Meet the Hilarious Dylan Gelula: Xanthippe of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
If you are a normal human, you probably spent part of your weekend binge-watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. One of my favorite characters on the show is Xanthippe Lannister Voorhees. The name alone, people!
Xanthippe is the rebellious stepdaughter of Jane Krakowski’s character, who is constantly squabbling with the lead character/her nanny Kimmy Schmidt. She is full of hateful one liners with a secret love of Babysitter’s Club books.
Xanthippe is played by the talented and immensely funny young actress, Dylan Gelula. If you are a fan of Chasing Life or Jennifer Falls, you probably recognize her as Ford or Gretchen. She may have the death glare mastered, but she was anything but angst filled for our interview with her.
Q. You’re from the Philadelphia area, what East Coast things do you miss now that you’re in LA?
A. I am! Go Phils or something. I MISS EVERYTHING. I miss rudeness, the invented rushing everywhere, the generally unpleasant population. I hate LA. Everyone is so friendly and relaxed, it’s horrible. I hate sunshine. I’m really slowly moving back East. It’s becoming sort of a 50/50 split.
Q. At what age, did you know you wanted to act professionally?
A. Always. It just always seemed fun to control when you are the center of attention. And people told me I was good at it at summer camp, which is my main requirement in an art and is why I never continued to pursue wake-boarding. Professional acting is just sort of the extreme version of dipping my toes in it, which I went straight to and here we are doing an email interview! Follow your dreams and drop out of high school like I did!
Q. Were you nervous to work with a comedy legend, like Tina Fey?
A. YES! I read Bossypants immediately when it came out. I feel like it’s a waste of everyone’s time to talk about how brilliant and special she is. I feel horrible because it’s so dehumanizing to idolize someone, so I try to be relaxed around her like I would anyone else. But as a human and a writer and a boss, she is so inspiring to be around.
Q. What is it like playing a moody teenager, since you’re no longer a teenager?
A. Cathartic. When I was 16, I didn’t have the confidence to be mean to people. I still don’t. So to just be so inappropriately nasty to a really sweet person like Ellie feels really good. Sorry, Ellie.
Q. What was your favorite moment or episode of filming Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt?
A. Any day where Toshi (the dog who plays Abbattoir) was also there. That dog is a star. I got to hold him once, which taught me the value of explicitly asking the handler of a TV dog for what I want.
Q. I’m going to re-watch the first season of 13 episodes multiple times because they were so wonderful. Do you have any details about Season 2 yet?
A. None. Zero. I’m as anxious as everyone else.
Q. Is there a Netflix show you love binge watching?
A. Orange is the New Black. I have literally cried alone thinking about what a vehicle it is for insanely talented actresses to work in brilliant scenes with each other and how little afforded an opportunity it is. There are actors and then there is Uzo Aduba. So so so so so good it hurts.
Q. What is your favorite movie of all time?
A. I’ll say Harold and Maude, but has enough time passed that we can really appreciate the surrealism of the Josie and the Pussycat Dolls movie?
Q. Do you have any go-to brands you like to wear on a regular basis?
A. Everything I own is from Goodwill. I love fashion as an art form and I follow a handful of avant garde designers as a fan of artists but as it applies to myself, I’m not into spending more than like 5 dollars on clothes.
Q. Can you share any info on other projects you’re working on?
A. Right now I’m just auditioning for stuff. Right back to square one. Haha. Kill me.
You can follow Dylan Gelula on Twitter and you better have already watched Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt once already.
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Originally published at blog.spylight.com on March 10, 2015.
