Meet Alice Barden from Bestsellers

In the spirit of all of the different female voices in the upcoming Susan Miller/Tina Cesa Ward dramedy Bestsellers, DCTV Creative Director Daryn Strauss asked Alice Barden the same set of questions she asked co-star Dena Tyler… This time, we talk re-invention, being fifty, female writing, and feminism. Bestsellers premieres Monday, January 31st.

DARYN: What character do you play on Bestsellers?

ALICE BARDEN: I play Zoe, although everyone calls her “Z”, and she is a very successful entrepreneur trying to reinvent herself in the business world at 51. She shares the same fears a lot of women have about aging out of the workforce, with all of the competition from kids straight out of school who were raised in a computer age.

DARYN: Bestsellers revolves around a ladies book club. The cast, writer, director, and producer were all women! Did you ladies bond while working on the show?

ALICE BARDEN: Absolutely! I really miss my girls. It was an unusually supportive and funny group of actresses, so I felt great and laughed a lot. I may have laughed a little too much! Many times I felt like our story just continued between the takes, with five smart women hashing out the script and their own lives. Susan and Tina are both geniuses, so that was a PLUS!

DARYN: Have you ever been in a book club? And if you were in one, what book would you recommend?

ALICE BARDEN: I was in a book club a long time ago, with a focus on memoirs, and we actually read my brother’s excellent book, John Wayne: A Novel. (Shameless plug! But we really did.) I didn’t like that the quality of the books varied a lot. I take my reading very seriously, read many reviews, and mostly read new fiction by women. The Book Thief left me weeping for hours, and The Mists of Avalon taught me so much about flawed but lovable characters. Denise Mina has completely changed the mystery genre for me, and Anne Lamott makes me laugh and tames my fear of writing.

DARYN: Having worked with women directors and male directors, do you feel there is a difference in their approach?

ALICE BARDEN: Yes. As a feminist, it was just so refreshing to have so many women in positions of authority in a creative realm. There was a tremendous amount of collaboration on the set, and for some reason the higher female quotient made me feel more powerful as a performer. Really exciting and gave me lots of hope for the future. Of course there were amazing men on the set as well, but it is important for me personally to someday work on an all-female set, as I have been on many all-male sets.

DARYN: Can you relate to your character’s plight in her career and life?

ALICE BARDEN: Very much. I do understand re-inventing myself, semi-annually… And the ageist/looks-ist society we live in. I actually looked forward to the age I am now, as I thought the onslaught of anti-aging products and pressure would subside as a character actress. Think again! It will be interesting to see how Zoe fights back. She is a force of nature.

DARYN: Do you feel like it gets easier or harder for a woman to balance career and life?

ALICE BARDEN: My experience has been that it stays the same, just that the difficulties keep changing shape. I have found that the grass is always greener elsewhere, and that you can’t compare pain. Sometimes being a mom driving carpools is as humbling as getting a straight job when you’re an actress.

DARYN: Acting isn’t an easy career for a woman. What’s your advice to women who choose acting as a career?

ALICE BARDEN: Learn to do something well that you love almost as much to pay the bills, and then GO FOR IT. It is your life and you have to honor your heart’s desires.

DARYN: When did you start acting? Did you always know you wanted to act?

ALICE BARDEN: I have always known I wanted to be an actress. Since my earliest memories, I have always wanted to tell stories in front of people. And I also love goofing around backstage with other actors, the crazy camaraderie. And I’m a “lifer”, so I don’t have to keep re-deciding to be an actress. Now that I am writing also, I feel like I have better quality control over what’s available to me at my age, although working with Susan Miller is a tough act to follow.

DARYN: Susan Miller’s words are so authentic and act-able. She comes from theater. You also have a theater background. Did you gals have time to rehearse?

ALICE BARDEN: We didn’t have a lot of time beforehand, but on the set it almost felt like we were REALLY a book club. We fell into Susan’s lines so easily. Lots of talking about the characters and sharing our own stories. Maybe one of the things women do best. I just loved it.

DARYN: What can we expect for your characters in the show? Will there be feuds, romance, men?

ALICE BARDEN: All of those things, and then some!!! These women can do ANYTHING!!

DARYN: What else can online fans see you in?

ALICE BARDEN: I’ll be in an early episode of the Onion News Network on IFC, being interviewed as a “gun toting new mother”, probably airing in April. Very, very funny stuff. There is also a lot of material online about my solo show, “Alice and Elizabeth’s One Woman Show”, because I just won some nice awards that I am hoping will help propel it Off Broadway. It’s another show for and about women of which I am extremely proud. Then there are always lots of movies and TV shows on IMDB. I often cyber-stalk myself, just to keep current!

DARYN: How active online are you and how can fans follow you?

ALICE BARDEN: I am extremely active online! I love it. I am on Facebook and have a website for my one woman show, “Alice and Elizabeth’s One Woman Show,” at aliceandelizabeth.com. I am also starting to blog, building my own website, but I have resisted Twitter, as I think I twitter too much in real life…