George Harrison taught me how to play the ukulele.

It's actually true. My father, the man who introduced me to The Beatles with his incredible record collection, bought me a ukulele for Christmas this year. I'm loving every second of playing it.

I attempted to be very heady about learning to play. I'm a classically trained piano player since the age of five, and my analytical side of the brain wanted to learn the same way I did as a kid. Learn the notes, learn the chords, understand where everything is before moving on to playing a song. I have to say though, this hasn't been helpful. It seems almost impossible to do such a thing with such a fun little instrument. It would be like handing an eager young student a dictionary and forcing them to memorize each word, each definition. The way you get people to learn the meaning of words is by giving them an extraordinary book to read. Fall in love with the story, then you fall in love with the words. The life of the sentences inspires one to understand the meaning of the words that created it. The love for a song's melody and tone inspires one to understand how each note creates it.

This is why I'm saying that George Harrison has taught me how to play the ukulele. Songs like "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something" had me go from not being able to strum a proper sounding note, to memorizing and fully playing both songs; singing included. All of this accomplished in only a few short hours. And who better than to teach me than someone who loved the ukulele himself. "It's one instrument you can't play and not laugh!" He wrote this about the beloved instrument in February of 1999.

I was doing some searching around for great versions of "Here Comes the Sun" to watch how people strum and happened upon this amazing video of George performing in 1972.



I can't help but swoon when I watch this.

Oh! And here's a fun clip of George, Paul, and Ringo sitting in Central Park from The Beatles Anthology DVD.



In other Beatles news, Ringo Starr is getting his star tomorrow from the Walk of Fame on Ivar. Wish I could be there to witness it. My friend Evren got to see George Harrison's star ceremony from inside Capitol, right where his star was laid. Exciting! Gives me the wiggles.

New Year, Flu, Commercial, Sugar, Sugar, Sugar.

This is my first blog post of 2010. It’s already February, 7, I know this. Yes, I’m apparently no good at the upkeep of a regular blog, but I fancy the idea of it. I really do. Here’s to another feeble attempt at keeping up with life and all the things I have to say about it.

2010 has been rad so far. Is it the beautiful even number? The communal excitement that things are on an upswing? Is it because my hair is blonde (I’m ready to dye it back. I can’t help it. I’m a brunette through and through.) after only three months (That equals a season. That’s a substantial amount of time!) of living the truth behind “blondes have more fun?” Who knows what’s made a wave of awesome come through the general public, but here’s to more of the same! Hear, hear!

Within the first two weeks of January, I managed to book my first national commercial. This was beyond thrilling. After years of auditioning and not booking commercially, this could not have come at a better time. I had the opportunity to work with an all out fun and similarly humored group of people. It was a brilliant time and I want more of it. I was also reunited with a very talented friend and woman that I admired for the year that I got to spend with her in college (she was a senior when I entered LMU as a freshman), Lily Rains. She’s an amazing working (because she’s killer good) actress whose name you will know well some day, preferably soon. I not only had fun working with her, but was so grateful to reconnect. Lord knows I’m always looking for more and more strong, intelligent and exceptionally talented women to collaborate with.

In January, I’ve also managed to get a mild flu, then get a mild stomach flu, and then consume copious amounts of sugar since the new year began. I LOVE sugar. Am I expressing an addiction here? Yes. Am I going to do something to stop myself? We’ll just take this one day at a time. I was warned by one of my yoga students, Laila, that the Cadbury hard shelled chocolate eggs of ecstasy and dream making are already in stores. This means that I’m not allowed to enter CVS until a month after Easter. A month!


God, I just want to dive mouth first into a bank vault (à la Duck Tales) filled with these stupid things.

So, that basically sums up my month. (I originally wrote mouth instead of month before catching it. Am I thinking about eating? What exactly is on my mind?!) Sugar, check. Target commercial, check. Flu, check. All of the bases have been covered. Keep a look out for the Target campaign in March. I’ll post the video up when I get a copy, whenever that is, just in case you miss it.

And I’m off! I have a special carton of Peanut Butter Zig Zag waiting for me in my freezer. Yes, I’m doing my best to develop diabetes by the time I’m 30. Diabetes, almost a check.

to the women of my year(s) ...

I was born blessed. I have such an extraordinary family that sometimes (all the time) I become neurotic about their well-being. Ask my mother. I call her about sixteen times a day, under the guise that I want to know how to cook this recipe, cut against or on the salvage, or to check the Sig Alert and find out why I’m not moving on the 110 freeway (which she always happily obliges to check). I’m blessed to have parents that adore me, a sister who loves and supports me, and I had grandparents that cherished me. I want to write about the women in my family, since this blog is dedicated to the fabulous women that inspire me, frankly because there are a lot of ladies in the DeFilippo family. (Papa, I love you so much it’s silly. One day I’ll create a blog only about you. Or I’ll make a special exception some day soon to write versus about all the air shows you took me to and tedious evenings of calculus tutoring. Oh, and how proud you are of me.)

My mother is strong willed, stubborn at times, but is filled with love and wisdom that a young woman in this profession needs. Whenever my latest relationship fails, she’s there to remind me of how interesting, outgoing, and loving I am, which makes it easier for me to move onto the next. She taught me that I have the strength and determination to accomplish anything. This has been an energy that I have drawn on a lot this year, with the economical woes that are plaguing everyone, I know that life will not always be so day-to-day, and that the stability (whatever that truly means) will have its due presence.

I grew up with an impenetrable desire to be exactly like my sister. From the pink hair to the tattoos to Smashing Pumpkins … I simply idolized her. As we got older, we very much became our own women with our own individual strengths. My sister is a brilliant artist, an adventure seeker (her recent solo trip to Australia to celebrate a pinnacle birthday serves as a prime example) and one of my biggest supporters. Her belief in me is unwavering. That gift is something that I can only hope to repay her with designer clothing when I become Zac Posen’s muse. Alright, I’m dreaming big here. So what?!

This post is very much a thank you to the women who have had, and continue to have a direct influence on my life. They helped create within me strength, courage, and intelligence that has cost me many relationships, but leaves me happy and hopeful in the end.

Yesterday, I was watching a video that I found on Glamour magazine’s website. It was a mash up of the Women of the Year ceremony that they recently held, celebrating all of the fabulous women of 2009. I found it most uplifting and particularly inspirational when Maya Angelou speaks. Please watch, feel, and enjoy.



Here is a direct transcription of what Maya Angelou says. Print it out, put it somewhere where you’ll see it ever day, make it your mantra, live by it, swear by it.

"Glamor is profound. Glamor says I have enough responsibility to take responsibility for myself and for the time and spaces I occupy. That's glamor.

Saying I want to be as beautiful as I can be, to myself first, and then to anybody else who has the sense enough to see it."

-- Maya Angelou

"America's Favorite Serial Killer" and Little ol' Me

WOOOOOHHHHOOOOOO! That’s the sound my life is making right now. Sometimes the Woo’s are full of elation, and sometimes the Hoo’s are full of exhaustion and anxiety. Either way, there hasn’t been a dull moment and lots of exciting things are happening. I just had a HUGE, gigantic, ENORMOUS, prolific, EXTRAORDINARY two weeks. Let me divulge.

I booked an incredible co-star role on Showtime’s super awesome (totally too scary for me) show, Dexter. It was rad. It was exciting. It was beyond fun. Here’s how it all came about. My manager submitted me for the quaint part on Friday and I went in to do a casting workshop with Helen Geier (such a hip hip girl, such a great great workshop) that Saturday morning. By Monday morning I was called in an audition on Wednesday. I went to the audition and saw that there were only a few women they were seeing for the role based on the sign in sheet (Awesome. Perhaps, I’ll stand out more that way???) and the only other person next to me was a man in his mid-thirties and slightly overweight. Hmmm … I’m absolutely used to this. I fall into that silly category where I most often audition alongside models, red heads, or cave people. Seriously. I auditioned for the role, left the room, and as per usual, I forgot about the audition. I did what I could and the rest wasn’t up to me. Thursday evening my agent calls. I BOOKED THE JOB! Yes, I yelled with delight into my agent’s ear. Yes, I’m sure my entire neighborhood heard me. Yes, I called my family relentless until they finally picked up the phone. It was a spectacular moment in my life. Absolutely, hands down, one that I will never forget.

Now, here’s the thing. I found out Thursday night and wasn’t shooting until Monday afternoon. Good grief. I had plenty of time to walk around, happy as a clam and living in the clouds. I also had enough time to get really nervous about it. My stomach was in knots. The character I was to play opposite of was nothing short of a legend. Two words. John. Lithgow. Oh, god. Really? My underarms immediately started to sweat and my stomach began to squirm. Let’s say I barely ate from Saturday night until after the shoot because my stomach refused to perform it’s natural given duties. Insert some deep breaths, a few sessions of meditation, and arriving to the set about a half hour early. Finally, it was time for me to enjoy being a working actress. WOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!

When I got to set I was immediately shown to my trailer where my Miami Metro police uniform was hanging. The excitement surged through my limbs as I eagerly stepped out of my mini skirt and my v-neck top, and stepped into the heavy threads of a cop’s uniform. They had to lop off about a foot and a half from the bottom of my pants, but the costume designer was brilliant. Those pants couldn’t have fit any more perfectly and I couldn’t have felt any cuter as one of Miami’s best, protecting the people from the likes of John Lithgow a.k.a The Trinity. I just reignited my ear-to-ear smile thinking about it.

“Jennifer, you’ve been invited to set.” I happily accepted that invitation. I was escorted to set where I met the AMAZING crew and one of the few female directors I’ve ever worked with, JS Clarkson. She was fantastic, kind and generous with her time. She has a slew of incredible credits working on television shows in the U.K. It was fantastic watching her work with John Lithgow, with myself, and observing her interactions with her D.P. and the entire crew. I really learned a tremendous amount by watching her work concisely, confidently, and creating a positive communication between herself, the actors, and the crew. What an easy environment for all to create and work. Poetry in the work place.

John Lithgow as a serial killer is horrifying. He’s such a profound actor of our time. His abilities have been recognized time and time again, and rightfully so. He’s one of the best. To watch him explore and play the minute he walked on set was fun and reassuring. His attentiveness to his work in the scene was unwavering, despite being dabbed with make-up, sounds coming from all directions, the lovely background actors staring so hard at you that it feels like they’ll break through your skin. Every minute of the scene was so fun to work with him on. It was short. It was sweet, and yet there was so much happening within every word, within every line, within every activity. It only makes me crave for more, more, more. Excuse me, but can’t we make the scene just a little bit longer? Why don’t we improvise this go around? What if we strike up a conversation about how lovely and typical Miami’s weather is? Oh, right. There’s a script and an entire episode to fulfill. Ok, next time.

This experience was nothing short of profound. It was like giving sugar to a diabetic child. I HAVE to have more. Except now I have to wait until the next thing comes along. The wooohoooo just got a little smaller and that’s okay. It makes the focus in my life that much more distinct and easy to attain. Keep the momentum going. Keep moving forward. Keep working on the projects that bring me delight, like my webseries with Emily Maya Mills and the upcoming AMAW showcase. These things become all the more important. They keep me busy, they keep me focused, and they keep me inspired and ready for that next step in my career. And my first co-star television experience will always be on a great show, opposite one of the acting community’s greatest actors of all time. No one and nothing can ever take that away from me. How glorious. I’ll snuggle up with the fond memories tonight, and hopefully not have a nightmare from the show’s terrifying subject matter.

Just in case you don’t have Showtime or didn’t catch tonight’s premiere, here’s the trailer. You can see in these few minutes how terrifying John Lithgow’s portrayal really is. Enjoy!

Two inspirational women within one yummy film ...

I was feeling a little down today. It happens. We all feel this way. I think it somehow fuels us to either give up or dig our heels into what we want a little harder. For me, whenever I feel this way, I have to get inspired. Often times that means reading a beautiful piece of literature or watching a brilliant performance. Today, I decided that I would go see Julie and Julia. I would fill my void with what I knew would be a glorious performance by Meryl Streep. I was absolutely right.

I’ve heard mixed things about the film as a whole. I never read reviews. Never. It’s just not my thing. I figure that I have spent my entire life not wanting people to tell me what I think and how I should feel, so why would I do that with what I love the most, film. It’s completely nonsensical to me. Not to mention that art, in its many forms, is completely subjective, so what you like may not be what I like. I’d rather appreciate the risks the artists take in portraying these roles and forget about what critics have to say about them. I’ve climbed off my high horse. Ahem, therefore I paid no heed to people’s disappointment in Amy Adams’ storyline and instead, went in desiring to be inspired by Meryl Streep and her portrayal of an exuberant and simply delightful woman, Julia Child.

I got exactly what I wanted. I wanted to hug and squeeze Julia, I mean Meryl, I mean Julia, I mean … the minute she came on screen. It was impossible for me not to laugh each moment that she was present while clapping my hands. Yeah, I’m that person. At least I don’t repeat an obviously quotable moment like, “Bon Appetite.” Yes, I’m talking to you bald man sitting in front of me.

What I liked most about the film was that there were so many moments in her performance where it was just play. There were so many moments where I thought, “God, that must have been so much fun filming. They are having so much fun playing off of one another. There is so much happening in the giggles, the silly smirks, the comfort in their body language that makes them seem like they’ve been married for twenty some odd years.” Stanley Tucci and Meryl Streep were dynamite together. Their relationship and energy exploded within the storyline leaving me not only wanting more of them, but to leave the theatre and know everything there is to know about Julia and Paul Child. Their fantastic relationship and collaboration as inspirations to one another makes any person long for that dynamic, both personally and creatively.

I also have to say that I thought Amy Adams was great too. She was great at playing an unlikable character. I think we forget, as an audience, that those characters are important too, and that the actor is doing a brilliant job if we find ourselves disliking them. Whenever she destroyed something in the kitchen I was openly delighted. When her raspberry swirl thing (I don’t know what it was called. It was a fluffy dessert that looked fancy and I wanted to eat it.) fell on the city sidewalk and no one would be able to enjoy the fruits of her labor, I was equally overjoyed. People don’t always want to play the “bitch.” Amy Adams did, she did so without apologizing for it, and created a great performance because of it.

Back to Meryl Streep. I feel somewhat cliché admitting she’s my favorite actress. She’s EVERYONE’S favorite actress. Just like I feel cliché admitting that The Clash is my favorite punk band. They’re EVERYONE’S favorite punk band. But they are all so good that they DESERVE to be EVERYONE’S favorite artist. Meryl Streep has single handedly created some of my favorite lady performances of all time and has done so with such variety that I want to snuggle my face into all of my DVDs that have her in it. Out of Africa (I want to own a farm in Africa because of her) Kramer vs. Kramer (Never thought I would find such pleasure in watching a deadbeat mom. That was truly an unlikable character that was made into an Oscar worthy performance.) and my all time favorite, Postcards from the Edge. I can’t handle how funny she is. “Relax. They’re blanks. Asshole.” Here’s my FAVORITE scene from the film. Enjoy. You have no choice, really.



I’ve written a short novel about how much I love Meryl Streep. I’ll bring it to a close by saying, I hope that I have as much fun and joy in my life as Meryl has when she’s performing. I hope that I have as much fun and joy in my life as Julia Child did loving her husband and cooking her French cuisine. I hope that I continue to realize that I am having as much fun and joy in my life, living my life, right now, even when I’m not exactly where I want to be.

Darling Clara

Oh hello, my dear neglected blog. I love writing. I love writing about people who inspire me. I don’t know why sometimes it seems that keeping up a blog becomes a task not well handled. But, here I am and I’m gonna get to work. Right. Now.

Clara. Clara. Dearest Clara Bow. You were one of the first funny ladies to grace the silver screen with comedic timing and sex appeal. You were beautiful, cute, and a brilliant actress with impeccable comedic timing. You paved the way for funny ladies everywhere with your ability to make us laugh and fall in love with you in a single frame.

It Girl is my favorite of all favorite Clara Bow films. It’s short, sweet, and you can’t keep your eyes off of her. Clara plays a youthful sales clerk who has “it”. She has the charm, the ability to light up a room, and make every man fall in love with her and every woman want to be her. Her character is smart (let’s the lowly man take her to the fancy restaurant in order to catch her sexy boss’ eye), crafty (she cuts up her equally fabulous work dress to create a very sexy number to entice her man of interest), and courageous (taking responsibility for her roommate’s illegitimate child despite obvious repercussions from society).

Here’s actually the brilliant clip of her transforming her dress within minutes and supporting her struggling roommate:



One of my favorite scenes is when she allows her boss to take her to a boardwalk carnival where a sequence of flirtatious escapades occurs. She’s undeniably charming in her sweater, scarf, beret outfit, and plays with the best of them. The “Social Mixer” ride has to be my favorite part, where she eventually gets thrown off and her date is soon to follow her in a sweet embrace. The rides become highly intimate and physical (the moving tunnel?!) and as a performer, she simply does not hold back.

Here is the video of this whole sequence! I love YouTube and the people who post on it.



Clara had a vivacious career until the talkies came about. Her thick Brooklyn accent shocked her fans and made it difficult for her to transition. She was also haunted by the looming microphone overhead and during a breakdown, found herself in a boxing match until her fists were bloody.

She was also one of the first women to be torn apart by the tabloids for her personal life. Clara was as free and vivacious off screen as she was on. Her relationships with men were highly scrutinized (not only did she pave the way for women in comedy, but she paved the way for women in the sexual revolution) and eventually she was ripped to shreds.

Her career and contributions to women everywhere were astounding. I could write about her all day, but for now, this will suffice. Thank you, Clara!

Imogene Coca

Inspiration always comes in many powerful forms. For me, the most powerful tends to be from other human beings who have preceded me in this business. I’m inspired by and eternally grateful for the work that they did, as women, to pave the way for women like myself. I can’t even imagine what they were up against. They certainly were up against a lot more than myself, as the business was so very much run by men during the talkies and into the early days of television. Hell, it sort of still is in some regards. Well, not entirely. The ladies are moving on up and I’m always so proud to hear of powerhouse producers and directors just creating.


My first favorite lady that I want to pay tribute to is the always funny Imogene Coca.

My first manager, while I was still in college, used to describe me as a young Imogene Coca. Like most people my age I responded, “Imogene who?” And I was berated for my lack of knowledge of her presence in early television. Like a good student, I immediately did my research. Upon first glance, I had to know everything about her. Her large eyes, petite frame, dancer-like physicality, and ever so expressive face made me believe that I was staring back at myself. She was I or I am she. Doesn’t matter. She quickly became my comedy god and I her idolater ready for consumption.

Imogene Coca was one of the absolute first women to be a televised comedian. She worked alongside Sid Caesar in his Your Show of Shows. While on the show she worked with such writers as Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, and Neil Simon; and performed often with Carl Reiner. She was by far my favorite comedy partner to Caesar and in my humble opinions, so much funnier. She steals every scene with a simple look. She was hilarious. Unfortunately, there is very little out there of her.

Here’s a perfect example of her physicality, her expressions, and her ability to make you laugh without having to say a word. And the entire time you can’t keep your eyes off of her.



Her resume was as petite as her frame. She had few successful television productions and made an attempt to go out on her own with The Imogene Coca Show, which lasted only a season. You may recognize Coca as the loony aunt in The Brady Bunch and once again, the loony grandmother in National Lampoons: Vacation. Yup, she was the one strapped to the top of the van.

She was hilarious.