The TV Chick

Anyone who reads this site knows that I absolutely adore Make It Or Break It, and all ABC Family programming. I love gymnastics (I am a former gymnast), and when I received word of this show, I was thrilled. It premiered last summer and its large fan base helped it come back for another (half) season. The show has more than lived up to my high expectations. It is a great look into the world of elite gymnastics, but even more than that, it’s a great drama with wonderful, interesting characters. I recently had the chance to visit the amazing set of the show (I even got to step foot in The Rock), and speak with the creator, executive producer and the cast members. It was an amazing visit and I’m so excited to finally be able to share with you all of the interviews. When I caught up with Peri Gilpin (Kim Keeler), one of my personal comedy icons, we chatted about her shift from Roz to Kim Keeler, if she would ever put her daughters in gymnastics, and even if she wants to direct.

You come from a comedy background. What has it been like making the shift from Roz on Frasier to Payson’s Mom, Kim Keeler?
I became a mom right after Frasier ended, so I’ve been a mom for five years, and it’s really all I think about anyway. It’s such a huge part of my life, because I haven’t really been working regularly for five years, it’s where my head is, so it’s been really good because what I like to think about and what I automatically do is part of my job.

In the first half of the season, you took over as gym manager. How is that going to play out as the season continues?
Well, I don’t know, and I think that that was a really big deal for Kim, because the way the story was — I don’t know if she was aware that so many people were going after that job — it did make her feel great that Sasha entrusted that position to her because it was clear he trusted that she didn’t have an agenda beyond helping and doing what the gym needed and that even though her daughter really is a really fantastic athlete and maybe the best one, she wasn’t going to cross any boundaries and I think that’s a part of Kim that he’s really proud of — just her down-to-earth-ness and her fairness and her levelheaded-ness and to be recognized for that is obviously a big deal. So I don’t know how she can actually keep that up now that she’s got a kid at home that really needs her, and also a kid who makes a lot of noise wherever she goes [laughs] [Ed note: At this point, Payson's sister, played by Mia Rose Frampton had come in to where we were sitting on set] and as she really needs a mother to be supportive at this time too so it’s like its the best thing for her probably not to be there but it’s probably another sad thing for her.

Did you talk to any gymnastics moms to prepare for the role?
I talked to a few people. My agent was actually an Olympic ice skater. So we always talked about this over the years, and he’s told me a lot about his life doing it, and I kind of know how hard it was for him. And then also I know a lot more about his life after he was an Olympic athlete. But he put me in touch with a woman who is the mother of an Ice Skating team champion, as well as a coach of very young ice skaters so she and I started e-mailing. And my best friend in high school was also a gymnast and so I started emailing Susan but Susan was more like “you know, I was good, I could flip down the football field but I wasn’t at this level.” But the woman that’s the coach has so many experiences. And the main thing I realized from her was that the coach is like the 3rd parent, and how do you give over — you have to really trust this man or woman — to have so much power and authority and influence over your child, and yet it’s absolutely one hundred percent de rigeur…it has to happen. And that’s what’s interesting about the Emily Kmetko character is she’s very un-disciplined and yet she’s got a disciplined heart, but she hasn’t had that kind of wild streak trained out of her. She does things that the other three girls would never do, which is what makes her very, very interesting and the wild card. But Payson you know, goes by the book in every way and in fact, you know I think even her coach is a little like her dad and I in that — can we just have it be normal? Can we balance this out a little bit — you know?

After filming this show, could you ever see putting your kids into a disciplined sport like this, not necessarily gymnastics?
You know, it’s a really good question because the answer off the top of my head is no. I mean, I’ve found myself with the girls in gymnastics, my own five year old twins in gymnastics and ballet — a couple classes a week because it also was very fun for them and very socializing and they weren’t really — they weren’t on the beam. But I could feel myself not pushing, but wanting them to be — instead of being happy with what they were doing, maybe looking at another kid and going well, I should be practicing with them at home. I felt myself doing that and I’m like wait this wasn’t the point. And then this show has really just helped me really think about, like these kids have traded in their childhood. They don’t get to be kids, they didn’t get to be kids and on top of it, they are dealing with all the stuff that teenagers have to deal with anyway with their bodies changing and their hormones changing and their esteem issues and their sexuality and you know, the bigger questions like drug use — like last season we dealt with not recreational — like should I smoke a joint, but should I take cortisone which can enhance my performance and for me to perform really well in Nationals which is really important because this is the next step and the next step and the next step. And so it’s an impossible question for everyone involved, I mean the coach, the parents, the kid, we were all like what the hell do we do? And you see how parents are faced with this so, and if my children are wildly gifted, and I feel like Kim Keeler on this — if this is where our family goes because someone has a shot at Olympic gold, and how do you then — yeah, but I have thought a lot of about this. Kim doesn’t care if she [Payson] wins a medal or even goes — she doesn’t. She just wants her child to be happy, and not get damaged by this. And that’s a tall order.

The family now needs to come together to support Payson. How do you draw from your own experiences to act in this situation, because it’s not a situation most people are faced with.
Yeah, I know. I think the Keeler’s are just up the mountain kind of people. They accept challenge, they work their way through it, they’re good problem solvers. But this is a big one. I feel like right before this scene I felt like you know, Kim was on the phone with her mom going “What the hell do I do?” because it’s like I am so in pain for her, I don’t even know how to — it’s out of my realm of experience that I think they have good instincts and they can depend on their daughter having good instincts, it’s just — and you can’t keep her from hurting this hurt, and this is the chance we took.

How has it been filming these really emotional scenes with Payson?
I love going to work. We just have a great time. I love the scripts, and every time I open the scripts, I just can’t believe all the directions it’s going in and what all these people are doing. I’ll watch it with my husband and he’ll be like “dude, I can’t follow all that.” I mean it’s really exciting because there’s so much going on and it’s real and it’s organic, it all could happen. And then this world of these driven, dedicated teens with these huge goals, you know? And they’re meeting them or they’re not meeting them, and they’re dealing with them, they’re not kids. They’re kind of hybrids –they are somewhere between a kid and an adult and they’re still kids.

What are you most looking forward to the most in filming this second half of the season?
These writers and Holly are so — each script is such a blast. You know, and I’m used to that from Frasier, we used to call them our Christmas presents. But I feel like this here too, I start reading it and I can’t believe what they’ve thought of, and how well they’ve executed it in the writing which to me as an actor means it’s playable. There’s a million reasons why you would do this, and things you never thought of. I mean, you take things in the greatest, strongest, boldest direction, with such heart, and so I just look forward to — I know that my daughter will do everything in her power to get back in that gym, to get back into competition. You know, I don’t know what the outcome will be, but I know we’ll all be on the Payson train. (laughs)

Ayla: Everyone loves the Payson train.

What can fans expect from the next 10 episodes?
Well, a lot of stuff is going on. Every character has lots of things — lots of conflict, lots of emotional conflict. Payson has to put a lot of energy into what am I going to do next? And it’s not just regrouping and figuring out what to be, but it’s also dealing with horrible depression over it and also all of her friends that she’s grown up with are going on to do big things, and do they stay friends? can they stay friends? It’s very difficult.

Would you like to write or produce?
I would like to write or produce. I’d really like to do something for kids. I’ve been really inspired by stuff I’ve seen since I’ve become a mom, and this thing [ABC Family movie Santa Baby 2: Christmas Maybe] is so good. Because a friend of mine, my business manager has a daughter who’s fifteen and so he said I love Make It Or Break It. And I said, you’re watching it? And he said yeah, we watch it every Monday night, that’s my time with my daughter. And I just thought, that’s so awesome! So, to get that time with your kid, and really connect, and have things to talk about and open the door to great conversation, and I think that ABC Family and Holly really handle some of the huge issues well. And they don’t necessarily answer it for you. It’s for you and your family to decide, but it kind of asks the questions. It’s the kind of TV I would like to watch with my kids when they’re older.

And do you have any interest in directing an episode?
Yes! I’m going to ask. Thank you, Alix! I’m going to get my dander up and ask! (laughs)

You should! (laughs)
Maybe you should suggest it on your site!

I will! I don’t know how much power that I’ll have…but…you have all this experience in front of the camera and you seem to have this very good perspective on the show, so you would want to direct it?
I would. But you know, these girls are such good actresses and they work so hard, and that’s what would be so fun about it. Everybody brings all this to the table and everyone gets their stuff on camera and it’s great. Even the athletes that double for the girls are so good and they’re having so much fun, too.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow night at 9 pm on ABC Family for the mid-season premiere of Make It Or Break It! I can’t wait!