Krysten Ritter Gets Ready to Vamp

Actress Krysten Ritter, probably best known until recently for her roles in Confessions of a Shopaholic and 27 Dresses, is currently enjoying a surge of attention thanks to her performance as Patty, her vulgar, wisecracking character in Jim Field Smith’s She’s Out of My League. We spoke to Krysten about the filming the comedy, and her upcoming projects:

INTERVIEW: Your character in She’s Out of My League is very funny, but also really aggressive. Would you say you’re anything like her?

KRYSTEN RITTER: Well she’s a bitch, so I’m not anything like her! I’m nothing like that character.

INTERVIEW: What about her sense of humor?

RITTER: I think the character had a great jumping off point on the page. She’s very dry and acerbic and you sort of just go from there, but I’m more of a zest for life, positive, happy person. I really am. That’s another reason I wanted to do the movie. I think a lot of people sort of saw me in a different light and I wanted to show a different side, a different type of character.

INTERVIEW: How much of the dialogue in the movie was improvised?

RITTER: A good chunk of it. A lot of it. Any time there’s a joke, you’re doing different versions and we would improvise or whatever…I’ve ended up getting credit for the shit in your hand joke, and a lot of the stuff on the airplane was improvised. I’m kind of embarrassed to admit that because it’s so dark, and so foul. As far as my dad and my grandparents are concerned, I was just reading the script.

INTERVIEW: I’m obligated to ask if you have ever dated someone out of your league.

RITTER: Well, I think if you love someone, you think that they’re out of your league, of course. I go for the full package though, you know, like not everything is based on looks. I go for talent and funny. But this whole she’s out of my league thing–I’ve been asked this question so many times and I don’t even have a good answer for it.

INTERVIEW: Well, speaking of the full package, and talent, you’ve pretty much evenly divided your work between TV and film, and you were a model, and you have a band right?

RITTER: And I’m a writer. I was a model when I was a teenager. That’s how I got into this. I’m not anymore…I’m not saying that it requires any talent!
 
INTERVIEW: So, the next thing you’re filming is [Clueless writer and director] Amy Heckerling’s Vamps. And I think they just announced that Sigourney Weaver will be joining the cast?

RITTER: Yeah, I’ve been cast for a while and recently they added Alicia Silverstone, and now Sigourney Weaver, and it’s just like becoming–it’s all happening!–which is really fun.

INTERVIEW: Have you met either Sigourney or Alicia before?

RITTER: I’ve haven’t met her. I haven’t met Alicia either yet. We’ve been emailing a bit , just to get to know each other. And since I’m down for the count–I just hurt my ankle–I can’t walk. I need to have food delivered to me, so Alicia is going to help me. She’s the girl to ask, because she’s very health-conscious. Amy and I have become very close over this process, but I have yet to meet Sigourney Weaver and I can’t wait. I’m just so excited that she’s doing the movie.

INTERVIEW: Were you a big Clueless fan?

RITTER: Yeah, a massive Clueless fan. I used to run home from school to watch Clueless on repeat, so now the fact that, you know, when I got that phone call that Amy Heckerling wanted me to lead in her next movie, I nearly had a heart attack. I was on the street in New York sobbing, thinking my agent planned a sick joke on me. When something like that comes full circle, it’s so surreal. It’s bigger than I am, you know?