From the Commercial Appeal, Memphis Tenn.
 Thursday, January 20, 2005

Releasing the actress in Anna

Paulson, 17, digs in and discovers her own reality in 'Made' for MTV

By Tom Walter
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January 20, 2005

What began as a goof for Overton High School junior Anna Paulson ends tonight on MTV.

Paulson, 17, is this week's subject of "Made" (9 p.m.), the show that tries to fulfill teenagers' dreams.

Each week, "Made" embarks on a mission to transform someone's life. Some kids want to be champion surfers. Others want to be BMX bikers. Paulson wanted a speaking role in Overton's production last fall of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

The journey began with Paulson in the dark about what she was getting into.

She went to auditions at the University of Memphis with a friend last summer, not knowing for what show, or for which network. Maybe a sitcom, she thought.

When she found out it was for a reality show on MTV, she was under-whelmed.

She doesn't watch MTV and she doesn't watch reality shows.

"When I saw it was MTV and a reality show, I thought, ah, crude," she said. "I think (reality shows) are kind of stupid." But she was there, the application in front of her, "so I thought I might as well do it and see what happens."

It's that attitude that attracted MTV. Paulson is a tomboy,

an oddball who one student describes as a dork on the program. She also is writing a science-fiction novel -- the first in a projected six-novel series -- that includes among other characters a gargoyle who is both a vegetarian and a pacifist.

She has worked with the technical crew for Overton's theatrical productions for the past two years, but never had a speaking role. Following legendary architect Daniel Burnham's advice, she made no small plans: She aimed to audition for the role of Helena, one of the major characters in "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

"Made" set out to help her prepare for auditions by working on her appearance and bringing in a theater professor to coach her.

"She is typical in the sense that you look for a couple of things in a character," said Bob Kuspit, who created "Made."

"You want somebody who's going to be colorful, somebody's who going after something and the audience says, 'No, there's absolutely no way they're going to achieve this.' "

So Paulson qualified, huh?

"When most other people crank it to 10, I'd say she cranks it to 11," he said.

"She was incredibly colorful in the way she talks, the way she acts. She's a good-hearted kid."

For Paulson, it was in for a dime, in for a dollar.

"They gave me the opportunity to say no, but I said, 'Well, it's a new experience. Why not?' "

Paulson is impossible to dislike in this show, whether she's resisting putting on a dress ("Dude, skirts are evil, man"), or wearing a helmet and elbow pads as she stumbles around in heels, or seems bewildered by all the attention.

Whether coming from MTV or her fellow students, the attention pleased her, but didn't turn her head.

"I thought it was really, really weird," she said of MTV's constant presence in her life for more than a month. "Then, people who never would have given me the time of day all wanted to be my best friend. It was really creepy."

Creepiness aside, the endeavor required immense effort. MTV brought in Arkansas State University theater professor (and a director of Memphis theatrical productions) John O'Connell to coach her.

"It was quite a challenge," he said.

"You're not your regular 17-year-old high school girl, are you?" he asks her on the show, understating the case. But the challenge became part of a fascinating transformation.

"In the long run, I think it was a positive experience for her," he said. "The work we did and the positive attention she got from her school just helped her self-confidence a little bit, even outside the acting process. It ultimately was of more value to her."

We see Paulson work tirelessly to learn her audition monolog. Nearly every actress in school wanted the part of Helena , it seems.

Paulson knew she wasn't the typical Helena (who in the play loves the character Demetrius to distraction). Paulson has her own crushes on boys, including a boy who is one of the best actors in school. But in this, as in all other things, she is her own person.

"Female things are not really what I do," she says in the program. "It's just I'm not interested in all that stuff," as are the other hopefuls.

"They're like real girly girls," she says.

Ultimately she was convinced to wear makeup and don a skirt. It was a tough sell. That particular adventure is something she's looking forward to seeing on the show.

"There's this one part where they took us to a fashion boutique, because they were going to put me in a dress," she said. "Out of the whole show that's probably the one I really want to see. I want to see me in a dress."

She will. She'll also see how MTV gets viewers to root for her. Is a rooting interest all we're left with? Does she get the role? You won't find out here. Tune in tonight.

-- Tom Walter: 529-2581