CHRIS NEUMER: Is that a silver spoon around your neck?
JENNIFER HALL: Yeah, I paint portraits of spoons, so my boyfriend made me this for my birthday.
CHRIS NEUMER: What is the significance of the spoon?
JENNIFER HALL: I don’t know, I’ve been painting them for years now, I can’t paint people. So one day I was like, I want to paint, and I can’t paint people, but I can paint a spoon, there’s not too much into that.
CHRIS NEUMER: How many spoon paintings have you done now?
JENNIFER HALL: Well, I’m doing a series right now, doing the seven deadly sins in spoons. I did a replica of a Gustavo painting, the one with all the girls in kilts, and you see boobs hanging out and stuff, and I re-did them as spoons with the same kind of mystique, like the bend of a handle…
CHRIS NEUMER: You know of course I am going to have to see a picture of this once it’s completed.
JENNIFER HALL: That’s what I thought, there’s one I’m working on now, but I’m not a very good drawer.
CHRIS NEUMER: Oh, I’ll show you the storyboard for your photos.
JENNIFER HALL: It looks like a ghetto spoon…
CHRIS NEUMER: So it’s like a spoon against a wall.
JENNIFER HALL: He killed him and he’s bleeding silver.
CHRIS NEUMER: This is charming, I could’ve gone either way, and I chose charming, cute. Not cute in a "That’s ridiculous way," actually that’s intriguing, I like that, a spoon, wow.
JENNIFER HALL: I have so many different… I’m just such a creative person; I have projects on such opposite sides of the plane.
CHRIS NEUMER: When you say projects, you mean?
JENNIFER HALL: I make jewelry, I Westernize Koreans on the weekend, and I’m in a rock band.
CHRIS NEUMER: Westernize Koreans?
JENNIFER HALL: Yeah, I got a job at this jewelry school, it’s an all Korean jewelry store, and they all come directly from Korea. So I go in on the weekends and teach them, like, Spice Girl songs…
CHRIS NEUMER: So you’re westernizing them for 1997.
JENNIFER HALL: (Laughs) Yeah, well I’m trying to start with things that are just kind of fun and poppy and catchy, because they’re learning English right now. The best way, I think…
CHRIS NEUMER: To screw with them you should do Bob Dylan.
JENNIFER HALL: Well, that was originally my idea. I could do "Bye, Bye Miss American Pie," make them memorize all the verses.
CHRIS NEUMER: But that doesn’t make any sense to anyone, does it? I thought you had to be high to know it.
JENNIFER HALL: Right. (Laughs) I know every word of that song.
CHRIS NEUMER: I’m almost ready to call you out, but at this point in time I believe you.
JENNIFER HALL: I have really bizarre music interests, they’re all really old.
CHRIS NEUMER: I was talking to someone yesterday actually, a producer, about making a small film about the song, "Come a Little Bit Closer."
JENNIFER HALL: Oh, uh huh. (Starts singing) Come a little bit closer…
CHRIS NEUMER: Yeah, I think it would make a great four-minute short film, so we were talking about it, and she was the first person out of like five people who knew that song.
JENNIFER HALL: Really? That’s crazy.
CHRIS NEUMER: Yeah, because making Backstreet Boys songs into movies just isn’t the same thing, especially since AJ got so big.
JENNIFER HALL: He really put on a lot of weight.
CHRIS NEUMER: Well, ever since he traded up his needle for food, one addiction to another, I guess. But, do you know what the article is? Did anyone tell you…?
JENNIFER HALL: No, well I’d like to see a copy of it; everyone has told me the magazine is really cool.
CHRIS NEUMER: I can send you a copy. But what we’re doing, is we’re talking to up and coming actresses, actresses that have a few credits to their name, who aren’t necessarily household names, maybe become household names, maybe not, but to get the experiences you guys have had, because I’m sick of hearing about Angelina Jolie. I already have enough for a 3000-word story based on just the first three minutes of our conversation. But talking to a working actress, versus someone like Angelina Jolie, who I don’t think I’d call her a working actress, because she’s someone famous’ daughter. So she doesn’t have to do that much work or she can pay other people to do the work for her.
JENNIFER HALL: Right.
CHRIS NEUMER: So, that is what this is about, so we’re interviewing a couple of people, and you were recommended to us through your agent, Jill. So, when I found out you were on TV’s Legally Blonde, I thought oh, right there. I never actually saw the show, for a minute I got it confused with Clueless, which was boring, there was like a forty-year old in the lead role. And so then a couple of other people were like, oh yeah, Jen Hall, you should see her in this, and I didn’t get a chance to see that, but I thought it would be interesting to talk to you about your experiences.
JENNIFER HALL: Well, the biggest thing I did was a TV show on HBO called Unscripted.
CHRIS NEUMER: Now, that was another question I had; do you ever interview for people and you say, oh yeah, you may have seen me, I was in Legally Blonde, and I just worked with George Clooney on his latest project, is it anything like that?
JENNIFER HALL: No, and this is maybe a flaw in my marketing strategy, but I rarely tell people I’m an actress, in this town it’s kind of embarrassing.
CHRIS NEUMER: Ok, why?
JENNIFER HALL: Everyone’s an actress. I went on unemployment, which I’m proud of, and I went in, and they make you fill out all these forms and a resume, and you have to register on their online database, and you have to go in person.
CHRIS NEUMER: When was this?
JENNIFER HALL: This was like, two or three weeks ago.
CHRIS NEUMER: Two or three weeks ago? That is impressive.
JENNIFER HALL: So I went in and I was like, look, I’m not going to need this. Because they’ve got for job searches, and I was like, I’m not going to need this. They asked, why? And I said well, I’m an actress. And all the heads turned on me; it was really like in the movies.
CHRIS NEUMER: All because you said that you’re an actress?
JENNIFER HALL: Yeah. So the guy at the counter laughs, and turns to me and said, yeah so are we.
CHRIS NEUMER: That’s good.
JENNIFER HALL: So I was like, no, but I work as an actress. He was like, "What, you’ve got your SAG card, your AFTA card? Yeah, so do we." So he pointed to the computer and I tucked my spoon between my legs, and walked over.
CHRIS NEUMER: Your metaphoric spoon?
JENNIFER HALL: So, I could broadcast it, I still get recognized a lot for Unscripted, and a few of the Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, but otherwise the only people who know that I’m an actress are the people that need to know.
CHRIS NEUMER: You know, I don’t think a lot of people on unemployment have publicists though. You’ve got to be one of the few. I’m not going to say it’s never happened, but that is definitely unique.
JENNIFER HALL: I think you’d be surprised, actually. When you’re at this stage, I think it’s an interesting point to cross, interesting for the magazine. Because when you’re at this point, I don’t have an assistant, I don’t have a driver or someone who runs errands for me.
CHRIS NEUMER: I thought you said you had a boyfriend?
JENNIFER HALL: Yeah. So I have to do all of these things during the day, and then at night I have to go to these parties that celebrities go to, so it’s like I’m living a double life, trying to do everything I need to do as a human being, and then trying to live out this image of, oh things are so easy, I’ll go to a party tonight.
CHRIS NEUMER: So it’s almost like you have a persona, Jennifer Hall the actress as the persona, that doesn’t fit with Jennifer Hall the person.
JENNIFER HALL: Yeah.
CHRIS NEUMER: Ok. That’s got to be tiring.
JENNIFER HALL: Yep, and I’m sure all actresses who have come into attention have that same battle, but they have a whole support system of people to take care of them, of their daily needs, things they need just to survive as a human being.
CHRIS NEUMER: This is like getting the groceries, that kind of stuff.
JENNIFER HALL: Yeah, and setting the appointments, and finding out how to get to the places. It’s a full-time job being unemployed.
CHRIS NEUMER: I’m going to put a check mark next to that one.
JENNIFER HALL: But then the funny thing is that we get sent to these parties, and we do all this press and photo shoots and stuff, but we’re not at the level where we’re getting free stuff, like when people are so eager to have you wearing their clothes.
CHRIS NEUMER: Now, when you say we, you mean, like other actresses?
JENNIFER HALL: Yeah, actresses, like all my friends, we’ve all done things that have gotten us a bit of attention, gotten us invitations to things, but we’re still just kind of a bleep on the radar, so we’ve gotten kind of to that halfway point. We’re getting a little bit of attention, but not enough to withstand having the full load of stuff.
CHRIS NEUMER: So where would you say the next step for you to go is? From this point in time, what is the next level of acting, where do you go?
JENNIFER HALL: I, personally, I’ve done a lot of television and scattered it with films — which I did two films this summer that I’d like to talk to you about — but I would like to continue doing films and just getting interesting parts, because I’m not your typical pretty girl, I’m not your typical funny, character actress, I’m kind of a blend of the two. So I get to a do a lot of interesting work…
CHRIS NEUMER: Kind of like a cross between Beautiful, and Beautiful’s best friend.
JENNIFER HALL: Yeah. So I’d like to see how far I can press the envelope on both edges, to see how far I can go.
CHRIS NEUMER: Is there any actress or actor out there right now that you say, "I think the next step would be to have some of the things this actor has", or "I consider this to be the next level?"
JENNIFER HALL: Well, I love all the stuff that Maggie Gyllenhaal does, she always gets roles that I would love, that I could fit into and I’d love to have the chance to tackle.
CHRIS NEUMER: Yeah, she’s a good actress, too.
JENNIFER HALL: She’s one of those that can play both parts, be the friend and be the girl.
CHRIS NEUMER: Is there a mindset or a place that you have to get in? Like, you want to be the sex symbol. What kind of twist, or what kind of thing do you have to do to put yourself in a position where you’re the girl with all the sex appeal?
JENNIFER HALL: Oh, I don’t know. I think sex appeal is something that is granted to you. I don’t think it’s something you have much control over.
CHRIS NEUMER: I know, I’ve tried, I’ve tried!
JENNIFER HALL: (Laughs)
CHRIS NEUMER: And I know, I could see it in your eyes when I walked in, "Oh man, he’s all the way to the left."
JENNIFER HALL: Yeah, I think my sex appeal is the fact that you actually have to look for mine.
CHRIS NEUMER: That’s a good perspective, I like that. But you said you wanted either two types of roles, I think I succinctly put it as Beauty and Beauty’s best friend.
JENNIFER HALL: Yeah.
CHRIS NEUMER: And so if you’re playing beautiful, which is something you said you wanted to do, pushing the envelope…?
JENNIFER HALL: Well, I want to bounce in between both.
CHRIS NEUMER: No, I understand that, I’m just saying someone says, "Jen, we’re going to bring you in, and you’re going to be beautiful. Not beautiful as an adjective, but beautiful as in noun. What do you do, or how do you try to get in the mindset of being that person?
JENNIFER HALL: Well, I think its acting.
CHRIS NEUMER: Ok, well is there any particular style of acting, is there anything or is like, "Well, I just go and I do."
JENNIFER HALL: I think it’s all just allowing the parts of you that inspire that type of behavior, to really take the lead, as far as I’m concerned. There’s other people, these great actresses, who find a character and let the character become them. I’m one of those where I have so many different facets inside of me that I just let that one take the lead.
CHRIS NEUMER: So for you acting is somewhat more of a gut reaction to things, and less of a cognitive sense of, "I’m going to put my hand here"?
JENNIFER HALL: Yeah, exactly.
CHRIS NEUMER: Ok. I might, might have to ask you to act sexy before we’re done. Then I’ll be trying to describe it, "Jen acted sexy…" It’s like a really bad acting class. Have you taken a lot of really bad acting classes, or had much experience in the training in LA?
JENNIFER HALL: Yeah, well I’ve taken a lot of acting classes. Of course, you get the college classes, "Pretend you’re feeling like a…"
CHRIS NEUMER: Where’d you go to college?
JENNIFER HALL: I went to Ithaca College.
CHRIS NEUMER: I just talked to someone else who was in Ithaca, and I can’t remember who it was. So in college, they ask you to feel like what?
JENNIFER HALL: No, you know they… come on!
CHRIS NEUMER: Well, yeah. My brother and I make fun of some things, and every once in a while we joke about college acting, and, "Pretend you’re a green heron!" And we run around with our arms behind our back, and every once in a while we yell out an emotion, like, "Sad, sad!" So when you were describing that, it was funny.
JENNIFER HALL: Yeah.
CHRIS NEUMER: All right, let me pose this to you — I’m letting you off the hook —
JENNIFER HALL: Ok, thanks.
CHRIS NEUMER: It’s on the table, it’ll be lead. But while we’re sitting here and while we’re talking, it seems like a lot of the things you’re describing that you’re doing or attempting to do, the way you’re positioning yourself on how to succeed in the acting field, actually has very little to do with acting. It’s a very unique field, its like, "Well, I’m going to be a professional baseball player, so I’m going to go and wine and dine a lot of people." No, you go and you play baseball! Is there a weird disconnect there? You have to spend so much of your time focusing on something you don’t want to do?
JENNIFER HALL: Yeah. It’s the most frustrating part, actually. Say you want to be a musician. You can sit at home, learn to play an instrument, and then you’re a musician. To be an actor, I mean, what am I going to do? Walk down the street and recite lines?
CHRIS NEUMER: I saw someone do that yesterday, actually.
JENNIFER HALL: Well, they’re the real geniuses.
CHRIS NEUMER: But I saw that in Santa Monica yesterday too, actually.
JENNIFER HALL: Then you see the people who are outside with their scripts, and they’re running their lines before they go in for auditions, I don’t know. This town is really bizarre. But it takes a whole team of people in order for you to attempt your craft. And then even after that, it takes money.
CHRIS NEUMER: Those are your fellow actors? Or is that the crew?
JENNIFER HALL: Well, you have to have another person involved in order to act. And then, unless you’re doing it on stage, you have to find a camera crew. It needs some validation.
CHRIS NEUMER: True. I’m doing it in this interview, see, I’m acting interested.
JENNIFER HALL: Great job.
CHRIS NEUMER: Yeah, you picked up on that!
JENNIFER HALL: (Laughs) But yeah, that’s the most mind boggling part. You have to spend your time figuring out who’s going to be where, and of course, I’m not really good at that.
CHRIS NEUMER: So if you’re going to a party or wherever, who do you want to see? Do you want to go to the party where Johnny Depp is? Do you want to go to a party where a producer, like Neal Moritz is, or a director? Who do you want to see at these parties?
JENNIFER HALL: I look for the caterer, but that’s not really what you’re asking.
CHRIS NEUMER: Well, unless you really do decide which party you’re going to based on who’s catering them.
JENNIFER HALL: Generally, I go, I look for the food, and then I just end up talking to as many people as I can, and then eventually I talk to someone I’ve never heard of. I’m not a very good social person, socialite.
CHRIS NEUMER: I was going to say that, you’re not effusive, bubbly or easy to talk to, none of that.
JENNIFER HALL: I’m not good at trying to manipulate my way through the socialite game, and get so and so to see me in this new BCBG dress.
CHRIS NEUMER: Is that what you want, though? The reason I’m asking is because you said you have to look to find where these people are, or who’s going to be at a party to decide where you’re going. I’m wondering, is that something you actually do, figure out where George Clooney is going to be?
JENNIFER HALL: I know people who do that, and they spend a lot of time doing that. I don’t do that at all, I paint spoons.
CHRIS NEUMER: Ok.
JENNIFER HALL: But that’s what some people do.
CHRIS NEUMER: You’re describing that as, "Some actresses in your position do that, but you do not."
JENNIFER HALL: Yeah.
CHRIS NEUMER: Ok.
JENNIFER HALL: Maybe I would be in another position if I had, if I did, but that’s just not my MO.
CHRIS NEUMER: Who do you want to see you, or who do you want to bump into, and to say, "Oh yeah, you were good…"? Do you want the actor, the producer, or the director, or doesn’t it matter to you?
JENNIFER HALL: The producer and the director, all the people that it’s really hard to get to, are the ones I would be more interested in, rather than the people who are actually going to the parties.
CHRIS NEUMER: Ok, who are the people that are really hard to get to?
JENNIFER HALL: I don’t know I don’t even know who they are; they’re like the mysterious puppet masters.
CHRIS NEUMER: Now you’re pulling something out of Mulholland Drive here. I’ll try one more time and then we’ll move on.
JENNIFER HALL: Do you want names?
CHRIS NEUMER: No, no, no. You’d said something about looking for somebody, finding somebody, or trying to meet up with somebody, and I’m saying, "Who is this somebody?" If you want to say Brad Pitt because he’s hot, that’s fine I can live with that. But is there a position? When you say someone who is hard to get a hold of, is there a certain type of person you’d want to find you? Producers, directors… Bob Weinstein?
JENNIFER HALL: All of them. All of that would be nice, just getting as many people onto your side as possible. All of it, I mean everything is just so reliant upon luck. Like I had a meeting with the vice president of casting with Universal Pictures yesterday, and we had this great meeting and then afterwards she said, "Hmm, let me think about the projects we have going on: nope, nope, nope, nope. Sorry, we’re not working on anything that you’re right for." So it’s like, ok, I get into this great office, I have a great meeting, it goes really, really well, and then all of a sudden there’s just absolutely nothing that they’re doing that I’m ready for.
CHRIS NEUMER: So you couldn’t possibly yell at them and say I can act for whatever it is? Like, you want me to act like a black woman? Fine, I’m there, I can do that.
JENNIFER HALL: No, and that’s the thing, even if you do happen to at one of these parties run into someone who is working on a really great project, or might be working on a really great project, the chances that they are working on something that is perfect for you, and they haven’t found the person who would be you yet, are just so slim. So that’s why I don’t even bother. I go sometimes, if I think there’s going to be great food, or a great gift bag, or to show off to my friends.
CHRIS NEUMER: These are all very good reasons to do this.
JENNIFER HALL: Yeah.
