You probably recognize Lauren Lapkus from The Big Bang Theory. Or Orange Is the New Black. Or Good Girls. (Yes, she works a *lot*.) PureWow recently sat down for an exclusive interview with the 34-year-old actress in honor of her upcoming Netflix movie, The Wrong Missy, where she discussed everything from The Bachelor to her self-quarantine routine.
Keep reading for seven things you (probably) didn’t know about Lauren Lapkus.
Lapkus stars in The Wrong Missy, which follows an energetic woman as she attempts to navigate the dating world. Along the way, she meets Tim (David Spade) who accidentally invites her on a romantic vacation to Hawaii. (And yes, the movie was filmed there. NBD.)
According to Lapkus, it took her a while to get into Missy’s mindset, since the character is majorly over-the-top. “I really thought this character was so crazy, and I almost couldn’t imagine how it would come across on screen,” she told PureWow. “I was trying to figure out how far we could actually take her.”
No, really. During the movie, Missy gets extremely long acrylic nails, which feature a “hot pink fading into yellow” design. Although the scene got cut, Lapkus was still forced to sport the unfortunate manicure during production.
“There was a scene where I supposed to mention my nails,” she explained. “Then that scene got cut, so I had those nails for the entire movie. I don’t know if they’re even noticeable, but I had to walk around Hawaii with these crazy nails that are just so unlike my personality in real life.”
Speaking of, Lapkus admitted that she penciled in me-time at the end of every day to wind down from Missy’s personality. “You have to get some moments to be in your room and not talk to anyone for a little bit,” she said. “It takes a lot mentally, so I found myself needing time alone for sure.”
The actress confirmed she’s a long-time fan of Spade. “I think he’s just one of the funniest people ever, so getting to work with him was really exciting for me,” she told PureWow. “He put me at ease right away.”
Lapkus revealed that while they bonded over many things, her favorite memories stem from watching The Bachelor together. “Something I really appreciated about [Spade] is we are both fans of The Bachelor,” she said. “We watched The Bachelor on Monday nights—we’d do Instagram commentary and stuff, so he was very, very fun to hang out with.”
You know how Peter Weber is now dating Kelley Flanagan, even after sending her home on episode seven of The Bachelor? Well, Lapkus knew they’d end up together from the moment Kelley stepped out of the limo.
“I called this a million years ago. When the show was on, I had to pick who I thought would win amongst my friends, and I picked her,” she explained. “I just thought they were going to end up together. I think they actually seemed to really hit it off during the show on a deeper level.” Guess Reality Steve has some competition as our go-to Bachelor source.
Lapkus confirmed they “improvised a lot” in The Wrong Missy. The actress “loosely” rehearsed the scenes with David Spade (and director Tyler Spindel) before diving into production.
“We had a few meetings where we would read through the scenes and sort of loosely rehearsed them,” she said. “So, we had an idea of everything that was going to happen in the film.”
Lapkus will star on an upcoming episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, where she’ll play on behalf of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation.
“I loved that show when I was a kid, so I was really thrilled to get to be on the stage and to hear the dramatic music and the pressure of it all,” she told PureWow. “It was really cool.” *Sets DVR*
Lapkus walked us through her quarantine routine, which involves a combination of outdoor activities and new hobbies, like the piano. “I ride my bike a lot wearing a mask and a helmet. It’s a lot of head gear,” she joked. “I’ve also been learning piano, which has been a daily routine for me. I’m using an app called Simply Piano. My days get weirdly full of just these little activities.”
The Wrong Missy will hit Netflix on Wednesday, May 13. You know where to find us.
