Stacey Oristano is freaking hot. 

 

That’s not the end of it either.  Stacey has an infectious laugh, a beautiful voice, and a playful air that makes her instantly endearing.  Whether she’s working Dallas Cowboys games, laughing through scenes on Friday Night Lights, or discussing her upcoming “role” as a Bond girl, Stacey Oristano has star written all over her.

 

Popular Underground Magazine (PUM): So your dad was a broadcaster?

 

Stacey Oristano: For the Dallas Cowboys.  He did color commentary.

 

PUM: Did you get to do any work with America’s Team?

 

Oristano: Yeah I got to help choose what plays went on highlight reels.  I’ve really been around football my whole life.

 

PUM: I’m a Bills fan, so your dad was calling two Super Bowls while my heart was breaking.

 

Oristano: I’m sorry, but yeah, he was.  He even has a ring.  He shows it off to everyone.

 

PUM: I’m so jealous right now.  I know it isn’t on the same channel as Friday Night Lights, but since you grew up around Emmitt Smith are you going to follow him onto Dancing With the Stars?

 

Oristano: I don’t think they let trained dancers do that, do they?  I don’t think I’d be allowed because I’ve been trained.

 

PUM: They let those crazy N Sync guys do it, why not you?

 

Oristano: That’s a good point!  Maybe I would be allowed to do it.

 

PUM: With all the speculation going on about Friday Night Lights being cancelled or not picked up, did it make it hard to go to work?

 

Oristano: You know, I never really thought about it.  But the wrap party this season was a little bit weird especially with a lot of the kids moving on, so it was a little different.

 

PUM: Maybe someone in the cast needs to do something crazy to get TMZ’s attention like get plastered and walk down the street chain smoking.  I nominate you and Liz Mikel.

 

Oristano: Oh my God that’s so funny because Liz and I used to sing together all the time in Dallas.  And I’d put my heels on and we’d be almost the same height.  Liz is like 6’2 so we looked like these giant Amazons singing and laughing.  I should totally do that to get us some publicity!

 

PUM: So you’re singing too?  Then it’s only a matter of time before you get your own album deal like Bruce Willis, Jared Leto, and the guy who played Doctor Peter Burns from Melrose Place.

 

Oristano: Oh wow, I would never want to sing solo.  I could sing backup though, I love doing the harmony.

 

PUM: You could totally sing backup for Corbin Bleu.

 

Oristano: Does he have an album?

 

PUM: I guess so, I mean he’s a Disney kid, don’t they all? 

The writing on Friday Night Lights is fantastic.  How much of what makes it on the screen is writing and how much is Stacey Oristano?

 

Oristano: The writing is so excellent.  We have great writers.  The nice thing with being comic relief is I get a lot of freedom.  There are certain lines that I have to get out, but they do leave a lot of room for creativity.  Sometimes when I go back in for voice over, everyone has no idea what I was saying and I have to just try guess and match what my lips are saying.

 

PUM: I noticed IMDB said you do quite a bit of voice over work.  How do you like doing that?

 

Oristano: It is so my favorite work because I can come in dressed like a schlub.

 

PUM: Speaking of being dressed like a schlub, Maxim calls you and says they want you to be in their Hot List.  Do you do it?

 

Oristano: Wow.  That would be so flattering.  I’d so rather be called by Steven Spielberg for a role, but yeah I would do it.

 

PUM: If Spielberg did call you with a role, what would be the ideal one for you?

 

Oristano:  I love doing things that are different and outside of the norm.  I love Cate Blanchet and Kate Winslet, and the choices they made.  I would just love to do something that’s outside of the box.

 

PUM: The role you’re in now is a “stripper with a heart of silver”.  What does that mean, exactly?

 

Oristano: It means that Mindy is a stripper with kind of a tough edge.  She’s really funny and all about having fun, so if there’s something she doesn’t want to do, or someone she doesn’t want to talk to she will just walk away.

 

PUM: Are there any crazy set stories from Friday Night Lights?

 

Oristano: Not really crazy, but whenever Taylor (Kitsch) and I are on set together we always start getting in trouble because he makes me laugh so hard I cry.  And then my makeup starts smudging, and it usually takes us like tons of takes to get a scene done because he keeps trying to make me laugh so hard.  So we’re always in trouble when we’re in a scene together.

 

PUM: Who carries the rock better, you or Taylor?

 

Oristano: Oh my God, me… totally me.  The only guy on the set who can play football is Jesse (Plemons).  I mean the rest of the guys are all athletic, just not football.  And Taylor is from Canada so he plays hockey.

 

PUM: Those Canadians.  Beer, donuts and hockey, eh?

 

Oristano: And Celine Dion.  Don’t forget her.

 

PUM: And Pamela Anderson too.  And Ryan Reynolds.

 

Oristano: Yeah, I like Ryan Reynolds.

 

PUM: So does my wife.  I’m pretty sure she’d leave me for him in a heart beat.

 

Oristano: But then you’d have Scarlet Johannsen…

 

PUM: Yeah, I’m totally not interested in that mess, but you and I are the same age.  That means that you just had your ten year reunion.  How did that go?

 

Oristano: Oh my god.  I was always the nerdy funny girl who was allowed to hang out with the popular crowd because I was always funny.  So nobody recognized me at my reunion.  Then there were these people saying, “Hey did you know someone from Friday Night Lights is in our class?”  And I was like, hello!  It’s me, Stacey, I totally sat behind you in geometry.  And all the cool guys are like fat and bald now.  It was funny.  Oh wait, I hope they don’t read that.

 

PUM: I doubt they will… I don’t think we’re that huge in Texas yet.  I just put your name in the James Bond Girl Name Generator and it came out as Blanca Von Schell.

 

Oristano: Blanca Von Schell?!?!?

 

PUM: Yeah.  It sounds like an albino German dominatrix character to me.  Would you play her?

 

Oristano: Totally, but she’d have to be like a sexy German Scientist.

 

PUM: Kind of like Denise Richards in The World is Not Enough?

 

Oristano: Oh yeah what was she, like a nuclear physicist?

 

PUM: Right, because THAT wasn’t a stretch.  What kind of acting do you prefer, stage or screen?

 

Oristano: They are so different, but I am definitely a theatre baby.  I mean I am classically trained; I would love to do something like Shakespeare on stage.

 

PUM: You’re also extremely educated.  You’re living proof that smart girls can also be sexy.  Do you think it’s important for girls to know they can be both?

 

Oristano: Wow, thank you, but yeah.  It is important.  I mean it’s also important to know that you can be pretty and funny too.  Like Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, I think it’s hard for pretty girls to also show they can be funny too.  You need to have more going for you than just being pretty.

 

PUM: What advice do you have for young girls like me who want to break into acting?

 

Oristano: Tenacity.  Just keep showing up.  That’s the key.  Keep showing up.

 

PUM: This is last and most important question.  Who wins in the ultimate stripper brawl, Mindy Collette or Nomi Malone from Showgirls?

 

Oristano: Mindy would totally win.  All I’d have to do is kick her in the leg, right.  Didn’t she hurt her leg?  That was always my favorite part of that movie, where the doctor is looking at her leg and saying, “I think it’s her leg,” and she’s screaming that her leg hurts.  That was funny.

 

PUM: That was Cristal Connors, Gina Gershon’s character.  Do you think you could take Nomi, the Elizabeth Berkley character?

 

Oristano: Oh, you’re right.  I don’t know.  Oh my god, did you know they’re making a Showgirls Musical?  I would totally do that.  I would love to be in that.

 

PUM: But only after you played Blanca Von Schell…

 

Oristano: Yes, I definitely have to play her first.

 

By: Pauly Hammond - Contributing Writer