Maggie lawson talks about her role in Angel From Hell and explains why her character of Allsion is relatable
What is the premise of Angel From HellIJ
It is about a girl who is a doctor, sort of figuring out her life. She is moving in with her boyfriend and all these big exciting things are happening. She has this practice with her dad, her dad is also a dermatologist, and this weird, drunk, very inappropriate, personal space-violating thing comes into her life that is in the form of a guardian angel. And it is sort of — the show is about the two of them getting to know each other and whether or not, you know, this is going to actually work and fuse.
What sets Angel From Hell apart from other sitcoms on televisionIJ
It’s interesting. It sort of has this — it’s sort of buddy, it’s also kind of romantic comedy, like it’s very strange because the dynamic between my character and Jane (lynch’s character), the angel, is based on sort of chemistry and vibes and it’s very interesting. And then, on top of that, it has this sort of fast pace almost screwball, like thirties element to it that’s really, really fun and kind of new and I like that.
Who is AllisonIJ
Allison is a dermatologist, sort of type A, very driven, very by the book, you know, and she has at the start of the show a very happy relationship. And then she comes across this really strange, kind of drunk, odd human being — or is she a human being, we don’t know — who claims to be her guardian angel and starts helping her guide her way, navigate her way through the changes that are happening in her life and sort of guide her in a better direction. And my character, Allison, is not into it at all.
What makes Allison’s story relatableIJ
One of the things I love about this script and the show and sort of our group is this sort of breakdown of this girl who is so type A, I mean to the point — and I think we all get like this a little bit whether it is on our phones, our schedules, traffic, you know, that everything becomes so rigid, we don’t actually stop to just have a good time and enjoy the moment and also maybe get a little crazy or do something we wouldn’t normally do, just step out of the comfort zone. And I kind of like that Amy comes into Allison’s life and just turns it upside down, like she has no choice. And I feel like thatIJs when we grow actually in life, you know, is you actually find that in the chaos, in the madness and in the crazy. And I love that we’re exploring that in a comedy, because that’s life, you know. That is how all that stuff happens is when you are like completely broken down that it’s like, oh, right, this can bloom and become something totally new.
Is there a scene in the pilot episode that you feel defines your characterIJ
There is like a sequence – it’s sort of the third time that this crazy angel has popped into my world and I now consider her a stalker and in order to get me to listen to her she tells me that she has cancer, which is just so wrong on so many levels. And it sort of leads into this like next scene of her getting drunk on shots, telling me what’s about to happen in my life, being completely wrong or so it seems in the moment. And I have a bit of a breakdown in this scene and then I kind of come back to life. But I think it defines our relationship a bit because I am telling her she has a problem and she needs to stop drinking. She is telling me my boyfriend is cheating on me and it all just becomes this weird, complicated but kind of almost like a love affair relationship. It’s really strange.
What is it like working with your cast-mates on Angel From HellIJ
It kind of couldn’t be any better. I mean Jane (lynch) is just a professional but so talented and so warm and so open. We’ve had such a good time sort of finding the scenes and finding the characters together. And Don (Scardino) who directed and Tad (Quill) who wrote it, they’ve also been really great in sort of giving us that freedom to find it with each other and not be so, you know, connected to lines and movements. It’s about what’s happening kind of naturally. And then Kyle (Bornheimer) and Kevin (Pollak) on top of that, I mean it’s just — it’s always fun when they are around. So yeah, I feel really lucky. It feels like a special thing.