An Interview with Lennox Miller - By Joshua LeSue

Interviews: An Interview with Lennox Miller - By Joshua LeSue
Posted on Monday, September 01, 2008 @ 00:05:00 Mountain Daylight Time by Duane

With the figure of a Bond Girl and a poker face that could out-bluff 007, Lennox Miller is a hurricane-and-a-half. But she's not just a bubblegum princess, sweet and sexy. She can be dark as Darth and devilish as Saucy Jack on a full moon night--a kewpie doll with vampire fangs. She's done everything from hard-core horror, like "Plague of the Damned," to Hooters commercials. But her first love is the capricious and cut-throat world of poker, where you can burn through your life savings with a single, bad bet or sweep the table with a little, clever stratagem. And it's not that big of a jump from the nerve-sawing poker palace to the Hollywood scene. Acting, like poker, is all in the eyes (and Miss Miller has thousand-karat peepers). The only difference: In poker, your eyes give nothing away; in acting, your eyes are wide-open portals, where anyone can go in, and anything can come out. And God help us when something comes skittering out of Miss Miller's eyeballs!

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JL - So, what was it like being in the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event? Did your skills as an actress help your poker face and to psych out your opponents?

LM - It was totally, completely surreal to play in the WSOP Main Event a couple of years ago. I really thought that I was in a dream! I mean I looked behind me when we took our places at the table and to my left I see "The Professor" Howard Lederer a table back from me, and behind me to my right I see Doyle Brunson! DOYLE BRUNSON! I looked back again, saw that he saw me, and held up my hand and waived and smiled. He waived and smiled back, and I was beaming. It was truly one of those pinch-me-to-test-if-I’m-awake moments for me.

I do think that my skills as an actress helped me a lot at the WSOP and in my regular playing.   I typically fake being a dumb blond girl who isn’t quite sure if her hand is good or not and drops a lot of "like" and valley girl talk into the conversation. People underestimate the character I play and it really helps. I always shock them and they feel even more stupid falling for the dumb blonde act when, say, I lay down Trip Ks after complaining how bad my hand is or wondering out loud if I should just fold. It’s awesome!   Anyway, at the WSOP the guys at my table were so extremely nice. I expected everyone to be cutthroat to each other, but I think I got preferential treatment! I’m not sure if they fell for my tactics or not, but they were really sad to see me go. And go I did . . . in only 4 hours and 19 minutes and with three others still in the game at my table. That definitely sucked.   But, as far as skill and strategy, I really wasn’t ready for the WSOP. My "training" consisted of home tournaments that, on average, only went on for maybe four hours tops. I was fresh off of a win in a home game that I played in for about 5.5. hours where I walked with first place and $1,150 so I was feeling confident when I took my place at the WSOP. However, I really had no experience in playing for the long-haul and my approach was probably way too conservative for a series tournament.

JL - Tell us a little about your dream of being a poker tournament host?

LM - Poker is the only "sport" I’ve ever enjoyed. I’m not sure if others would call it a sport because the work is 100% mental, but I think of it as a sport. And, it’s as a very, very strategic sport. I love how in Poker—and I’m talking Texas Hold ‘Em because that’s my game—your fate changes literally from second to second as players around you bet, raise, fold, etc . . . and you then have to react in a split second’s time to change your strategy. I love the adrenaline feeling that comes from that. But, I recognize that I’m not a world-class player and probably never will be. So, I think it’d be extremely exciting to serve as a hostess of a big tourney like the WPT and still be around the game, yet not actually playing it. In other words, I covet Amanda Leatherman’s job!

JL - In many ways being a scream queen is the opposite of the poker world. No flailing limbs and lungs screamed blood in the high stakes world of the Casino Royale. Tell us a little bit about your scream queen ambitions?

LM - Well, as I usually tell people, I grew up on a steady diet of B-horror! When I was about 11 and my brother was 9, we both started really digging B-horror movies. Now I have no idea why my parents would actually allow us to watch such gore, but "Silent Night Deadly Night," the "Sleepaway Camp" series, "Slumber Party Massacre"—that genre—well, I loved it as a kid, and this carried over into adulthood. I love watching horror movies, so to be in them and be part of the excitement and fear that viewers feel is pretty amazing. I’ve only been in one feature-length horror movie but the director/producer was a complete megalomaniac who didn’t follow through on anything, so all of us leads walked away from the film. I heard he’s re-shot it and supposedly finished a year ago but hasn’t finished edited. I’m not sure it will ever see the light of day! Other than that, I’ve been in some solid horror shorts that have won film festival awards which is pretty neat. Oh, and I should mention that if anyone reading this wants to cast me in a horror production in Atlanta or pay for my travel expenses to work outside of Atlanta, I’m game!

JL - We understand you've done some music videos. What were they like?

LM - Yes, I’ve been in three. One was just a spec. for an artist and I don’t think he even got signed anywhere. Another was for John Reuben--a Christian rapper--and that one was really fun and got airplay on Christian video channels. The other music video was for Freddie Cole, the brother of Nat King Cole. I really love music videos mostly because I love music and seeing the story you helped created timed with the music is always fulfilling. I mean you work for 6-8 hours knowing that this amount of work will result in only 3 to 5 minutes so the whole time you’re wondering what will stay in the video and what will be cut. It’s so awesome to finally see the finished product.   I’d love to do more music videos in the future!

JL - What's on your plate right now? What are you tackling in the world of film?

LM - I don’t have anything on my plate as far as films as the moment, but longer-term I’m looking very forward to a lead role in an indie zombie movie that shoots either in January or March of 2009 in Biloxi, MS. I’m going to freeze my arse off because it takes place outside, but this particular director/producer and I have been trying to work together for years, and it looks like early 2009 will be the year!   In the short-term, I will be shooting a website spokesperson gig for a racing logistics company this month.

JL - What's been your biggest challenge as an actress?

LM - I always say that I’m a great hostess but not a great actress. What I mean is that it’s really difficult for me to step outside of myself and play roles that are so contrary to my personality, upbringing, beliefs, etc . . . . As a host there is no character—it’s just me. I deliver the lines as me and infuse them with my own personality. With acting, I have to step into the head of someone else and leave my personality and thought process behind. It’s no longer, "What expression would my face have upon hearing this news?" but instead "What expression would my character’s face have upon hearing this news given all that she’s gone through?" etc . . . it’s a challenge for me . . . but I’m up for it!

JL - Who are your big inspirations in film?

LM - I lean more toward the quirky type of actresses who make me laugh rather than dramatic actresses. I really adore Reese Witherspoon! She’s pretty and blond plus . . . the "plus" means that she has a brain and an engaging personality. She brings that to her characters too. I really respect her for it, and I identify with her. I also think Christine Baranski is hysterical, and I like to watch her on film.   And, regardless of how bland Jennifer Aniston is to others, I think she’s darling on-camera!

JL - What are some of your favorite films?

LM - I love "Legally Blond!" I guess we’re getting back to my love for Reese Witherspoon again.   But also, her character "Elle Woods" completely resonates with me. I think of myself as the Elle Woods of my MBA program, actually. I told a professor that last semester too!   Going back to old school, I adore "Revenge of the Nerds," "Goonies," "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," and the many John Hughes films. And, as far as my all-time favorite film, it’s "The Shining." I’ve seen it probably 20 times or more, and every time it’s like Kubrick gives me something new to discover and interpret. There are so many layers to the movie and so many interpretations, and I just love it! I honestly would watch it 20 more times.

JL - Where do you hope to be in five years? Ten? Twenty?

LM - In five years I will have had my MBA for over two years and thus hopefully will have a successful beauty product boutique. I am in love with beauty products and basically get a high from them! I dream of opening a Sephora-type store once I am armed with my MBA and I am business savvy. Besides, I’ve never been in love with any job I’ve had and I think part of that has to do with me really needing to be my own boss and working for myself. Also, I’ve been with my boyfriend for five years already so hopefully in five years we will have been married for a few years! Oh and I guess after my beauty boutique is doing well, I’ll probably buy a bigger and nicer house. I love my house that I have now—I’ve been a homeowner for a little over a year—but it’s my first home, my starter home, and I know I will want to upgrade once my income allows it.   It would be nice to dream about being "discovered" and hosting an entertainment or beauty/fashion show on a mainstream channel, but being that I’m in Atlanta and don’t have an agent, I doubt that will be happening. I’m happy with my acting and modeling being a hobby, and if I’m never famous, I’m totally okay with it. In the end, I’ll still have two Masters degrees and a successful career, and to me those are more important accomplishments.

In additional to having a beauty product empire, in 10 years I hope to be fostering kids. I don’t want to be a mom—I’ve never wanted to have children—but I do have a desire to provide a better life for a child while he/she waits for adoption. I’ve heard too many horror stories of kids in foster care and I just would like to give them a really great, safe, fun, and educational temporary living situation.

And where do I hope to be in 20 years? Holy cow! I have no idea!

JL - We understand you like to write stories and lyrics. What are your biggest literary triumphs?

LM - Oh gosh, my "triumphs" would be relegated to private kudos from me to myself. Ha! I don’t share my work with anyone because I’m too self-conscious, but over the years I know when I’ve written a song and a melody that I really think others would like to sing along with or a short story with some "ummph!" My problem with writing—aside from being too shy about my writing to show it to others—is that I definitely don’t have the discipline to follow-through and write long pieces. I’ve been working on the same novel for about, oh, seven years! If I could just force myself to work on it even 30 minutes a day I think I could get somewhere. Then again, with being back in school (for my MBA), I write myself to death already with papers and take-home exams, so when it comes to pure pleasure writing, well, I can only do that in short bursts.

I should mention too that I have a blog where I write about myself and celebrities: http://www.supernaturalblond.com. Check it out! It’s a very personal peek into my life, and I don’t even link to it from my http://www.lennoxmiller.com homepage. Consider it my special treat for your readers!

JL - What's it like owning guinea pigs? Ever get bothered by all that woodchip stomping and the whole eating-the-young thing?

LM - Oh, come on now! They don’t eat their young! Those are hamsters that do that! Yuck! Anyway, I owned guinea pigs for seven years before taking the break that I’m on now. Once my really sweet oldest piggie, Juliette, passed away last Fall (she was 6.5 year old) and I was left with my youngest (2 years old) who never liked me and didn’t like people in general, I felt it was best to adopt her out to a loving family with another female piggie rather than buy another pig. I couldn’t handle one more piglet death. Many people have misconceptions about guinea pigs, but I can tell you that they are extremely smart and have very individual personalities down to what makes them squeak, what their favorite foods are, and how they interact with owners and others. For instance my boy pig (now deceased) Rye-Rye loved to run up my chest and cuddle in the crook of my neck, however, neither of my girls would do that. They were very independent!

But do I miss the mess that piglets make? No! That "wood-chip stomping" part of your question is actually very accurate, and the subsequent mess is awful! I do NOT miss weekly cage changings and vacuuming up after them!

JL - Angelina Jolie was recently voted the most beautiful women in the world several times over. We understand you consider Carmen Electra and Brooke Burke to be the most gorgeous women. Where would you rank miss Jolie in your hierarchy?

LM - Ah, yes, Carmen Electra and Brooke Burke are amazing! I’ve never worked with Carmen, but I did work with Brooke on a HOOTERS commercial a couple of years ago, and I can tell you that she is absolutely perfect in person! She’s not only as sweet as can be and even thinner than her pictures, but she’s beautiful--seriously ridiculously beautiful. Angelina is certainly beautiful, I give her that. But, she’s kind of "dirty hot" or "dangerous hot," and I prefer a softer, more girlie-girl kind of look. Let me clarify what I mean by "prefer" . . . I’m 100% heterosexual, so when I say "prefer," it’s an admiration kind of thing . . . like who I’d prefer to look like. Okay, anyway, Angelina wouldn’t be in my Top 10 ranking of most gorgeous women, but it’s not for her lack of looks. It’s more because my hierarchy contains the more Playboy-esq, Maxim-esq type of look—girls with bubbly personalities that smile a lot. Angelina looks glum and too serious too often. Plus, she’s too thin. I’m all for the thin, but moreso thin with curves. To me a Size 3 is about as small as I’d ever want to be and Angelina looks too frail when she’s not pregnant.