Becki Newton Stirs Things Up
Ugly Betty’s Becki Newton recently spoke with the Boston Herald about the show, her characeter Amanda, and moving back to New York.
About Amanda’s search for her father, Newton says, “From birth, Amanda has been trying to find herself. There’s resolve in the search with who her father is and how she sees herself. She’s made peace.”
I’m glad, because I always thought the story line was a little forced. And I say this as a huge fan of “Gene Simmons is my Daddy”.
Becki addresses the show’s return to its roots. “The heart was always there, but I do love the idea of the show being refocused on Betty,” Newton said. “Seeing everything through Betty’s eyes and including Betty’s point of view has made all the story lines more grounded.”
We’ve seen that the the last few episodes. They’ve just about tied up all the loose ends from the season 2 craziness – I can’t wait to see how it all comes together in season 3.
As far as Amanda’s relationship with Betty, “I think Amanda is secretly in love with Betty. When Betty walks in the office, Amanda perks up. I think Amanda wants to be Betty. Betty never treats Amanda the way Amanda treats Betty. I think Amanda was probably a geek when she was younger and now she’s overcompensating.”
But she knows not to take it too far: “These girls really do exist. Anyone like Amanda is flattered to be imitated. I don’t play her as a joke. Amanda is not a stand-up comic. She’s a real character. When I read the script, I see where I can go over the top. It’s a collaboration to find the middle ground. Maybe do one crazy thing and keep the other stuff more subtle. It really is a balance and something we’ve been finding over two seasons.”
“I never could have predicted where the character has gone”, she says. My favorite thing is when Amanda is just stirring stuff up.”
Ours too, Becki.
BTW, the Herald’s Mark A. Perigard has a not-so-glowing review of tonight’s season finale. We’ll all make our own opinions tonight, but it’s interesting to see what Perigard didn’t find interesting. Read at your own risk, though.
Unfortunately, my guess is that a lot of the stuff Perigard didn’t like (the stuff with Henry & Gio, in particular) is, in large part, because the writers had to squeeze all the storylines into five post-strike episodes. I think that all the romance with Gio would have felt way less rushed if they’d had more time to develop the storyline. Darn strike.
Although I have to say that I *heartily* disagree with him about Betty supposedly being the least interesting character on the show. I love Betty’s storylines. She’s the reason I watch. Don’t get me wrong, I adore Daniel, Amanda, Marc, Wilhelmina, Christina and Claire…
…but, as much as I love them, they’re just the icing on the cake.
I ♥ Betty.