Interview with Alison Haislip

Alison Haislip's enthusiasm for life takes her on many adventures on G4's Attack of the Show that vary from shooting guns, to swimming with the sharks. Her Twitter followers also know Haislip to be "highly amusing in 140 characters." She spoke to TheCelebrityCafe about the show and what's next for her.

TheCelebrityCafe: What makes you an "all around bad-ass"?

Alison Haislip: I'm not necessarily good at anything I do on the show, but if they say we want you to shoot guns, I'll say "OK, I'll shoot guns,' or we want you to swim with sharks, "OK, I'll swim with sharks." I just really kinda say yes to anything that comes my way.

TCC: Is there anything you will say no to?

AH: I have said I will never bungee jump. That terrifies me.

TCC: Are you afraid of heights?

AH: Not heights, it's falling. I hate the feeling of falling. So like, I love roller coasters except for the initial drop. After the drop's done, then I'm good to go. The whole point of bungee jumping is falling. It's like you fall multiple times, it's like "no, thank you.'

TCC: According to FoxSports.com, you're the expert on "all things extreme." What do you think makes you such an expert?

AH: [Laughs] Wow, Fox Sports said that? I don't know if I'd call myself an expert, I call myself more of a fan. I just really enjoy everything from skateboarding to football and I'm awful at all of it [laughs]. I enjoy watching it and learning about it. I just find it fun, I love being able to root for people and root for teams. I just like being a part of the action.

TCC: What has been your favorite thing so far?

AH: Oh, That's a tough one. I feel that every time I get asked that question something new has come up. I just recently went swimming with sharks. (An adventure she actually suggested in passing).

TCC: Oh yeah, I saw that.

AH: It was very cool, mainly because up until the moment I actually got out and onto the water and saw the sharks I thought "Oh, this is going to be no big deal, whatever." and when I saw the sharks I was like "Holy crap, I'm about to get into water with sharks. What is wrong with me?!" I had swum with sharks before in Australia, but they were in a tank, in an aquarium. They were used to having people around them and they were also sharks that can't eat people. Literally incapable of eating people because of the way their mouths are shaped. But the sharks that I swam with in Hawaii, they could take off a limb.

TCC: If you smelled good enough…

AH: (Laughs) Exactly. The guys on the boat kept teasing me because I think my toenails were painted a really bright pink at the time and they were like, "Oh sharks really like fluorescent pink, you shouldn't have put that color on your toes."

TCC: How did you end up on "Attack of the Show"?

AH: No joke, they found me at a bar. I was bartending and a guy who worked in development at the time at G4 came in, and complete coincidence I happen to be wearing a Nintendo remote control charm necklace that I owned at the time, he asked me about it and we started talking. I told him I played video games and he was like "You're a chick..." Once he realized I actually knew what I was talking about he set up a meeting with me, and three weeks later they hired me. It was pretty incredible; I had no idea what I was doing. I never hosted a day before in my life. I just knew what I was talking about. Yeah, three years later, here I am.

TCC: What's next for you? Do you want to be an actress or are you happy where you are in TV?

AH: I'm very happy at G4. But, acting is my ultimate goal here. I have been doing that while I still am at G4. I actually shot a movie last year called Division III starring Andy Dick. So I'm definitely still active in it. I'm going to be focusing on that this coming year as well.

TCC: Is that your goal for this year?

AH: Yeah…I always get scared to say because I know our fans are always concerned that the people they've come to know and love on G4. I definitely want to focus more on acting and more so because of the fans. I want to show them that there is a different side of me.

TCC: What do you like about acting?

AH: It's really just the first thing that I found in my life that really challenged me, but also that I really enjoyed doing. I got into acting when I was near the end of middle school. School was very easy for me, and when I got into a school play it was the first time that I actually felt challenged. I really, really liked doing it, so I decided to pursue that.

TCC: What would be your dream acting role?

AH: That's always a good one. I'm sure many people are like, "I want to be Meryl Streep." I actually thought about this [when the] Golden Globes happened and Claire Danes won. When she was going up they announced that this was her second nomination from when she was nominated for "My So Called Life" and I remember sitting there thinking, "that is incredible" that this woman has had such a long career and that so much time has passed between her nomination and that she's still very current. I do sort of admire Claire Danes for that reason and I would love to have that type of career. Something that's ongoing, consistent and every so often you're actually recognized.

TCC: What do you do in your off time, when you're not shooting, or when you don't get that call to go swim with sharks?

AH: I have a piano, and I love playing the piano quite honestly. [Laughs] My Twitter followers always make fun of me for this, but I enjoy drinking and Tweeting. It leads to some very interesting anecdotes on my Tweeter Feed.

TCC: Finally, What is one thing you must do before you die?

AH: Because of my job, I've done so much stuff over the last three years that I never imagined doing. I really--this sounds so lame compared to what I do at G4--but I love traveling and I really don't feel like I've gotten to see as much of the world as I want to. Even though I travel all the time for my job, that really made me more addicted to traveling … And maybe I'll do some bad ass stuff along the way.