Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Benchwarmers 2’s Lisa Durupt

After several hockey injuries left Lisa Durupt sidelined on the bench, she decided to take a theatre class to pass the time. Her first assignment was to review a performance of A Chorus Line: a moment that would change her life forever. She became enamored with the craft, specifically the athleticism and challenge, and decided to pursue it professionally. Since then, she’s landed roles in Psych, Supernatural, The Perfect Catch, Heartland, and dozens others. This year, she has several exciting new projects, including Benchwarmers 2 and Breakthrough. Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to chat with this leading lady.

PC: Tell us about Benchwarmers 2 and your character in the film.
Lisa: Benchwarmers 2 is out now. Initially, I went in for a different character, Milford, who is played by a good girlfriend of mine, Jill Morrison—she’s phenomenal. Instead, I ended up playing the role of Dana, who becomes the ex-wife of Chris Klein’s character, and wreaks havoc upon him every time he comes to pick up their son. She’s a bit of a villain.

PC: What initially attracted you to this project? Were you familiar with the original film?
Lisa: Oh, yeah! Every Friday night was movie night at my house. We got to pick one movie and then my parents picked one. We always tried to pick something funny, so I definitely saw the original one. I was attracted to this project because it’s a comedy. I live in Vancouver, and there are a lot of films that shoot up here, but not necessarily comedies—that tends to happen more in L.A., so whenever a comedy comes through, my Spidey Senses perk up.

When I fluked into the industry, I got to be part of a comedy series. Ever since then, I love doing anything that involves comedy. If you’re the kind of person who loves doing comedy and you don’t get a chance to do it often, you definitely go to work extremely happy each day when you do get to do it.

PC: Is the preparation different when you’re working on a sequel? Is there added pressure knowing the fanbase and the fact that they’re likely to make comparisons between the two films?
Lisa: Yeah, I assume with any sequel that people will draw comparisons, but you can’t worry about that. You have to go in and do your job; that’s all you can control. What’s nice about comedies is they tend to have a life of their own. Plus, it’s been so long, and it’s a whole new crop of people, except Jon Lovitz. It’s a whole other world of characters, so it wasn’t like I was playing somebody that somebody’s already played. You’re just putting your own spin on it.


When you’re prepping for a comedy, there’s definitely a rhythm to it. There’s almost a musicality in the delivery. You have to work ahead with the timing and realize what beats to land to make a joke funny. If you stall or let a joke hang too long, it dies. That’s a fun challenge as an actor.

PC: With the film out now, what do you hope audiences take away?
Lisa: I think audiences will be blown away by how funny Chris Klein is. When you meet him, he’s such a nice man. He’s attentive. He looks you right in the eyes and gives you all of his attention. That’s sometimes rare with actors or with people in general.


I hope audiences enjoy themselves and have a good laugh. At the end of the day, movies and television are here for audiences to escape anything going in on their lives.

PC: You’re also starring in Breakthrough, which comes out in April. Can you tell us about that film and your character?
Lisa: Breakthrough is based on a true story about a fourteen-year-old boy named John. He falls through the ice of a frozen lake and is pronounced dead. His mom, who’s played by the amazing Chrissy Metz, refuses to accept it, so she prays, prays, and prays, and he ends up coming back to life.


In the actual doctor’s notes, he puts that John dies. His mom prays. John comes back to life. The doctor couldn’t understand medically how it happened.

My character, Paula Noble, is the wife of Pastor Jason Noble, who’s played by Topher Grace, who’s just phenomenal. Paula is feisty. She’s the den mother of all the constituents that come to the church and takes care of everybody. Jason Noble spends hours upon hours at the hospital with John, who’s still in a coma. Paula is very supportive and organizes things at the church for him.

I actually got to meet Pastor Jason Noble in real life. He came to the set. He’s not your typical stuffy, run-of-the-mill, stereotypical church leader, he’s funky. He said to me, “My wife’s just like you. She’s kind of cheeky, funny, and silly,” which was a huge honor.

PC: Both films spread this incredible message of overcoming odds. When you’re evaluating what projects you want to work on, is that naturally what you gravitate towards?
Lisa: That’s so interesting. I never thought about that. You know what? It’s funny. I don’t ever sit down and look at why I’m gravitating to something. You just know in your gut that you’re going to like working on a project. There have been times in the past where I would look at a project and be like, “No. Not for me. Someone else is going to love this, but it isn’t for me.” As a human, I’m a very upbeat, positive person. I don’t know if these projects come to me because of that or if I pick it because of that. That’s a great question. It just seems to work out that way.

Career Questions

PC: How did you discover your passion for acting?
Lisa: Totally by fluke. I was going to go away to school to play hockey and I kept dislocating my shoulder. When I was in grade 12, I did that about three times in around eight months. It got to the point where it was just silly. It would pop out when I was playing hockey, like no big deal. I knew I had to get it fixed, so I didn’t go away to school that year. My mom said to me, “Why don’t you just go to university and take some easy classes. Take something that’s going to eventually be part of a degree you’re working on.” So I took English, sociology, and I thought it’d be easy to take a theatre class. I was pretty outgoing, so I figured it would work.

The first assignment was to go see A Chorus Line and do a review. I hadn’t seen a lot of musicals up to that point. I remember watching the character of Val: she was dancing, kicking, and singing. It not only looked fun, it also looked very athletic. The music really simulated all my senses. I went, “Huh?” Something clicked in my brain and I thought, “This is kind of new and different, and something I’ve never done before.”


In a matter of weeks, I was taking nine hours of dance a week and I started taking voice lessons. I decided not to go away to school for hockey. I fell in love with acting and the challenge of it. At that point, I wanted to pursue theatre, specifically musical theatre full time. I was living in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where I’m from, and it has a very supportive arts culture community. The theaters are always full. When you do shows there, they’re really unbelievable. It’s a great place to start in the arts. While I was at the University of Winnipeg, I took a stage combat class—again, it’s athletic and fun. Turns out the teacher was the coordinator for all the stunt work in film in Manitoba. Well, he found out that I was athletic and into the arts, so he got me little stunt gigs for film, which got me into the union. From there, I booked a comedy series that was coming through town that had an open call.

It was all very organic. It was never something that when I was in school, I was like, “Oh I’m going to be in movies,” or this or that. It just happened organically, and I’ve been doing it ever since.

PC: When you look at your career, is there a particular moment that sticks out to you?
Lisa: When I was first starting out, I went to an open dance call for the movie Shall We Dance, which had been moved from Toronto to Winnipeg. It had Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, Susan Sarandon, and Stanley Tucci. There were more than 600 people who went to this open dance call. I’d only been in dance class for a couple of years at that point, so I was pretty new.

I went with a friend. We totally played the part: we dressed up, did our hair, and put on these cute outfits. We went through the routine with everybody else and just had fun. They were eliminating people throughout the day, and suddenly we were in the top 20. We were shocked because people who had been my dance teachers over the last couple of weeks were getting cut. I was determined because of my competitive nature. I wanted to get to the end and I was going to do whatever I needed to do.

Long story short, I booked it, and ended up being a dancer in a Jennifer Lopez movie with Stanley Tucci. That was definitely a highlight

PC: What’s your dream role?
Lisa: Are you kidding me? The autobiography of Bette Middler. I am in love with her. If I could just play her once. She sings. She dances. She’s a brilliant actress. I just love her.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Lisa: Mob Wives

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Lisa: Mean Girls or Bridesmaids

PC: Favorite book?
Lisa: Space Station Seventh Grade by Jerry Spinelli

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Lisa: Urinetown

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Lisa: Marianas Trench

PC: Last show you binge-watched?
Lisa: The Sinner

PC: Hidden talent?
Lisa: I can pick up things with my toes. They’re like an extra set of hands.

To keep up with Lisa, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Pick up your copy of Benchwarmers 2 today, and catch Breakthrough on April 17.

Photo Credit: Kristine Cofsky Photography