CHRIS NEUMER: I saw a trailer for your film, I guess that's all I can see for your One Night with the King?
TIFFANY DUPONT: That's all you can see right now, yeah. Unfortunately.
CHRIS NEUMER: When I first heard about it, I seriously thought it was about a one-night stand with Elvis.
TIFFANY DUPONT: You know what? This is very funny, I went to my audition for that way back when, and I called up one of my good friends and I said, "I just had this audition and it went really well," I was telling him about it and he said, "What's it called?" I told him One Night with the King, and he said "Elvis?" Same, exact thing. And I thought, maybe we ought to rename it because of how it sounds.
CHRIS NEUMER: I didn't realize it had biblical references in the story of Esther.
TIFFANY DUPONT: Yes, it is the story of Esther.
CHRIS NEUMER: I didn't know anything about what the story of Esther was, and then I looked into it, found out about it, and stumbled onto all of these websites and message boards where they had these super intense people who were eagerly awaiting this. We can talk later, off record, about making money off of religion.
TIFFANY DUPONT: Oh, sure.
CHRIS NEUMER: But you had just done another film with religious overtones prior to this. Granted, I'm sure they're both very far apart, but is there any concern on your part that you're doing two of these in a row?
TIFFANY DUPONT: No, I don't think so. I think the first of them, being The Work and the Glory, it's a very sweet, simple story, more about two kids in love and the whole Mormonism is our conflict. Can you be with this guy because he believes in this or not, kind of thing. My character goes for it at the end, because it's a Mormon film.
CHRIS NEUMER: And it's not based on any previous story.
TIFFANY DUPONT: No, not at all. None of the actors were Mormon, I don't really think that's the point, necessarily. It was a very small, humble film, shall we say, and it had a very niche audience, and maybe somewhere in Utah we're big stars, but that's as far as it goes.
CHRIS NEUMER: If you go to Provo, you won't be able to walk down the street.
TIFFANY DUPONT: I just got a puppy a year ago and I picked her up in Oregon, and I had to stop through Utah to get there, Salt Lake City, and I didn't even think about it, it was a very early flight, and we were on the plane. The girl ahead of me and her boyfriend kept looking at me, and while she was hugging her boyfriend she kept looking at me over her shoulder, and I was kind of weirded out. Then she said, "Are you the girl in The Work and the Glory?" I was like, "Oh my gosh, we're in Utah!" It totally hit me that we were on a plane full of Mormons, many who had probably seen the movie, and I just thought, "Oh my gosh, my first celebrity sighting." It wasn't my very first one, but it was kind of funny, and I said that yeah, I was. But to answer your question from before, I think that one was so small, and it's very specific, it's not going to be something on a grand level where people are going to be like, "Oh, she did all these religious movies." And I think with One Night with the King, when it does come out we will hopefully hit a larger audience. But two things, it's historical, it's a story that not only hits Christianity but the Jewish faith. It kind of goes across both, it's not just one or the other. Her faith is a huge part of the story, but it's not a story sending this whole "Go to church" message, or "Believe in Jesus Christ" message, anything like that.
CHRIS NEUMER: So, if I understand what you’re saying, Mel Gibson wasn't involved?
TIFFANY DUPONT: No, Mel Gibson was not involved. And I think the story is more inspiring you based on this girl's character, how she led her life and the decision she made, and why she made those decisions are definitely faith-based. But, it's not shoving it down your throat. It's not trying to make you do something after the film. I hope it will maybe inspire people to think twice, or...
CHRIS NEUMER: Or see some of your other films?
TIFFANY DUPONT: That too, that could be good. Yes, absolutely.
CHRIS NEUMER: Now, you finished shooting on this ages ago?
TIFFANY DUPONT: Right.
CHRIS NEUMER: Eight months ago, or something like that?
TIFFANY DUPONT: Yeah, last December.
CHRIS NEUMER: Wait, last December '04 or last December '05?
TIFFANY DUPONT: Last December '04.
CHRIS NEUMER: This has got to be a pretty tough wait for you.
TIFFANY DUPONT: Yeah, we're all kind of wondering what's happening now.
CHRIS NEUMER: I don't want to call this your break, but this is a pretty big thing where you have a lead role opposite pretty big names.
TIFFANY DUPONT: Yeah.
CHRIS NEUMER: Getting this out on the mainstream market certainly isn't going to hurt you in any way.
TIFFANY DUPONT: Sure, we're really excited for it, but you're right.
CHRIS NEUMER: How do you keep your sanity during this time?
TIFFANY DUPONT: I'm very lucky to be busy with the show, "The Bedford Diaries", and I'm just being bombarded with auditions, which is great.
CHRIS NEUMER: Like they're calling you to come in to audition, or like you're just going out there a lot?
TIFFANY DUPONT: I think it's a little bit of both, we're getting a lot of very, very positive feedback right now, and welcoming of me. So it's good, but no one's seen the finished project yet. Who knows, I mean some movies go straight to video, and you always have that fear of that happening in the back of your mind. Even with "The Bedford Diaries", with the whole show and the networks changing, we were kind of nervous for a second, like, oh my gosh, [The Bedford Diaries] not going to come out.
CHRIS NEUMER: That's on the WB?
TIFFANY DUPONT: It's on the WB. We got caught up in the mix with the networks, with CW TV coming, and we were worried that they weren't going to air all of our episodes. It's like, "Oh no, something else that might not come out!" So, One Night with the King will come out when it does, and when that happens it will be perfect, it'll land right when it should.
CHRIS NEUMER: So, how do you keep your faith in this situation, because what you’re saying sounds very grounded. I do that sometimes too, like, "Oh well, the interview with Tina got canceled at the very last minute and I was looking forward to getting it. You know what? I can get it on the phone." But part of me is like, "God damn it!"
TIFFANY DUPONT: Yeah, sure.
CHRIS NEUMER: So, is this a public face you're putting on here?
TIFFANY DUPONT: No, I do, I do actually believe it. I'm sorry, I'm not putting you on right now, I feel like I'm the kind of person who knows I'm doing exactly what I should be, I know that this is the right job for me, I'm in the place I'm supposed to be.
CHRIS NEUMER: Now how do you know these things? I'll believe you for now, I'll give you that one for spec. But how can you be so sure that you're doing the right thing?
TIFFANY DUPONT: I think it's one of those things where you have to feel peace about it, you know? You're not waking up in the morning conflicted or distracted by other things. I wake up everyday and I'm completely focused on what I want to do. I even have a schedule for myself in which I spend X number of hours studying either material or a script I'm working on, or something I'm doing with my coach. Then I take a break, and then I've got things that I'm doing for myself, to better myself and to grow as an actor. Whether that be a class, or studying music, or things I do that make me better.
CHRIS NEUMER: Like practicing acting in real life settings by lying to your boyfriend.
TIFFANY DUPONT: No, I don't do that. But I'm very driven and happy with what I'm doing so I have no reason to think I ought to be someplace else.
CHRIS NEUMER: That's good.
TIFFANY DUPONT: So I feel great purpose in what I'm doing.
CHRIS NEUMER: Also, "I used to work at a bank," that would have been the correct answer.
TIFFANY DUPONT: I used to work at a bank? (sarcastically) Well, I also used to work at a bank.
CHRIS NEUMER: I'm just saying.
TIFFANY DUPONT: I'm also one of these people, and this is true, when I was a little girl, I was probably four or five, we were visiting my grandmother in Luxembourg, and I decided that Christmas break that I knew what I was going to do. I wanted to be an actress, I didn't even know what it meant at the time, besides being famous, the money and all that.
CHRIS NEUMER: That was a great segue.
TIFFANY DUPONT: Well good. Anyway, I just knew that I wanted to make the stories on TV, I wanted to do that, I thought it would be so fun, and I had all the personality traits so it made sense. As I've gotten older the things that people have told me I'm good at or come easily for me have fit perfectly. So, it's all working out so far.
CHRIS NEUMER: So, you mentioned the fame and the other side of it, I'm always fascinated by this, there are two things I'm fascinated by. One, is the actors who tell me they try to forget everything they know before they go in for a part, I'm fascinated by those guys because that's the complete opposite it life. And number two, how much of being a successful actor has nothing to do with you acting?
TIFFANY DUPONT: I think that to really be successful you need to realize that yes, you're an artist, you're creative and you're developing yourself to be all these individuals, but the bottom line is you're a product that is being marketed. If you're going to create a successful business or commodity you have to realize that's another element or aspect of what you're doing. So, it's not the most important aspect, I think the product is definitely going to be the most important thing, but advertising and how you're placed in the market makes a huge difference. I think a lot of younger actors maybe just don't know about that, or don't understand it. Or get caught up in all of the partying and all of the fame and the money and all of these other things that are a part of it, yes, but need to be handled a certain way to be a success.
CHRIS NEUMER: You have come to grips with this. There are other actors who say, "I know its something I'm supposed to do but I just can't bring myself to go out to parties with casting directors, or go the thing in the Hills, and be seen on the red carpet." Then other people are like, "Yeah, I love that, it's great." And I say, "What about the acting?" And they say, "That's great too." But you seem to have found a balance between the two, and I'm not getting that you hate either one of them, I'm getting that you sort of like both of them because they're both on a path. Is that about right?
TIFFANY DUPONT: They both work together, but my acting and my abilities are the most important thing, and they have to be my number one focus. If these guys get me into a room and that's not my number one focus, it's not going to even matter. It doesn't matter if I was on a red carpet, or the cover of a magazine, if I'm not able to produce the kind of quality of acting that I want, I'm not going to get where I want to be. So that's the most important thing, but you're right, I have a good handle on the situation, I know where it goes, is I guess, the right way to put it.
CHRIS NEUMER: I know like it seems like this is down the road from accepting that this is just a job, but you're how old?
TIFFANY DUPONT: I'm early twenties, right about 25-years-old, actually.
CHRIS NEUMER: Really?
TIFFANY DUPONT: So weird, I know. It doesn't feel like it at all. I feel like 19 or 20.
CHRIS NEUMER: I was going to say, it looks like it too. If you told me you were 17, I'd be like, OK.
TIFFANY DUPONT: Well, I appreciate that, because that's what I play on TV. Not even TV, my roles are always like, 17 to 20-year-olds, or right in there. So it's funny, because that's what I deal with on a daily basis.
CHRIS NEUMER: I'm trying to figure out why I think that you're 17. It could be the eyes.
TIFFANY DUPONT: It could be. I think the eyes are a huge part of it, because there are girls that are a lot younger than me who have been through some things I have never seen, and may look older or more mature.
CHRIS NEUMER: That's a good way to sum it up. That's rule number one, I suppose.
TIFFANY DUPONT: Yeah.
CHRIS NEUMER: There's got to be a point in time where you look back on all of this and you go, "You know what? I just didn't have it together back then." I'll give you an example. I look back on some of the interviews I did like six years ago and I think, "Oh my God, you were terrible! You actually asked how they got the part!" It's like, that's a horrible question. That's almost, but not as bad as, "What was it like working with...?" Not as bad but close.
TIFFANY DUPONT: I got a question today, I won't say who, "What's the most shocking thing about you?" I was like, "What?" Is this for a senior column in the yearbook? Senior quotes, or something? I didn't know what to say, I was like, this is silly, what does it have to do with anything? Anyway.
CHRIS NEUMER: Actually, one of the things I was looking up was that, but I couldn't find many interviews with you.
TIFFANY DUPONT: Yeah, we're just getting going on that.
CHRIS NEUMER: No, it's all right, it means there’s no research that I can do.
TIFFANY DUPONT: (Laughs) Oh, okay!
CHRIS NEUMER: It used to be I got scared in that situation, now it's like, I'm paving the road, people are going to read mine, and they're going to be like, "I don't know how to top this." That's what I keep telling myself. Tina had this thing where she was with something, I think it was called "Turtle Soup", a magazine or something.
TIFFANY DUPONT: I don't know.
CHRIS NEUMER: She was asked, if she had a boyfriend what would she cook him to impress him?
TIFFANY DUPONT: That's a really tough question.
CHRIS NEUMER: And she was asked what type of vegetable she didn't like, and she's trying to answer it seriously, but I was just thinking, "How do you deal with this innaity and stupidity in a manner befitting your image?"
TIFFANY DUPONT: And you don't want to be a jerk and say, "I have no comment on that."
CHRIS NEUMER: I did this thing with Jenny McCarthy a long time ago, I still haven't taken the questions out of my notebook, but, these are some of the questions on the Jenny McCarthy webpage, and one of them was, "Jenny McCarthy urges her husband to do a little do-it-yourself around the home. Watching men with hammers and nails turns her on, why is this the case?" Then they start talking about why she can't make porn with her husband, doing nudity, and I kept going on with this, and I said, "How do you deal with these questions?" And she said, "Oh, it's part of the job." As an aside, she was wearing these shoes that I thought was actual turquoise, so I asked her about her shoes, and I said, "Are they real?" And she says, "No, I had my implants taken out like two years ago." And I was like, I'm talking about your shoes! She was like, "You're the first person who's ever asked me that question and it wasn't about my boobs." And I was like, "Yes..." We were just talking, but how do you deal with these stupid questions? I'm sure you get some of them, like the one about what's the most shocking thing about you.
TIFFANY DUPONT: Right. I think it's just being easy going and polite, not making a big fuss, you know?
CHRIS NEUMER: Pretending?
TIFFANY DUPONT: Kind of. I think we're all kind of actors at times.
CHRIS NEUMER: I pretending that I'm really interested right now, so I know exactly what you’re saying.
TIFFANY DUPONT: (laughs) Oh! Sad! But there's just no reason to be any kind of way about it. Just be easy going and cool, laugh it off, I guess. I think it's only when it's something offensive that there's a problem. But I haven't experienced that, so I guess we're OK so far.
CHRIS NEUMER: That's good. So it's not the type of thing where you're going to start doing Maxim, or something like that?
TIFFANY DUPONT: We're actually completely steering away from all of that, that's so not the road we're going down. Not even close.
CHRIS NEUMER: Is that a personal thing for you?
TIFFANY DUPONT: Yeah. It's a personal thing for me, but it's also a team decision, it fits me more to be down the Reese Witherspoon, Julia Roberts road, than someone who would be in a "Maxim" magazine, or something like that.
CHRIS NEUMER: The seventh girl listed in the American Pie cast.
TIFFANY DUPONT: There you go. We're not going down that road. I want to challenge myself beyond that, I don't want to gain fans just because they saw me in my bra and underwear. I'm working hard to be more than that, to be more than the pretty face or the hot girl. You get these roles and auditions that literally say, "The hot girl comes in the room."
CHRIS NEUMER: College Cutie Number 2.
TIFFANY DUPONT: Exactly. I played one sorority girl, Sorority Girl B. That's okay to start there, we all have those things happen, but I'm looking well beyond that. I actually just got an opportunity to read for the Coen Brother's new film opposite Heath Ledger, and it's a long shot at this point, but I'm just trying to break the top twenty.
CHRIS NEUMER: Top twenty for the part?
TIFFANY DUPONT: Yeah, top twenty for the part.
CHRIS NEUMER: They have a listing for that?
TIFFANY DUPONT: It's an unofficial thing to say. They're probably offering it to Sienna Miller, Michelle Monaghan, and such and such.
CHRIS NEUMER: Do you ever have a type of thing where—and I'm not looking for names on this, unless you want to offer them—but where you're like, just don't let me lose to that evil, she-beast, Maggie Grace, or someone?
TIFFANY DUPONT: No, not that way.
CHRIS NEUMER: Is there any actress out there, and you don't have to give me a name unless you want to, but is there any actress out there who you're just like, "I don't know how she does it, I don't know how she gets parts? Anything like that?
TIFFANY DUPONT: I think there are always people like that, who end up on TV and wherever and you're like, “Wow, how did they get on there?” We all have our good and our bad days, even shooting. You have a great series, but you have an off day, maybe someone watching it caught you on your worst scene of your life or day, you never know.
CHRIS NEUMER: That's very diplomatic of you, especially the first part.
TIFFANY DUPONT: Well, I just can't say, there's, again, I'm working really hard to break that top twenty, and with the Coen Brothers film, I was given the opportunity to play this trailer park girl, someone from Southern Texas, just like 15 miles from the Mexican border, and this girl literally says stuff like, "I knows you was crazy when I first saws you done setting there." Just a completely different world, and I was really proud of my team for giving me that chance to be so different than people would expect me to be. I worked very, very hard on it, and I just learned a lot in the process of preparing for that.
CHRIS NEUMER: Now you say that, and I have to ask what you learned.
TIFFANY DUPONT: This was the farthest I've had to pull away from myself so far for an audition.
CHRIS NEUMER: Meaning?
TIFFANY DUPONT: The only thing this girl and I have in common is that we're both female, basically.
CHRIS NEUMER: What do you mean by pull away from yourself?
TIFFANY DUPONT: Like, the way she sits, or how she would hold her body, or what she's thinking. I probably would never think these thoughts.
CHRIS NEUMER: What thoughts?
TIFFANY DUPONT: My husband's a piece of shit, all he does is sit around and watch TV and waste our money, we don't even have any. What mess is he getting into this time, like I can't even believe this. Just, very crass, very different. I don't know what to say.
CHRIS NEUMER: It's interesting talking to actors because it's very hard, and please forgive me when I say this, because it's going to be blasphemy, but in a certain sense acting is pretending... yeah I saw the look.
TIFFANY DUPONT: No, I don't take offense, that's fine.
CHRIS NEUMER: One actor, it may have been Arliss Howard, I can’t remember really took me to task for stating that acting was like pretending. But it seems as though talking about it is sort of like, if I were to act intellectual, I would act intellectual, I wouldn't sit there and think, "Oh, maybe I should cross my legs like this, and I should wear a spectacle." You just sort of have this image that you do, and it's sort of hard to talk about. It seems like that's sort of what you're talking about with this white trash, trailer park girl. It seems like there's not a whole lot of linear thought about all of this, it's sort of a presentation of a feeling. Would you agree with that?
TIFFANY DUPONT: In a sense, yeah, it's definitely a part of it. I think what needs to happen, you can't just pretend, you can't just duplicate an idea, you've got to make it somehow you. And if it's you, then you're just doing, "Here's my five-step plan to crying." I'll do this, to do this, and then I'll fabricate tears, or whatever the case may be.
