By Christina Radish

Currently seen as Mindy Collette on the NBC drama Friday Night Lights, which has just been renewed for two more seasons, Texas native Stacey Oristano has spent three seasons as the stripper with a heart of gold, always ready to have a good time. Starting her acting career on the stage, the 28-year-old focused mainly on theater until booking her first television show, The Chappelle Show, for Comedy Central. From there, she excelled in the voice-over industry, working on children’s books on tape, numerous cartoon shows, and commercials. And then, her big break came when she landed her role on the critically acclaimed Friday Night Lights.

Season 3 has been the first time that audiences have really gotten to see into the life of Mindy Collette. Now married and expecting a baby, Mindy and Billy Riggins (Derek Phillips) can explore their new life possibilities in the coming seasons. Stacey Oristano spoke to MediaBlvd Magazine about the amazing experience she’s had working on the sleeper hit.

MediaBlvd Magazine> How did you become interested in acting?

Stacey Oristano> I’m a Dallas girl. My dad has always been a theater actor in Dallas/Ft.Worth, and I used to sit backstage with him when he would do shows, and watch the girls in their costumes and see all the fun and the family that everybody had, so I knew from the age of about 5 or 6 that that’s what I wanted to do.

MediaBlvd> When did you realize that it was something that you could make a career out of acting?

Stacey> When I started applying for colleges, I still didn’t necessarily think it was the smartest career choice. I still don’t think it’s the smartest career choice. So, I was set to go to a bunch of different colleges and double major in photojournalism and maybe do theater. But then, I got offered this spot in a theater conservatory in London and I decided that I would go ahead and give it a try, and move to London and see what happened from there. Because of that, it became more of an actual career move instead of a hobby.

MediaBlvd> Do you think that studying drama in London helped develop your craft in ways that you might not have had here?

Stacey> It was so focused. When people are in college and tell you that they’re going for 17 hours a week, it cracks me up because we went to school for about 45 hours a week and did nothing but study and get dialed into theater and literature. Just being so immersed in it, it became my life, and maybe an obsession, too. I definitely think it made me into the actor that I am today. I applied there, in the first place, because British actors were the ones that I always respected the most, and I wanted to see how they learned and what their process was.

MediaBlvd> How did you originally get involved with Friday Night Lights?

Stacey> I have an agent in Dallas and an agent in New York. My agent in Dallas called and asked if I wanted to go audition for this show, and I actually had some friends who were on the pilot. So, she told me what the part was and I thought, “There’s no way that I’m going to get cast as this stripper sister of this girl,” but I just wanted to go get in front of the casting directors because I thought, maybe later if they had a smaller part that I could do, they might bring me back. And then, they called the next week and asked if I would dye my hair and come play the part.

MediaBlvd> What was it about this project that interested you? Had you seen the film?

Stacey> I’d seen the film and I’d read the book. Derek Phillips, who plays Billy Riggins, is a good friend of mine, and we were friends before he went to shoot the pilot. He was talking about the process and the freedom that the actors were given, in that you get to improvise and keep the scene going, as long as you can, and they give you a lot of freedom on set, and I just thought that sounded so creative and amazing. And then, when I got to set, it was everything that he had said it would me, and more.

MediaBlvd> Was it intimidating to do a show with that kind of style, that’s so unlike most other TV shows?

Stacey> Yeah, it was definitely intimidating, the first couple of days that I was there. I didn’t know how much I would get to play, so for the first couple of episodes, I didn’t really. Now, we’re in the third season and everyone knows each other so well, I probably play around a little too much.

MediaBlvd> What were you able to relate to most with Mindy?

Stacey> She’s somethun’! I think she’s fun. I love that about her. I know Texas and I know Texas high school football really well, so it’s a world that wasn’t too hard for me to get into. And, it’s fun to get to play somebody who’s a bit tougher and rougher, and a little more hard than I am.

MediaBlvd> How much were you told about her up front and how much has developed over the season?

Stacey> I know they needed somebody tall and blonde. There wasn’t much, except that she was sarcastic. That was the main thing. And, I was only brought on to do one episode. They just sort of kept me around for awhile. So, she’s developed a lot since the first season.

MediaBlvd> Even though viewers only really got to know Mindy in Season 3, had you developed your own backstory for her, just so that you knew how to play her?

Stacey> Oh, yeah, I did. Adrianne Palicki, who plays my sister, and Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, who plays my mom, sat with me and we hashed out our history and where our father was and the way that we were with each other. We have our own family history, and there are little snippets of stuff. Mindy left high school, but did get her GED, and our mother never graduated high school, and little snippets of stuff like that help us.

MediaBlvd> What’s it been like to work so closely with Adrianne and Dana, and how were you able to develop your on-screen bond?

Stacey> A lot of it is just dumb luck. When we’re together, the three of us are ridiculous. They’re my two favorite people in the whole wide world, and we spend all of our time in Austin together. Just from the time that we spend together, either on set or off set, it’s helped us grow so close, as friends and as people, that when we’re on set together, there’s so much trust and faith, and no worries about trying things. If I want to try something, I can throw it out, or if Dana wants me to do something, we’ll do it. It was just luck that it happened with the three of us. There’s nothing, but trust and love, when it comes to the Collette family.

MediaBlvd> How has it been to work with Derek Phillips and Taylor Kitsch?

Stacey> Derek Phillips is one of the most giving actors I’ve ever worked with. In real life, he’s like my big brother. When we’re on set together, anything that happens, he’s right there and connected and giving. It’s not even like work. It just happens. And, Taylor Kitsch is probably the funniest person I’ve ever met in my life. There have been two or three times, on set, when we have had to do a scene about 20 times because we can’t get through it. He makes me cry from laughing so hard. It’s actually a little annoying. He’s so ridiculously funny. And, when Derek and Taylor are together, forget it! They’re just ridiculous and I adore them. I’ve known Taylor for awhile, but we hadn’t ever really gotten to do anything together. And, Minka Kelly and I had never worked together at all, but in Season 3, we got to do a lot of stuff together.

MediaBlvd> Can you talk about the experience of working with Minka Kelly this past season?

Stacey> It’s such a weird mix because Lyla and Mindy, even since Season 1, have butted heads and had animosity. And then, all of a sudden, through both of our characters dating Riggins brothers, they had to come together. It happened because they’re having Riggins trouble, and they just came together, which seemed to work. Their friendship seems to work, for some strange reason.

MediaBlvd> What have you learned about yourself from playing this character?

Stacey> I’m apparently a bit more shy than I thought I was. When we do scenes where we’re actually at the strip club and I have to dance, I am a nervous wreck. I’m not really very graceful and it’s a part of me that I hadn’t explored or thought about before. I’m trying to come out of my shell that way.

MediaBlvd> Did you do any research into what it’s like to work as a stripper?

Stacey> The only things I ever knew about it were things I’d seen in other movies. We actually do shoot at a strip club, called The Landing Strip, and we use some of the dancers that are extras there, and I love talking to those girls. A lot of them give me tips about what to do and how to dance. They’re amazing girls. I can’t believe the things they can do. They are so athletic. They definitely helped me a lot.

MediaBlvd> How difficult has it been to work on a series, when you don’t know if it will be returning from season to season? How much of a relief was it to find out that the producers developed this deal with DirecTV to finance the show?

Stacey> It’s difficult. When the season is over, I have to think that that’s it and it’s over. And then, it can be a pleasant surprise, if we do get picked up. I really didn’t think there was going to be a Season 3. This whole deal with DirecTV was so new that no one had ever done it before. It was such a blessing that they had that much faith in our show that they wanted to help support it. It says a lot about what we do. Our fanbase is so incredibly loyal, but it just doesn’t show up in the ratings. But, the show is so critically acclaimed and I’m so proud of it and the people who work on it. I’m really proud of everybody.

MediaBlvd> What’s been the most enjoyable thing about working on this show? Has anything been particularly difficult?

Stacey> I can’t think of anything that’s been difficult about it. The happiest times of my life have been when I get to be down in Austin and work on set and be with those people. It’s such a blessing. That sounds so cliche, but I can’t wait to get up and go to work, every morning, when I’m there. Every aspect of it is pure heaven. I can’t believe that people pay me to do that. I would do it for free!

MediaBlvd> Do you have hopes of returning to the theater, in the future?

Stacey> Oh, absolutely! That’s my passion and my heart. I live in New York City, so it’s what I’m always going to go back to. I want to try to do everything and I want to work, but I think I’ll always go back to the theater, no matter what happens. It’s definitely my home.

MediaBlvd> Being a singer as well, is that as big a passion as your acting?

Stacey> It’s the same thing to me because I tend to do musical theater when I do theater.

MediaBlvd> Any plans to do a record?

Stacey> Oh, God, no. I don’t think that’s for me. I’d love to sing harmonies for somebody and be a back-up girl.

MediaBlvd> If you had your choice, are there types of roles or specific genres that you’d like to work in, that you haven’t gotten the chance to do yet?

Stacey> I would really love to be able to stretch and do some more dramatic work, but I definitely know that I’m the comedienne and the funny girl, and I love making people laugh, more than anything.