A Woman You Should Meet: Allison McAtee

Actress Allison McAtee is great under pressure. Sure, she had to submit an audition tape for her role on OWN’s The Have and the Have Nots in under a day and audition again on stage in front of the show’s creator, writer and producer Tyler Perry. But those facts only seem intimidating before you find out that she shoots an episode A DAY! We talked to the beautiful McAtee about her crazy shooting schedule, finally ageing into her characters and soap operas. Sorry, we couldn’t help it.

How did you first get involved with the show?

It was a really quick process for me. About a week after sending in my tape, I got a call that they wanted to fly me to Atlanta for a callback. Getting to Atlanta, I was flown in with about 30 other people who were auditioning for the show – we even took a big bus from the airport together. We did those auditions in a theatre for Mr. Perry, an executive producer and a casting director. Right after the auditions were finished, the EP asked me to step into his office and told me they really liked me and wanted to offer me the role. I was so happy but then I had to get on a bus with all the other people and I couldn’t say anything! I was just sitting there with a big smile on my face.

Tell me a bit about your character.

Her name is Maggie Day and she is the gubernatorial campaign manager for Jim Cryer who is running for senate governor. She’s very tenacious, savvy, ambitious and driven. I think she herself would like to get the the White House some day.

What would you say drew you to the role or the show?

I like powerful women. I’ve always played characters older than I am and it used to be like ‘I don’t know if I’d actually be running this company.’ Now I’m finally getting to a point where I’m really comfortable in knowing that I’m at an age where I’m capable of the storylines I’m being given. And it’s fun to be the boss and be in charge.

My character is now becoming really well-rounded this season. I think it’s really interesting to see a person who has one part of their life completely under control but another part of it might be totally unraveling. Last season, you only saw one side of Maggie and now this season you’re absolutely getting to see that although she may be able to handle some things, she’s falling a part in other areas.

Many of the reviews I’ve seen about the show liken it to a soap opera on account of the drama, affairs and betrayal. Do you think it’s kind of soapy?

I absolutely do. It’s a primetime soap opera. The story and the heightened drama really play a role in it.

Do you watch any soap operas?

I watch a lot of shows that I would classify as soapy, but they’re not your typical soap operas. Which is kind of like The Haves and the Have Nots!

I think that, too. So many primetime shows now are as melodramatic as soap operas, if not more.

Right. I was thinking of American Horror Story and Revenge. I was in the season opener of Revenge and it’s very much a soap opera too. It has the same kind of heightened drama that we do. And I think that’s what happens when they have these extreme storylines that they’re trying to play out in real life. Crazy situations that you’re cloaking in someone’s real life.

There are some excellent shows out right now that are sometimes written off because a review will refer to it as a bit ‘soapy’.

Right! And it gives it a bad rap. It’s a weird word that has all these connotations attached to it and everyone has their own opinion about how it makes them feel. I just think it means more drama than we’re used to. I don’t think it’s that bad!

You also have something else in common with soaps, the insane shooting schedule.

Yes! True to soap form, we actually also shoot an episode a day, which is how soap operas are shot. We shoot about 60 pages in a day while most primetime shows take seven days to shoot one episode and might do at most eight pages a day.

What does that really mean for the actors?

Everyone on The Haves and the Have Nots comes in totally prepared and ready to go. We don’t have six days to slowly work through something. You can’t redo a scene three times over. Personally, I think the pacing is a great chance to learn how to show up for yourself and play hard. It says a lot about an actor who can be on their A-game all of the time and be ready to hit it out of the park at a moment’s notice. You hear all kinds of stories about actors who show up late and unrehearsed to their job. That never happens with our cast. It would be impossible for the show to operate if there was. We’re in this together and we all have to be professional.

Can you give us anything to look forward to that’s not a major spoiler?

I feel like everything is a spoiler! Maggie is working on getting the two guys into the governor’s mansion, but she has higher goals as well. She also has her eye on David Harrington. That’s all I can give you!