Lauren Holly hasn’t always been known to surround herself with dead bodies. Before she was armed with a scalpel in hand on ABC’s gripping drama Motive, stealing hearts and minds with her forever young approach to life, she earned notoriety for her role as heartbreaker Mary Swanson in Dumb and Dumber.
Yet, despite similarities in some of her characters, the Toronto-based actress and mother of three isn’t willing to settle for the quintessential Hollywood typecast part. In fact, her eclectic career ranges from the whimsically comical to darker and mysterious roles. For the charismatic woman who is hell-bent on leaving opportunities to fate, it can be said that Holly is one of the rare and few actresses in the television and film industry who can have her cake and eat it, too.
While she has already starred in a number of headline grabbing films and shows throughout the years, like NCIS, What Women Want and Any Given Sunday – an accomplishment that many in her line of work can only dream of – her captivating acting career continues to escalate at a rapid pace, leaving one to wonder what she’ll have up her sleeve next. Currently, Holly has several new projects slated to be released in the next two years, including a role alongside Patrick Warburton (Seinfeld) in Hoovey.
But acting isn’t the only thing that keeps this Sarah Lawrence graduate on her toes. The charming and refreshingly natural actress also has a fashion agenda (and no, we’re not talking about her upcoming role in After the Ball). Holly has teamed up with Le Château, a fashion company founded and based in Québec, Canada that puts an emphasis on European style, to cultivate a trendy line of “cool girl” clothes. Tapping into her continually blossoming artistic side, this New York native emphasizes that her acting priorities aren’t shifting, but that she is also shining the limelight on everyday style.
Recently, Holly spoke to GALO not only about her hectic acting career, but also gave us an inside-look into her new fashion line. Read on to find out what she had to say.
GALO: Could you tell GALO readers a little about yourself, perhaps what you like to do when you’re not in front of the cameras? I read that you spend the majority of your free time with your kids. What are some of your favorite activities to engage in during your breaks from work?
Lauren Holly: Seems like the past couple of years, I’ve had very few breaks — a dream for an actor! One of the benefits of commuting cross-country for Motive is those air miles — we’ve been saving them for something special. The four of us [Holly’s kids] love a good adventure. If we hike, we usually add in some danger — crossing rapids, scaling a wall with our dog on my back, anything that we can embellish around the dinner table to have a good laugh. So we are going to take a big trip soon, something that could be life-altering. When I was 12, I went to London, England with my parents. I think that trip ignited a creative passion in me. I’m hoping the trip we plan will do something similar to my boys. We’ve decided that it is between two [places]: the Galapagos and Machu Picchu or the Far East — Japan. Who knows what we’ll be talking about after something like that!
GALO: You’ve worked on cutting-edge dramas such as Any Given Sunday and top box-office comedies like Dumb and Dumber. You’ve also held more than one role in the world of television, which is constantly evolving and fast-becoming a powerhouse in the industry due to its innovative and film-like productions. Do you prefer one creative genre over others in either film or television, and do you have a penchant for a certain style of acting that is related to only one field?
LH: Both have their benefits. When one works on a series, it is for many months at a time. It becomes your family. Births, deaths, weddings, divorces — we all go through a lot together. In movies, it’s fun to dive into a character for a brief amount of time and then get to move on. It adds variety, a chance to stretch a bit.
GALO: I understand you declined a female lead position for Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Did you feel that taking on the role would negatively affect the hallmark of your cinematic style, or was there a different reason for your refusal of the part? Have you rejected a role since that moment?
LH: Half of the time I’m either saying no to a role or waiting for someone else to. I think we all get the parts we are supposed to. Even when I’ve been devastated that I was told no — when I see it, I get it. I’ve said no for so many reasons, some would probably be surprising, all of them forgettable. The only thing I remember and hope for is saying yes.
