Jenny Mollen

Searching for Mollen

an Exclusive Spotlight on Jenny Mollen

unny, vivacious, insightful, and inspiring are just a few of the words that describe actress Jenny Mollen. And although the final chapter was closed on our heroic vampire, it wasn’t before Angel found a little genuine romance. Jenny joined Angel right at the culmination of its series but the impact of her performance and the fans response promptly extended her role as Angel’s girlfriend, Nina Ash, werewolf not withstanding. One of the dangers of Hollywood for any aspiring young actress is falling into the cardboard cutout mentality of the industry surrounding them. More often than not, they are considered a commodity, a product in search of a means to communicate their talent. Not wanting to be considered ’just another pretty face’, Jenny has set the ground rules on how she wants to be perceived in Hollywood and has proven her strengths by already establishing herself as a writer and producer as well as an actress with very specific ideas about what she wants and doesn’t’ want to do in the business.

But for Jenny, someone with such diverse characteristics and qualities that include a depth of passion for the soul exposed by German literature to a childlike love of comic books and the appreciation of Shakespeare, there is no end to her dedication. Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, Jenny attended the University of California Los Angeles’s School of Theatre, graduating in just 3-years where she took the following year off to live in Germany and attend the University of Heidelberg. Adding to her unique diversity, she speaks French as well as German, Jenny has an amazing sense of humor and loves to laugh to the point of it being infectious to those around her. She paints, has a love for music and a compassion for the four-legged citizens of this world and a deep devotion to family. And so we go in search of Jenny Mollen, to discover the actress, the artist, the wolf and the creative force behind this talented and lovely young woman.

BEGINNINGS, INSPIRATIONS & PASSIONS

The University of Heidelberg, Germany While growing up, Jenny’s influences and inspirations were just as diverse as her interests and passions are today, even citing Joseph Campbell, an American writer on mythology and comparative religion who gained fame with such works as The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1948), and an examination of the archetype of the hero, The Masks of God. But most of these inspirations came from a reflection within herself and her surroundings. "I think a lot of why I got into acting had to do with the fact that my parents divorced when I was two, and so I was never in a school for more than a year until high school," she explains. "I was back and forth between Arizona, San Diego, Oregon, back to Arizona and I think my always being ’the new kid’ in school, feeling like that Grendel figure, I had to become a chameleon and adapt to whatever environment I was in. I really think that’s when the acting had started or the root of it; was having to adjust. As a kid, I swear, you just have such resilience you can really get used to anything," Jenny admits. But family played a big part in her life, as dysfunctional as it may have seemed at the time, it gave her a strength that she would carry with her for the next several years. "My parents are both in medicine and I don’t know if I thought that maybe that that would be my path just because it seemed only natural," she laughs, "and when I started doing theatre it was just awkward. "French literature was pretentious and florally and that’s not my style. I love how gut wrenching and honest German literature can be." Jenny on classic literature It was something I didn’t want to tell them about and I thought that they would be really judgmental and not understand because I don’t think that I really was happy with myself for wanting to do it. I think I was too concerned with other people’s opinions of it and what it sort of looked like and all of the clich�s that comes along with it," Jenny confesses.

"I was thinking that I was going to be true to myself and the fact that my heart was saying theatre, I was just fighting it every step of the way. Why me? What did I have to do this?" she laughs, "I’m not that girl. I wasn’t a cheerleader, I wasn’t in a Sorority, I was in Student Government; I just had other agendas. I think when I finally gave in to it my influences were coming from so many different places, from writers that I really admire, musician that I love, painters that I have a lot of respect for. It was an amalgam of a bunch of different influences. I went thru a big Richard Bach (Jonathan Livingston Seagull) phase when I was young, all of Joseph Campbell," laughs Jenny continuing, "I really needed some support because I was really afraid to give into that passion." These are not the only literary influences and Jenny’s German roots drew her to the most respected authors of their time with her favorite being Thomas Mann. "I am so obsessed with Thomas Mann. I think he’s one of the greatest writers ever. I really love Hermann Hessa; I think Demian is one of the most influential books that’s had a big impact on me. I love Schiller, Guenter Grass and Bucher. I think the reason that I really connected with it was because they were just honest about their pain. I feel French literature was just so pretentious and florally and that’s so not my style. I love how gut wrenching and honest German literature can be; I think any works of the oppressed is always a good one," she states laughing. With a passion so strong for these writers, one has to expect that Jenny’s own personal philosophies for life have been drawn from some powerful thinkers as well. Without even a pause, she offered one who comes to mind, "Kahlil Gibran, ’The passion unattended is a flame that burns to its own destruction,’ I use that one," says Jenny. All this may have stemmed from her year abroad, "I studied at the University of Heidelberg and I lived there what would have been my senior year at UCLA. I graduated with my degree in Theatre as a junior (I walked with the class above me) and then I just went there to diversify a little bit more. I felt like I needed to see more of the world. I loved it because [in] Germany you get the greatest deals, I flew to Egypt, I was all over the place so that was fun," she confides with another laugh.

The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego

Upon her return, Jenny took a step back into time and stretched her acting talents by performing with several famous Shakespeare companies. The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego (modeled after Shakespeare’s Old Globe in London) which was built in 1935 to present abridged versions of Shakespeare’s plays, the IDYWILD School as well as the renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland Oregon. For most actors, this is where it all begins, "When you’re starting out in acting the best training you can get is Shakespeare. It’s the hardest work you’ll ever do probably and I think it’s the foundation for all of it. I feel any actor you talk to is going to say it started with a Shakespearean play. He’s the quintessential playwright, you have to be a fan of Shakespeare," she says. "I love Oregon because it’s just such a Mecca of great talent and great actors and San Diego to me is sort of my second home so I knew a lot of the people already and it wasn’t as foreign to me. Oregon was really like a different world and the city of Ashland itself — you feel like you are in a little Shakespearean village." Another inspiration from that Shakespearian world is acclaimed actress Emily Watson, who in 1992 took a position with the Royal Shakespeare Company. The 52-year old, British actress may be best known for her performances in Angela’s Ashes (1999), Gosford Park (2001), and Equilibrium (2002) but she is one of Jenny’s favorite actresses for her portrayal in, "Hilary and Jackie [1998] is one of my favorite films; it’s definitely in my top five. I think she’s just one of the greatest actress I’ve ever seen, anywhere. I’m really obsessed with her," confesses Jenny.

NOT JUST A PRETTY GIRL

While attending UCLA, Jenny wrote, produced and starred in the production of her one-woman show Not A Pretty Girl; an introspective look at her own personal life. "At the time, I was busy getting my Thesis together which was based on: ’Agitation Propaganda in Theater in the Former Yugoslavia,’" she explains. "There was this theater director and he was doing underground theater in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II. He was also a painter and I was so moved by some of his writings and work that I had seen." After reviewing the upcoming schedule Jenny found encouragement from a friend to push herself like never before. "I saw what the shows were going to be for that season and I thought, ’I don’t really have interest in auditioning for any of these plays.’ I didn’t really like the writers that they had chosen, so I decided, ’I’m going to put up my own show.’ It was the one quarter I didn’t take 20-units; actually I don’t know what I was thinking. But I was talking to my friend Chad, who had been in the Masters program at UCLA, and I was reading him excerpts from my journal and he said, ’Why don’t you do a one-women show?’ and I was thinking, ’No, I can’t, that would be so weird. That would never work out.’ He said, ’If I direct it, will you write it and we’ll figure it out as we go along?’ and I said, ’Alright, I’ll take a stab at it.’" And take a stab she did, or rather a more serious slice and dice. "For that whole quarter I sat in front of my computer and typed out monologue after monologue and basically we went thru it, sifted out the ones we liked the best and figured out how they all went together. A lot of it had to do with people’s perceptions and how you view somebody from the outside. There’s such a story underneath all of that and it dealt with my parents and with growing up, being a child of divorce and how you have to kind of raise yourself. I had a little sister so it dealt with my having to grow up really fast," she explains.

Jenny at the Hyperion Convention in London

While the challenges of writing such a piece would be daunting enough for most college students, Jenny took on the added responsibilities of producing Not A Pretty Girl but there was still the task of acting it all out, on stage by herself with no supporting cast. "I think the hardest part of it, honestly, was acting. Actually doing your own material can be really hard because when you’re writing well, you’re writing really honest, painful stuff that you would be embarrassed if someone walked into the room and read. And when you actually have to get up there and say it yourself, people have a hard time understanding that you do take creative [license]; that it’s basically not all true. There was enough truth in it — I actually kept everybody’s name the same — that I think a lot of people left feeling like, ’Oh my god, is that all true? What is true and what isn’t true?’ and I never really said; I let people think what they wanted to think," she recalls. "As an actor it’s hard to be as honest with your own things and issues as you can be when you’re locked in a room by yourself putting it down on paper." In hindsight, Jenny found it all to be an unexpected and welcomed catharsis for herself. "Absolutely, it was probably one of the most rebellious things I’ve ever done in my life. They told me that Tim Robbins was the last person they knew that was so gutsy who had been to UCLA and kind of broke all the rules and did their own thing, so I took that as a compliment, but I was sort of walking a tight rope there for sure." With only an emotional net beneath her, Jenny quickly took her newly acquired experience and reassurance to another level.

INDEPENDENT FILMS & SHORTS

Jenny and the cast of Searching for Haizmann With the experiences that the Shakespearian circuit afforded her, Jenny continued her acting pursuits by testing the waters of more creative outlets that the independent film arena allows its artists. She starred in the dramatic/horror film, Searching for Haizmann, which also featured a guest role by actress Tippi Hedren. The story revolves around Johann Haizmann, a painter and deeply disturbed individual who lived in the 1650’s. His intricate paintings of the devil and his elaborate journal entries depicting encounters with him led Sigmund Freud to diagnose him as one of the first known schizophrenics. Jenny plays the role of a former teacher Grace Robin, who along with a documentary film crew, go on a search for this man who may be the embodiment of all-evil. It turned out to be a great working experience for Jenny, if just a bit frightening. "Yes, and it was very scary. We were on location in Boulder, Colorado and up in the hills shooting some of it. We have a scene where they have dead chickens hanging from the ceiling in this room and they were real, I couldn’t believe it. I said, ’You guys, you know at the end of the movie where it says: No animal was harmed in the making of this? We won’t be having that,’" she recalls laughing. "The people who made it are such good friends of mine now. My character’s really nice; I’m sort of this teacher from the mid-west whose husband left her and by the end of it I get possessed and become the villain. The actors are all really strong; Tippi Hedren gives one of her best performances," professes Jenny.

Being an animal lover herself, Jenny took the opportunity to hear some wonderful stories from the veteran Hitchcock actress, Hedren, of her Shambala Preserve. Located near the Mojave Desert outside of Los Angeles, Shambala is an unexpected paradise and the only wild animal preserve in the United States of its kind. Established in 1972, the eighty-acre wildlife habitat has become a safe haven for endangered exotic big game cats, fully run and maintained by Hedren (whose daughter is actress Melanie Griffith). At present, nearly seventy animals live at the preserve, including African lions, Siberian and Bengal tigers, and leopards. "She is amazing, she just blew my mind. She rents out rooms at her place where you can go spend the night. You can hear all her animals in the middle of the night and you feel like you’re in the jungle. She’s so funny, all of her cats are named after people she knows, so she’ll be like, ’Antonio Banderas, get off of that!’ and, ’Put Marlon Brando outside!’ It’s so funny and it’s not just to be campy, I mean she really does know all these people. I thought that was hilarious especially since my dog is named after one of my dad’s friends, I appreciated it."

Continuing with a variety of film projects Jenny joined on with the Los Angeles production company, Precipice Productions, located in Studio City. In 2002, she did a film called, Influence, in a role specifically written for Jenny that demonstrated yet another side of her acting ability. In this comedic short, Wayne and Annie need to sell their house and are doing so without the help of a real estate agent. Annie is paged by the medical center where she works right after a potential buyer (Mollen) arrives. Wayne is extremely nervous and vulnerable and doesn’t want to make a mistake but sometimes things don’t always go as planned. "I did that for a friend of mine [Todd Lampe]. I met him out here in L.A. and it was just a random audition that I went on," recalls Jenny. "I think it was the funniest audition I ever had because I had to take my dog inside. It was really hot that day and we were in the Valley — my dog, he’s sort of attached — so I walk into the audition room, the doors close, I’m doing my thing for a different film he was doing and all of a sudden they start laughing so hard and I’m thinking, ’Ooh I have them in the palm of my hand.’ I look on the ground, my dog is there, he’s gotten into the room and he’s laying on his back at my feet just waiting for me to rub his stomach." Perhaps Jenny’s dog was an agent in a previous life. "And so Todd cast me in Influence and it was more just us having fun one weekend. Then maybe a year later he asked me to do, What Was That because he was giving it to the Movie Channel people; during Halloween they air these little shorts in between films." What Was That is a horror short that was shot for Group101 Films and submitted to AMC Movie Classics Monster-Fest 2003 in which our damsel, Jenny, discovers what really goes ’bump in the night’. Influence was also entered in the Los Angeles Film Festival.

MR. TEETS GOES TO L.A.

Jenny was no stranger to the world of Joss Whedon in fact she had been a fan of Angel from its very first season when she realized that there was something different going on in television. Yet never realizing she’d soon be a part of the world of vampires and other demons, she had certainly been acquiring the right credentials. Although originally only slated to appear in episode three, Unleashed, of its final season, Jenny’s strong performance soon brought her back for episode 14 Smile Time where she worked her werewolf mojo on a more ’stuffy’ Angel, and finished out her role in the prelude to the series finale in episode 21 Power Play. But ironically, Nina Ash wasn’t the first option for producers. "I actually had auditioned for the role of Eve and the casting office was going to bring me in for this other role when the audition abruptly got cancelled. I called them thinking, ’That’s weird. I know that I gave them a good read,’" recalls Jenny. "Then I talked to Joss and he said, ’I want you to come in for the role of this werewolf that we’re going to be bringing on.’ I was kind of nervous thinking what does that entail and I didn’t know what I would be in store for. This guy is a genius and I have to audition in front of him and I really don’t want him in the room," she laughs. "It’s going to make me so uncomfortable and then I’m there against ten other girls who I know from around town, who I also think are great actresses, and I’m sitting just shaking thinking, ’I have to do well, I know this guy and he happens to be one of the greatest writers in TV,’ so I think my concern was that more than the part of Nina."

Nina offers Angel some advice in Power Play

It’s been stated that had Angel been renewed for a sixth season that the role of Nina would have returned to continue her relationship with Angel. Joss has cultivated strong female roles over the years and his actresses enjoy these multi-leveled characters. Jenny agrees that she is drawn to these roles. "I think so. Usually with these stronger roles you get to flex your muscles more and really push yourself which, sometimes, when you’re just playing someone’s girlfriend you’re not really having to do much. It’s kind of like, show up, put your arm around me." These challenging demands are not just offered onto the actors in the Whedon-verse but also upon his female staff. Writer Mere Smith and writer/producer Marti Noxon both directed episodes in their given series and Hollywood is slowly getting better for women in the fields of writing, directing, and producing. "I definitely think so," Jenny agrees. "As long as Joss and his people are around it could only be getting better. It’s really great to see men who have that feminist sort of idealology and are pushing for people like that. And I love both of them, they’re both so talented."

Jenny astonished fans at the Hyperion entitled Starfury Convention in London this past June as a surprise guest. Not only was it her first Angel convention but also her first appearance in front of fans and she was a little anxious of what to expect. "I was stunned by the response," she positively admits. "I really thought that it would be like ’Oh cool, you’re here - anyway,’ but people seemed to want to talk and wanted me to sign and I was really flattered by the support more than anything else. It was just so flattering, also because out here I’m doing more TV and film then I am theatre these days and I don’t get any feedback. "I look on the ground, my dog is there, he’s gotten into the room and he’s laying on his back at my feet just waiting for me to rub his stomach." Jenny on the success of a good audition I’m shipped off into oblivion and I usually don’t even see most of the things that I do except Angel because I’m a fan. It was so nice to actually have all these people, who I’ve never met before, come up and say, ’Yeah, we like what you did.’" Along for moral support were her sister Sam, and a photo of her dog which she had prominently taped to the top of her autograph table where she could see him and offer a topic for conversation with fans. "His name is Mr. John W. Teets and he only speaks German," explains Jenny giggling. "John is a friend of my dad who lives in Arizona; he’s the old CEO of the Dial Corporation. My dad’s father died when he was real young, so he became a surrogate father figure and my dad just emulates this guy. When I got this little tiny poodle I thought that it would be really funny if I named him Mr. Teets."

Having professed her admiration for Angel it came with another confession, proving that Jenny was no different than any other viewer, that she was also a big fan of actress Julie Benz (Darla). "It’s funny because Julie and I - near the end of Angel - I started seeing her everywhere. It was so random, I’d see her at the yarn store or I’d see her at a couple of audition and at first I was like, ’Hey, ah remember, we met,’ she laughs, "And then we became friends. She was the one who prepped me on the London convention because she was an old pro and we had many, many phone conversations before I left about what it was going to be like, what I should bring, the whole thing so she did live up to all my expectations," she recalls laughing. Although her experience was short lived, Jenny will take away many memories from her time working on Angel. "It was the first thing I worked on since being in the theatre that I really felt was doing something positive and really affecting people. I love the message and am so impressed with how Joss has built this world and he really speaks to everyone who always feels like that kind of outsider and the kid who is usually in the corner. Joss has a way of connecting with those people," she explains. "When I brought my friend to the set and saw how he sort of lit up and he’s just this kid who has all sorts of stuff going on that probably a lot of adolescents are never going to be faced with and how this show just makes him want to live and get thru everyday. I think that really inspired me, and I don’t know if I’ll ever again be a part of something so great."

FROM WEREWOLF TO RAVEN

Heading into the now and future, Jenny continues to cultivate new ideas and pursue her various interests. In the world of comic books, although family still resides in San Diego, she was unable to attend this years’ International Comic-Con yet she managed to sneak past our radar during the CoA sponsored Angel writers’ panel in 2002. "I was there last year. My favorite part of Comic-Con actually is going to all the different booths for the artists. I’m a big Mark Ryden fan and I love Camille Rose Garcia, she was there last year and so I was all excited about meeting her. I just love seeing all the illustrators. That was so much fun, I had a blast." This year, the television and film industry continues to develop their franchises into the world of comic book heroes. Former Angel producer Ben Edlund is involved in a project that had sparked interest for a character in Jenny as well, for the upcoming series Global Frequency. "It’s actually a character who’s not in the comic book, she’s a scientist. They’ve already offered it to someone else so I’m really heartbroken," she offers with a laugh. "When I went in I noticed everyone looked completely different from me so I was sort of the black sheep but never the less I think it’s going to be a really good show and I’ll definitely have to try to lobby for a role later on."

A little touch-up on the set of The Raven

From classic comics to classic literature, no project can be more compelling than one that incorporates the works of an American prolific and psychological staple, Edgar Allan Poe. In a new adaptation of his classic poem, The Raven, Jenny enters a challenging role both rewarding and frightening. "It’s by a new director, Hunter Shepherd. A lot of the money and the producers all come from Chuck Roven and Mosaic [Media Group]; they did Scooby-Doo, Bulletproof Monk and Three Kings, so it’s a good group of people. Everybody I worked with was really incredible." Jenny explains, "Basically there are two characters and it’s the story of a man who kind of loses it," she laughs. "But I love it, I had so much fun because I got to play two different women and I won’t go too much into detail but it’s pretty freaky." Having a producer’s eye, Jenny can respect the film on several different levels. "I think it’s cut together beautifully so I’m really pleased at how it looks, it’s lit just gorgeous." But filming horror movies doesn’t come without its unexpected challenges. "It was filmed here in L.A. at this old mansion over in Koreatown, and the owner has a wolf, a real wolf. I was freaking out because I guess wolves don’t bark and the whole time I wanted to use the bathroom and it was in the back of the house," she recalls. "I kept wondering, ’He said the wolf was in the kitchen. I don’t know I don’t hear anything.’ So I get down, in my costume, on my hands and knees and I look under the door and all I see, two paws right in front of the door just waiting for me to open it. I was like, ’I’m not doing this,’ I was so scared," Jenny continues to laugh. "He feeds him a whole chicken everyday and then the wolf buries it and eats it whenever he feels like it. I didn’t want to take my dog to that set."

Our search may be over, we had hoped to discover an insight and depth and a multitude of imaginative layers to a woman who saw no boundaries but only obtainable challenges, and that’s exactly what we found. Jenny Mollen is an inspiration to young actresses; a true role model who proves you can achieve anything that you put your mind and talents to. And along the way, to remember to laugh and enjoy what life offers you. In the future, she can only win over more fans and the respect of those professionals in the industry around her. Plus, she’ll do it on her terms, with a genuine smile und ein Hund durch ihre Seite (and a dog at her side). Not above self-promotion, Jenny jokes, "Everyone should go to www.RavenTheMovie.com." Fans can take their first look at the film, which will hit the festival circuit before making its way into more mainstream theatres. Along with catching The Raven, fans can see Jenny later this year in the film D.E.B.S. , (where Jenny gets to put her fluent German to use), a sequel to the 2003 cult film by the same title, which starred none other than Buffy’s Clare Kramer. She has been currently working on a new film this summer while in the virtual reality of Angel Season 6 on the Internet, Nina Ash continues her relationship with Angel proving that the fans liked what they saw enough to want Nina to be a never dieing part of Angel’s unlife.