Pop Culturalist Chats with Missi Pyle

Since her film debut in the box office smash, As Good As It Gets, actress Missi Pyle has consistently shown how incredibly versatile she is. With her role in the brand new Youtube Red spoof singing competition series, Sing It!, Pyle is ready to once again bring the genius that she has become known for. Pop Culturalist had the joy of chatting with Missi about everything.

Sing It! Questions

PC: What drew you to this role? How did you initially get involved?
Missi: Well, my agent mentioned to me that YouTube was going into the scripted series world and I just thought that sounded interesting. I thought it might be kind of fun to get involved. Then, I met with the Fine Brothers, who were going to be producers—It was going to come out on their channel. They already had this built in follow-ship.

I just was curious as to what that was going to be like; shows like Orange is the New Black came out on Netflix. With YouTube successes, I thought, “Well, if it’s a huge success, I’d like to be part of it. Then, I just thought, “It’s funny to do behind the scenes of a singing competition.” I thought that would be fun. The character I play, she’s a network executive and she’s completely unscrupulous; doesn’t have any boundaries or ethics. It’s really fun.

PC: How you would describe the show to someone who’s unfamiliar with it?
Miss: I would just say it’s behind the scenes at a singing competition reality show. Imagine the show’s been on the air for ten years and so it’s lost some of its initial draw or popularity. They’re trying to figure out a way to become more relevant again. They fire their executive producer and they bring in a documentary filmmaker to try to make it more real. You do get to actually follow the show. There are real contestants on the show. Then, at the end, after the last couple of episodes, the real audience of the show of Sing It! will get to vote on who wins.

PC: If you can only describe your character (Marci) in five words, what would those five words be?
Missi: Total raging asshole.

PC: (laughs) I guess that will work as well.

Missi: No morals, I guess you could add at the end.

PC: Stacy (the main character) thinks she’s going to be promoted to Executive Producer but your character hires someone else. Have you ever been in a similar situation like Stacy, where you thought you were going to get a role and you didn’t?
Missi: Oh, my God. All the time. This is always kind of a saying in the acting world. People are like, “Wow, that was a really good job.” and you know you didn’t get the part. Anytime in the room they’re like, “Good work!” I go like, “No. It’s not going to me.” You might think so, but it’s different. I remember once going out with another actress to dinner. I was up for this part and I got there. I thought I was going to get it. It ended up going to someone else. I thought it was down to me and the person who got it. I went with another actress and she was like, “Yeah, you know, it was down to ME and the person who got it.” I was like, “Oh.” I just wonder: What do they tell you? Whenever you don’t get a part, your agents or managers kind of have to say, “This is why you didn’t get the part.” Usually, it can’t be because you suck, or you’re ugly, or you’re too old. They went another way.

PC: What can the fans expect from the show and from your character?
Missi: The show is very funny. It is a phenomenal cast; just some great actors. Mircea Monroe is infinitely the light of my life. She’s so funny, adorable and charming. Then, of course you’ve got some like Debby Ryan on there. She’s ridiculous. Then, you have some people actually from American Idol. Ace. And, his wife, Diana DeGarmo. They’re on there. They play contestants. What’s so great about the show is it’s really funny and then someone will start singing and it brings you back to, “Ah, this is gorgeous!” Lots of talented people on board. I had so much fun. We do one take of the lines and then just do a ton of improv. I’m hopeful that some of that stuff made it in. You just never know. They really just kind of let me go. It was absolutely delightful.

PC: Are you a fan of reality television. If so, which one would you go on?
Missi: I mean, you know, when reality TV started in the beginning, I just was like, “This is ruining entertainment!” You know, as far as like, it was really cutting into a lot of the scripted stuff. That was when there were only four networks. ABC, CBS, NBC. Then, there was the WB for awhile, CW. Now, there’s trillions of networks, so that’s not really a valid argument anymore. There’s a lot of scripted shows. I think it would be a tie. I’d like to be on Survivor.

PC: Yes! Survivor.

Missi: I would love to be on—I just want to try to exist on a cup of rice a day, you know, in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of ambitious, back-stabbing islanders. People just die. Seems ridiculous. I’ve also thought being on the Bachelor, the Bachelorette, that’d be kind of fun. You could go out with as many people as you want. I know this sounds pretty awful. I’m sure that, like my show, very little of that is actual reality.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Do you have anything in your music collection that would be surprising to people?
Missi: Surprise in my music collection? I think it would be surprising how little I know about current music. A couple of months ago, we were listening to “Chandelier” and I was like, “This is the greatest new song.” Everyone was like, “Hello! That songs been out for two years.”

PC: Do you have a favorite play or musical?
Missi: I have a few. I really like … I did Into The Woods when I was in high school; still one of my favorite musicals. I played the witch. I just love Stephen Sondheim. Anyway, lyric, music. I did a play called Cloud Nine by Caryl Churchill when I was in college. Again, one of my favorite plays of all time.

PC: What about a favorite book?
Missi: I still think I like A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.

PC: Guilty television show or movie?
Missi: I watch every episode of Game of Thrones. Every episode’s just more and more ridiculous. I like live and breath … I hate that it’s gone for as long. Occasionally, I do watch Bachelor or Bachelorette, or whatever. It’s so ridiculous. I remember, I was dating a guy and he watched it. I was like, “This show is garbage. I can’t believe you’re watching it.” I watched one episode and I was like, “Oh, my God, this is amazing!”

If you’re as excited as we are about Sing It!, you can watch the first episode below:

Photo Credit: YouTube Red