Jamo May Issue 2019

JAMO | INTERVIEW
FA: Tell us about yourself and what are you up
to nowadays?
AF: Well, we just wrapped both Season 7 of
Last man standing and Season 7 of Orange Is
The New Black! So I might be looking at a little
break! When I say break, I mean working on
a few of my own projects that I’ve written and
am trying to get off the ground and getting
to the bottom of some health issues I’ve been
dealing with. So that will be my focus for this
hiatus. That and spending time quality with
my husband and my poochkie.
FA: Tell us about your experience so far as part
of Last Man Standing?
AF: It’s been a wonderful blessing. Getting
paid to do what you love alone is a rare gift.
Add to that going to work every day with people
you love and creating something together
that brings joy and laughter to families across
the country and even the world...I just feel
very lucky.
FA: Tell us about your character?
AF: Kristin the eldest of Mike Baxter’s (Tim
Allen ‘s) daughters. She is an incredibly smart,
dry-witted, and grounded woman. She got
pregnant in high school and therefore wasn’t
able to pursue a medical career like she had
planned, but didn’t let that stop her from being
a successful professional. Now, she, along
with her husband, is navigating raising their
son as he enters his teenage years while managing
the Outdoor Man Grill at her father’s
store. She loves her family and loves being the
oldest sister.
FA: What’s the best part about playing Kristen
Baxter?
AF: Getting to work with people I love every
day. And representing a strong woman on network
television.
FA: Tell us about Netflix’s Orange is the New
Black and about your character?
AF: I don’t know what I could tell you about
Orange that you wouldn’t already know! It’s
an award-winning series chronicling the life of
Piper Chapman once she has to serve time in
jail. It is based on a book and gives an in-depth
inside look on prison life, more specifically the
life of women inmates. I play Madison “Badison”
Murphy who shows up in Season 6 and
causes a whole bunch of trouble. Badison is
a class-clown and a bully. My take is that she
is an extremely insecure woman with a troubled
past who never quite figured out how to
make friends or make smart choices in life.
She is a lifer and is determined to make Piper’s
(and anyone else’s) life Hell just maybe so she
doesn’t feel so alone in her own Hell.
FA: What can we expect from the new season
this year?
AF: You know I can’t tell you that! Top Secret.
FA: In your career which character has been
your favorite to play so far?
AF: Impossible to answer. I carry every character
I’ve ever played in my heart and soul.
Even a character as despicable as Badison. Not
only is it incredibly freeing to play someone
so vastly different from yourself, but you learn
so much from a character like that. Exploring
human nature is what excites me about acting
and filmmaking. Digging deep in someone
else’s perspective can only help expand your
own. It forces you to have compassion. I love
every character I’ve ever played.
FA: What is your favorite piece of clothing?
AF: I truly appreciate a good mumu. But probably
my husband’s sweatpants!
FA: What’s your advice to your younger self?
AF: I would just tell her that she is beautiful
exactly as she is.
FA: Anything that I missed out that you would
like to add and what’s your message for JAMO
readers?
AF: Be true to yourself. Never stop being curious.
Stay open. Live with compassion. Life is
short, and it can throw you an endless amount
of curveballs, try to cherish the good moments
and find love in everything you do.
MAY 2019 | ISSUE 53