Brittany Daniel: Skyline
by by Fred Topel for SuicideGirls (http://suicidegirls.com/)

When the aliens come, the only ones left to fight back will be the good looking Hollywood heroes. Independence Day gave us Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman and Vivica A. Fox. Signs left us in the hands (and basement) of Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix. Now Skyline has strapping male leads Eric Balfour (who plays Jarrod) and Donald Faison (Terry), to keep their girlfriends safe and fight off invaders. Brittany Daniel plays Candice, described as Terry’s self-absorbed socialite girlfriend.

Perhaps the point of casting Daniel in the role is to show that she’s not as obvious as superficial categorizations might suggest. Yes, she’s a statuesque blonde babe in a sci-fi action movie, but Daniel wouldn’t take the part if that’s all there was for her.

The film’s plot is based around aliens who can use a Siren light, like the Greek mythology, to trap humans. Writer/directors The Strause Brothers based the concept of this trap on humans’ instinct to look at accidents, so they are going beyond oversimplified heroes and villains with their story.

Comedy has allowed Daniel to shake any typecasting she might face as a blonde beauty in Hollywood. Movies like Broken Lizard’s Club Dredd and the Wayans Brothers’ White Chicks and Little Man let Daniel be crude and vulgar. And she plays a transgender in a recurring role on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and stars as a footballer’s wife on The Game.

Calling from her hotel room in Atlanta, GA, where she films The Game, Daniel seemed excited to talk about her large slate of work. She began working with her twin sister Cynthia, playing twins in TV episodes (The New Leave it to Beaver) and supporting roles (The Basketball Diaries). For three years they played the Wakefield sisters in a Sweet Valley High TV series. Then Brittany continued on her own path.

SuicideGirls: Have you had dreams of being an action heroine before Skyline?
Brittan Daniel: Actually yes. I’ve always thought it would be amazing to do an action movie. I’m very athletic and physical. Doing comedies and dramas, I felt like I wasn’t really accessing all that I have to offer I guess in a way. So I always thought it would be really fun to get in sick shape and kick ass in a movie. This I got hired like two days before so I didn’t quite have the time to do that. But yeah, it was a really cool experience because it’s like nothing else I’ve ever done before.
SG: How did the physical part fulfill your dreams?
BD: Well, just being a tough badass, just leading the way. My character in the beginning of the movie is kind of like this little L.A. socialite kind of girl. Then she really has to step up and help lead all the other people in the movie away from the aliens and getting away from them. So she kind of leads the charge a little bit for at least part of the movie. So physically, we had to do a lot of running and jumping and all kinds of stuff. So I didn’t really necessarily get to beat anybody up which would’ve been fun, but it was very physical.
SG: Maybe you did and after they add in the aliens, you'll be beating them up.
BD: That’s true, exactly. I think you’re right.
SG: Is Candice maybe the type of character we want to see get killed by the aliens?
BD: Maybe at the very beginning of the movie but then she kind of has a comeuppance. She ends up getting out of her ego and selfishness and really looks out for everybody. So I don't think you’ll want her to die.
SG: Just in a spirit of fun, how far can you push it?
BD: She’s not too over the top.
SG: Do you stop and look at accidents, like the siren call suggests?
BD: I really try not to but I do. I don’t understand what that is. It’s kind of like when you see a dead animal on the road too. You’re like, “Ew, gross” but you still look at it. I don't know why we do that. I don't know if we’re like masochists and we want to torture ourselves, but that’s definitely what the sirens are like in this movie.
SG: Do you think if aliens came they would be evil?
BD: I’d like to think not. I feel like just because you’re living on another planet doesn’t mean that you have to be evil. I feel like there’s probably so many forms of life out there that we don’t even know about. How could we be so arrogant to say that we think we’re the only ones living in this world. I would like to believe that they would be good people.
SG: Or that we’re so valuable they’d want to take us over.
BD: Yeah, right? Exactly. No, I mean, they probably just would be different but I think different types of people scare us so I don’t really see them as being evil.
SG: It’s good for a movie though, right?
BD: Yes, definitely adds to the drama.
SG: How was the experience of shooting in Los Angeles?
BD: I liked shooting in L.A. because I was able to go home every night. I don't think people are as flexible. Right now I’m in Atlanta shooting a TV show. Here people are just so happy that you’re there. Like “Oh my God,” they think it’s so exciting. In L.A., it’s like, “Can y’all please keep it down? When are you done shooting in this building.” We caught some attitude from people in L.A. shooting in this condo complex. It was nice just because you don’t have to sleep in a hotel and you get to go home and the weather was really nice.
SG: Do you ever find sometimes you’re called in for a role and just asked to be “the
hot blonde?”
BD: I think I kind of felt that more in the beginning of my career. Now I feel like I’m given more opportunities because from what people told me, it’s rare to find somebody that’s an attractive person that can be funny. So I feel like it’s really helped me get more opportunities because if I was just the girl saying one line in a movie as the hot girl, yeah, that would happen. But I’ve really tried to stay away from those kind of roles. I really want to do something that’s funny or dramatic and I don’t mind being the hot girl in the show as long as I have a lot of fun stuff to say. Like on The Game, I’m the hot blonde but she has heart and soul and we get to do dramatic stuff and comedic stuff. To me that’s the most ideal role, when I can do both. Luckily, I have a good team of people that they’re not like, “Okay, you’re a hot girl too, go in and audition for this.” I don’t
go in for that stuff.
SG: Are you the type to change your look very often?
BD: Right now I just cut my hair off really short. I think I have a very different kind of look right now. It’s a little bit of a rock n’ roll kind of look right now. So I have no problem changing it up. I’ve worn brown wigs. I like to switch it up.
SG: What do you think of the Suicide Girls look?
BD: Oh, I think they’re hot. I love that they’re not their traditional beauties. I love tattoos. I love really dominatrix style clothing and things so to me I think they’re hot. I like that you’re showing a different type of woman too. You don’t have to look like me to be considered beautiful and sexy. So I love it.
SG: Did your sister stop acting?
BD: Yeah, she’s actually a photographer and she’s got two little boys so she’s a mom and a photographer. The funny thing is in Skyline, we had this scene during reshoots. I had to fly to a baby shower that I could not get out of. They called in my sister to be my body double because we were shooting a scene and they needed me for this wide shot. So they called in my twin sister and she ended up shooting that scene. So somewhere in Skyline my sister’s in the movie too.
SG: They did that with Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2.
BD: That’s how they got the idea because they were like, “What are we going to do? Wait, she’s not going to be here, what are we going to do?” Then one of them’s like, “What about her twin sister.” We were like, “Okay!” When they asked me, I thought they were kidding. I was like, “Are you serious?” They’re like, “Yes.” I was like, “I’ll ask her.”
SG: Is your character on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia going to come
back?
BD: Yeah, I did a couple episodes this season, I think three episodes this season.
SG: Good, only one’s been on so there’s more.
BD: Yeah, I did a few this season I love it. Every little while, they’ll call me and be like, “Will you come and do this episode?” I’m like, “Yeah.” Because I knew the guys before the show started, so they just call me in from time to time. I love it. I love playing a transsexual. I think it’s so random and hilarious. That’s not your typical blonde role!
SG: Did you meet real transgenders and want to play it real?
BD: No, but actually the guys had made this pilot themselves. One day because I was friends with Glenn Howerton, he was like, “Will you come over and just see this thing? Tell me if you think it’s any good.” I said, “This thing’s hilarious.” Then it got bought by FX and they were reshooting the pilot. I said, “Hey, can I play the transsexual girl?” And they were like, “Yeah!” So it just kind of happened like that, because I think it would be so funny to walk around with a dildo in my pants. That’s so funny to me, especially because they have her all dolled up as this hot chick but with a dick. To me, that was just so funny.
SG: I think it’s a really sensitive character. It’s just the gang that are idiots.
BD: Yeah, they are total idiots. They are but I just thought I’ve never done anything like that before. My agent’s like, “Why do you want to do this?” I was like, “I just think it’s funny. I just think the show’s funny and this is just something completely different that I’ve never done before.”
SG: Do you have to be the straight man to the gang?
BD: Yeah, because I don’t see anything wrong with what I’m doing or who I am, so definitely that’s where I think the comedy is. They’re so over the top and I’m just like, “What?” I’m totally cool with it all.
SG: How is The Game going?
BD: Oh, The Game’s going great. I’m in Atlanta right now shooting and we have just a couple more weeks left. I think this season’s going to be pretty awesome. We’re shooting it all single camera style this time. We used to do three cameras with a little bit of single camera but now it’s all single camera so we’re kind of shooting it like a movie. But I think it’s going to be great and I think BET is going to put a lot more promotion behind it. No one even knew it was on The CW. So I think we’re going to be reaching out to a lot more fans. I really think it was the fans that got us back on because they all turned out and they all wrote BET to buy the show[from The CW] so I think it’s going to be a really exciting season. I know that they’re very excited about it coming back. It actually comes back on 1/11/11, January 11th 2011.
SG: Does it seem like a completely different show now?
BD: No, it’s really weird because all the most important people are still there. The creator of the show is Mara Brock Akil and her husband, Salim Akil, he directs all the episodes. So we have the same director, the same DP, same camera guys so even though we have a new network, it feels almost exactly the same.
SG: How would you describe your sense of humor?
BD: I like kind of potty humor. I like when people really push the envelope. To me, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, that kind of humor, like they did not just say that. They did not just do a whole episode about being strung out on crack. That kind of humor is hilarious to me. Or I remember one episode where one of them was trying to sleep with the other one’s mom, but they make it funny. It’s so wrong, I like humor that’s really wrong.
SG: But you’re a pro, so you do a little of everything.
BD: Yeah, for sure. In The Game, the humor is different. The Game is like I’m this white girl in this African-American world who just speaks her mind and will stand up to anybody so that’s kind of where the comedy is there. Especially this season, my character is just on a rampage. Don’t mess with Kelly Pitts.
SG: You started out in some popular shows. Was there a point you realized people
knew who you were?
BD: You know, it’s always weird. Say if I go to a restaurant, someone will be looking at me and then they’ll hear my voice and be like, “Oh my God, I maybe wouldn’t have recognized you but I totally recognize your voice.” That is so weird to me. You know my voice? It’s one thing if you can see me and you recognize me because of my hair color or whatever, but you know my voice? That’s so weird. So yeah, pretty early on people would come up and be like, “You’re Brittany Daniel.” I’m like, “Wow, you know my name too.” It’s kind of weird. If I call and make a reservation or I’m on the phone with some Delta representative, they’re like, “Oh, I know you.” I’m like, “You do?”
SG: Is that something you dreamed of?
BD: It’s just kind of weird. It’s not a bad weird. It’s just random. I don’t really care one way or the other. The only thing that’s nice when people know your name is if you want to get a reservation somewhere that they say they’re all booked up. That’s one of the perks sometimes but then sometimes they’re like, “No, I don't know who you are.” Okay, it
was worth a try.

Skyline opens Nov. 12.

web address: http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Brittany+Daniel%3A+Skyline/