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By Christina Radish
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Ashley Scott at the San Diego Comic Convention in San Diego, Calif. on July 23, 2006. | The CBS television series Jericho returns this week with the promise that questions, about both the characters and the circumstances surrounding them, will be answered by the end of the season.
The small, peaceful town of Jericho, Kansas has been in chaos since a nuclear mushroom cloud appeared on the horizon, isolating its residents and leaving them to wonder whether they’re the only Americans left alive. As fear of the unknown propels Jericho into social, psychological and physical mayhem when all communication and power is shut down, Jake Green (Skeet Ulrich), prodigal son of the town’s mayor, becomes a reluctant hero when he steps up and helps to restore some order. And, even though Mayor Johnston Green (Gerald McRaney) is conflicted with the return of his estranged son, he and his wife, Gail (Pamela Reed), know they must pull the community together.
As Emily, Jake’s high school sweetheart who is now torn between her first love and the man she was engaged to before the crisis, 29-year-old Louisiana native Ashley Scott has apparent enthusiasm for the direction her character is headed, and shares that, as well as her thoughts on what she might do in a similar situation in real-life, with MediaBlvd Magazine.
MediaBlvd Magazine> Have you thought about how you would handle such a horrible crisis, if it happened in real life?
Ashley Scott> I’m from New Orleans and it’s like what happened with Katrina. When we had a hurricane in South Carolina, all the neighbors cooked food and ate it before it went rotten. It will go bad, anyway, so you share it. You don’t know what to do or how to respond. You’re so used to picking up your cell phone. When you leave your cell phone at home, you freak out and feel like your whole day is ruined. It’s so bizarre, what we’ve become accustomed to, where everything is just so easy and at your hands. We take everything for granted. After 9/11, as an American, I felt like all the comfort was gone. I needed to call my dad. I needed comfort. I needed safety. And, I was a grown woman. I was in Vancouver, and I couldn’t get back. I have great friends in New York, so it was a nightmare. I was working on Dark Angel, and they made us work that day. It was probably better that they made us work, but it was horrible and disarming. You feel so awfully lonely and scared. I have a personality where I just immediately try to fix things. I’m pretty good under pressure. I break down after. If someone gets hurt, I’m there and I can fix it, but afterwards I just crumble like a wet noodle. I’d probably try to fix things, and then I’d be done for the next two weeks.
MediaBlvd> Is this your favorite job so far?
Ashley> It’s certainly my favorite television job. Birds of Prey was pretty amazing too, though. I got to do a lot of wire work. That was fun, dark, interesting and new for me, as a real responsibility that I’d never carried before. Jericho is really cool because everybody that we work with felt like family immediately. That always makes me feel happy. It’s great to go to work with good people. This is one of my favorite jobs because of all the incredible actors that we’re working with. I just sit back and listen to them. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve never taken an acting class. I have no clue. I’m making it up as I go. So, it’s really nice to watch these actors. It’s like going to school.
MediaBlvd> Is there anyone that you haven’t gotten to work with yet, that you hope you’ll get to work with before the end of the season?
Ashley> I worked with Gerald McRaney, but really lightly. I didn’t have a whole lot to do with him because he was kind of having a stroke on the floor. But, I really love him, really respect his work and think he’s a dynamite guy. He’s somebody I’d really like to spend more time with. And, I also haven’t really spent a whole lot of time with Pamela Reed either. I’d like to bring that around. And then, there’s some new, great characters coming in, played by people I respect as actors, that I’d really love to work with.
MediaBlvd> Do you wish there was more mystery to your character, like some of the other characters?
Ashley> No, I’m very clear about how they’ve written Emily. I think it’s nice to have someone who just grew up there and lives there. She’s a school teacher and she cares about the kids. With Roger coming back, and what they’ve done with him, it really opens up so many doors and so many questions, spiritually. It really answers a lot of questions that I had about the show. I’ve never done a show with this many other actors before, and it’s wonderful, but you can only give so much time to each particular storyline. It’s an hour show, so I’m really happy with where it’s going. I’m really excited. To know what the viewers are going to find out is just awesome.
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Ashley Scott at the Gridlock New Years' Eve party held at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, Calif. on December 31, 2006. | MediaBlvd> What do you enjoy about the love triangle that you’re involved in?
Ashley> I think it’s wonderful. I think it’s so great how the story ended with Emily finally slipping with Jake, and then Roger coming back. She didn’t see that coming at all. It was really cool, and it’s really interesting to watch. What would you do? I had a guy that I grew up with that I was madly in love with, my whole life. I have a husband now, and he’s gone on with his life, but what do you do if it comes together? Where does your heart go? And, what Roger brings back to the town is really cool, and it makes Emily start to look at him in a different life. It’s really complicated, which most matters of the heart are, if they really matter.
MediaBlvd> So, Emily will be having to deal with these mixed emotions for Jake, just as Roger comes back to town?
Ashley> I think she’s always been in love with Jake. Jake went away and she had to start her life again and deal with the fact that that he was not going to be her future. Then, she found Roger. He was that stable, good guy. While Roger was out of the picture, what was a girl to do? But, when Roger comes back, it’s hard. She really struggles with that. She was engaged to him and loves him very much. She is there to help him and nurse him back to health. He saw a lot of really bad things out there.
MediaBlvd> Are you going to be doing more action in upcoming episodes?
Ashley> Yeah. I like that. That’s more my style. The characters drifted a little bit, and we’re bringing it back pretty strong, which is really going to be fun for me. I’m really excited about it.
MediaBlvd> Does that mean you’ll be spending more time at the gym to prepare for that?
Ashley> Oh, I hope not. I’m going to fake it. I’m going to act like I’m fit. I have gotten into yoga, though. I never thought I was a yoga girl because I’m an aerobics girl, but I love it. I do it at lunchtime. I’m totally addicted. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. I feel amazing. The great part is that it’s for everybody, and you do what you can. It’s not like you’re in the gym thinking, “Oh, God, I’ve got to look like them. I’m such a moron.” You just do your own thing and feel it, and it’s wonderful. I love it.
MediaBlvd> Do you follow any specific diets?
Ashley> No, I’m terrible. I watched that Super Size Me movie and I just wanted to eat more McDonald’s. I shouldn’t discuss diet. I don’t want the kids to hear about how bad I am. I do a lot of cooking at home. I cook about six nights a week. I cook everything. I cook a lot of fried stuff that I’ve had to cut back on. I’m a Southern girl. I’ve backed off a little bit because my husband was starting to blow up. He was like, “Ashley, you can’t keep cooking this food.”
MediaBlvd> Now that you’ve been married for more than two years, is marriage all you expected it to be?
Ashley> Marriage is crazy. It’s this wacky commitment between two people, and you just have to chug along. It’s cool, but it’s not what I expected. I thought it was going to be much easier. I thought, “Oh, good, I’ve found him. I’ll just kick back and we’ll live the rest of our lives, and it will be amazing.” It’s hard. He doesn’t know how to cook anymore. He doesn’t know how to do laundry. He suddenly lost all of that. I’m like, “You used to cook eggs every morning. What do you mean, you don’t know how to cook?” He can find the remote. He’s really good at that.
MediaBlvd> What attracted you to him?
Ashley> I really liked his honesty. We were really good friends, and we really had a good appreciation for one another, which I had not found in anyone else before. You want a long-term partner that just really loves you for you, is truthful, and who you can really hang out with. He’s a film producer, so he gets my schedule and the demands of my work, which is really beneficial to me. He understands if I’ve got to smooch somebody. I’ll be freaking out about it, saying, “Oh, my God, I’ve got to kiss some guy,” and he’s like, “It’s okay. It’ll be fine.”
MediaBlvd> Have you thought about having a family, or is it too soon for that?
Ashley> Where I’m from, if you’re 29 and you don’t have kids, you’re over-the-hill. Me getting married at 27 was like, “Woah, she’s really slow.” My mom and dad are pretty mellow about that, though. They’re like, “Do your thing, live your life, kids can come later.” And, I’m an adoption gal, anyway.
MediaBlvd> Do you have any plans for hiatus?
Ashley> I’m looking for a movie. I want to work. I’m much better at working. I’m not good at sitting around. Growing up with a work ethic in this town, if I’m not working for a week, I’m like, “I’ve gotta do something.”
MediaBlvd> Would you like to do a comedy?
Ashley> I just did one called Strange Wilderness that’s going to come out this year. It’s hysterical. I got to be funny and goof off. Steve Zahn is in it, and Justin Long, who I love. He’s so good. He’s going to be huge. He’s really a talented guy. I play a gal that is straighter than all of them. It takes place in the 70's. They work for a cable Animal Planet kind of show, but back in the 70's when cable started. |
