Amanda Peet

Nearly ten years ago, Uta Hagen assigned Amanda Peet the role of Corie in Barefoot in the Park four times during scene study class. It's a journey that's coming full circle. On February 16 at the Cort Theatre, the chic yet girlish star of such Hollywood fare as The Whole Nine Yards, Something's Gotta Give, A Lot Like Love and the current Syriana, will make her Broadway debut in the part the acting guru thought best suited her pupil. Starring opposite Patrick Wilson, Jill Clayburgh and Tony Roberts, the Scott Elliott-directed revival of Neil Simon's beloved 1963 comedy of two Manhattan newlyweds is a production that Peet has been attached to since before she wowed New York theater critics last season, playing against Ben Stiller and Jeffrey Wright in Neil LaBute's This is How it Goes at the Public. We caught up with the native New Yorker to chat about her relationships to Corie, Uta, her Hollywood leading men, her fiance Troy screenwriter David Benoiff, as well as exciting news about Peet's part in a new Aaron Sorkin TV show. And of course, most important, what it really means to make Maxim's "hottest babes" list.

First I must say, I hadn't expected such a physical performance for Corie! You're like running all over that stage...
Oh God, were you there last night? They had just shellacked the floor!

Oh, is that why you kept skidding around?
Yes! They told us at half hour. And because I have terrible stage fright, I was just like, "Oh. Ok. Whatever." Then I got out there and was like, "Why am I sliding everywhere?" And then Jill [Clayburgh] almost bit the dust at one point. At intermission we were all laughing, like "What the fuck is going on?" [Laughs.] Who knew Barefoot in the Park was a dangerous show?

Yeah, dead funny. But really, there's so much running around for you that I wondered if you did extra cardio at the gym to stay in shape?
You know, I haven't been going to the gym in a little while. But I'm going to try, cause I think it does help. And I realize that I get really out of breath by the time the telephone man comes [in the first scene], and I'm almost as out of breath as he is, which is not right for the story.

I loved all the behavior and activities everyone's doing in the show. And with you, the wall papering in act one, the martini making in act two–those aren't in the script. How did that stuff evolve?
Well, immediately when you read the play you see there are a lot of stage directions. I mean, he [Simon] says, "She gets undressed. He's getting undressed, putting his ties away. She's putting away her evening dress." So he wants there to be a lot of business. But the act openers [wall papering and martini-making] are Scott [Elliott's]. In the original play [directions] she makes an entrance. But he wanted me to be working on the apartment.

To give you a private moment at the top of each act?
Yeah, don't remind me. [Laughs.] Like, "Where is my scene partner?!" I hate it. Well... it's just not my favorite part of the play, cause I'm always really nervous. Once Adam [Sietz] the telephone man gets on stage, then I feel calmer.

Why do you think you have such stage fright?
Because it's live! You can't do it over! With a film you can go again. Here, you can't! If you get out of it, then you have to get yourself back into it. But when something goes wrong...

Like the slippery floor?
It helps you focus.

Since you're currently engaged, is playing a newlywed like Corie sort of like training wheels?
Yeah. [Laughs.]

How long have you known your fiance?
Three years.

Where'd you meet?
A blind date.

Wow!
Yeah. [Laughs.]

Pretty succcessful blind date.
I'll say.

Is he here with you during the run, cause you're based in LA, right?
Yeah. But we're here for the play, and really enjoying it. I love it here, I love it. It's my hometown.

Has your family seen the play yet?
No. They're not allowed to come until, like... May. [Laughs.] My mom's allowed, but she's the only one.

So, why did you choose Barefoot in the Park for your Broadway debut?
Well, there wasn't really one reason. I mean, I've always loved the play, and always thought it was really charming. I'd worked on it in class a lot, and found it very challenging. And I had obviously seen Scott [Elliott's] work, and so I completely trusted him. And the idea of working with Patrick Wilson was really extraordinary.

You studied with Uta Hagen, right?
Yeah.

And didn't she assign Corie scenes to you like four times?
Yeah [Laughs.]

Maybe it was your destiny to play Barefoot on Broadway?
Well, when Scott approached me to do the play it was the year [Uta Hagen] passed away, and I felt very... I don't know... kind of sentimental about it. In a way that [playing Corie] would be a way to maybe honor her.

Do you feel Uta's guidance is still with you?
I do. I feel it all the time. Cause I think about her a lot–though I try not to go back and read [her books] when I'm working. I went back and read Challenge for the Actor when I was doing This is How it Goes. And I found it kind of got in my way. But I think about things she told me and things I learned form her all the time while I'm working.

So then you don't keep a copy of Respect for Acting on your dressing table?
No! Cause that's what I found with This is How it Goes! It screwed me up! [Laughs.] Like, at the top of that play I was supposed to be waiting for my dry cleaning...

One of Uta's exercises!
Yeah! There's an exercise called "Waiting." And I'd go back and read it and go, "Aaaah!" Cause the next night I'd go out on stage and I'd be thinking, "Uta said to do this. Uta said to do that. Uta, Uta, Uta!" Which was a problem half the time I was working with her cause I was so enamored of her and wanted to impress her so badly.

Did you ever feel you did impress her?
Well... one time. I came to her Shakespeare class and I hadn't been in a little while, cause I'd been working. And she said, "I saw you in that movie." Which turned out to be She's the One–not her kind of movie. [Laughs.] And she said, "The movie was terrible! But you were good." And I was just so tickled.

Honestly, I was surprised to learned she'd assigned you Corie, cause I always associate Uta with more hoity-toity playwrights.
Oh, she had a lot of Neil Simon on her list. So I never questioned it, cause I always thought he was just a part of the anointed few. And with Neil Simon, the conflicts are there. So, there's a lot to learn.

Well, Uta will have to forgive me, but she never had to learn to deal with being a pin-up. And you have. Really, how does it feel to be on all those "hottest babe" lists?
[Laughs.]... Oh, I don't know how to answer that. I'm just glad some people think I'm attractive.

How about your family? Like, "My daughter is one of the babes in Maxim?"
I didn't know I was one of the babes in Maxim. [Laughs.] But that's great! I don't think my parents read those magazine, and my sister is definately too busy being a doctor in South Philly to read them.

But do you enjoy that part of your career? Being a celebrity?
I guess when I think of celebrity I think of Matthew Perry or Jack Nicholson. I don't really think of myself that way. I don't get stopped on the street. I live a pretty normal life.

Yeah, you don't seem to be pursuing it in the same way, with a vengeance...
Oh, no, I'm pursuing it! [Laughs.] Make no mistake.

Well, we've all got bills to pay, right?
That's right!

But for you, is the acting work and the celebrity work like two different parts of the brain?
Well, yeah. But I'm not going to complain. I enjoy it when I'm promoting something that I adore. Like this show. And I also definately love glamour. I mean, I love getting dressed up, and having someone do my make-up and feeling pretty. I'm not gonna lie about that, cause that's part of what I love about what I do. But celebrity.. it's like the feeling of going to the prom, the adolescent feeling of popularity. As an actor, my main focus is finding good writing and attacking a good role. I mean, I understand when you're incredibly famous that it becomes difficult to deal with the publicity aspect. But people who are like me, who go, "Oh, I'm not gonna do that. I'm just here for the work!" I find it to be a little pretentious, honestly. Cause you're not that famous. Calm down.

In the past few years, though, you've worked with some of the most famous stars in Hollywood. Nearly all the big leading men, in fact. What's the first thing that comes into your mind when I mention some names. Ashton Kutcher?
Hmmm... he's adorable.

Robert Downey, Jr.?
There are no words to describe my admiration.

Jack Nicholson?
I had a ball with him.

George Clooney?
This is so dumb! I'm going to be gushing about every one of them! OK, George Clooney... he just makes me laugh. He's really goofy. Really dashing and really goofy. A rare combination.

Ben Stiller?
I love Ben Stiller! He made me laugh all the time. He's very funny, but he's also very, very thoughtful, too.

David Letterman?
In another life, I wish he could be my husband.

He'll appreciate that. How about your current co-star, Patrick Wilson?
Patrick can also be really goofy. I don't think people understand just how funny he really is. Like, he nearly broke me up on stage the other night. During the cake eating scene he imitated back to me the way I said the word "club." He went, "clu-B!" And after the show, he was like, "Sorry about that." And I went, "You sucker! You just better get ready." [Laughs.] "You're gonna get a taste of your own medicine." Then at the end of the play he's tickling me–making faces at me, going "Ahhhhh!!" And I'm like, "Oh my God... who are you?!" But every night it astounds me just how goofy yet grounded he is, and how brilliantly free he is by the end of the play. It's great to be on stage with that, cause all I have to do is respond, you know?

Speaking of reponding, how do you feel about being cast in the new Aaron Sorkin TV show, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip?
Well, when I read the script, I was just floored. I'd been looking for a really good role in a really good script, which is very hard to come by unless you're, you know, Naomi Watts. So I was like, "Oh, no... this is really, really, really good. But I'm not sure I should persue it and blah, blah, blah." And afterward, my fiance–you know, he's a writer–he read it. Then he walked into the room holding the script, and he looked like he'd been shot. He said, "This is one of the best things I've ever read."

And you're going to be with Matthew Perry again.
Yup, gonna be with my old pal! He's been a dear friend since we did The Whole Ten Yards. And over the years he was always saying, "We should do a TV show like Moonlighting together.' And both of us would laugh and go, "Oh, maybe eventually that'll happen.' So when this happened we were laughing and saying–in our wildest dreams–we could have never imagined a scenario that was this amazing. To be picked by Aaron Sorkin is such an honor. I'm only hoping to follow in the footsteps of Allison Janney and Felicity Huffman. That's my goal.

Hey, two actresses who found their footing in the theater!
Yeah, but for me... I think I'll need some topstick tape on my shoes!