TeenDramaWhore

(Full Disclosure: I conducted this interview in December. For various reasons, it wasn’t published until now. That is not a reflection on Cari at all but rather my own shortcomings. I sincerely apologize to her for the delay.)

I called myself a TeenDramaWhore long before I started this Web site. As I explain on the About The Whore page, a TeenDramaWhore is someone who is obsessed with teen dramas. But what is a true, real-life teen drama whore? That’s easy. Someone who plays a whore on a teen drama!

Cari Moskow has no problem admitting she’s just that, playing a prostitute on One Tree Hill in three different seasons. (Her character, Patty, was first introduced to viewers in Episode 4.04, Can’t Stop This Thing We’ve Started, where Ian “Psycho Derek” Banks–a.k.a. Matt Barr–gets a little, um, psycho with her. ) Moskow gave me the low-down on what she thinks about being Tree Hill’s most recognizable hooker.

TeenDramaWhore: How did you get involved with One Tree Hill in the first place?

Cari Moskow: When I decided to start professionally acting, I was going on lots of auditions in the Southeast and I had an agent that said [the movie] Hounddog needed a stand-in. And I said, “Sure, that would be an awesome opportunity. It sure beats all the random jobs that I’m doing.” So I went on to Hounddog and I stood in for Robin Wright Penn. I became friends with a camera operator, who was actually the DP for One Tree Hill. He just loved me and was like, “You know, you would be great to stand-in on the show. If you ever want to do it sometime, let us know.” So I first did stand-in a little bit.

TDW: For those that don’t know, what does a stand-in do?

Moskow: Every director of photography is different but they want a stand-in who ideally has similar characteristics of the [project’s lead] actress. There’s always a first rehearsal with the actress in the scene. You watch what they’re doing in the rehearsal and then they go into hair and makeup. They’re filming all day and it’s time-consuming. They have to change wardrobe usually, touch-up hair and makeup. So they go into hair and makeup and the stand-in will do the scene, like the actors did. The crew is lighting you. Sometimes they’ll have you do the lines. Whatever they need you to do for the camera shots to get set up for the scene. You learn a lot. It’s a lot of fun. You get to be around the actors. But you also get to practice being comfortable on set, so it was very beneficial for me.

I did this a little bit on One Tree Hill and I had already been acting when I was doing stand-in work. I told the producers and gave them a copy of my acting reel. I was like, “If anything comes up, I’d love to read for the part.” Then one day they said to me, “We want you to read for something. We have something that you might want to go for.” And my agent did not submit me because the role of the prostitute was a brunette and I’m a blonde. But the producers asked me to go in and read. I went and read like everyone else. They had a director in the room and I didn’t know the director, since they have a different director in every episode. I read the sides for the prostitute and I noticed in the room that I had dressed completely differently from everyone else, which I thought was awesome because you have to pick something different to stand out from everyone else. The break-down said something about a rocker tee and leather jacket. I had this jacket that had like fur on it and I had this 80s t-shirt pulled down off my shoulder and a red bra hanging out and I had red lipstick on. I really became the character. I nailed the audition and my agent–because it had to go through her then–ended up calling me and telling me I got the role. That’s pretty much how it happened. It was right place, right time, right look–everything just lined up.

TDW: Did you have any qualms about the role? I mean, it was a) a prostitute and b) one that gets the crap beat out of her.

Moskow: No, I loved it. I really did. As an actress, it’s nice to play something completely different from who you are. That’s what’s fun about it. What I love about acting is that I have my life and what I like to do but I am also able to live in the shoes of someone else. You really experience what [something’s] like. The farther from home, the better. It’s just fun.

TDW: When we saw you again in season 5, [Episode 5.11, You’re Gonna Need Someone On Your Side], it’s Patty again and she’s still a prostitute but now she gets tangled up with Dan [Paul Johansson]. Did the show ask you to come back?

Moskow: Yes. They’ll call you up and ask you to come back and send you the script. That was a lot of fun. It was kind of like Patty cleaned up a little bit but was also back to her old ways.

TDW: Then we saw you again in this season [Episode 7.05, Your Cheatin’ Heart], just a few months ago. We saw you in jail but it was never said whether it was the same character or not.

Moskow: It was the same character. I think they did it for the comedy of it. To show [Patty] is a Tree Hill community member and she’s still around. I think they just thought it was funny because they had prostitutes in the jail cell with Haley [Bethany Joy Galeotti] and were like, “why not just have Patty back?” I’m not a major part of the scene or anything but they thought it would be fun to refresh the memory and show that I’m still around for the fans that do remember. Like, “Well, yep, she’s still getting in trouble.”

TDW: People did recognize your face and did wonder if it was a wink-wink at the audience. Have you done any more standing-in there?

Moskow: No, I’ve actually been living in New York.

TDW: What are you doing there?

Moskow: I went there for training. I got with a studio and I have a manager and an agent there. I’ve worked on some various projects. I’m actually in North Carolina at the moment with family for the holidays. I am moving to L.A. in January. I love New York and I actually miss it so much already but for film and TV, what I’m really concentrating on, and the connections that I have, I feel like L.A. will be a smarter move for me. Every actor struggles with “New York or L.A.? New York or L.A.?” But I’m also a surfer and I love the beach. I’m really into healthy food. It seems like all-around I’ll have a really nice time in L.A.

TDW: Are you originally from the Wilmington area?

Moskow: Yes.

TDW: So you kind of grew up with Dawson’s Creek filming there and One Tree Hill.

Moskow: Yep.

TDW: What do you love about Wilmington?

Moskow: I love the beach. I love that the downtown is right on the water. But I’m a beach girl.

TDW: Any chance we’ll see you again on One Tree Hill?

Moskow: They write the episodes weekly so you probably know as much as I do. I wouldn’t be surprised if something came up. It’s hard to say. But of course I would love to go back. I love filming in a city like Wilmington. Everyone is so friendly and it’s just like family on the set, especially since it’s been seven seasons. So I would definitely love to come back but we will have to see.

TDW: Are you on Twitter?

Moskow: I am not on Twitter, actually. I’m on Facebook and I have a MySpace. But Twitter, I guess I’ll eventually do that. I also have a Web site that I’ve been creating and updating myself. It’s all in steps.

TDW: Baby steps; one thing at a time.

Moskow: Exactly. It takes up a lot of time. There’s only so much you can do.

TDW: Twitter these days is just such a great way to interact with fans. There’s a huge One Tree Hill community there that will hungrily eat up–in a good way–any actor that comes on and is willing to talk with them.

Moskow: I will make it a goal then for 2010 to get on Twitter.

Come back next Sunday for another exclusive interview!

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