It's an interesting concept, and Showtime has found an interesting actor to fill the lead role. We discovered that when we spoke with Ellen about being young and undead, doing the robot and what NEVER to ask Mandy Patinkin.

UGO: I guess the first question is, are you ready for the international mega-superstardom that's going to come with being the lead in your own show?

Ellen Muth: (Laughing) Don't say that! I don't believe that.

UGO: No?

EM: Uh-uh. Just don't believe that. I don't even know what to say when people ask me that, because I kind of think they're doing it just to flatter me [We'd never think of such a thing! - Ed.], so I just kind of say, "Oh, that's just silly."

UGO: You've been interested in acting from a very early age, which kind of makes you very different from George, who has no direction in life whatsoever. How do you go about capturing that directionless aspect given that your life experience has been very different?

EM: What's funny is, um, you know, I was the one who decided I wanted to be an actress, and my parents were totally against it. I actually got into the whole thing on my own; like, my dad had a friend who was an actor, and I got a (something) Report book from him and just sent out pictures and stuff like that. And my dad paid for everything, but he said, "You know, you have to pay me back everything I spent to get you into this if you start making money." And my mom was afraid it was going to ruin my self-esteem. (In what we can only assume is her "mom" voice) "Eric, that job is impossible to get into. That's just one-in-a-million, like the lottery." And so, anyway, I got into the business and within, like, 5 months, I got that movie Dolores Claiborne, which is a Stephen King movie.
And I guess the way I differ from George is that I have something that interests me, and some direction, and feel like…the way I do relate to her, though, is that I have low self-esteem, and so does George, even though I'm not sure if she realizes it. But I still feel like I haven't accomplished anything, and she feels that way, too, like she never accomplished anything in her life. And I still feel like I haven't made it anywhere, I haven't done anything, and I'll never get anywhere in life, and I'm going to be a failure my whole life. And I know in the rational part of my mind that it's not true…I kind of know that…but George, really, didn't do much when she was alive, because she didn't know what she wanted to do. But what she's so hard on herself about is the fact that, at 18…I think, like, a lot of jobs that are the type of jobs that are very demanding, you KNOW that you want to do them, like, when you're five years old, like being a brain surgeon, or being an actress, or being a singer, and you stick with it the rest of your life. But George just happens to be one of those people who doesn't know what she wants to do. And half the people I know in life are in their 30s and still don't know what they want to do. And I know a lot of people who have finished college, and say, (In what we can only assume is her "out-of-college" voice) "I'm out of college and I still don't know what I want to do. Do you know how bad that is?" And I'm, like, that's not bad at all! That's the majority of people.

UGO: So how do you tap into that in this show without playing into the stereotypical Hollywood image of the slacker?

EM: Well, the clichéd, stereotypical Hollywood slacker is the type you'd see hanging around, who doesn't really wash their hair that often, and kind of wears grungy clothes. And George is grubby, but that's not her fault (laughs), because she doesn't have any money. But she tries, because, like, she refuses to take money from dead people, and that, to me, is a big thing. She goes to work to a job which she absolutely hates just to avoid doing something she feels is morally wrong. Callum's character, Mason…he's not a slacker, because he's actually a hard worker when he does his reaping job, but I mean, he has no problem with morals. He has no morals, really (laughs). He has no problem taking money from the dead or doing anything that we, as living human beings, would see as being wrong, and George does work for her money. And in the beginning, she doesn't want to take people's souls, and I think that's something. She does more work avoiding the situation because she creates all these loopholes so she doesn't have to take their soul, and that actually is more complicated than taking their soul.

UGO: Which brings up an interesting point. Watching the pilot, it seemed to have a pretty heavy theme of predestination, in terms of when it's your time, it's your time, and if you stay longer than you should, that's bad…things like that. Do you believe in that kind of fate?

EM: Well, I'm asked that question a lot [Drat! - Ed.], and I really don't have much of an answer for it, only because I've thought about death my whole life. Like, it's always been my number one concern in life…one of my parents dying. I used to go to bed at night fearing one of them was going to die. My dad has acid reflux disease, so he would always wake up choking, and I would always think that he was dying, because he was a smoker, also, so I would think, "Oh, my God, he has lung cancer! He's going to die right now!" And so I would go to bed horrified, but I mainly thought about myself and what would happen to me if someone died, not where they would go and what would happen to them if they died.

I have thought about things such as, with suicide for example…I have a feeling that what you experience after you die is sort of tied to the place you were in your mind when you died. People who have tried to commit suicide, I've read this, and who have come very close to death and were dead for maybe half a second, but then were revived, experience…not necessarily ghosts, but just very black, horribly gruesome and just terrible feelings and places that they never want to go again. And they don't want to try to kill themselves again because they realize Earth is a better place to be than there. And then other people who have been in a stable place in their minds have seen wizards [Kick ass! - Ed.] or lights…so I kind of believe it's where you are in your head when you die.

UGO: But what about that idea that people are given only a certain amount of time, and that's it? That's a big part of the pilot…

EM: I don't necessarily…I'm not sure what I think about that. It is a lot like that Alanis Morissette song, you know, you're in the wrong place at the wrong time. But that, I really haven't put that much thought into, because there really isn't an answer for it. But yeah, I guess it's true that, if you're going to die, you're going to die. And a lot of times, we do it to ourselves through smoking, or whatever it is that you do. But something made you do it in the first place, and you knew it would kill you, so…

UGO: Wow. OK, on a brighter note, is it cool to be on a cable show, and be able to drop the f-bomb?

EM: Yeah, it really is, because I have a lot of quirkiness. I'm not using it right now, because I don't want to swear in front of you (laughs). But I have a lot of quirkiness in me, as it is, and I say a lot of expressions, and people will start cracking up, like, "Where did that come from?" And I have no idea. It's just part of my brain that makes up these things, and they come out. And sometimes, I use them in the scene. And certain directors will be, like, "We have to do it like it's scripted, because otherwise we have to make all these phone calls, blah, blah, blah," but then certain directors will be, like, "I love that." But yeah, it's great to be able to do what you want, and not have to worry, because I have done network before, and, you know, you have to be careful with everything. I mean, even, it used to be you couldn't say the word "pregnant" on TV, like with Dick Van Dyke…and with network, you even have to be careful with subject matter.

UGO: I just thought it was appropriate…I mean, what do you say before a toilet seat falls out of the sky and hits you? You say, "Oh, shit!" That's what's great about Dead Like Me as a cable show.

EM: Well, it's funny, because a lot of my friends would ask me, "You're stupid, why didn't you move?" I'm like, well, in my head, I know it's coming down, but where the hell am I going to go? It's going to cause a ruckus, and wherever I go, I'm going to get blown away.

UGO: Working with Mandy Patinkin, do you ever try to get him to say, "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."?

EM: Oh, no! That's all he hears, so I leave that out.

UGO: When they come out with the Dead Like Me action figures, what special feature would you like yours to have?

EM: (Laughs) I've mentioned that, and I've said the best one is going to be Jasmine Guy, who plays Roxy, because you're going to make her…she does this weird robot dance, so her character's going to do that, we decided.

UGO: She does the Robot?

EM: Yeah, she does it on set in her parking meter uniform, so it's really funny.

UGO: And yours?

EM: I think I'd be in the grim reaper cape. In fact, we have some pictures like that.

UGO: What's your opinion of the way technology is really changing what you do? Do you ever foresee a future in which there are computer-generated actors?

EM: It kind of concerns me that eventually, they're not going to need actors any more, because everything's going to be computerized. Why pay actors so much money and deal with all their - excuse my language - bullshit [Gasp! Our virgin ears! - Ed.] when we can just computer-animate? So yeah, hopefully they won't perfect it until I'm 70 years old and dead…No, wait, I don't want to be dead when I'm 70! By then, they'll have new technology so I won't die until I'm 100.

UGO: Have you had to deal with a lot of the special effects work on the show?

EM: I don't really get to get involved in it. In the pilot, I remember being so frustrated with having to pretend to see something that wasn't there, but at this point, I'm just so used to it…and especially now that I know what the gravelings actually look like, so I can use my imagination and it doesn't feel weird. And actually, in the pilot - and this kind of makes me look like a bad actress - but I felt self-conscious around the crew reacting to something that wasn't there. But now it doesn't faze me. What I am is what I am. What I do is what I do.

UGO: Also on the technology front, are you active on the Internet in interacting with fans and things like that? I noticed there's a web site out there that has your junior high yearbook photos on it.

EM: That's weird for me, because I have absolutely no idea who does that stuff. And on IMDB.com (in her bio), how does anyone know that I collect Burmese cats and have an SS? To me, that's just very strange. That's the scary part. And how did they know all that stuff about my dad, ew! And why would they care about my dad in that context? I mean, there's more in there about my dad than there is about me (laughs).

UGO: But you seem to pretty at ease with it; it's not something that disturbs you.

EM: Only because not many people know who I am. I've never been recognized by name, except in the business. I've been recognized by my face a couple of times, but not by my name, except in my home town, because it's kind of known that, you know, she's the girl from television, because I live in Connecticut in this relatively small town. But yeah, it was really strange for me when I found out a web site was put up. It was really flattering to think that someone would take the time to do that, because first of all, I don't even know how to make a web site, and second of all because someone actually took time out to collect information on me. And I also heard that there was a picture of a green Eclipse car on there, which was my ex-boyfriend's car. I wonder how they got that picture. And I also heard that there was a picture of my car on there, which was kind of weird to me, because that means they were at my house, or something.

UGO: Dead Like Me seems to take a pretty darkly comedic slant on death. Do you think that's something that might offend people? Are you comfortable with the concept?

EM: I'm completely comfortable with it, because I joke about the most horrible things, where people will say, "That's just horrible!"

UGO: Do you have an example?

EM: No, and I wouldn't even want to give you one if I did! But and so, people often say, "She's the most inappropriate person." Things I even just do are very inappropriate (laughs). I think that, in order to make anyone want to watch anything, you can't have all one note…like, it can't all be dramatic, it can't all be funny, it can't all be sad. You have to have a color of everything, because that's what makes it real, because that's what life is. And you can't have a show that's just about death, and that's it. If you have humor, people are going to want to watch it, but if it's just this dark show about death, nobody's going to want to watch that. And I think it's great, and one of the best scripts I ever read was that pilot.

UGO: One of the things I noticed is that it really kind of stinks being a reaper. You get lots of responsibilities and no special bonuses. Is that something that comes out later, that there are advantages?

EM: Yeah, yeah. You know, I do say, "Reapers can't fly. Reapers can't walk through walls." Those are the down parts, but then she says, "But the up parts are…" but I don't want to give that away.

UGO: Damn. OK. Finally, if you could have super powers, what would they be, and why?

EM: I'd be able to know what people are thinking…which is stupid, I know it's so cliché. But I'm very analytical, and I drive myself insane and end up ruining my day, because I don't know if someone's thinking something bad about me, and I always think that everything is about me (laughs). So if I knew what people were thinking, then I would know that not everything is about me.

UGO: Would you use your powers for good, or evil?

EM: Well, I would hope that they'd be thinking good things, but most of the time probably not (laughs)!

UGO: Thanks very much. Good luck!

EM: Thank you.