Adrianne Palicki, who plays Cmdr Kelly Grayson on The Orville, beamed aboard ORVILLELAND this week to chat with Dan and Sid about the show. The Orville, not ORVILLELAND... tho we're sure she has many thoughts on the podcast too.
Palicki was huge fun to talk to, with the actress revealing in our chat, among other things:
Palicki tells us how she met Seth MacFarlane
"We campaigned together for Obama in 2008 in Ohio. That was our first meeting and we stayed friends. Then he brought me on Family Guy, now here we are so many years after."
Why she loves working on The Orville - it's the writing!
"The writing was always there. The gravity of what's happening in the world right now... I think it's important to be part of an original way to get out there what's happening in a somewhat humorous way, I think is beautifully fantastic and original. To be a part of creating some sort of change or awareness without beating people over the head. It's such an amazing honor to get to work in that situation."
Palicki told us which episodes she digs
"About A Girl was one. I really liked the Kelly / Jesus episode. I thought that was an interesting look at religion. It's hard at the end of the day to pinpoint which is your favourite.
"The third episode with Bortus, Peter Macon is just a fantastic actor, and so's Klyden (Chad Coleman). To find this fantastical world with these two men which is honest that they're a gay couple trying to change their baby's sex... it's so fantastical... every day I'm in awe of these new scripts."
Star Trek wasn't really her jam
"I watched some growing up, but I wasn't a big Trekkie. Johnathan Frakes, I always loved and had a crush on. He's actually directed a couple of episodes of our show, which is amazing. Outside of that and Spaceballs, I was really not into that element. You don't have to be a space nerd, and I say nerd with a lot of love, to still get the show. Space is a vehicle to tell a story of relationships. It's why I was drawn to it."
How long it took her to bond with the cast
"It took no seconds. Some of us knew each other as Seth brought a lot of his good friends onto this show. I knew J. Lee for ten years. And Scott and J. Lee knew each other. There were a lot of friendships already there and established. The first season, we were working 15 hour days, on our one day off we would all get together and have dinner. That's how much we love each other. I know everyone says that, but truly some of my best friends I have found on this show. It's rare and I think it translates to the screen. I hope so."
Her favourite celebrity cameos
"Here's the thing - getting to lay in a bed with Rob Lowe. My inner-self, watching him from being a teenager... That was surreal. Also, what an amazing human - he loved being in the make-up. He loved the character. He was so fun to work with. But also, being able to beat the crap out of Charlize Theron. Having an actual fight with this person I've idolised as an action hero for many years, one of the most beautiful women in the world. It was so fun to get to play and do something like that which no one else gets to do.
"The male crew members on set were all watching (laughs)."
You can listen to the full interview on this week's episode of ORVILLELAND, which also takes a look at the second episode of season 2 - 'Primal Urges'.
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New episodes of The Orville debut weekly at SBS ON DEMAND at 2pm every Friday afternoon, with the new episode also airing on SBS VICELAND Friday nights at 9pm.
