Jessica Simpson Interview, Employee of the Month

Employee of the Month opens for our UK readers Jan 5th and we have a short interview with Jessica Simpson about her role in this her second film. Jessica Simpson has taken the music, fashion, beauty and entertainment industries by storm. A talented artist with universal appeal, she has become an international star and shows no signs of slowing down with a new album A Public Affair hitting August 29th . Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Jessica began her performing career by sharing the stage with famous gospel acts such as Kirk Franklin, God's Property, and Ce Ce Winans.   With her unmistakable voice and unique pop sound, Jessica caught the eye of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, and after joining a tour in support of the boy-band 98 Degrees, she quickly burst onto the music scene in 1999 with her debut release Sweet Kisses.  Her RIAA-certified double platinum debut featured Jessica's massive breakthrough hit, "I Wanna Love You Forever," which hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The title track to Irresistible, her 2001 follow-up, was a crossover smash, charting on the Hot 100 (#15), the Rhythmic Top 40 (#12), Top 40 Mainstream (#3) and Top 40 Tracks (#5). But it was the success of her 4 times platinum album, In This Skin, which marked Jessica's debut as a songwriter and further refined her ever-evolving voice as an artist. "Sweetest Sin," the album's first single to hit the Top 40, is a marked change from the giddy teen pop that launched her career.  Having made her mark in the music industry, it wasn’t long before Hollywood was knocking on her door.   In addition to a recurring role on "That 70's Show,” Jessica’s MTV reality show "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica” launched in 2003, and was a huge hit, making her a household name.   In 2005, Jessica made her film debut as "Daisy Duke” in THE DUKES OF HAZZARD, and released a cover of Nancy Sinatra’s "These Boots Were Made For Walkin’” for the movie’s soundtrack which topped the Billboard Hot Digital Tracks charts and was certified platinum.   Jessica’s next film project is EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH for Lions Gate Films, and she is currently working on her fifth album to follow up the 4 times platinum success of In This Skin, A Public Affair.

An enthusiastic philanthropist, Jessica serves as Operation Smile’s International Youth Ambassador.   She most recently joined the Operation Smile international medical mission in Nakuru, Kenya where she assisted the volunteer team with the medical evaluations of the more than 280 children who visited the remote region with the hopes of receiving life-changing corrective surgery for their facial deformities. Jessica has been praised by fans and recognized by critics with three Teen Choice Awards for "Breakout Artist,” "Love Song of the Year” and "Red Carpet Fashion Icon,” and nominations for two American Music Awards including "Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist” and "Favorite Pop/Rock Album” and two MTV Video Music Awards for "Best Female Video” and "Best Pop Video.”   She has also graced the covers of many high-profile magazines, such as Rolling Stone, Cosmopolitan, GQ, Marie Claire and Elle.  

I read a lot of scripts for my second movie… a second movie is always a harder decision than the first movie because people have already made their minds up about you as an actress. I think you have more to prove in the second movie and more to show.   

What appealed to you about the part?

I was probably 15 pages in when I called Lions Gate and was like.. I’m totally sold, I want to be a part of this movie, its fun, it’s a great character for me, it’s a great cast and I just knew it was a good part.  I’m a cashier, and there is this whole rivalry between other employees to get into bed with me.

Zak is played by Dane Cook and he has made me so completely comfortable on set. I have never had to have a love interest in front the cameras before unless I was shooting a reality TV programme. So I was a little nervous beforehand hoping that there would be some sort of chemistry and that I could make it believable to the audience, because I am a huge romantic comedy fan and I was just hoping I could convince the audiences the way that Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan and Reese Witherspoon or cute girls always convince the audience that they are really in love with the guy. And Dane has made that very easy. He has kept me laughing, kept my smile genuine. I really couldn’t ask for a better co-star.  

Vince is played by Dax Shepard and I can’t even say his name without giggling. He’s a doll. Dax is very smart and he can make the entire room fall on the floor laughing just by being completely random and just saying some off the wall stuff which you cant help but laugh at. He’s perfect for his character.
How did you find working with the Director Greg Coolidge?

I think that it’s just his energy and his love for the project, and he’s invested a lot, he’s invested a lot of heart into the project. Upon our first meeting I wanted to do the project because of his vision and I knew it would be easy and that he would be able to deal with any kind of personality that came his way.

Was it fun having comedians on the set?

All these guys really respect each other and that’s nice, really nice actually because it allows everybody to work at their craft and be the best that they can be. And the fact that they all laugh at each other is great because if you’re a comedian it’s hard to make another comedian laugh - you have to win them over and I think pretty much everyone is won over on the set which makes for a great atmosphere.

If you have a really tough day go see Employee of the Month because you know you are just going to be wetting your pants, there’s going to be laugh after laugh…there are some really clever smart laughs, but also there’s heart to Employee of the Month which is great because it makes you say "ahhhh that’s a really great movie”. I love to come out of a movie and say that. I think that’s what you’ll say with Employee of the Month "ahhhhh that’s a really great movie”.