Interview: Charlene Amoia
The newest member of the American Pie gang talks going back to high school and guilty pleasures.
The newest member of the American Pie gang talks going back to high school and guilty pleasures.
Tell us about American Reunion and your part in the movie.
I play Thomas Ian Nicholas’s (Kevin) wife, and basically you see his mature relationship with me, and then the contrast of the first love feelings that come up when he sees Vicki [Tara Reid] at the reunion. So he has a little bit of a conflict with that. And then all three of us meet…It was great.
Sounds like a bit of a love triangle.
Yeah, I think it’s just like those feelings that never really go away with the first love you have, but you realize that that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the mature feelings you want to have in a marriage.
Have you ever been to a reunion of your own, like those awkward high school reunions?
I went to my high school reunion in Las Vegas. I did two years of high school in Buffalo, New York, and then two years in Las Vegas. It’s interesting because when you’re in high school you feel like everything is revolving around all the people in the school, and that’s pretty much your world. Then after leaving for a significant amount of time, it’s like, “Wait a minute, I know five people.”
So going back for your reunion must not have been that bad then!
No, it wasn’t. They gave me an award for coolest success or something like that because I had just started working on TV, so that was kind of fun.
Your character in American Pie is new to the gang. What is she like and how do you relate to her?
She’s a career woman; she pretty much brings home the bacon and then goes home and expects her husband to make dinner and watch all her reality TV shows with her. Although I do consider myself to be an independent woman and business-focused, I love to cook and I watch zero reality TV.
You used to model professionally; what made you switch over to acting?
I started modeling when I was in college. For me it was just a way to make a little bit of extra money. I found with modeling I got bored with it; it just wasn’t fun for me. With acting I find it to be challenging consistently. There is always a new role, or a new project, or something to learn for a role.
What is your guilty pleasure?
Definitely food. I am Italian and Spanish but was raised with Italian food, so it’s like carbs all the way, whether it’s pasta or pizza. Especially being from Buffalo—we have great pizzas and chicken wings there. So it’s just food; delicious, not-great-for-you food.
What are you going to be for Halloween this year?
Good question. You know, it’s funny because last year I didn’t come up with a costume, so my girlfriend sort of rushed a costume over and was like, “This is what you are going to be.” Almost daily someone will say ”you look so much like Anne Hathaway,” even my grandma says it, so I was thinking I would be Cat Woman.
What is one thing you want to do before you die?
Live for a few years in a different country.
American Reunion is out on DVD now.
Photos by Dean Foreman
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