Interview with 'Death Valley's Caity Lotz

Caity Lotz is probably best known for playing Stephanie on the hit show Mad Men and now she will continue stepping into the spotlight starring in MTV’s new show Death Valley.

TheCelebrityCafe: You’re probably best known for playing Stephanie on
Mad Men, what was the experience like?

Caity Lotz: It was awesome. The thing that’s so awesome about that show is the attention to detail is really what brings such authenticity to it. Everyone is so on their job. There’s no cut corners on that show. Everything is just so authentic. That was my favorite part, it’s so easy to feel like you’re in that world and everyone is super nice. Like working with John [Hamm] was really awesome, he was such a nice guy and it was cool because I learned a lot just by watching him. I learned a lot from working on that show.

TCC: Where you a fan of the show?

CL I was. I liked the show a lot.

TCC: Was this your first acting role?

CL Yeah, it was my first acting job. I had never even done a student film or anything before.

TCC: How were you approached?

CL My agent just sent me out on an audition to read for it. And they were like, “Oh yeah, ok, can you come back at two o’clock?” when I came back and read through with the director and the producers and everything. Matt Weiner had me do it literally like 15 times in all these different ways. It was awesome.

TCC: And now your starring on MTV’s Death Valley. Can you tell me about it?

CL It’s kind of like Reno 911 meets Zombieland. It’s about a group of cops, the UTF (Undead Task Force) and it’s shot like a documentary where it’s following them and their escapades in San Fernando Valley and our own special unit of LAPD that deals specifically with the undead: monsters, werewolves, zombies, and it’s hilarious. It’s a horror-comedy. It’s a great combo. There’s [also] a lot of action and I do a lot of ass-kicking and fighting. There’s a lot of cool stunts. It’s pretty violent. Yesterday, we were shooting a lot of action; blowing up windows and glass flying everywhere. It was pretty fun.

TCC: Do you enjoy that?

CL Oh yeah, I love it. It’s exciting, but I also a little bit scared because you’re not sure what’s going to happen.

TCC: You do your own stunts, and you have a lengthy resume from dancing, filming, and music. What do you enjoy doing best?

CL I love it all. I got out of my mind if I’m not creating something. I have so much creativity that if I don’t use it, it drives me nuts. I love it all. I love dancing, I love doing all the martial arts fighting stuff. Acting, of course I love. I enjoy painting. I enjoy photography, and writing. A little bit of everything and I think it helps. Each different discipline kind of helps the other one. Painting has nothing to do with acting, but it keeps that creative flow open.

TCC: As far as acting, do you have a specific genre that you prefer?

CL You know what? Yes. The MTV show is awesome because you get to play with comedy, but I love drama. I’m definitely a drama person. I love playing really challenging/darker roles that take you into places that you don’t normally get to go in life.

TCC:Are you ready for the media attention you might be getting from the MTV show?

CL: I’ve always been a pretty private kind of person. I’ve never been the type of person that says, ‘Yeah, I want to be famous.’ I don’t want not to be able to go anywhere. Whatever happens, happens. It’s a part of your job. Sometimes there’s good things, sometimes there’s bad. I would love to get to a level to be able to reach a group of people. There’s a couple of things I want to do and be able to communicate, especially the youth. I would love to get to a level where I can make a difference. That’s what I’m looking forward too, what I would like to happen.

TCC:Do you do any work right with charities or any projects you’re involved in?

CL: Yeah, I’ve trying to set up a charity, which is actually more difficult than I thought. My aunt works a lot with foster kids. And I’m trying to set up something, they’ve been cutting their budget down for clothes for foster kids, and I want to do something where people can donate stuff for kids that are in homes. It’s hard enough to try to fit in with everyone when you only get to buy two pairs of jeans and one pair of shoes. I’m trying to start up a charity with something like that, to try to provide just to make it a little bit easier for them.

TCC:Do you have any other projects lined up with your career?

CL: I have a show that I’ve been working on for a while with some great producers that I would be starring in and I would also be working as producer on it. It’s an action film and it’s pretty rad. It’s about some bad-ass chicks kicking ass. That’s going to be pretty cool. (It‘s still in the beginning stages).

TCC:You do so much, so do you ever have any down time? What do you do when you’re not working?

CL: That’s when all this stuff happens because I lose my mind when I have nothing to do, so I end up doing something. I’m trying to get better at doing nothing. I’m really bad at doing nothing. Whenever I do have down time it usually turns into a new art project or something.