+ Interviews +

... Brittany Daniel 

STEPPIN' OUT
April 18, 2001 

Interview of the week
A Great Reason To Go See Joe Dirt...  Brittany Daniel 
by Chauncé Hayden

On March 17, 1976, blond haired, blue-eyed Brittany was born to
parents C.B. and Carolyn Daniel, five minutes before her twin sister 
Cynthia. Along with Cynthia and their older brother Brad, Brittany 
grew up in the small Florida town of Gainesville. When asked about
her parents, Brittany once replied, "My parents were strict Catholics
and raised us in a pretty conventional way. It helped us balance our 
lives especially when we decided to go into acting."           

An aspiring actress and model from an early age, Brittany began 
modeling while still in high school. She, along with Cynthia, 
appeared in such magazines as Teen, Seventeen, Sassy and YM. 
The Doublemint twin then went on to forward her rising career by 
appearing on Burke's Law, The New Leave It To Beaver and Swan's
Crossing. Brittany's first major motion picture role was appearing 
alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Basketball Diaries. Although her 
role was small, her performance did catch the attention of a lot of 
people. Along with her sister, Brittany won the Youth in Film Award 
for Best Actress in a Teen Series as Jessica Wakefield on Sweet 
Valley High. Brittany played Jessica Wakefield for four seasons 
before Sweet Valley High went off the air.             

You also might remember Brittany in several episodes of the WB 
smash hit Dawson's Creek as Eve, an older woman intent on 
breaking some hearts and stirring up as much trouble as she 
can get away with.

Daniel can currently be seen opposite David Spade and Kid Rock
in the box office hit "Joe Dirt." 

The following is an upclose and personal chat with one of 
Hollywood's most beautiful stars...Brittany Daniel. 

Chauncé Hayden: How often do people say to you, "So what
is it like to have a twin sister?"
Brittany Daniel: Um ... in interviews all the time! Most people's 
favorite question is, "Do we have psychic powers?" But I don't 
mind, really. Most people are really curious to know what she's 
up to now, because we worked together on that television show, 
Sweet Valley High.

Is she still acting?
No, she's a photographer now. 

Are you both competitive with each other?
There's that natural competition thing that goes on between
siblings. But we're both really supportive of each other. Plus 
it's nice now that we're not in direct competition career-wise. 
I would say more than anyone, she is my number one fan. I 
mean, there's enough competition in this business. It's just 
nice that my sister and I are not in competition. 

How often do people think your sister is you? 
It happens. Sometimes she'll just say, "No, you've got the 
wrong one." But if the person is really excited, she'll just 
pretend it's me and sign an autograph. 

Did you know there's a Web site that has you listed as the 
sexiest woman in Hollywood? 
(Laughs) That is so wild! I mean, I don't really care about 
being the sexiest woman in Hollywood, but it's nice to know 
that people are taking notice of me. Plus, I hope that means
a lot of people will see Joe Dirt. 

Speaking of which, Joe Dirt, starring David Spade, yourself, 
and Kid Rock, comes out this week. Have you seen the movie
yet, and if so, what do you think? 
I have seen the movie. I think it's hilarious. I also think it's 
going to do really well because it has such a great cast. Dennis
Miller and Christopher Walken are also in it. If they promote it
properly, it should do very well. 

Often when a actress gets to play the romantic lead in a film, 
it's opposite people like Alec Baldwin, Richard Gere, Brad Pitt, 
or Johnny Depp. However, you were lucky enough to get stuck 
with David Spade.
(Laughs) Well, I don't like to think that I got stuck with David! I
was thrilled to work with him. I love to do comedies, and I would 
love to do more romantic comedies. So to get stuck with David 
Spade wasn't too bad. 

If you could pick who you could star in a film with, who would 
you choose?
I would love to work with Shirley MacLaine. I think she's such 
a brilliant actress. She's so great in comedies. I also think Jack
Nicholson is pretty amazing too. There's a number of people I'd
love to work with. I also think Julia Roberts is pretty amazing too.
She's so talented. 

Do you miss Dawson's Creek? 
I miss working down in Wilmington, North Carolina. It was so 
much fun! It reminded me so much of my home town in Florida. 
I miss working on something that I love so much all week, then
just letting loose on the weekends. But, there are also bigger 
and better things to move on to, so I don't miss it too much. 
I'm still very close to all those people down there. 

Last month you appeared on the cover of Stuff magazine. Did 
it change your life?
It didn't really change my life. But it did change my career. It's 
opened up a lot of opportunities for me. However, I was a little
fearful about being in a magazine like that. 

Really? Why? 
Because that kind of magazine doesn't really represent who I 
am. I don't really dress like that, and plus when you appear in
a magazine like that, it looks like you're just trying to get your
face out there. 

Isn't that the whole point of doing the cover of a magazine, to
get your face out there? 
Well, there are a lot of girls who star on television shows where 
they play the sweet and innocent girl, and they want to vamp 
up their image a bit and come across more sexually. But for 
me it's the opposite. So I was a little nervous about doing that
cover. I don't want to do just the temptress-type roles. 

So then why agree to do the cover of the magazine? 
Because it's geared to teenage and college boys, and I want 
to do whatever it takes to promote the movie. So that's why 
I did it. But in the end, I was really happy with the way the 
cover turned out. I was afraid it would be too sexy, but I think
it came out both sexy and classy. 

I guess there's no chance of seeing you in Playboy anytime 
soon. 
No chance. Absolutely no chance. 

You also worked with Leonardo DiCaprio in Basketball Diaries.
A lot of guys don't like him. Why is that? 
My guess is that he's extremely successful and women love 
him and he's a prettyboy. So he has three strikes against him.
I think guys are just jealous of him. 

He has life way too good. 
Exactly, guys are just envious. 

You made out with DiCaprio in the film. For all the women who 
will never get to swap spit with him, what was it like? 
(Laughs) It was so many years ago! Thank goodness I knew 
him as a buddy before that film or I would have been very 
nervous. But from what I remember, he was a very good kisser. 

You were raised in Florida and now you live in L.A.. Now that 
you've spent a few days in New York, how does it compare to
what you're used to? 
I lived in New York for seven months when I was 16. Initially, 
it was such a shock to me. I would smile and say hi to everybody
and all my friends in New York would say, "You cannot just go 
up to people and say hi to everyone. They're going to think 
you're a freak!" But this time around I really like it. I like how 
direct and honest people are. In California, you get a lot of 
people who are a little fake. But here you get the honest truth. 

So is promoting a film that you're starring in glamorous?
No! It's been very exhausting! I've done so many interviews 
that I'm just exhausted. But I'm glad to be able to put the word
out there. 

Now you made me feel bad, because I know I'm asking you 
questions you've been asked a million times over. 
No! It's okay, because there are certain questions that you 
do need to ask. I understand. But out of everybody thus far, 
you've asked me the most interesting questions. 

Really?
Yes. 

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