I did musical theatre in my hometown starting at age six, until I left at seventeen. My favorite role was probably Lilly St. Regis in "Annie"--I got to have a New York accent and a curly blonde wig--it was great! I always knew I wanted to go into acting for the screen, though, and once I graduated high school I moved to LA to attend theatre school. Marcia is definitely my favorite character I've played in front of the camera so far, but partly that's because everyone involved made the whole process so much fun! It was like we were all playing "Let's Pretend", but instead of sheets and cardboard boxes and pots and pans, we had "real" stuff! The whole thing was very surreal, especially when we filmed in the Brady house. I couldn't stop opening all the cupboards to see what was in them. 'Cause when you see it on TV, you always think, I wonder what they keep in there, or what sort of silverware do they have in there, or what's behind the couch. I was able to get all my questions answered, and let me just say, the Bradys have some pretty kinky books lying around!

Additionally, what are your long-term goals related to acting?

Currently it's pilot season here in LA, so going on all those auditions becomes a job in itself, but I also just booked a recurring role on the WB's "Maybe It's Me" (playing Becky), and I just shot a commercial with Shaquille O'Neal for Burger King. I'm looking forward to getting as much work as I can because acting is absolutely what I want to do with my life, and something I know I'll never stop doing, whether I'm on a TV show, or doing teeny independant films or onstage in a town somewhere in another country. There's just nothing else like it!

Are you currently in college or planning to attend college?

Right now I'm at UCLA studying theatre.

Were you a fan of the Brady Bunch prior to auditioning for this role?

I grew up watching Brady Bunch reruns on Nickelodeon, usually in the summer with my sister. I always enjoyed the show, but never gave too much thought to it until the first Brady movie came out mid-90's. I thought it was so funny, and my friends and I even knew the songs and dances from it.

What research did you do to prepare for your role as Marcia Brady (i.e. watch the original show, the theatrical movies, talk with Maureen McCormick, etc.)?

When I first started auditioning for the part, I was so busy with other things that I was just working from memory. Marcia was always my favorite character and has such a distinct speech pattern, so it was fairly easy for me to do and to understand how and why she acts the way she does. But with no concrete decision of what I was basing her on, I found myself sort of drifting back and forth between portraying Maureen McCormick's Marcia and Christine Taylor's Marcia. So around my third audition, I started thinking this might actually go somewhere, and I began taping the show, which was on every morning at 4am. Then I would get up at 6:30 and watch the episodes before I left for school. I always wanted to portray Marcia from the original, and not through the interpretation of another actress. The episode I ended up liking the best was the episode where Marcia plays Juliet in her school play, because she gets an attitude about being the "star", and that full-of-herself-Marcia is the aspect of Marcia that's written in the new films. I was also interested in portraying a younger Marcia. In watching so many Brady episodes, it was fun to see how the actors themselves changed and grew more comfortable not only with their roles in front of the camera, but thier roles as celebrities. There's about a year of episodes where Maureen seems to feel a little uncomfortable, and crosses her arms in front of her body, or sits with her arms covering her legs, and I thought that would be an interesting thing to pull in in a few places. Because, even though there are numerous storylines referencing Marcia being "so beautiful" or "so talented" or "so popular", all girls go through at least some degree of insecurity in their teens. In the script itself, it's manifested in the way that even if Marcia does achieve something that others might see as a great accomplishment, if she didn't achieve it in a manner that meets her HIGH standards (like it wasn't unanimous, or she came in second), it can throw her into complete turmoil.

The movie - 'The Brady Bunch in the White House' takes place in the White House setting, being around all those props, did you learn anything about American history?

No, apart from learning a lot more about the Brady Bunch, I don't feel I really learned much about American history, because the storyline occurs in 2002, which, at the time we were filming, was actually the future. But I did learn more about clothing from the 60's and 70's.

I think the White House was probably as authentic to the real thing as possible, although I've never actually been there.

Are there plans for another television movie starring the new Brady cast?

There's talk about another Brady movie that would shoot this summer. I hope it happens because everyone who worked on this movie made it such a light-hearted, fun, relaxed work environment. All of us kids referred to it as summer camp, because we spent so much time together in a place away from home, and even when we weren't working on the set, you could almost always find us together.