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Leah Remini Interview
A caustic wit pervades nearly everything she says; expletives pepper her sentences, reinforcing the stereotype of a tough-talking New Yorker. But asked if she'd consider toning down her Brooklynese, Remini pounces. "No. Are you trying to give me a hint that I should drop it? I can lose the accent; I just have to really focus on what I'm saying. And I have to talk slowly." That distinctive New York sound helped land her first acting job in an episode of "Head of the Class." And Remini has since become a recognizable TV actor, costarring in the CBS Monday night sitcom "The King of Queens." With friend, actress and business partner Jackie Guerra The show has wrapped for the season, and Remini has been contemplating her next career move. For now -- and despite calling herself "technically impaired" -- Remini keeps herself busy with two Web sites: a fan site she periodically helps update, and a joint business venture with her friend and fellow actor, Jackie Guerra. JackieAndLeah.com is a retail site for jewelry and accessories. But Remini says she wasn't fully aware of how demanding that commercial site would be. "You learn as you go. You think it's so easy to just throw up a Web site, but it's really not, because style, especially fashion, is changing every couple of months." 'People don't understand' Even her work on the sitcom can be draining, says Remini. She says she feels many people don't understand the daily grind of doing a weekly TV program. "I've always had a show that went seven episodes or 13 episodes or whatever. And I've never had a show (before 'The King of Queens') that's gone past a first season. It really is a lot of work. It's getting up every morning and going to work. It's not, 'Look at me, I have a little sitcom.' People don't understand the life that we (actors) live." On how she deals with the social order of Hollywood: "It's hard to find people who are very real and people who care. You find those few friends in this business that you can really trust." Remini says she finds solace in her steadfast practice of Scientology. She says it often has provided guidance during troubled times in her life and has helped her to be more "normal." Although Remini is aware of the controversy that sometimes surrounds Scientology, she says she's unfazed by it. On criticism of Scientology: "If somebody is going to get turned off about something because of what they read or heard, then that person's not smart enough to even enter a church. If you're really against something, then know what you're against." "I can see how people might trip out about it. But I've been doing it for so long." |
