Introducing April Starring Lauren Ambrose

Lauren was photographed by Alexandra Arnold at LeVue Studios in New York. She was styled by Emily Sanchez; Interview and Prop Styling by Alison Engstrom; Hair by Marco Santini; Makeup by Rebecca Restrepo; Photography Assistant Daniel Roa.

Hi lauren, it’s great to connect again! You’ve Been so busy in a whirlwind of promotion for ‘Yellowjackets’. How has it all been? 

Indeed there’s been a lot of things in support of a show that people like so much. It’s rare, you don’t get that often. I was spoiled with Six Feet Under, people loved it. Then I spent time going huh, I wonder what will happen with this one or I wonder what will happen with that one? Then all of a sudden you end up on a show like this. I think all of us actresses are feeling that way. It’s exciting to be on a show where people are excited about our work, especially nowadays when there is so much.

When it comes to that side of the business, are you someone who’s more extroverted and thrives on it all, or are you more introverted and have to have a lot of downtime after a big round of publicity?

I always forget about the publicity element until I am doing it. It doesn’t particularly come naturally to me in what often feels to me like self-promotion–it feels wildly egotistical and insane (laughs). But it’s obviously a pleasure to be able to promote a show, get people to watch it, and talk about the experience of making it. I do this thing sometimes where I zoom out and see that it’s me. Recently I was on a talk show in Los Angeles, in the valley, and there are these bright lights—it’s like I can’t go out there (laughs). You feel like Andy Kaufman or something (laughs).

Was creating a life outside of NYC and LA deliberate to put separation between jobs and the industry? 

Yeah, for sure. I was just in Los Angeles and it’s so striking that it’s such an industry town, it’s so present everywhere. When you are working and in it it’s great, but if you are not or taking a break things come into focus again.  You think this isn’t normal, especially when you are a product of it.

Looking back so far, what would you say has been a guiding force or your north star in your career choices once things took off?

I suppose just trying to work with the best people. As an artist—I learned this the hard way—you have to be careful with the people you collaborate with. I’ve tried to work with people who are nurturing in a creative environment. I always want to do something that I have never done before, that’s a guiding force in terms of a project or genre. As an actor, you can do one thing and then that’s what they want you to do for everything. I almost prefer the thing you have to audition for or prove yourself.  It’s doing things that scare me, playing characters that I don’t necessarily know how to do immediately, or something that will be hard work. 

It’s about pushing yourself and then rising to the next level.

I always wanted to do a musical. It was the hardest thing I have ever done and the most rewarding thing I have ever done. 

Was there ever a moment or period you had to have more focus and determination than others? How did you move past the harder moments?

It’s faith that something will come. It can be frustrating as an actor because a lot of times, you have to wait until everyone gets it together to go and do your work. You have to wait for the project to come together or wait for a pandemic to end.

You can say that again.

It’s funny, my husband and I, during the pandemic when everyone’s lives went on hold and changed so much, we felt uniquely prepared because the acting business shifts so quickly. It’s like, now you are on plane to Vancouver and you’re going to have to figure out what to do with your kids and your life. It felt like a unique kind of training for that moment. We were fortunate that most of the people around us were healthy.

Can you pinpoint a proud moment where you paused and thought, wow, look how far I’ve come?

I say it was the year that everything happened. I turned 40, my dad died, and I played Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady for a year, then I was going off to do Servant. It felt like such a crazy year. I left the theater and went to Philadelphia to start filming. I remember thinking that was something I needed to notice. It felt like an end of a time, but you are reminding me to do it more often. Every time I finish a project, there is that uncertainty of what will come next and that always feels like okay, do I open the florist shop (laughs)?

That would be a delight! How do you get past that feeling?

It’s a total exercise in faith. At this point, I feel like I will be able to do something (laughs). 

Now to talk about ‘Yellowjackets’. I was reading that you were a fan of the series beforehand, so how ecstatic were you to join the cast? 

It’s such a dream. It was an incredible and unique thing for me to watch a show, be a fan of it and think, don’t I look like this kid? I wonder if this kid is going to survive (laughs). Then they called me up and asked me to be in it. Also, to work with these incredible women who I have been watching and growing alongside since we have been actresses along a similar timeline. When I go to work and I see the call sheet there is a list of women, who are my age, and we get to work together.  It’s really beautiful.

I’m sure you have seen the industry slowly tilt towards progress since you started. 

We really have. It’s interesting to see the younger actors who play us in the show. They have such a beautiful agency about them and you can sense the industry has changed, in a good way.

You were how old when you started?

I did In & Out when I was 18-years-old and then Can’t Hardly Wait when I was 19. I also did some Off-Broadway plays when I was a kid.

What had you the most excited about stepping into the role of an older Van—a character that originally wasn’t supposed to make it past season one.

One thing that’s unique to this show and unique for me in my career was to share a character with a person. It was really interesting. Liv (Hewson) gives such a beautiful performance and they decided they couldn’t kill the character off. The character has such an openness about her, she’s this combination of very vulnerable, tough, and a survivor. From the first scene you see, she’s waking up her drunken mother to say she is leaving to go on the soccer trip. I loved how there is this backstory going on and every time Liv is on-screen telling the younger story of Van, my character is also on screen. I tried to capture the essence of how the years have hardened this very vulnerable but tough person and what they dealt with out there. What did it cost in her current situation?

You’ve put some incredible characters to bed like Dorothy in ‘Servant’ and Claire in ‘Six Feet Under’. Is it hard to step away and there a character that stays with you?

It’s really hard to say goodbye to the human beings who you have logged all of these hours with. It’s kind of unnatural. You come together, you do this huge project, and you are so deeply, intimately entwined in their lives. As I get older it doesn’t get easier, it gets weirder (laughs). When it comes time to getting to the end of the story, there is a lot of satisfaction in finishing the story and closing the book. Dorothy was such a fun character to play. As dark as that material could be sometimes, there was a lot of comedy.

How do you recharge and replenish your creative stores at the end of the day? 

That’s always the question, how do you fill the well? How does any working mother fill the well? The garden is important to me, making dinner. It’s like an oar in the water where you want to make it last as long as possible. Having the goal be something that last forever, even if it’s the laundry (laughs) otherwise you feel depleted all of the time. I am not always successful at that, but in those moments I feel good.

Stream new episodes of ‘yellowjackets’ every friday on showtime

A special thank you to LeVue Studios and this team