Emmy Raver-Lampman recently returned to the set to start filming season two of “The Umbrella Academy” and luckily Nerd Alert News caught up with “Allison Hargreeves” herself! Emmy was one of the popular guests at Denver Pop Culture Con May 31-June 2, 2019. Born in Norfolk, VA the very talented actress and Broadway stage singer (Wicked, Hair, and original Hamilton castmember) shared stories from the set of the new Netflix hit series as well as other projects in the works.
Colleen Bement: I just have to say that your hair is stunning! Love it! Welcome to Denver Pop Culture Con. Have you been to our state before?
Emmy Raver-Lampman: Thank you. It’s easy! I’m so glad to be here, truly. This is the first con I’ve done in the states. I’ve done two in Europe. I guess technically I did New York but that was for press for the show, so it’s a bit of a different experience. There, everybody’s involved and it’s a press thing and I don’t really get to spend time with the fans.
CB: I spent a weekend binge-watching “The Umbrella Academy” and loved it! The character development was fantastic. Tell all of us fans a story from the set.
ERL: Oh my goodness. You know people fall in love with Robert (Sheehan) naturally because he’s so charming. So much of his stuff–they really gave him creative freedom to just improve and try things and play around. So there were a ton of moments on set with him trying different things and us all being in stitches and not being able to stop laughing. Truly we all get along so well. What you see on the screen really parallels how we feel about each other and how we all are in real life. There’s that chemistry and you can feel that there is that love and respect of each other as actors.
CB: That doesn’t always happen, so that’s great to hear.
ERL: It would be unfortunate to be stuck with a group or people that you don’t get along with and enjoy working with for eight seasons–nine seasons, or whatever.
CB: I’m hoping for that for “The Umbrella Academy!”
ERL: I can’t even wrap my brain around three seasons. There’s so much potential. I think the kind of departing from the comics has allowed them to write what they want and take their own twists and turns and make decisions. To dive deeper into some storylines and not dive deep into others.
CB: You have charmed audiences on Broadway with “Wicked” “Hair” and you were a member of the original cast of “Hamilton!” WOW. Do you have any singing or theater projects in the works?
ERL: Well no, actually I leave on Sunday to go back and start shooting the second season. (The Umbrella Academy). I was making my way towards Toronto and this was a stop along the way. I think the next chunk of time that I have off I will spend some time working on my music. That’s nothing I feel I can talk about because there’s nothing to talk about (laughs). It is a thing that I would love to do and that I really am passionate about. As far as theatre I’ve kind of taken a side-step from that and focusing on TV and film. I live in LA now. I’m definitely not opposed to doing a musical. I really would love to do a play.
CB: Tell us about your short film called “Stucco.” Looks like an amazing cast and crew!
ERL: I was just texting Janina (Gavankar) about it. She’s going to get a kick out of you asking about it. This was a passion project of hers and her writing partner that they worked on for so long. It’s a 13 minute short and it is really, really cool. It’s horror, it’s gory, it’s emotional and it’s really intellectual.
CB: So it’s right up my alley!
ERL: It’s so action-packed in 13 minutes. It’s crazy! They’re almost done.
CB: Any other projects that you are allowed to tell us about?
ERL: I did a couple of episodes near the end of this last season of “Jane the Virgin.” It’s such a great show. Gina is unbelievable. Getting to be with her and my scenes were with her, and I got to spend an afternoon with her. I admire her and respect her so much and it was really cool to get some face time with her. We do this ridiculous scene together, and that’ll come out soonish.
Then I did the indie film “Wednesdays” that will hit the festival market. It’s written by a really dear friend of mine, J. Lee who is in “The Orville” with Seth MacFarlane. He wrote, produced, and starred in the movie. It’s really, really good and it’s so cute.
CB: Totally adorable dogs on your Instagram. Tell us about them.
ERL: My babies. So Luna, the Frenchie, just turned eight. I actually got her when I was on the first national tour of “Hair.” She and I have been through so many life journeys together. Then we just got Moose, the Labradoodle, and he just turned a year in May. He’s such a gentle giant. They couldn’t look or be most opposite, but they’re like best friends.
Written by Colleen Bement
