Memories From The Set: Lindsay Sloane

The Wonder Years
Kevin and Winnie's high school friend, Alice Pedermeir, was known for her annoying voice, but the part didn't originally call for one. At her audition, Sloane says, "I made the choice to be whiny, and be a version of myself if I were mad. It was the first time in an audition that I was confused, because I wasn't trying to be funny, but what was happening was funny. I started to realize that the crazier I am, the funnier it is to people."

My So-Called Life
The single-season Claire Danes drama was the first show Sloane was on where the kids were treated like their adult counterparts. "It was around the time when shows like Party of Five started where it felt like young people were really being given a chance to act. It wasn't just about walking on a set and acting precocious which I think is mostly what kids had been taught to do up until shows like this started."

Mr. Rhodes
Sloane's first series-regular role on the short-lived NBC sitcom didn't last very long, but she says she savored the ability to act alongside the same group of actors on a weekly basis while portraying an awkward high schooler. "The girl who played the hot blonde [Alexandra Holden, Rizzoli & Isles] is actually one of my closest friends still. We shot next to the Sabrina, the Teenage Witch set, so we all became friends. Being a teenager in Hollywood was the epitome of what the fantasy would have been... young actors hanging out together, having the time of their lives."

Sabrina, The Teenage Witch
Sloane's second series-regular gig didn't end when Sabrina's best friend, Valerie, was written out after Season 3. She returned in the TV movie, Sabrina Down Under, as an entirely new character – a redheaded mermaid named Vivian Soontodie. "When you're 19 and you're being given an opportunity to go to Australia for three months, you just don't question it. Melissa [Joan Hart] wanted me to go, so they thought of another way to get me in the movie."

Sabrina, The Teenage Witch (Cont'd.)
Sloane recalls being difficult to work with during the hair-and-makeup process: "I remember being a little bit of a pain in the ass when I was there, because I had a prosthetic tail, and they would have to airbrush my body for hours. I [also] had to learn how to swim with the tail on, which is a cool thing, but unless they remake Splash, I'll never have to pull that skill out of the vault."

That '70s Show
She portrayed Patty, a love interest for Wilmer Valderrama in two episodes, but former Mr. Rhodes producer Mark Brazil invited Sloane on the show to make friends with Topher Grace. "He really liked Topher a lot... this sweet, good kid who was out from Connecticut. He wanted [him] to have good friends, and he always liked me and thought I was a nice, normal person who just happened to be an actor."

Grosse Pointe
The satire about a fictitious nighttime soap was created by Sex and the City's Darren Starr and co-starred future Oscar winner Nat Faxon, with whom Sloane happily got to work again on Ben and Kate. It was as meta as shows came at the time, and that was part of the problem. "I think if that show was done now, it would be a hit in the way that Entourage was a hit. I was playing a broken, insecure actress, which is what I was, but I was able to do a heightened version of every fear and neurosis I was feeling my whole life." 

Entourage
Guesting on the popular HBO comedy allowed Sloane to shed the stigma of playing the unattractive best friend. "I enjoyed that job and I embraced it, because it was the first time the business was looking at me as someone a Vincent Chase would sleep with." She laughs, adding it was "very validating."

How I Met Your Mother
As a self-proclaimed HIMYM super fan, Sloane was excited to be a part of the show, which by Season 5 had confirmed its role in the cultural zeitgeist. She held out for the slim chance at being cast as the mother, turning down any role that didn't seem to lead down the aisle with Ted. "I passed on [earlier] roles in hopes that something better would come along. If they went long enough without introducing who the mother [was], there was a chance that whatever role I said 'yes' to toward the end of the show would just happen to be her." Instead, Sloane wound up as someone Ted dates for an episode... not realizing he's already dated her in the past. 

Weeds
Sloane's role on the Showtime comedy couldn't have come at a worse time, and as a result, it's the one role she regrets. "I found out I was pregnant the day before I shot Weeds, and all of a sudden, it was like these weird sexual situations, and I felt so disconnected in that part because I felt disconnected in my own body. I felt like I didn't ever line up enough with what they wanted that part to be. It pains me because I was such a fan of that show, and it was exactly the kind of role I would have dreamed about at that time in my career."

Psych
Sloane says she pulled a 'Sabrina', having also played two different roles on the popular USA Network pseudo-detective hour. After guest-starring in a Season 6 installment that spoofed a popular reality franchise, she returned in the final season in a remake of one of the show's earliest episodes. "The actor Andy Berman, who played my boyfriend on The Wonder Years, was an executive [producer] on Psych. He wrote this great episode where it was a spoof on The Bachelor, which was so much fun to do. Timothy Busfield directed it, which was great because I had been super-obsessed with Thirtysomething since I was 8 years old. Then Andy directed [the final season] episode, and I wanted to work with him as a director."

Drunk History
Sloane and Kroll Show's Nick Kroll played Ronald and Nancy Reagan on the imaginative Comedy Central series. "You've got, like, two days to listen to a [drunken] monologue on loop," she explains, "and it's the actor's responsibility to look in a mirror with it and kind of [get the] mouth mechanisms that work and match the language."

Playing House
Sloane considers her two episodes as Tina (a.k.a. Bird Bones) one of the Top 3 job experiences of her life, and will return in Season 2. "Jessica [St. Clair] is one of my closest friends, and they created this character that [allowed me to] tap into the madness and insanity and insecurity. It's a very hard show to keep a straight face on. I was hanging out with all-stars and just wanted to try and match their level. I watch it now and I can see moments where I'm about to completely lose it because my friends are making me laugh so hard."

Really
Sloane says she's sad that the half-hour dramedy, co-starring Sarah Chalke (Scrubs) and Selma Blair (Anger Management), didn't move past the pilot stage, "but the way Amazon has the voting system, it must have been a show that audiences didn't connect to for some reason." She adds, "I read the next three episodes that [series creator] Jay [Chandrasekhar] had written, and it's such a bummer. Because I feel like given a chance, that show could have grown."

The Odd Couple
Sloane previously worked with longtime friend Matthew Perry on Mr. Sunshine, but it's Thomas Lennon's Felix Unger who draws in her character, the slightly off-kilter Emily. "My relationship with Felix develops as a slow burn, but it's no secret as of Episode 2 that I harbor this immense crush towards him. Tom is really going to surprise people. It's this kismet of the right part finding the right person. He's so incredible and so much fun to act opposite."

The Odd Couple (Cont'd.)
As if working in front of a studio audience for the first time in years isn't nerve-racking enough, Sloane also must perform in front of TV legend Garry Marshall (Laverne & Shirley) on a weekly basis. "He's so warm and so personable. He's so encouraging and sharp, and really funny. On tape night, when writers come over and pitch a joke, they'll say, 'Garry thought of this,' and all you want to do is nail it because this is coming from someone who basically invented the TV comedy. Let me just step up and make Grandpa Garry proud!"