Exclusive Interview: Heather Hemmens on Hellcats
Gabrielle Compolongo at .Heather Hemmens stars on the new CW series Hellcats.
It premieres on September 8, you can check out photos from the pilot episode HERE and you can read what Hemmens told TV Fanatic about the show in the exclusive interview below...
Tell us about Hellcats.
It’s a story about cheerleaders, but it’s more a story about characters' inside lives. It starts with Marti [Aly Michalka]. She’s trying to keep her scholarship at school, so she joins the cheerleading squad and therefore takes my characters spot on the team and her spot in life. She starts catching the eye of my characters ex-boyfriend. There’s a big competitive streak with Alice and Marti that kicks the story off.
Talk about your character.
Alice is the mean girl. She gets sidelined with an injury and she is the most competitive, fierce, and ballsy character. When things aren’t going her way, she goes on a power trip to get thing righted for her. She was on top of the world and her injury was the toppling of the block.
Absolutely, cheerleaders. I would say anyone who’s curious about cheerleading. There’s a character there that everyone can relate to. Our character are such individuals, and so strong and different from one another. We’ve got Savannah, who’s the innocent one of the crowd. Marti is the tough chick, but she’s into the bitchy cheerleaders, and you’ve got the guys and Alice, who plays a mean girl, but she comes from a place of trying to protect herself. There’s something in there for everyone. It’s a show for chicks, but there’s the football aspect of it. The guys storylines are great, too. We deal with college relationships and co-ed dorm living. This is show that guys are going to love to watch. It might not be about dude stuff, but c’mon, we’re dancing around in skirts and we’ve worked really hard to be in shape.
Was there a lot of training in preparation for this role?
We train very hard. I considered myself a person who is healthy and fit, but I’ve definitely had to take it to the next level to play the role of a cheerleader. They take their athleticism very, very seriously. So to play that role convincingly, you want to be in the best shape of your life just to be capable of what they can do. You have to be on top of your game. My background in martial arts helped a bit.
Do you do your own stunts?
We do a lot of our own stunts. We push the envelope as far as we’re comfortable with. Of course they have someone who does the really dangerous stuff so we can keep our necks unbroken.
What has it been like working with the cast?
They’re so great. It sounds cliché, but they’re my new family. We support each other. We have a great time. We have these weird inside jokes and are always playing tricks on each other by talking about someone to see if they’re paying attention.
