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THE BOTTOM OF THINGS
By Michael Sampson
July 23, 2003
You know her. You don’t know you know her, but you know her. If you’ve ever spent more than a few minutes watching TV, you certainly know her face. A Bud Light ad. A Progressive car insurance ad. Sony Vaio. Supercuts… But while you may have seen those ads, you likely know her best as the girl from the Kia Spectra commercial.
Sometime last year, Japanese carmaker Kia debuted an advertisement to promote their 10-year/10,000-mile warranty on their line of cars. Rather unremarkable news considering a Kia will likely crumble long before reaching either of those milestones, but notable for one simple reason: the ad’s star, Stacey Scowley.
The now famous spot followed a young woman (and her trusty canine sidekick) as she goes through various periods of her life – hippie, businesswoman, etc. – and the new boyfriends that accompanied them. The point being that as your life changes, your Kia remains reliable (oddly, the girl finds her last beau in the tow-truck driver who’s arrived to assist the “reliable” Kia, which has apparently broken down on the side of the road).
The ads ran relentlessly during the winter seasons when most Americans are cooped up inside, faces glued to the TV. It ran so often it almost gave that insufferable Geico lizard a run for his money. But where that wretched lizard – sorry, gecko… - grates on your last nerve, Ms. Scowley grows on you like a WHITE STRIPES album. She gets in your head and floats around until you just can’t resist that adorable charm any longer.
I thought, perhaps, it was just my bizarre fixation on the Kia girl as is often the case when I get hung up on such a thing. But after mentioning the spots to a few friends, it was clear I wasn’t the only one affected. A brief mention in a column here (after I spent half-a-day researching who Stacey was) brought more feedback than any full-fledged column in history except for the Earl Dittman expose. A few readers convinced me to try and track Ms. Scowley down. And track her down I did. Surprisingly enough, Stacey agreed to an interview.
She says her hello in a soft-spoken voice that’s almost always on the verge of a giggle. With just that voice, I can picture that cute-as-a-bug’s-ear Kia driver, with her bobbed blonde hair and button nose. She bears more than a slight aural resemblance to Renee Zellweger and like the latter’s ability to put you at ease with her soft-spoken Texan ways, there was an immediate sense of comfortability with Stacey. It was like talking to an old friend I hadn’t seen in a while. We talked about the weather, the pros and cons to living on the East or West Coast before finally deciding to get down to business.
Formerly known as just the Kia girl and now on the fast-track to stardom, here Stacey Scowley talks for the first time at length about her B-movie past, an A-list future and that rumored spread in FHM…
So what’s this attention been like?
It’s been kinda nice actually. I have to utilize it, ya know?
Absolutely. Strike while the iron’s hot, right?
It’s warm. Just warm…
Have you been following any of this?
I started noticing it on my IMDB site. I scrolled down and saw the message board and it’s always fun to check that stuff out. Of course I always try to see… In the commercial world is where I’m making my living to be able to still do this. Do what I like doing. And I would go onto site and check out my commercials and stuff. And there’s been great response.
Is it flattering, creepy or both?
You know…all in all it’s flattering. The ones I’ve noticed there’s still…it’s not like there’s, “Oh, I want some of that, she’s hot!” It’s been very respectable. Like, “Who’s this? She has potential to have a bigger career.” That is flattering. And it is a little odd talking to my manager – and you know, I’m still in my early stages of getting out there and getting my feet wet and…it’s ALL odd. It’s weird that people would notice these things and talk about them with other people.
It is in a way but can you remember being on the other side and doing the same with famous people?
Absolutely. And I still do the same thing. You follow someone’s career and you say, “Oh I knew that person when she was in the Taco Bell commercial.” For the most part it’s been really great.
There was somebody on IMDB who had grown up with you and said a few things, but even they were careful about not saying anything you might not want them to say. Nothing lewd.
Not yet! How do you think I could get it that way?…(laughs). What was that one? “Do you think I could get a message to her directly?” Um, that’d be no.
So why don’t we go back past this one commercial, the Kia one that’s most notable, to the start. Take us back to the very beginning of your career.
I’m a West Coast girl. I’m from northern California. (Baby screams in background) Ooh, I hear your little girl.
Yeah, she’s getting feisty.
If you need to go I understand.
No no. My wife’s here. My son was running around `cause he’s in the terrible twos and I think that had something to do with it. But my wife’s taking care of it. She’s great. Don’t worry about it.
Anyway, I went to school up in Chico. I was studying Media Arts and Communications and I was doing a little bit of theater, but my older sister was already down here [in LA] studying with the Meisner Company. And I was getting the bug so I eventually graduated and moved down to Los Angeles and joined the same program. I got a job actually at Fox [Television] doing publicity…
Yeah I noticed that in my research. Saw your name on an “Ally McBeal” press release.
(Laughs) Yeah… I did that for a couple years while I went to night school and studied—
For acting?
Yeah, for acting. Then I suddenly had a lot of doctor and dentist appointments – winkwink – during work (laughs). I booked a couple things here and there to where I knew I had to give it a shot. Cause I was, then at the time, two years into Fox as a junior publicist, which was a career in and of itself too. So I left and did a bunch of shows and got some short films, then the commercials started happening, which was fantastic. Did about a dozen commercials and the Kia one…it’s just funny. There’ve been a couple where I thought, “This is gonna be fantastic!” I had a Bud Light one that was supposed to run during the Super Bowl, which was kind of exciting and then this little Kia commercial plays and it’s been great. I had a great time on that one. Then I’ve just been doing little guest spots.
How hard was it to leave Fox and start up a new profession where you hadn’t really tested the waters all too much? It must’ve been a really tough leap to make.
It’s interesting that you say that because that was one of these things that… I had a great boss over there that allowed me to cross the line at times and try to do both. And I also got a little kick out the door in the sense that you’ve got to make a decision. I was probably giving 50 percent to each. And you’re ultimately not happy. Plus when you’re working at Fox, I went on to the set of “Ally McBeal” and “Party of Five” and it was just being on the wrong side. But I didn’t have that much money in the bank. I should’ve saved a little more and the perks definitely weren’t there. But I definitely don’t regret it.
What was your first official job that got you your SAG card?
My first job…yikes. I know I did some extra work on “King of Queens.” But that wasn’t it… It must’ve been a commercial. But I don’t know for sure.
Now where’s the timeline in all this. Where do the horror movies (Stacey laughs) you’ve been in fit in with the guest spots on “Buffy” and “Alias” and then with the commercials.
I started…let’s see. One of my first jobs – I believe it was non-union – was a Toyota commercial. And I did an infomercial. Nails By Design. Where I dance around and show my nails (laughs). It still plays in Las Vegas at five in the morning. Not to fond of that one. Then…I did a couple of FX promos and a Comedy Central interstitials during Thanksgiving. I was in a dysfunctional family and it ran through their Thanksgiving programming. So I started doing a few little things with Comedy Central and there was a director over there, Jeff Nelson, he directed “Home Improvement” for a while, and did a few things over there with him. Then the horror films were somewhere in there…(laughs)…in the beginning!
You’re laughing…Is that something you like to disassociate yourself with?
You know, it was all good fun. One came from the other. The first one, BROTHERHOOD, was all Rapid Heart Productions, and Danny Drazen who was the director of the next one, HELL ASYLUM, he edited the first one and called me in for that. Those were a week’s worth of work and a little bit of fun. And ironically, “Buffy” was another one, and I’m more on the comedy side and it’s silly that these horror things kept coming up. But…those were in the stages (laughs). This is the new stage.
The renaissance?
The renaissance, yes.
Well, Renee Zellweger got started out doing a horror film with that TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE sequel.
And that was a decent film.
I don’t think it’s something to hide from.
No no, it’s OK. They’ll come up and I’m sure the infomercial will come up and it’s OK. All my favorite actors you see some funny things from their past so… Commercially, you’ll be surprised when you jump into things. There’s a really small circle of people you start getting to know. Casting directors, directors and I was definitely in the mix of that, which is nice.
What’s the audition process like? Is it as bad as it’s made out to be sometimes?
You can get some bad feedback at times and things that don’t make you feel so hot, but you got to get over that right away. I’ve had things where someone will call you in off the picture but then say, “She’s way too girl-next-door.” But they had seen me already. I haven’t had any nightmare stories. The one thing that kind of hurt was, I had booked the “Lucky” pilot with John Corbett. Have you seen the show?
Yeah my wife’s actually a big fan.
So anyway, we recreated a wedding and there was going to be flashbacks to it. We shot a whole two days and John and I got along and they had said, “Let’s maybe bring her back as a ghost or as a flashback” [because the character is dead]. So they talked about that with the writer and everything and we shot a whole little thing of him winning and…if you’ve seen the pilot you’ll notice I’m still in the pilot cause they didn’t reshoot. But I was on-set and it was a “studio decision” that they wanted someone that was a name and that had never tested. I never even got a chance to read or anything, which I suppose is kinda good cause it was never about acting. It was just a possibility of bringing someone else to boost ratings. So they brought in Amber Valletta, the model.
Is that who that is? If they’re trying to bring in a name or a face, I didn’t recognize her name or her face.
(Laughs) I think I might’ve been too young for him too. There was probably a few other things too. But the good thing is, the creative people had thought to expand it when they met me. So if someone else has to come in, and this happens all the time, people get recast while you’re on set. And it doesn’t feel so hot. But if they’re going to recast it’s better to do it with someone I can’t compete with.
You mentioned something about the “girl-next-door.” Do you get that a lot? Is that your typecast?
I get that a LOT. I get that and the “best friend.” But you know what? Sandra Bullock was the “best friend.” And Helen Hunt was the “best friend.”
Right and one day you’ll be the friend who has a best friend.
Julia Roberts was a best friend…
There are a lot worse things that you could be typecast as.
Absolutely. I will be your girl-next-door.
Do you feel like that in your own life? Do you have a girl-next-door type personality? Or is it just the facial features or the look.
No, I’m a dirty girl (laughs). No no, I’m just kidding. Don’t quote me on that.
I’ll cut that out.
(Laughs) You know…you gotta use what you have. I was raised Catholic and have sisters and a brother and my parents had nice jobs so I guess I’ve always been the girl-next-door.
Speaking of your family, what was it like when you saw some of your first work on TV with your family and friends around? You’re out at a bar or something and the Bud Light commercial comes on. It must be so surreal…
I probably told my parents about ten other things that never happened so when finally some did, it was just a nice surprise. It was like, “Finally! I’m not lying. I really am working down here.” But it’s definitely nice. My dad’s a golfer so he’s down at the club a lot so he mentions it and seems proud. “Hey that’s my daughter up there.” Having a beer after tee off. It’s kinda funny when you say I’m a struggling actor but when they say, “What are you doing?,” you don’t really have anything so no one takes you seriously. When you can actually say you have this or that it’s like, “Ohh really?” And they’re suddenly interested.
Do you still ascribe yourself the adjective of struggling?
I’m definitely still trying to push forward. But I’m also definitely aware to know how lucky I am. Cause I have a lot of good, great friends and there are many great talents who haven’t had the opportunity to show it. So I’m definitely very lucky.
Maybe using the word “struggling” helps keep you modest?
Well I haven’t done anything to write home about yet. Haven’t done CHICAGO. And that was one thing looking at the message board. Very flattering but that’s not something that’s going to blow my head up (laughs). Can you word that better for me please?
Oh, I’ll rewrite this entire conversation. You’ll read this and say, “Wow, I said that? I came off very articulate.” So what’s coming up in the future?
What I just shot last was a Progressive Auto Insurance ad, which just started airing this week. Then actually in the next week or two, my [web] site will be up so you’ll have to check that out.
[NOTE: The site is now up in limited fashion at www.scowley.com.]
I did notice that on the IMDB boards, someone posted the domain name, staceyscowley.com was registered.
A couple short films that have gone through some film festivals, some commercials, a couple guest spots and oh yeah, my movie coming out next summer.
You have a movie coming out next summer?
Yup. I don’t know what it is yet but (laughs)…
Speaking of movies, is there anything you really wish you could’ve had a shot at?
I definitely would’ve liked to have done MOULIN ROUGE or CHICAGO but thought Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger were really good. I really love their work and on top of that, the singing and dancing is something that I would love to do.
Do you have that kind of training?
(Laughs) In the seventh grade, I traveled around with a company called ShowPop.
What?
I’m kidding. Well, I’m not kidding but… It’s a group you get involved with in school. Singing and dancing and acting. It was a lot of fun. But I haven’t had the opportunity to do it all together just yet. I would love to do that someday.
Well now with the musical revival it should be a little easier. It’s not just the one occasional MOULIN ROUGE or the one CHICAGO. There’s at least four or five musicals being greenlit as we speak.
I’m gonna try to get the opportunity to be Julie Andrews in THE SOUND OF MUSIC. Seriously, I’m trying to think of someone who had just an amazing performance… Oh, I really liked Halle Berry in MONSTER’S BALL and I studied with Ivana Chubbuck and that’s who coached her. So I saw how she broke down that character and really felt that she put her work into it. Clearly. I saw that in the relationship as I’ve been studying with Ivana in the past few years. It felt more tangible. Like I knew how she broke that scene down or where she was coming from there. Cause you know, this town can get the best of you sometimes…
Is it? Is it as “chew em up, spit em out” as it’s made out to be?
I think there are times you have to have a strong head and be really focused and let go all the things that aren’t important for you as a core person and if you overcome that you can stay a good person. Someone’s knocking at my door…I’m sorry. (Shouting at the door) Come in! Oh, it’s my friend Jason. Jason, hold on. I’m sorry.
If you want, tell him this is the New York Times.
I’m talking to the New York Times. Can you hold on please? (Laughs) Seriously, I’m gonna be done in five minutes. Um….
Being really focused…
(Laughs) Ironically! I’ve seen it get tough for people. There are times where you get hit down and knocked down so many times, you just look for one little reason to stick in the game. And then that happens, thank God. I see it happening on a higher level too. People competing for parts. Working for a few years and then not. People’s shows get cancelled and they have to get back into it too. So I think it takes a really strong person to stick through it. That or you really have to love it.
Was there ever a time for you when you were really down and thought maybe this isn’t right for me? Maybe I should go back to the desk job?
Well…unfortunately sometimes it happens because financially, reality hits. I need to pay my bills, stay afloat that way. You know the short films have fueled me cause it allows me to have a character and be able to create. Right now, commercial work is fantastic but creatively it doesn’t fuel me. So obviously I’m hoping to get some meatier roles that would keep me in the game longer cause that would fulfill me more.
But at the same time you’re struggling it must be so much fun to be right on the cusp of celebrity. You’re independent, living off a shoestring budget…it’s kinda like SWINGERS, I’d imagine.
Exactly. That’s probably why it did so well probably. `Cause I can relate to it absolutely. That and there might be sometimes when you complain but I wouldn’t be happy back behind that cubicle. Getting a paycheck at the end of the week would be nice but it wouldn’t do it. The highs and lows of this…it’s somewhat messed up cause I like it.
Well, whether it’s ultimately successful or not, you’ll probably look back at this time in your life and say you’ve never had as much fun. At least from the outside looking in…
It’s been very challenging and I have no desire to give up now by any means. It is a constant struggle, it’s not consistent by any means. You don’t really know when that paycheck is coming in. You start thinking, well I want a home and a family and then you’re going down another path. And those two ideals don’t work together right now.
Was there any truth to this rumor of posing in FHM?
You know what? I saw that too and I’d love to know if I’m gonna be in it too (laughs). Did they say it was a possible article? I definitely didn’t do a photo shoot.
The thing I had read said you were going to do a layout.
Well…do you have contacts over there, Michael?
Do I know anyone at FHM? (Thinking)…I know some people at Maxim? Not FHM.
Either or!
Thanks to Stacey for taking the time to talk with us and Todd, Becca and Hugh for helping set up the interview.
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