Amy Acker Interview - An RPC Exclusive!
Hello, everyone, and welcome to a super-special exclusive interview here on RPC! I’m so proud of this one, and am so elated to have had the opportunity to speak with actress Amy Acker, who has played such characters as Winifred “Fred” Burkle on Angel, Kelly Peyton on Alias, Samantha “Root” Groves on Person of Interest, and many others! She’s a prolific and talented actress, a skilled writer and director, and the sweetest person you could ever meet! Please click that play button and enjoy the interview!
Quick editor’s note:
We had to cut the episode just a little bit short because Amy had family obligations to attend to, but we talked a lot about her time on Angel and Person of Interest and Much Ado About Nothing, so we covered a lot of ground. Also, pardon some of the audio issues in the show. These things happen, especially on podcasts, but I think you’ll agree that it turned out alright. Hopefully, we’ll get to speak to Amy again in the future! Now, enjoy the episode!
Personally, my Amy fandom began with the Joss Whedon-produced Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off, Angel. It was a far darker and more complex show than its predecessor, and while I came to know the show later than most, I immediately fell in love with it. But it wasn’t until the final three episodes of season two that I beheld a jewel in the crown that was the series’ cast of characters. In episode 2.20, “Over the Rainbow,” I (and the entire audience) met Winifred “Fred” Burkle, the shy-but-brilliant physicist from Texas who stole my heart. While Fred started off as a traumatized, quiet young woman, she ended up as a brilliant scientist and eventually metamorphosed into an icy blue-haired god-king with time-shifting powers and superhuman strength named Illyria. And yes, on any other show, that would be a huge leap, but this series truly offered Amy a chance to flex her dramatic muscle, and after all the character development she portrayed through Fred came the complete 180-degree turn that she embodied in Illyria. Her whole being seemed to change, down to her movements and speech patterns, and yet, there was something undeniably Amy about the performance. Almost like she tapped into something primordial within herself, and it was glorious!
Though I did not watch Alias, I’ve seen clips of Amy’s work in that show on YouTube, and let me just say that I didn’t know that Amy (well, Kelly, actually) shooting a rocket launcher at a helicopter was something I sorely needed in my life! This woman is the nicest person I’ve ever met, and she can play incredible badasses! Case in point, on the excellent animated series Justice League Unlimited, Amy voiced Helena Bertinelli, also known as the Huntress. While Ashley Scott and Mary Elizabeth Winstead were the first to portray the character in live action (on TV and in a film, respectively), Amy brought her unique vocal talents to the superhero in multiple episodes of the Bruce Timm-produced animated show. Spot on casting, let me tell ya. Amy’s sassy, sexy, at times playful delivery was even praised by the writer of the Birds of Prey comic book at the time, Gail Simone, who had also written the first animated appearance of the character in the JLU episode “Double Date.” The BOP comic featured Huntress as one of its leads, and Simone once said that Acker’s voice was note-perfect for the role. I can’t help but agree.
Years after her role in Angel and various parts in shows like No Ordinary Family, Drive, How I Met Your Mother, Agents of SHIELD, and another Whedon creation, Dollhouse, Amy landed another recurring role in Person of Interest, an intriguing cop drama produced by Jonathan Nolan and Greg Plageman that ended up becoming a post-cyberpunk treatise on artificial intelligence and the technological singularity. Samantha “Root” Groves started off as another villainous role for Amy, but as the show progressed and the sci-fi elements began to overtake the procedural aspects of its narrative, Root’s presence on the show eventually became permanent. Amy had portrayed a brilliant young woman, and even a violent goddess, prior to her role in POI, but Root was both brilliant and an amoral killer, at least until she eventually learned the value of human life and became a heroic figure.
And let’s not forget Root’s eternally flirtatious and playful relationship with Sameen Shaw, a good-natured but emotionally distant operative who allied herself with Finch and Reese, the good guys at the center of the series. Shaw, perfectly portrayed by the excellent Sarah Shahi, was a strong female presence on a previously male-dominated show, and her initially adversarial chemistry with Root immediately captured fans’ imaginations. “What if they didn’t actually hate each other?” we asked. “What if they actually liked, and eventually loved, one another, and this was the preamble to a beautiful relationship?” Thankfully, the producers and writers were listening, and indeed, Root and Shaw developed a romantic connection. Two strong, beautiful, badass women loved each other to the end. I ‘shipped it.
While Amy has played many other parts in TV, film, and internet streaming projects (and I wish I could detail all of them for you), these three are the ones which stand out to me. However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the fact that she played major characters in Cabin in the Woods, Much Ado About Nothing, Con Man, Once Upon a Time, The Gifted, Suits, short films and videos like Lord of Catan and Everything’s Okay Now, and even voiced Lois Lane in the Superman: Red Son animated film.
Furthermore, Amy has done work behind the camera as well, as she and her husband James Carpinello wrote and co-directed a short film entitled Outside, a truly haunting psychological thriller about a woman trapped in her home by her husband, seemingly during a quarantine period. It’s timely and frightening, and I’d love to see her branch out into directing and writing even more in the future!
I wish I had unending space to analyze and detail all of Amy’s characters, especially when it comes to shows like Dollhouse, but I don’t want to distract you from listening to this podcast! Please enjoy the episode, and with any luck, this won’t be our last time speaking to Amy! She is my favorite actress in the world, and I’m so happy to have had the opportunity to chat with her! And thank you to my co-host Josh, who did a fantastic job and kept me on task with this show!
Until next time, take care of each other and be safe, Renegades!
