Quick Questions With Friday Night Lights’ Stacey Oristano

By James Sheldon on June 18th, 2010

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I think it should technically be Friday Night Lights’s, yeah? A plural lights, but a singular show possessing one of the finest actresses you may not yet know about? Digressing…

If you’re a fan of Friday Night Lights, I only need to combine a first name with a last to gather a chuckle: Mindy + Collette. She was undoubtedly the greatest “dancer” the fictional town of Dillon, Texas, had ever produced, known or offered for diplomatic service to the teenage angst and arrested development of the local community. However, as we bloggers are well aware, glory positions like strippin’, excuse me, dancin’, only last for so long.

Mindy is now barefoot and preggers, married to her sweetheart, Billy Riggins, and sweet mercy, I can’t wait for some baby birthin’. The actress breathing the life into this impressive character arc is a dear friend, and a true Texas native, Stacey Oristano.

Stacey and I have known one another for nearly 10 years. Appropriately, both living in New York City, we met in Little Rock, Arkansas. I simply can’t sing her praises enough as a professional, and I can remember when she was first cast in FNL, some 5 years ago–I thought to myself, “20 bucks says she’ll become a recurring or principal character.” I took the bet with myself, won, and paid up a couple years ago at a Benihana in Atlanta, GA.

Enough with the anecdotes, let’s get to the goods. The quick questions answered by the pretty girl.

JS: Let’s start with an easy one. Do you, Stacey Oristano, think you could break a board with your fist?

SO: I think I could break my fist with a board…

JS: You’re tall. My guess, w/out shoes, you’re 5′ 9 3/4″. Legit. How tall are you really? Could you find a tape measure and measure yourself?

SO: Nice call! I’m 5′ 10″ … It’s a blessing, and a curse!

JS: If you were a professional athlete, what sport would you be playing and for what team?

SO: God’s Team! THE DALLAS COWBOYS!

JS: When you’re off on a gig, and feeling a little stressed, where do you like to let your aggression fly?

SO: You know this cause I took you with me one time… BATTING CAGES! I love it!

JS: Favorite food on a Saturday afternoon?

SO: Guilty pleasure: Pizza!

JS: If you were on a road jaunt that was scheduled to take 5-6 hours, what 5 albums would you shuffle through your iPod?

SO: Oh, so hard…I need some Billy Joel, a little Tom Waits, a pinch of Annie Lennox with a dash of KD Lang, and the original cast recording of Les Miz!

JS: Are you tired of being asked what it’s like to play a stripper?

SO: Yup!

JS: Something that many Friday Night Lights fans are unaware of is your singing voice. Any chance Mindy Collette-Riggins might do a little “sangin’” in Season 4 or 5?

SO: I always cringe when an actress does that…I’d like to keep the two separate…I think it looks so forced otherwise.

(Agreed. Unless you’re a new teacher on GLEE. Just a suggestion to the Casting Director)

JS: A year from now, would you rather be on another hit TV show, or strutting your stuff in le grande musicale on Broadway?

SO: I’m such a theatre baby…that’s where I want to end up…someday! Are you coming with me?

(Highly unlikely…but perhaps I would consider playing the role of Tony Stark in Green Latern: The Musical…which doesn’t exist yet…wait a second, who’s asking the questions here?)

JS: Gonna stroke your ego for a second to butter you up for a question below the surface–however, don’t doubt my sincerity: While many people know of you, and have seen your work, few have a glimpse into who Stacey Oristano is. I feel blessed to call you my friend, and as a peer I consider you an actor’s/director’s actress: Bold, generous, you listen, you’re imaginative, inventive, you improvise well, you’re classically trained without the pretension…I’ve seen you do everything from an understated, complex mess of a human being as Sally Bowles in Cabaret, to the over-the-top, I-still-take-myself-seriously stripper/goofball Mindy Collette-Riggins in Friday Night Lights. So. How important is the work to you? What does it mean to you that you get to play these characters?

SO: WOW! I’m so flattered I don’t know how to answer…I just want to keep being challenged and explore. The work is what’s important to me. I can’t believe I get to do what I do for a living…I’m the luckiest girl! Who knows what’s next, but to me that’s part of the fun!

You can catch Stacey and the rest of the stellar cast of Friday Night Lights, on Friday nights on NBC. If you need to get caught up, Netflix streaming offers the season 1-3 goods, and season 4 can be viewed online here.

(Photo by: Nathaniel Taylor)