New Yorkers have long known Annie Parisse for her consistently stellar stage work. She currently stars in Leslye Headland’s “The Layover” at Second Stage Theatre as Shellie, a troubled woman who becomes entangled with a stranger after their flight is delayed.
On getting cast in ‘The Layover.’
“I have known [director] Trip Cullman for a very long time and also have worked at Second Stage—I did ‘Becky Shaw’ here quite a few years ago. And all of this came together very quickly. Trip called me and said, ‘I have this play and thought of you’…. I read it and I was like, Well, I have to do this. It’s just such a great piece of writing and such an incredible character.”
On choosing her roles.
“If I read a script and if I get excited about an idea in the script, that could be the thing that draws me to it. But most of the time it’s, ‘Do I feel like I can say these words? Can I put this person’s shoes on and walk in them for a while?’ ”
On using Backstage.
“When I was in college and the years following, I certainly read Backstage. And now I do just out of curiosity to see what’s going on. It’s a good way of keeping a connection with the New York theater community and what actors are thinking about, what’s happening in the theater. But certainly, I used it for all the ways that actors use it: to find classes, to find auditions. It was a great resource for me.”
On having kids as a working actor.
“I never would have guessed that I would be a mom who’d want to stay home with her kids sometimes. I would have predicted myself to be a constantly working mom. I would say [choosing when to work is] actually case by case and day by day. Doing plays is both uniquely creatively satisfying and also uniquely demanding. I consider it very carefully now that I have kids. I’m an addict—I love the theater. I’ll always come back to the theater. I feel like the reason I’m an actor is because I love to do plays. And I feel like I’m a better mom as a creatively fulfilled person. That said, it’s a real tightrope walk to try and keep those things in balance.”
On working in New York City.
“I am so grateful to live and work in New York. I like Los Angeles a lot, but I am grateful to be here. Being here for as long as I have, for 20 years now, I really do not go see a play where I do not know somebody either in the audience or in the show. I feel like it’s almost impossible. It’s a smaller community than it might seem to be. And then there are communities within that. I tend to do mostly Off-Broadway theater, and there is this specific Off-Broadway, straight play actor community. It’s really quite wonderful, actually. It feels very lovely and cozy and supportive.”
Want to find your own place in the Off-Broadway community? Check out our theater audition listings!
