By Karen Moul

One of the summer's new series on FX is the sitcom Anger Management, starring Charlie Sheen. The series is based on the film of the same name starring Jack Nicholson. Noureen DeWulf stars as Lacey on the series. DeWulf recently talked to the media about her work on Anger Management.

Anger Management airs Thursday nights on FX at 9:30 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.

FX Confernece Call
Anger Management
Noureen DeWulf, “Lacey”

August 14, 2012

SCIFI VISION: Anger Management is a comedy and Lacey is pretty over the top and a crazy character. I know you've said in interviews that you don't have a ton in common with her. You've never shot anybody. How do you relate to her and make her real?

NOUREEN DeWULF: Well, a lot of sitcom is the jokes. So I try to keep a balance between hitting the joke and keeping her grounded. It's a precarious balance but it's a sitcom format. So that's what I do.

SCIFI VISION: The anger discussion group is a sort of ensemble. How are you enjoying working with the rest of the gang in the group?

NOUREEN DeWULF: I adore every single member of our group therapy. Barry Corbin and I eat lunch together every day. It's such an unusual pairing. Actually, in this week's episode coming up we have a solo scene together which I think turned out pretty well. I love him. Derek [Richardson] and Michael [Boatman], I just couldn't say nicer things about them. Then, of course, Charlie [Sheen] leading our group…it's amazing because he is such a sitcom legend.

So we all look at each other and just feel like, wow. You know, we're working with Charlie Sheen, that's really cool for actors in a sitcom world. So we're excited. I personally just adore our group. I feel the closest to them of our cast, I feel, because I spend most time with these guys. I love them.

QUESTION: I read that you're from Georgia. I was wondering what part of Georgia you're from?

NOUREEN DeWULF: I'm from Stone Mountain, Georgia.

QUESTION: Is that near Atlanta?

NOUREEN DeWULF: Yes. It's near Atlanta. It's home of the largest freestanding piece of granite in our country.

QUESTION: Did you have any worry or trepidation or anything before taking a role and working with Charlie Sheen with all the press and everything?

NOUREEN DeWULF: Yes, because you never know what you're walking into. Charlie did have an amazing, crazy last year with so much media attention. But when there was a discussion of Charlie Sheen…his big comeback to TV, I knew that Charlie, of all people, probably had the best odds of making a comeback, and successful one. I wanted to be involved in his comeback on any level. It's an honor.

I was excited because no matter what he's an eccentric guy. He's interesting. I knew it was going to be an awesome experience for me to have personally and professionally. I think it turned out for the best. Our premiere episode opened…it debuted higher than any other cable premiere ever had. So that's the risk I took and it was an amazing one. I'm so glad I jumped on board with him.

QUESTION: So, obviously, the show’s about dealing with anger management. So what gets you angry in real life?

NOUREEN DeWULF: Well, gosh, I don't know what I can say to that because there's specific things that do, obviously, make me angry. Probably things I've been warned not to talk about like politics and religion.

QUESTION: Fair enough. So let's talk about something happier then. You Tweeted recently while you were watching the Olympics and you talked about watching your husband win a medal in hockey.

NOUREEN DeWULF: Yes.

QUESTION: So could you talk about what that experience was like seeing him win?

NOUREEN DeWULF: Yes. Honestly, I cry every time I see somebody medal in the Olympics. I generally do. It's crazy. I've watched the sport. I have no idea anything about handball and all of these obscure sports, mental biking or whatever that biking is when they keep turning around and looking back. I just think it's such an amazing honor to be the best in the world at something or one of the three or four best in the world.

For me, I was just dating my husband at the time, Ryan Miller. I watched him play and he said, "You know I'm going to be in the Olympics." So he would call me every day. I went up and surprised him at the gold medal game. I didn't tell him I was there until after because I was actually working here in L.A. and I didn't think I would be able to go. It was amazing. It was on my birthday.

I can't describe it but I was just touched. It's amazing to see somebody work from the time that they are three to the time that they’re 30 or I think he was 29. But he worked for so many years to get to the point where he's at and then they gave him the medal. He was disappointed it was silver, but I think it's team sports and they do everything they can.

QUESTION: Did you all go through a lot of rehearsals before the show started or did they just throw you in and see how you all work together?

NOUREEN DeWULF: We don't really rehearse that much on our show. We shoot at such a rapid pace that we pretty much shoot the rehearsal. I mean there is no rehearsal, essentially. We just shoot. So everyone is just being very instinctual. I think it works the way they cast the show. The actors have shown that these characters exist inside of them. They've played similar things before or they're characters that we can all live with. We kind of just run with it.

QUESTION: Is that good for you as an actor to do it like that or would you rather be more well scripted, or you follow a script I assume?

NOUREEN DeWULF: We do follow a script. It's just we don't follow the traditional sitcom format of shooting. Typically, you would get the table read on Monday and then you would rehearse Tuesday, Wednesday; Thursday and Friday shoot in front of a live audience. On our show we shoot one episode on Monday and Tuesday. We have a table read on Wednesday and we shoot the next episode on Thursday and Friday. So we're working twice as fast and we don't have a live studio audience.

So it does provide an interesting, not dilemma, but it does provide a challenge, I think, to all of us actors because we do want to tell and nail these jokes at the same time. There's a certain kind of confidence that it does build in you and a freshness that I think is pretty unique. So we all try to focus on that and just give it our all every day that's what we have to do.

QUESTION: So that must be a lot of fun.

NOUREEN DeWULF: It's a blast. Working with Charlie is amazing. You can't ask to work with a more interesting person, honestly.

SCIFI VISION: You recently signed on to do a new movie with Paul Rudd.

NOUREEN DeWULF: Yes.

SCIFI VISION: Is that going to shoot during hiatus and can you tell us anything about it yet?

NOUREEN DeWULF: Yes. Absolutely. It stars Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler. It's directed by David Wain who is responsible for Children's Hospital and Wet Hot American Summer. I play Paul Rudd's secretary. It’s very similar to the role that I played in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past alongside with Matthew McConaughey but this time I'm speaking in that role. The movie is kind of a spoof of romantic comedies. So it's interesting. I'm playing a character by the same name, Melanie. I actually already shot it. I went to New York and shot it in our earlier part of our hiatus.

SCIFI VISION: Do you know when it's coming out?

NOUREEN DeWULF: I think they told me it would be out next year in 2013 but they haven't said yet exactly the date.

SCIFI VISION: How much fun was it getting back to doing movies again? Do you prefer movies or TV or enjoy both?

NOUREEN DeWULF: I enjoy both. Honestly, it was really fun. You forget how fun it is. Obviously, Paul Rudd is so–I just can't say nicer things about him. He is so lovely and he's hilarious. Watching him and Michael Ian Black improv, I felt like I was learning. I felt like I was just around the best of the best. I just was blown away by how amazing they are at improv, so it was fun to tag along and their scenes and just add when I could.

Yes, I mean I love that. I love working on movies because of that, and especially in comedies where we can improv and stuff. TV is amazing too and this is my first time as a series regular; even though I've worked for so long, I've never really been a regular on a show. It's awesome to me because every Thursday night I get to watch at least a couple of jokes that I'm doing or something that I didn't. That's awesome for me as an actor to have that. To be able to say, oh yes, I'm on the show. So that's pretty cool, too, and be in people's homes. I think that's a nice thing.

QUESTION: You said that you liked going back and forth to television and film. Is that something that you like doing in your career? Does it improve your acting or does it help you as an actress in anyway?

NOUREEN DeWULF: Yes. I definitely love to go back and forth because there are such different mediums that it's fun to remind yourself how to be more thorough, how to be less thorough, how to punch a joke, how to not. Usually, I'm going back and forth in comedic television and comedies. Honestly, that's really what I do. But I learned from Charlie Sheen. I learned from Paul Rudd.

I feel like every acting job I've gotten has been with someone legendary. I don't know why. I'm so lucky to stand in the scenes with them. I've learned so much from my costars. They're better acting lessons than I ever could take in a class in L.A.

QUESTION: Yes. So you're ready to do 90 episodes when they finally say yes?

NOUREEN DeWULF: I hope so. The fact is that they said they're not going to tell us until all the episodes have aired. They said that along the way. We're all hoping and our fingers and toes are crossed that we will get picked up and have a chance to come back and do more and have more storylines. I'm excited about the possibility and I hope it happens.

QUESTION: Charlie…ignores some of those tabloids things. Does he just laugh at them whenever they come up on the set or somebody brings a magazine or anything like that?

NOUREEN DeWULF: Oh, totally honestly with you, we don't even talk about it because honestly right now his press is so much about our show that all of our discussions related to press revolve around the show. We're like, oh, this is great. We're going to be in this magazine. But it's mostly just positive back and forth about the show. It really doesn't have to do with his past.

QUESTION: Are we going to see any storylines with you outside of the group therapy setting?

NOUREEN DeWULF: Actually, in this upcoming episode I have two scenes outside of the group therapy setting. One with Barry Corbin and one with Charlie. Those are dealing with my road rage issues. So I think that'll be my first kind of experience, at “Lacey's” first experience out of the house, out of the group therapy session. It still has to do with fixing her issues but that'll be the first time I get out of the house. I look forward to, hopefully, in the future having some more scenes. Maybe even in a bar or outside of the house more. This week's episode is a great one for that. Oh yes, and they take place in a Fiat. I forgot to say that.

SCIFI VISION: I read that you’re an American actress of Indian descent. Your parents were from India.

NOUREEN DeWULF: Yes.

SCIFI VISION: There are just so many awesome Indian American and British Indian actresses right now. Maybe you're just an actress, is your heritage even an issue anymore? Or is the proliferation of Indian actors making it easier for you to get more mainstream roles?

NOUREEN DeWULF: Well, when I first started in 2003, I felt like I was maybe one of five people. I've worked hard to get out of the box, out of the roles that are completely defined by my ethnicity. I don't want every line to be about the fact that my heritage is Indian or every joke to be about my race. So at the beginning of my career, I did have some of those.

I played a foreign exchange student, but as the years have gone by I've made a conscious effort to get out of the box and really fight for roles that are not ethnic specific. Lacey, for example; my character in The Goods, a movie I did with Jeremy Piven. A lot of films that I've been in have nothing to do with my race. That's really important to me.

Yes, I think the more the better. The more diversity that we have in our cinemas is positive for everybody.

It represents the true diversity of our country. I think that's how film and TV should be. We should have some ethnic diversity in the cast. But my personal goal has always been to test against other actors that are not–I don't like to go into an audition and only see other Indian actresses. I much more want the roles that are not designed that way. That way I can serve my own self better and serve people who look like me better by not making everything focused on my race.

QUESTION: That was kind of the same

QUESTION: I was going to ask. You've obviously avoided the stereotyping that some studios like to do in putting the same ethnic, of any sort, into the same roles over, and over, and over again. So was it a big fight for you to do or was it fairly easy?

NOUREEN DeWULF: What was the last part? Was it a big what?

QUESTION: Was it a big effort? Did you really have to push and make people understand that hey, I'm just not this. I'm an actress who can do anything. Or was it fairly easy and people were understanding?

NOUREEN DeWULF: Well, I think once I started to do good work playing some of the more stereotypical roles and get some notoriety a little bit like that, I did a movie called American Dreams with Hugh Grant. I played a comedic role in that. It was a Persian role. I was part of a Persian family. I played... daughter. I did West Bank Story. So I played a character named Fatima, who was Palestinian. I kind of hopped around different ethnicities but yes, the ethnicity was important.

Then I think that after I did maybe five or six bigger projects I started to get called in for more mainstream roles and more pilots. So, for me, it was kind of a process of going, “You know what? I'm going to be forced into passing on that because I don't want to be always seen as that role.” Then I established myself as being a good actress in some of those roles. Then, I think, I was able to be seen and fight for the right to read for more mainstream roles.

QUESTION: Do you have any other films coming up besides the one you just spoke about?

NOUREEN DeWULF: I'm in an animated film. It's Fantasia and it's about birds in Africa and I play a character named Posie.

QUESTION: When is that coming out?

NOUREEN DeWULF: I think it'll be out next year. It stars Abigail Breslin and Samuel L. Jackson.