Even a year ago, Heather Graham never really looked at weekly television as an option.
However, “I got really inspired by some of the really good television on right now,” says the 35-year-old actress, whose film credits include “Boogie Nights” and “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.”
“Emily’s Reasons Why Not” (9 p.m. EST Mondays, ABC) has Graham playing a single career woman trying to navigate office politics and her harried love life. It’s based on the book of the same name.
“I always loved ‘Sex and the City,’ ‘Scrubs’ and ‘Arrested Development.’ I think there are TV shows out there that are better than a lot of movies,” she says. “I go to a lot of movies now that have nothing going for them. I see a lot happening in television right now. It’s a good time to get into it.”
Though “Emily” marks her first turn as the star of a weekly series, Graham did get her feet wet last year when she had a recurring role on “Scrubs” as a sweet but know-it-all doctor.
As Emily, she plays a woman who’s less self-assured and wiser to the ways of the world. She’s constantly quarreling with a backstabbing career-climbing co-worker while pining away for the office hunk who is reluctant to sleep with her.
Like Emily, “I definitely think in some ways I’m seeking and looking,” Graham says of her life.
She sees “Emily” as being about “self-empowerment” and “trying to find a way of (going) beyond relationships, beyond what’s happening in your life, and feeling good about yourself.”
She’s hoping the show will be more than about Emily’s love life.
“They are not going to do just ‘date of the week’ (stories). I think they will do a lot of friendship drama,” she says, citing an upcoming story in which a new girl comes between Emily and her best friend (Nadia Dajani). She says that when she read the script she thought immediately of Dajani to play the role; they’ve been close for 16 years.
“There is no bigger dream than to have your best friend at work with you every day playing your best friend,” Graham says.
Also in Graham’s real-life circle of friends are former “Sex and the City” co-star Willie Garson and Johnny Knoxville, a former Hollywood Hills neighbor. She’s also the godmother to Knoxville’s daughter, Madison.
Graham ended a three-year relationship in 2005 and says she is once again diving back into the world of dating. Is it hard for someone of Graham’s status to date in a place like Hollywood?
“I don’t know,” she says. “I’ll have to see.”
She’s hoping “Emily” can be a series to which single women can relate.
“There are no series right now that are stories about women and stuff,” she says. “Most of the entertainment business is … male-driven. I like things from a female perspective. That’s why I was interested in doing this show.”
Source: shns.com