Photo Source: Joel Daavid
Last year, as a candidate for membership with the Elephant Theater Company, she read the script of Mark Roberts' "Parasite Drag" for the company's upcoming production. But the available role, the free-spirited sister-in-law Susie—naive yet ultimately serving as the voice of reason—intimidated the actor.
"The character seemed so big and bold, initially I was attracted but afraid," says Nowicki. "But, through these characters, you get to learn about new aspects of yourself. Regardless of whether I got the part, it was going to make me be a better actress, because it was going to make me go into a room and do something that felt outside of myself."
Although a journalism major at USC, Nowicki took acting classes there with Marilyn McIntyre and also studied with Eric Morris. "He told me, 'Whatever you do, don't show yourself into this world until you've studied and are comfortable,' " Nowicki says. She heeded the advice, creating a conservatory for herself, studying dialect training with Kathleen Dunn and improv with the Groundlings, and auditioning for anything small enough to allow her to make mistakes.
Eventually, McIntyre introduced Nowicki to Interact Theatre Company, where Nowicki appeared in a small role in "Death of a Salesman." Through Interact, she and other young actors decided to produce a play and went looking for space, arriving at the Elephant. She loved what she saw there, so she became a candidate for membership.
To audition for Susie, Nowicki recalls, she prepared one way. But then she decided to bring more of herself to it—to "drop in" to what she connected with in the story. Terrified when she began the audition, she got a laugh on her first line. The rest is Garland Awards history.
Nowicki says Susie "ran the show" for her. "The play started and the play ended, and I was, 'What just happened?' " the actor recalls. She says the most important lesson she learned from her character is to be a good listener. "I had less dialogue, so I'd go onstage and witness everybody around me talking, and it made me drop in in a way I had never been able to do previously. It allowed me to surrender."
Not all was smooth sailing, however. The characters ate fried chicken during every show. Nowicki is a vegetarian. She'd scoop mashed potatoes into her mouth while Susie praised the chicken. But the actor wouldn't dare ask the stage manager if she could buy a meatless substitute. "I try to blend in as best I can," she says.
She very recently faced another fear. A friend in New York had phoned her to suggest she audition for an upcoming guest-star spot on "Law & Order." Says the actor, "When that call comes in, it can go two ways: 'They can see tape,' or 'Would it be crazy if I flew out?' " Nowicki paid her way to New York on a redeye. Since then she has been crashing on a friend's couch while shooting the role—opposite Jeremy Irons. The episode airs March 30.