I grew up in Middle America and I don't think my family was very funny, but I watched 'The Princess Bride.' I always wanted to be an actor. I didn't know anything about it. I'd never seen any plays or anything and I watched that movie over and over and over again.
Missi PyleI've done so many television pilots. I've done eleven I think and I've never had one get picked up. There was never one that I was a guest star on. It's just fascinating, but I don't think it would be fun to be recognized all the time.
Missi PyleI find more of an authenticity in people who are a little strange - so I really like characters who are just the tiniest bit weird. I find enormous comfort in that - someone who's kind of normal just doesn't feel as true.
Missi PyleI used to audition like crazy - I would go on a hundred before I got anything. It took me a long time to get any jobs at all. It was hard until I booked 'Galaxy Quest,' and then it started to get easier.
Missi PylePeople will go into an audition and a casting situation, and they'll see someone across the room that's perhaps slightly famous, or famous, and they think, 'Oh God, I'm not gonna get the part.
Missi PyleA lot of times I play the villain or the comic relief, and I get to kind of play the comic relief to a degree, which is fun, but I also get to say, "You are created in the image in God. You are a perfect child of God. And this part of you is the heart of who you are. You're not alone, and you're okay just the way you are."
Missi PyleI grew up in the Southern Baptist Church, where my father was a minister at music, so I sang in the church all the time.
Missi PyleThere was a male sketch group in my college. I was like why isn't there a female sketch group? So then I started doing sketch comedy and all that stuff. It just happened.
Missi PyleI have a very hard time with confrontation in my own life, and I end up being way too nice.
Missi PyleI used to audition for musicals when I was in New York before I moved to L.A., but I couldn't quite hit a certain note, so I saw a teacher in L. A. who helped me get better at it. She showed me how to use a different part of my voice. You are never too old.
Missi PyleIt's so fun to do theater, because as opposed to television, you just keep doing it again and again and again - every night. Sometimes it lands beautifully, and sometimes it lands just beside of it. It's like throwing a horseshoe. It's great fun.
Missi PyleI had been wanting to do a musical for a really long time. I wanted people in New York to know that I can sing.
Missi PyleMy family is not at all involved in television, or film, or theatre, or any of it, really.
Missi PyleI'm really tall - almost six feet - and my features tend to be extreme, especially on TV.
Missi PyleI started performing in high school. There was a pretty great drama department at my school, and that's when I started doing plays and musicals.
Missi PyleI really love being a character actor. I have to say I wish it were a little easier. There are still a lot of things that I don't get, like I do wish I had more of my own.
Missi PyleThe thing about living in Los Angeles and doing a lot of movies is that you get to go to a lot of premieres, and, regardless of whether or not you're a celebrity, you still get to walk down the red carpet and then have everyone sort of screaming your name. The pictures never get printed anywhere, but they are nonetheless taking your picture.
Missi Pyle