Introducing: Katlin Mastandrea
Katlin Mastandrea Returns to “The Middle” This Week When “Weird Ashley” Goes to Prom (Again)!
ABC’s sitcom, “The Middle,” is a fan favorite that follows the craziness that is the lives of the lovable Heck Family. Making a name for herself as a reoccurring character is actress, Katlin Mastandrea who plays the quirky, yet memorable, “Weird Ashley.” We recently chatted with Katlin about bringing “Ashley” to life and what other much talked about series she will be appearing on soon.
When the Colorado native was two years old, she was asked what she liked to do, to which she responded “Make people laugh.” “I’ve always wanted to entertain people, like make people laugh,” she tells us about getting started in acting. “I have a brother, so when I was feeling down or something, I would go do something goofy like stretch my face out or something. One day, I was researching online and just sat down one day and said, ‘Okay, how do we do this?’”
She knew that most of the film and television production was in Los Angeles and the industrious youngster starting plotting a way to get there. “When I was younger, I was looking online, [and] for ads in the paper that said ‘acting class free or whatever.’ I was just doing research like ‘How does this particular class lead me out to L.A.?’”
She also started doing pageants which attracted the attention of talent scouts. Through that, she was accepted at the International Modeling and Talent Association (IMTA) in New York. Eventually, she made her way to L.A. and started auditioning for roles. A guest spot on “Criminal Minds” was not far behind and she was finally making her dreams come true.
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Now she lives in Los Angeles full time and was thrilled to become a reoccurring character on “The Middle.” She describes her fun character as “She’s a bit off then most kids at her high school. The way she views the world is different. She thinks she’s interacting pretty normally, even though people around her are like ‘Oh, that weird girl’s coming near me. She scares the crap out of me!’” Ashley laughs.
Television viewers often identify her with Ashley’s unusual wardrobe on the show. Regarding fans, they aren’t hesitant to tell her, “From the few I have met,” [they say] ‘Oh I LOVE the cape!’” she admits.
The cast and crew put a lot of time in to make sure each episode is as funny as possible. Katlin gives us the general run-down of her schedule when she tapes. “Generally, the week before it shoots, they have a table read. So I get the usually get the script the night [before]. It can change from the week of the table read to the shooting, even up to the day. All the actors are there, you go through the episode. It doesn’t really take that long. If it’s just a few scenes, it can usually take one day. If it’s a little bit more, then two days, depending on how elaborate the scenes can be with props and whatnot. Otherwise, it’s pretty easy. [It’s a] nice set. [It’s] not too stressful.”
“They’re very nice and very relaxed,” she says, praising the cast and crew. “The atmosphere is very relaxed. You don’t have to follow certain rules. You can hang out. The cast and crew are helpful. You can just ask the crew ‘Is this happening yet? No?’ You can go sit, or hangout, chill… whatever.”
“They always tease me,” she continues. “[It’s] because ‘Weird Ashley’ always has this Wizard-y stuff. So it’s always ‘Oh, Katlin’s coming. Yep! She has the cape! Look for the cape!’” Katlin says the cape comes in handy “especially when the sets are cold. ‘What’s that blob over there?’ She jokes. “‘No, no, that’s Katlin. She’s cold.’”
Next month, Katlin will be seen in another much-talked about show. She will play “Olivia” in the Charlie Sheen series “Anger Management.” “I can’t say too much because it hasn’t premiered, but she’s Charlie Sheen’s daughter’s best friend,” she divulges. “They didn’t have any description, so it was just ‘go in there with whatever you think the character is just from the little bit of the script,” she recalls of the audition for the series. “I guess they liked what I did!” she reasons, about getting the part.
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With all the media attention surrounding Charlie Sheen lately, was Katlin worried about taking this role? “Not really. He’s a very creative person. Reading the script, it’s going to be very funny! I was more taking into ‘Okay, is he professional? If he’s professional, I’m fine.’”
There was nothing to worry about. “I’ve only seem him at the table read, but he got there, we had a set schedule, and he got done with it. He was very professional and funny. Then we got straight to the work.” You can watch for Katlin when that show premieres on June 28 on the FX channel.
When she isn’t making people laugh by acting on television, the actress reads books and Manga and plays video games in her downtime. Her current reads include “Kingdom Keepers” and a book called “The Wizard of Dark Street.” “It’s supposed to be about the creepy house on the lane. There’s supposed to be some magician there. I don’t know if it’s a murder yet, or whatnot, but it looks pretty cool.”
She listens to bands like Paramore, Panic at the Disco, Fun, The Killers and The Hoosiers. “I’m looking into UK bands. I’m like ‘These are pretty good!’ I like them!’” When it comes to watching television, Katlin makes time for “Castle” on Monday and
“‘Grimm’ and ‘Once Upon a Time,’ the fairytale shows. I love them!” [“Grimm”] it’s a little darker and creepier, but at the same time, the creepiness is just right! [It has] just enough suspense to keep you. There’s this one character in there, I can’t remember his name, he’s like the sidekick to the main character, he’s so funny! His character is hilarious!”
The future is wide-open for this up-and-coming actress and she is keeping busy in between acting gigs. “I’m working on a few projects, like writing stuff. I’m working on a comic book-ish thing. I want to get the script down, at least for the first book and try to do a little bit more research to get solid characters. Then hopefully, get in some more projects by the end of this year.”
She encourages aspiring writers and actresses to create their own content. “I would say, write as much as you can and direct your own stuff. There are a lot of people on YouTube who have pretty consistent Web series. You might be able to do something there. You can develop your writing skills. Get a few friends who can act. Who knows? Maybe you’ll get lots of people interested. From there, you can just refine your own skills.”
Watch Katlin refine her skills on the May 9th episode of “The Middle” to find out how she ends up at the Prom (again!). If wanting to make people laugh is her main goal, she is certainly exceeding all expectations!