Jaime Pressly has built a career making audiences laugh. She won an Emmy as Joy Turner on My Name Is Earl, earned a Critics’ Choice nomination for CBS’s Mom, and starred in comedies including I Love You, Man, Not Another Teen Movie and Joe Dirt. This fall, she’s showing a different side.
In Last Shot, in theaters now, Pressly plays the estranged mother of a 12-year-old basketball prodigy who is grieving his father’s death, opposite Michael Rapaport. The film is also the first project from her production company, Liston James Productions. She currently stars opposite Leanne Morgan and Kristen Johnston in Netflix’s Leanne, whose second season premiered August 27. She also recently wrapped the second season of Ryan Murphy’s All’s Fair, alongside Kim Kardashian, Glenn Close, Naomi Watts, Sarah Paulson and Niecy Nash.
We caught up with Pressly about stepping into drama, how she balances work and raising her three sons and the skin-care routine she has stuck with for years.
Congratulations on Last Shot. How does it feel to finally have it out there?
“I’m so happy. I’m really proud of this project, especially because it’s the first one my company, Liston James, has produced. We produced it with Hemlock. I had worked with Hemlock and the director, Andy Palmer, a couple of years back on The Re-Education of Molly Singer, and it was such a great experience that I was really, really happy when they reached out to me for this role, especially because it wasn’t a comedy. I was like, ‘Finally, this is something I’ve been dying to do.’ It was a great opportunity all around, to be able to produce and to play something nobody’s ever seen me play before.”
When you’re playing a role that is this heavy, are you able to let the day go when you wrap?
“I’m pretty good about being able to let go. When they say ‘cut,’ I cut. I don’t like living in that headspace. For me, it was really about focusing and making sure it was the best possible film we could make.”
You have a lot going on right now and you are on location. How are you balancing filming, being a mom and your personal life?
“Well, I’m definitely missing my boys, that’s for sure. Nothing shoots in L.A. anymore…well, Leanne did, and so did the episode I got to do of All’s Fair. Those two shows shooting in L.A. was a miracle. We shot Last Shot in Birmingham, and I just finished a film in Atlanta this past Friday.
The only way I’ve been able to do any of it is because the twins’ father has stepped up. I’m the sole provider for all three of my boys, so I have to work, and now the only way I can work is if I’m able to go outside of California. He came and has been staying in the spare bedroom, taking care of the boys while I’m gone. That’s been a game changer.”
On a lighter note, is there a look you’ve really loved over the years—hair, makeup or fashion for a particular character?
“When I get into character, I get into character! Take My Name Is Earl. Joy was over the top in every way, and one of the main things I wanted was for her hair and her wardrobe to be characters all their own. The hair was a big deal. We had all these hairpieces made. She had a different hairpiece all the time, and almost none of it was her own hair. The wardrobe was a big deal, too.
The film I just finished on Friday is based on a true story, and we had to get me as close as possible to looking like this woman. I look absolutely nothing like her. We had to paint dark roots into my hair, black out my eyes and paint rosacea and broken capillaries onto my face. She wore frumpy clothes. It’s a big deal for me, when I’m getting ready to play a character, to feel as much like that person as possible and as far away from me as possible.”
Off camera, what products do you swear by?
“I really do run the gamut, from CVS to Bloomingdale’s. My moisturizer for 20 years has been La Mer. But I also swear by St. Ives Medicated Facial Scrub ($5), because I think exfoliation is the key to keeping skin fresh and young. I actually exfoliate with it in the shower every day. And I’m a serum freak.”
Do you get facials or other treatments?
“Yes, I get facials once every three weeks. I do extractions along with microdermabrasion, and then an oxygen facial to keep the skin dewy and fresh. I fully believe in exfoliation, and in keeping wrinkles at bay with microdermabrasion and the cheap St. Ives I get from CVS.”
Now that the film is out, will you get to rest, or is there more coming this month?
“I’m waiting to hear back about a project that looks like it might be a go, but I can’t say yet. My company is also in the middle of pitching one of our shows, called R&R. Running the production company, handling the development deals we have going and developing these projects has been such a joy for me. Along with that, I need to go home and see my boys. I need to go be with my kids, and I’m going to be doing that this month for sure.”
