Blondiful. Gorgeous. Dazzling. Gracious. These are just a few words that pop to mind when meeting Megan Hilty, the new star of NBC’s smash “Smash”. Talking with her is like chatting with a living China doll … porcelain skin and all.
After years of paying her dues on Broadway, the singing starlet has found the perfect vehicle to showcase her talents. If you haven’t seen her in “Smash”, you’re missing out. She plays Ivy … a rather jaded, but determined singer vying for a slot as the star of an upstart Broadway musical. She reeks of talent, but just needs this break to propel her to stardom, unless her conniving ego and/or a rival ingénue get in the way.
It’s like “Glee” … but for adults with discerning taste.
Meeting Megan meant one degree of separation from Dolly Parton, who I’ve longed to meet for YEARS. Hilty starred as Doralee in the Broadway adaptation of my all-time favorite flick, “9 To 5”. Parton turned the film in to a musical … and Hilty nailed Parton’s iconic role from the film. (She also does a pretty good imitation of Dolly, as you’ll see in the interview.)
In real-life Hilty is bubbly, giggly and cuts an hourglass figure that any Hollywood actress would covet. Okay, nearly any girl would maim, pillage and destroy to have her body. And she’s short. Like really short. But was wearing some killer high heels that would rival Dolly’s infamous stilettos from hell.
Megan seemed to have a wide-eyed appreciation for this red carpet event. Some stars will simply phone in their interview, but Megan appeared genuinely excited to be a presenter at the recent GLAAD Media Awards. She’s been bubbling under the fame radar for a few years now and is ripe for mainstream success. She’ll be a household name in no time since “Smash” was recently renewed for a 2nd season.
A couple things to note in my MoxieQ interview: 1) Why am I talking so loud? I’m still not quite sure. I’ll blame nerves. (The videographer was poised to punch me in the throat after our interview.) 2) Unlike most of the other stars on the red carpet that night, I wanted to give Megan a hug after our interview. She just seems so casual and down-to-earth. She did give me the cheek-to-cheek air kiss, which was a fine substitution.
You’ll notice right after the interview I predicted that Megan’s shooting star is about to go Supernova. What can I say? When I’m right … I’m right.