Mike Parker – You have a lovely and unique name. Is there a story behind it?

Miracle Laurie – My parents were hippies, so that probably has something to do with it (laughs). My dad wasn’t sure he could have children, so he called me his little miracle baby.

Parker – I’m a little intrigued by your involvement in Polynesian culture, dance and music. Can you share where that comes from?

Miracle – My mom is Filipino and Scottish. She took a hula lesson and she was a natural. She eventually became a lead dancer on the TV show, Fantasy Island. As she got older she became the vocalist in her performing group. I was doing Hawaiian dancing ever since I could walk. I grew up doing it and performed as a solo dancer for several years.

Both of my sisters dance and many of our good friends are involved in that world. It is a part of my heart. My younger sister encouraged me to play the ukulele, and it just makes you happy. It is easier to grasp than you can imagine. I fell in love with it. I gave it to my fiancé and he fell in love with it as well. We formed a ukulele cover band. It has become a great thing for us.

Parker – You grew up in the entertainment world as a very successful teen model. A lot of young ladies look at models as having a glamorous lifestyle. Was that your experience?

Miracle – I knew from the time I was five years old that I wanted to be an actress. I never really wanted to model but I had a wonderful experience. I got to work with Bruce Webber and I even got the cover of Teen.

I was really young, from 11 to 14, but I was tall for my age. I worked as an adult because I looked mature. It is more work than you think. It is long hours and there is some pressure. But it was a fun experience for me. I knew what was going on in that world and it can be rough for some models. But I had my mom with me and she is a tough cookie. I would advise young models to take their parents along or at least have someone to go along with you. You need to have a strong sense of who you are.

Parker – You graduated from the University of California in Irvine with a degree in drama. When you went to college, did you ever consider majoring in any other field?

Miracle – No. I can’t really do anything else. I’ve always loved dancing and I love to sing, but drama was my path. It is the reason I stopped modeling. You miss a lot of school when you are on shoots. I made a conscious choice to go to college and pursue my education. Going to school takes a lot of work. I worked two jobs to put myself through.

Parker – Your role as Mellie, or November, on the Fox Television series, Dollhouse, is your first major dramatic role. It had to be a bit of a thrill to get cast in the show.

Miracle – You don’t even know! It is incredible. I’m a huge Joss Whedon fan. I loved Buffy. This business is about relationships and I had met the casting director of Buffy and auditioned for the show several times. I got several call backs but even though I never got cast for Buffy, in my head and heart I knew it would work at some point. Six months before they announced auditions for Dollhouse a friend heard about it told me I needed to pursue it. They brought me in for the role of November and I knew it was a perfect fit for me. To be on a Joss Whedon show is amazing and the role I get to play is amazing. She is a much bigger part of the show than I ever thought she would be. I was hugely blessed.

Parker – Lots of twists and turns in Season One. What should we expect from Season Two?

Miracle – My episode is going to air second. We are going to meet November as Madeline, post doll life. That’s fun because we’ve never seen a doll after the Dollhouse. It’s about how she deals with her life. She is still very much a part of that world.

The Seven Questions

1. What’s your favorite sound?
Miracle – The voice of anyone I love.

2. What makes you happy?
Miracle – Being in the moment and being content with who I’m with and what I’m doing. A good breeze. The sun on my face. A great song.

3. What makes you angry?
Miracle – Lying. Shallowness. I want people to be straight with me.

4. What is the secret of success?
Miracle – Being a good person, doing what you love and be kind to the people around you.

5. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, living or dead, who would it be?
Miracle – The grandparents I never met.

6. What is the epitaph that is written on your tombstone?
Miracle – “She loved.”

7. When you get to heaven, what is the first thing you want to hear God say to you?
Miracle – “Welcome home, kid. Good job. I missed you.”

Source: Examiner.com

So I’m watching the premiere, and you’re not in it. I didn’t know that you were going to be back. Did you know?
You know it was rough, because I knew how the season ended, too, and I was like, “What did I do?” I had been hopeful that I would be coming back, and Joss, he likes to tease, and be like, “Oh yeah, you’re coming,” and then he would joke around that I’m not. So it was kind of going back and forth, but I kind of always knew that I was. I didn’t have any idea in what capacity I was coming back, because it was left so open. I didn’t know what kind of purpose I’d serve in the story, or if it was even going to be Madeline, or if it would be November or someone else. I had no idea. So, at my birthday party, Joss told me how it was going to all go down, and I started shooting a week later. So it was really down to the wire. So I was in the dark just as much as everybody else.

So who comes back into the fold? Is it November, Mellie or Madeline?
It’s Madeline.

How does she come back?
I want to say everything, because I think it’s so amazing! We get to meet her really for the first time, and see who she is after the experience of being in the Dollhouse. It’s very interesting. It’s different, and I hope the fans like Madeline as much as they [liked November/Mellie]. And I think the theme is, whether we meant to play this out or not, that everyone has the same soul. It’s their minds that are being wiped and replaced, and different personalities that are put in, but I think, there is an essence for everybody that is the same throughout. I think that’s the same with me. It’s still [the same] November/Mellie, that we fell in love with.

Are we going to see Madeline’s universe? Can she just slide back into that life?
That’s what we explore. We kind of pick up and really see what her life is now. There aren’t any flash backs to before. We got that from last year, that her daughter passed away and that’s why she volunteered to be part of the Dollhouse. So we get to see how she exists, now that that is over for her and the contract is over and she has to live a normal life again. I think it’s really brilliant. The thing about all these scripts so far, is that I’m constantly surprised and blown away at how brave and smart and funny and witty and exciting they are. Our writers didn’t waste a minute. Everyone’s relationships are tested immediately. I’m just blown away by the season. We’re not even in halfway yet. So I think the fans are going to be really, really happy.

Are you a series regular?
I’m still technically guest cast. I’m in the first 6, and they all tell me that I’m not going anywhere, and the way 6 ends, it looks as if I’m not. So we’ll see.

Do you get to interact with the folks in the Dollhouse again?
I do, yeah. I actually have a scene with Paul (Tahmoh Penikett). It’s very odd, having that scene with Tahmoh. I adore him as a person, and Mellie loved him all last season. So to go in and not really know who this guy is after spending a year with him? It’s a little challenging. So that kind of stuff is odd, but if I’m being true to Madeline in that space, it’s just what it is. She doesn’t know who he is. It’s just really interesting to play that, and I think the fans are really going to love seeing that dynamic play throughout the season. We’ve never seen a doll after they were a doll. We’ve never seen a contract up. What do they do with all that money that they get after the contract is up? What is their connection with the Dollhouse? Do they even know where it is? It’s just really fun that we all get to explore that for the first time, and that I get to be that part of the puzzle is really exciting for me.

Source: TV Guide

5. Dr. Saunders and Mellie will recur.
Miracle Laurie also returns this season as the tragic Mellie/November. “I can’t tell you exactly how,” Whedon said. “I can tell you that she’ll be back early on, and that we’re definitely not done with the character, and, well, that probably means there’s going to be some pain involved. More than that you’re going to have to wait for.”

Source: SciFiWire.com

Like on most shows, the cast – lead by Eliza Dushku — is stunningly gorgeous. And superskinny.

Then there was Miracle Laurie.

I couldn’t take my eyes off this breathtaking beauty. Her eyes. Her smile. Her curves.

Listen, nothing against thin women like Eliza Dushku and Dollhouse co-star Dichen Lachman. They’re talented, sexy and apparently fit. But it was so refreshing to see Miracle Laurie — a woman with hips in a romantic lead portrayed as desirable.

You see, to me, being “fit” doesn’t always equal zero body fat or six-pack abs. It’s eating right, exercising and doing the best you can to be healthy. Of course, my definition may be different than yours.

I think “fit” comes in all shapes and sizes. I think media portrayals should reflect that. It’s important so women (and girls) can set realistic, achievable fitness goals – and not always feel like they’re striving for an unattainable perfection and damaging their self esteem in the process.

I’m not saying fat is fit. But Miracle Laurie isn’t fat, even though she’s larger than her co-stars. For the record, she’s 5’9″ and 145 pounds, according to her resume. (That’s considered a “normal” body-mass index.)

Dollhouse will be back this fall. I’m unsure whether Miracle Laurie will be back, but I’m crossing my fingers.

Source: OrlandoSentinel.com

What is it like being physically different from most of the other women in the cast? Does it ever phase you? (and if it DOES, just remember, there are a myriad of girls watching who LOVE when you strut your stuff.)

Let me start by saying thank you to those of you who have said ridiculously kind and sweet things about my work on the show, but also about my figure. It’s a very satisfying feeling to have one of the most influential creators, producers and writers in the industry fight to have “normal-sized women” on his shows. To have Joss Whedon say, “You’re beautiful, sexy, strong and normal and there should be more women like you on TV and I don’t know why there aren’t” feels incredible, as you could imagine. I think everyone wants to be skinnier than they are, it’s just the way it is. But for me, the most important thing has always been about health and being the best version of yourself that you can possibly be without comparing yourself to anyone else. When you start going down that road you’ll only drive yourself crazy. So, I’ll continue to strut my stuff as long as you strut yours.

The scene in Man on the Street where you “switch on” for the first time is possibly the best single moment in the series to date. As Adelle said, “it did not lack for poetry”. The look on your face as you switch is absolutely phenomenal, with the change in the eyes and that subtle kick-ass grin. You really sold it well. Did it require a lot of takes and direction from Joss to get that moment on film? Or are you a natural at channeling your inner killing machine?

A lot of you have commented on my “switch” in Man on the Street. So again, let me say thank you. That scene was challenging on a couple levels, but honestly some of the most fun I’ve ever had. I had to do our Chinese food scene, the sex scene, and that fight scene all in one day and it was only my 3rd day on the show, period. Was I intimidated? Uh-huh But was I thrilled to do all that? You betcha! The first half of the fight scene when I was the victim was a little intense. But when I got to be the bad ass, that was a TON of fun! I’ve always wanted to kick ass and be tough! It was awesome. And our stunt coordinator, and stunt people were terrific. They were really good and thankfully really patient with me while I got into the zone so I could get my ninja skills on. The switch itself was interesting because they wanted a really specific look and when I saw the final shot I was like, “yes! Good job, kiddo! You didn’t mess it up!”

What’s it like to play a number of different characters on one show?

For most of the season I just played one, Mellie, and I loved it. The episode in which I played the most characters was actually Omega. I came in as November (doll state), then got imprinted as the Bounty Hunter (you can see clips of those deleted scenes on the DVD, by the way), and then was released as Madeline. Of course you have that millisecond of fear as an actor that they’re all going to seem the same, but the truth is-they aren’t at all. They’re all fun in their own way and as an actor, it’s a dream come true to be able to do your thing. And the most fascinating thing for me was interacting with Paul as those 3 different characters. As the doll, I didn’t know who he was and I was just being polite, you know…like you do when you’re a doll. As the bounty hunter, I called him “furniture” and then later punched him in the face with my gun because he was in my way. Then as Madeline, I looked at him as a stranger that was somehow allowed to be there while I concluded my business with the Dollhouse, but didn’t really mind. Living all of those moments, compared to being infatuated with him for the previous 11 episodes, was quite an interesting experience for me.

Miracle Laurie didn’t want to get a role on just any TV show. She wanted to be on a Joss Whedon TV show. And now she is, and Fox has renewed Dollhouse for a second season, and life just couldn’t be a whole lot better.

“I auditioned for Buffy (the Vampire Slayer) at least a thousand times, I tried out to be a series regular on Firefly — I auditioned for years for his stuff,” says Laurie, who will be in Baltimore this weekend, signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans at the annual Shore Leave sci-fi convention at the Hunt Valley Marriott. “It was really a miracle, no pun intended.”

Meeting her fans, she insists, is the icing on the cake. She and her boyfriend, actor Christopher May, attended their first fan convention in April, “and it was a blast. We had tons of fun. There were all kinds of crazy, cool people.”

And many of them, she says with a laugh, had theories about her character’s up-in-the-air future on Dollhouse. The series, starring Eliza Dushku, centers on a group of “dolls,” men and women who assume whatever identities their employer wishes, then have their memories erased when the job is over and wait to be re-programmed. When last seen, Laurie’s character, Mellie, had been released from life in the dollhouse, with the promise of leading a normal life with her FBI-agent boyfriend, Paul Ballard. But this being TV and all, here’s betting that doesn’t happen.

“All I know for sure is that I’m coming back next season,” Orange County native Laurie says over the phone from Los Angeles, where she’s enjoying a break until Dollhouse begins filming again in late summer. “I don’t actually know in what form I’ll be back. The writers are kind of teasing me…everybody knows but me.”

She’s prepared, Laurie says, to hear all kinds of fan speculation this weekend. “All the fans are giving me their theories and stuff. One is that I wasn’t actually released, that the dollhouse is just using me to get at Paul. Another is that I’ll be involved in bringing the dollhouse down from the outside. I think their love story will continue in some manner. We’ll see who’s right.”

Chances are she’ll hear even more theories at this weekend’s Shore Leave, which for the 31st time will be offering area sci-fi fans the chance to meet, mingle and otherwise hobnob. Besides Laurie, the guest list includes Star Trek: Voyager‘s Robert Picardo and Ethan Phillips, Stargate: Atlantis‘ Jason Momoa, Clifton Collins of the latest Star Trek movie (he was second-in-command to the bad-guy Romulan determined to kill Spock) and Edgewood-born actor Johnathan Schaech (That Thing You Do!).

There will also be fan forums, where all the latest sci-fi developments can be discussed down to the most minute detail, plus a dealers rooms, costume contests, film screenings, even a comedy roast of author Keith R.A. DeCandido.

“We like to give fans a lot of choices,” says Shore Leave spokesman Michael Schilling.

And if a bunch of those fans choose to spend a chunk of their convention time speculating with Miracle Laurie over her character’s fate — and maybe even, for $35, getting their picture taken with her, or any of the other celebrity guests — they’ll find a receptive audience.

“I love meeting people, I love hearing their stories,” Laurie insists, basking in the glow that of the TV spotlight. “I’m pretty much a happy girl.”

Source: BaltimoreSun.com