up just crying in my car on the way home or in the
shower or something just to let it out [laughs], so I didn’t
project it onto to some other part of my life that didn’t
deserve it.
But now that I’m getting a lot of fan mail and people are
sharing their stories with me and it’s so beautiful and I’m
so grateful that I can be somebody that makes them feel like
they’re being heard. The hardest part, I don’t feel so great
when I get to come home and not be sick when there are so
many people who can’t turn it off.
Moderator: What’s the atmosphere like on set?
Italia: It’s amazing! We’re constantly laughing in between
takes, you’re making all these jokes, but I feel like that’s
just sort of what you have to do sometimes. Everybody just
gets along so well and we know so much about each other,
crew included. Everybody does such a fantastic job. We’re
all just so grateful to be there. There are no egos
anywhere. It’s like I have this gigantic new family that I
get to hang out with every day and I would do it for free.
Moderator: What is April’s role and relationship like within
her family?
Italia: April’s dad passed away two years before the pilot in
a car accident, so she’s become almost the rock, the man in
the house so to speak. Her mom is still dealing with it in
her own way and her sister is just trying to become who she
is and her grandma is just hilarious, so April is sort of
keeping it all together. And you learn that she was planning
to move away after college, but had to stay home to be there
for the family, so she’s definitely the foundation that
keeps all the wheels turning.
When she gets sick, I think a lot of her hesitation before
coming clean about being sick is because she doesn’t want
the people who she feels she has to take care of are needing
to take care of her. She feels so much responsibility to
make sure that everybody is happy and when she tells them
that she’s going to need the help now and she can’t play
that role as well as she would before then, then she thinks
it will sort of all fall apart. Obviously she’s scared.
She’s terrified.
Moderator: What will viewers be most surprised by when they
watch Chasing Life?
Italia: How funny it is. The pilot is always tough and
general audiences don’t always realize that you have to jam
so many stories and so many characters and so much
information into a pilot episode that a lot of the times
it’s not like the rest of episodes. But even in our pilot,
you feel that it’s not heavy. It’s a feel good show. It’s a
feel good family show and I think that people are going to
be surprised at how much more they’re going to laugh than
cry.
Moderator: What has been your favorite episode to film?
Italia: The sixth episode was fun because I got to drive
around in a Maserati as fast as I could, which was pretty
cool. It’s more or so just moments in different episodes,
scenes that are a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to this
one scene in the finale that I’m going to be filming next
week, but I can’t tell you what it is. I would say driving
the Maserati around was pretty cool!
Moderator: Can you share anything about the new upcoming
season?
Italia: The season is going to explore how the diagnosis
elevates all of the stakes in April’s life. All of her
decisions matter to her a little bit more than she thought
they did at this point and how she handles that and the
mistakes that she makes and the victories that she also
accomplishes. It’s interesting to see her whole world
getting massaged because of this big awful thing, but people
can expect to see so many things. I read the scripts and I
get so into it like “seriously, what, where, why?” It’s so
cool.
Moderator: Did you do any journalism or interview research to
prep since your character is a journalist?
Italia: When we filmed in Boston, we filmed at the Boston
Globe, so I took some time and walked around and watched
people more for physical mannerisms and posture and to see
what being zoned in as a journalist looks like. I’ve been
interviewed a few times, but I was never seeing this in the
building at the desk, so that was really good.
Being interviewed now I feel like I’ve blacked out and then
I finish the interview and I’m like “did I make any sense?”
[laughs] But it’s hard now because I don’t want to be
repetitive but I can only answer with the truth and what I
know. So it’s frustrating and sort of embarrassing when I
break down and cry like a baby!
Moderator: Do you have some autumn memory that you can share?
Italia: Yes, my birthday is in October, so those were always
pretty great right near Halloween! But my favorite Halloween
costume would probably be my parents would always bandage me
up and say I was a mummy every time; it was so great. One
year my dad built a shower around me with a rod and curtain
and everything, so I was just walking roundabout in a
shower; that was pretty cool, too.
Moderator: What is something you hope fans get from the show?
Italia: Hope and inspiration to never give up.
Moderator: What is at the top of your bucket list right now?
Italia: I feel like I should say something super prophetic,
but I don’t [laughs]. I would say to travel. I’ve never
really traveled much, so it would be nice to be able to do
that.
Moderator: Where would you like to go?
Italia: I would like to go to Italy.
Moderator: How difficult is it to portray the shows subject
matter?
Italia: As an audience member, I enjoy watching things that
make me feel represented and I feel like people are
interested in seeing this because no matter what role you
play, there might be somebody you can relate to, whether
it’s the mom of somebody who’s sick or the best friend or
the boss. There’s something that you’re like “okay, I can
relate to that and I feel that validation,” it piques a lot
of people’s interest if they can find something that they
relate to. And then there are people who just want to feel
like they’re not alone in this and they’re not. There are so
many people that feel everything that every character is
feeling in the show.
I’ve seen The Fault in Our Stars, and it’s pretty similar to
our show. The types of cancers are different and some of the
plot points, but it’s a wonderful movie and I hope people
watch it. But 50/50, when Joseph Gordon Levitt and I had
reshoots for the movie we did, he actually is the one that
pulled me aside and was like “I think it’s amazing what
you’re doing, but don’t forget that you’re not sick.” I
never really took it to heart before I started shooting and
now I’m so grateful that he had said that to me, because
like I said, that’s sometimes the hardest part.
Moderator: Do you feel because you’ve taken on a role like
this that means that now you have a responsibility when
you’re off the set to help with cancer awareness?
Italia: Yes, absolutely. As soon as I booked it, I was like
what can I do. It always felt like this massive dark
presence that I was uncomfortable addressing or even looking
at because I didn’t know very much about it. Now it’s all
about awareness we’re bringing and we’re taking that stigma
away from that. We’re taking the power away from that and I
think that’s great.
When I first started shooting and even when I booked it, it
didn’t really cross my mind that people would look at me and
I would be taking on these responsibilities. I don’t want to
screw it up. I obviously hope that it’s going to help some
people, but I’m still just a really lucky girl who booked a
really great job.
Moderator: Can you talk about the significance behind all the
things April is chasing in Chasing Life?
Italia: Oh gosh, she’s chasing everything! She’s chasing that
success as a journalist. She’s chasing the happiness for her
mother to find love after her father. She’s chasing her
sister all around as she’s figuring out who she is becoming.
She’s chasing —before she gets diagnosed —she was already
chasing life. You can see she’s already working hard. The
first scene of the episode shows you that, but now she’s
just got to run a bit faster.
Moderator: Could you talk a little bit more about what people
are writing you and what that’s meant to you?
Italia: People just share their stories or whether it’s
having known someone or knowing someone or being someone who
has been diagnosed. I get these letters and they’re just so
amazing and inspiring to me. These guys are the real heroes.
It’s incredible, the strength of the young adults and adults
and children with cancer that I’m beginning to know. It’s a
little overwhelming, but in a great way. I wish I could do
more for them than just respond to a message. I wish I could
really make a difference and I guess listening is all I
could really do at this point, but I’m always going to try
and do everything I can.
Moderator: If you could play any other character on the show,
who would you choose and why?
Italia: I think maybe Beth, she’s just so funny and snarky
and she’s got a great accent and her clothes are amazing.
She’s got the coolest wardrobe. April’s is pretty cool, too,
but I think it would be fun to play Beth. I think it would
be fun to play all of them. Leo is a pretty fun character,
too, because you think he’s a jerk for a lot of the time,
because he’s just so sarcastic and ridiculous, but yes I
think Beth.
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