1. It’s pop culture I actually know of.
Since I don’t watch TV or go to many movies and am generally out of sync with pop culture, it’s very thrilling to be asked to be part of something that I actually know about. (Case in point: when I auditioned for my role on “The Big Bang Theory” and was asked to do a female impression of Jim Parsons’ Sheldon character, my response was, “Who’s Jim Parsons, who’s Sheldon, and what is ‘The Big Bang Theory’?”) I watched “Candid Camera” on and off as a child and there’s something very surreal and exciting about being part of something that I actually used to watch. Note to J.J. Abrams, if you decide to bring back “Lost,” I was a huge fan and I’d love to be on that too.
2. Breaking up the monotony.
I am so grateful to work on “The Big Bang Theory” and to get to bring Amy Farrah Fowler to life every week. Still, as an actor, playing any one role can sometimes get tedious. Even playing myself as the host of “Candid Camera” is an acting job and it’s nice to play a different part, as it were.
3. Peter Funt.
Allen Funt created “Candid Camera” in the 1940s and his son Peter is my co-host. Peter first premiered on “Candid Camera” in one of his father’s gags as a 3-year-old trying to sell shoe-shining services at exorbitant prices. Peter is the keeper of the “Candid Camera” legacy and I have tremendous respect for all of the years he has spent hosting, producing, and maintaining the legend. Peter has a very dry sense of humor, which is a sense of humor I understand very well. I really enjoy our time together and especially appreciate that he doesn’t mind that I poke fun at him–in a very gentle way, of course.
4. Good clean fun.
I don’t know why the kind of humor that “Candid Camera” sells is totally up my alley (and considering that my favorite comedians are Chris Rock, Louis CK, and Will Ferrell, go figure). There’s something about the innocence of hidden cameras and the ridiculous ways that people who don’t know they’re being filmed react that just makes me laugh so hard.
5. White high heels.
Hosting “Candid Camera” is unlike anything I’ve ever done before in my career and it definitely constitutes me going outside of my comfort zone. I am using a new stylist and she’s, of course, super hip and funky and takes all sorts of risks in the fashion universe that she revolves in. Her universe now includes me and I thought she was totally crazy when she suggested that I wear white high heels. I actually expected her to say, “Smile! You’re on ‘Candid Camera’!” but she didn’t. So that leaves me wearing white high heels while hosting the revamped and totally lovable version of the original hidden camera reality show, which is never mean, always friendly, and seeks to bring laughter in a time when I, for one, can sure use a laugh.
Here’s a promo Peter Funt and I did for the August 11 premiere on T.V. Land. Enjoy!
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