By Joe Puccio
As any working actor in Hollywood will surely attest to, going on auditions, waiting for callbacks, securing parts, and learning lines is cumbersome enough without annexing additional stressors to the mix. But for prolific performer Laura Ortiz, perhaps best known for her menacing yet sweet portrayal of Ruby in 2006’s remake of Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes and her starring role in Adam Green’s inimitable horror-infused situation comedy Holliston, she welcomes the challenge via a unique passion – standup comedy.
“It’s funny because there have been a couple of times in my life where I’ve sort of been ‘over’ the entertainment industry for different reasons but one thing I’ve always loved is standup comedy,” Ortiz revealed, during a recent conversation with Generation X Wire. “I tend to get really shy about it when I get attention from it, but I do really enjoy it. I guess there’s a part of me that just doesn’t want anything or anyone to kill that joy. It’s very precious to me.”
With an elite list of predecessors like Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer, and Tina Fey, the number of female thespians who simultaneously ‘bare all’ on stage is a relatively select group considering most laypeople might assume that the extroverted personality traits of those in show business would be ideal for the vocation. For Ortiz, the ability to connect, without playing a character, with audiences in club-type settings has been a skillset she’s been working on improving since day one.
“I wanted to give it a try, and I happened to know a comic, who asked me to open for him. He helped me write some material but afterward it felt very much like what you hear the typical female standup experience is,” she admitted. “He was genuinely trying to help me, but I think two people can get on stage and say the exact same thing, and one can say it because they just think it’s funny and the other one can say it because it’s truly who they are and that’s why it’s funny. So, the first time was a little nerve-wracking because the material wasn’t true to who I was.”
In addition to simply reveling in her one-woman shows, the artform also provides a sense of security for Ortiz. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve spent days and even weeks preparing for roles and then being told that I was amazing but ‘too short’ or I was excellent but ‘we just put the cast together and you look too much like someone else.’ You put in so much work and only a handful of people get to see it and judge,” she explained. “All of my focus used to be on films and television, which can be very lonely. Standup is my way of doing that same kind of work and making sure I get noticed for it.”
Fortunately, Ortiz has had no problems getting ‘noticed’ for her acting. Possessing a fruitful career that began over 20 years ago with an appearance on Showtime’s Sleeper Cell, the engaging Colombian born entertainer initially attracted significant attention by her sympathetic depiction of a kind-hearted mutant in Alexandre Aja’s cult splatter favorite, The Hills Have Eyes. Ironically, the part required a combination of computer-generated imagery (CGI) and extensive makeup, which transformed the attractive artist into an otherworldly creature. “It was so much fun and honestly, I didn’t have to go through as much prosthetics as many of the other actors did. I remember Desmond (Askew) had to get to the set by about three or four in the morning, while I was rolling in at 9am,” she laughed. “So, I had it pretty good.”
By the time the Los Angeles transplant landed a leading part in Holliston six years later, Ortiz had built up quite a resume, turning up in a variety of projects, from children’s shows to crime dramas to voiceovers, but her most cherished genre to work in was clearly comedy, which made Holliston, a quirky sitcom about college graduates chasing their dream of becoming horror filmmakers, an ideal gig,
“Holliston was an exaggerated version of who we already were. Corri (English) and I were friends before it and Adam and I had been friends forever. I was a bridesmaid at his wedding,” she shared. “Because of who Adam ended up casting – Joe (Lynch) was also close with him – it really played to all our strengths. And the entire show was not unlike what Adam’s life was like, in general. A lot of humor, a lot of horror, and a lot of stuff that only seems to happen to him,” she continued, with a smile. “We were a well-oiled machine.”
One of Ortiz’s fondest experiences in the business was due to a combination of the witty dialogue written for it as well as the true kindness of her colleagues. Happy Endings, which aired on ABC for three seasons beginning in 2011, was a single-camera ensemble series that followed the dysfunctional escapades of a group of Chicagoans. With Damon Wayans Jr., Eliza Coupe, and Adam Pally among its key players, Ortiz says the sincerity and camaraderie they all shared is something she still holds close to her heart all these years later.
“The very first time I was on, I had asked if there was a coffee station and there wasn’t that day, which was fine, of course. A little later, Eliza came up to me to hand me a cup of coffee because she apparently heard me ask the craft service department and she went out to get some. How nice is that? And I never even had a scene with Damon and the second time I was on, he came right over to welcome me back and gave me a big hug,” she beamed. “I even ran into Adam at a restaurant a few years later and he spotted me right away and we had such a nice conversation. They always made me feel like I was part of them.”
Ortiz, who visits her homeland of Colombia every few years with her husband, musician Adrian Wood (“He’s German so we rooted for both Colombia and Germany in the World Cup”), and the couple’s two children, has a significant array of endeavors on the horizon, including the highly anticipated farcical Vidhya’s Guide to the Afterlife from director Sandeep Parikh, as well as a handful that are still a bit early to talk about. “I’ve been very lucky and blessed and I want to continue to do new things in my life,” she acknowledged. “And it’s still so much fun.”
Generation X Wire 