After many years of working on off-Broadway stages, Rebecca Wisocky became a star of the small screen in 2013 when she was cast as boss lady Evelyn Powell on Lifetime's comedic soap Devious Maids. "It happened late enough in my career that I knew what good fortune it was," Rebecca, 52, tells Closer, admitting that she's always considered herself a "character actor," never a leading lady.
In 2021, Rebecca's TV fame ascended to a whole new plane when she began playing the haughty chatelaine Hetty Woodstone on CBS' Ghosts. "I love pompous buffoons," she confides. "It's my favorite kind of comedy." As she prepares for her fourth season on the hit sitcom and for a new recurring role on Max's quite different The Sex Life of College Girls, Closer asked the fiery redhead for some insights into ghostly Hetty and the actress inhabiting her signature blue Victorian gown.
How did you find acting?
I was a very shy kid, and my mother, bless her, had the great idea to take me down to the local city theater. I auditioned for one of the children's plays, and just instantly loved it and came out of my shell. I spent my whole childhood there.
Was your family supportive of your dreams of acting professionally?
I am so incredibly grateful. I was an adopted only child, raised by two people who had absolutely no experience in the arts at all. My parents drove me back and forth to rehearsals all through school, nearly every night of the week. My mom and dad worked full-time jobs, too. They were selfless in the way in which they supported the thing that made me happy. They are now in their 80s, and when anything good happens, they're the first phone call I make. Because it's their win, too, and they're my biggest fans. I know how fortunate I am.
What does playing Hetty mean to you?
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