Annaleigh Ashford - ContentMode

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Annaleigh Ashford

stars in Hulu series

Welcome to Chippendales

Annaleigh Ashford compares acting to the premise of Apple TV’s Severance, in which many undergo a procedure that partitions memories so that a person has a work-self and a non-work self. For Ashford, her work-self spent much of this past year immersed in 1980s Los Angeles among shirtless men clothed in only a bow tie and breakaway pants under foreboding red club lights cued by the first voluminous bounce of her Farrah Fawcett blonde feathered wig. Meanwhile, her non-work self spent much of her time on the couch during movie night with her family, high-quality cocktail in hand. Her most recent role is as Irene in Hulu’s Welcome to Chippendales, an astute businesswoman and wife to club owner Steve Banerjee. Ashford is a Tony award-winning actor for her performance in Broadway’s You Can’t Take It with You, and possesses an electric energy that zaps through each personality that her work-self morphs into. When we asked her to recall some of her most memorable moments in her career, theater seems to hold a special place in her heart, as she tells us, “When you share moments like that [a feeling of singularity] with the audience, there’s no ego or ownership… [They are] those bits of lightning in a bottle where creation got caught on camera.” While Ashford’s description of performance art at its finest holds a similarity to the premise of Welcome to Chippendales in its pulsing electric spark, ego and ownership shatter the glass as the lightning becomes fatal. The series is based on the book Deadly Dance: The Chippendales Murders by K. Scot Macdonald and Patrick MontesDeOca, and follows a success story to a sinister end. In our interview with Ashford, we talk about her role as Irene, cherished memories, and her attraction to the entertainment industry!

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You have had such a vibrant career thus far, so if you were able to revisit a moment in your career to feel it again, what moment would you want to revisit?

This is such an interesting question. Usually, you’re asked if you have any regrets, or what you would’ve done differently, but it’s lovely to look back and be grateful or honor some moments that were wonderful. There are a couple performances that I would love to revisit. There was a night during Sunday in the Park with George, another night at Kinky Boots, and a particularly delightful matinee during You Can’t Take It with You. I love the moments when the audience and the actor feel like they are participating in something special that can never be re-created ever again. It feels singular and special. Those are the moments that I would want to revisit. I always say “God, go ahead of me and stay after me” before I perform and sometimes the stars align, and you feel beautifully connected to the moment and the audience and the heavens. When you share moments like that with an audience there’s no ego or ownership. It feels like a shared experience, which is what I believe the art form should truly be. I have a couple moments like that on set as well. Those bits of lightning in a bottle where creation got caught by the camera. You spend every day trying to catch the next.

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You have traversed many a decade in your work whether it is in the 50s and 60s for Masters of Sex, the late 1800s in Sunday in the Park with George, the 80s in Welcome to Chippendales, or soon the 50s in Smart Blonde. If you had to choose one decade to live in perpetuity (little fun word choice inspired by Welcome to Chippendales), which decade would you choose?

I would love to live in New York City in the 70s. It was a time of liberation and exploration without the violence of the 60s. Things were changing in the world and everyone knew that they were going to keep on changing for the better. I also love a good platform and big hair!

I know you were a go-go dancer for 70s glam rock parties in college! I’m so curious to know at least one vivid memory you have of that time; We need you to set the scene!

One of my favorite memories was at Beauty Bar on 14th St. It was about 2:30 in the morning and my friend Breedlove and my friend Anna Copacabana and I were dancing for our friend Lady Star Light’s party. I remember taking a break and Anna Copacabanna looked at me and said, “I think it’s a Pizza o’clock.” She ran across the street and got us some slices. We had a bite and then went back in and finished our shift until the sun came up.

Shifting to Welcome to Chippendales, you genuinely do such an amazing job as Irene, so first of all congratulations! We are introduced to Irene when she is in the club being non-reactionary next to a plethora of screaming women as she later expresses that the club is not her kind of place. Personally, how would you describe your “kind of place?”

These days my kind of place is my couch with my kid and my husband for family movie night. But my other kind of place is a delicious restaurant with amazing gluten-free options (because I have celiac disease so I’m gluten free for real) and some high-quality craft cocktails. If I’m going to have a drink it better be a good one! I also want a place that opens its doors to anybody at any time.

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Irene is an accountant who was originally attracted to “Hollywood accounting” for the glitz of it all. What originally attracted you to the entertainment industry and has your source of attraction changed over time? Was there ever any part of you that was attracted to the supposed glamor?

I was always attracted to the entertainment industry because I wanted to be a storyteller. That has always been the sole intention. The good stuff gets lost if you focus too much on the glitz and glamor because it’s ultimately not real. But I do love to put on a costume and a high-quality wig so I have always loved hair and makeup. But I love it for the art of it, not to get attention. I prefer to lose myself in a character. It’s a lot less stressful pretending to be someone else.

I imagine that you would have felt really immersed in the Chippendales atmosphere while on set because of the hair, makeup, fashion, set design, etc. Was there a particular moment when you remember feeling completely immersed?

The first day that we did a scene with all of the background actors and the boys dancing was truly remarkable. It felt like we had taken a time machine back to 1978 and we were in the real Chippendales club. You could cut the air with a knife. And for a moment I really felt like I was a girl living in that time and space and place. That’s the fun and the magic of acting. Sometimes it can feel like that show Severance – where you go to some sort of magical place in your brain. You just have to make sure you punch out when they say cut.

I really enjoy the scenes between you and Kumail Nanjiani [Steve Banerjee] because, in the first few episodes, while we see an overt display of sexuality behind them, there is also an intense sexuality in their shared intellect. Can you talk a bit about this element of not only Irene, but also in her connection with Steve?

Kumail and I really believed that it was important for these two characters to have an authentic bond or love story, if you will, and that bond started with their love language of numbers and math. She was attracted to his business prowess and he was attracted to her math skills. They were the only people in the room the moment they caught eyes. It’s really important that the two characters have a love story that the audience believes in. Because Steve does some bad things as the show progresses, if Irene still loves him, it allows the audience to love him as well.

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Kumail Nanjiani said in an interview that he talked with you and the rest of your castmates about how to approach specific scenes, specific emotions, and how to snap in and out. Do you recall any particular conversation or collaborative preparation amongst your castmates that can be shared?

When it comes to process, I feel like I approached this role and the show like I always try to approach any story. What does the character want, how are they going to get it, and what are the relationships to the other people in the scene? These questions always make us ask more questions. The more specific the better. I was so lucky on this show to have such wonderful scene partners who were game to play and figure out the answers. We really became a happy family.

What do you feel most fulfilled about regarding your role as Irene?

I’m really proud that Irene chooses to leave. This was a lady who had the brains and drive to be a successful businesswoman. Unfortunately, she was still living in a time where women had few opportunities in the workplace. So, she found power under the umbrella of her husband’s business. It was fulfilling to play a woman who in the end was stronger than the culture, the society, and the man that were all a part of defining how she was able to exist in the world. Even though she loved him, in the end she did not stand by her man.

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I know you have quite a few very exciting things coming up. Can you tell us a little bit about what we should be looking forward to?

I’m going back to Broadway to play Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd with Josh Groban at the Lunt Fontanne Theater. We start previews late February! It’s one of my dreams of my life to play this role. It’s such an honor and I am so grateful to be a part of the rebuilding of the American theater after the devastation that Covid created for its community.