First impressions may not be Roxy Olin’s forte on “The City.” In fact, it took five episodes before we saw anything endearing from the girl. When we did, though, it was like we got a peek at a new person. Last week’s Roxy actually gave Whitney good relationship advice. The new Roxy worked hard at an Elle magazine charity event. Most importantly, the latest Roxy showed us how to dance like Beyoncé. Could we have been wrong about her all this time?
“There’s this place in me that’s protective of myself,” explains Olin. “So I can come off as harsh. Now, as the episodes have gone on, I’ve been able to drop my guard, getting used to the cameras being around. I think in the last episode, it was the most me I’ve ever seen it.”
Olin stepped away from last-minute costume shopping to talk about what went down in the Hamptons, her feelings on Freddie and Olivia, as well as her recurring role on "Brothers & Sisters."
This week, Freddie Fackelmayer, Whitney Port’s latest beau on "The City," invites the gang out to the Hamptons, where, according to Olin, things really heat up. “There’s some serious drama,” hints Olin. “Not-very-nice-boy drama. A little Fackelmayer boy drama.” It seems Freddie may have a girlfriend, which doesn’t sit well with Olin.“At one point, I was looking over at Freddie,” Olin recounts. “And I was really upset with him. I look over at him and he’s literally shaking and I think, ‘Oh my God, I’ve taken it too far. Uh oh.’ At the same time, if you’re going to mess with my friend like that, I’ll put you in your place.”
It may feel strange to see her defending Whitney when we’ve seen Olin speak badly of her on several occasions. Olin says that we’ve only seen half of the story...
“At the beginning of the season, the producers were really trying to set me up in a certain way,” says Olin, who says that she actually lived with Whitney and still works at People’s Revolution. “So, they took out all the parts of me, the sweet things or me being a good friend to Whitney. At the same time, we weren’t as close in the beginning. I hadn’t seen her for two years, and through the episodes, she has become really close to me. That part is real.”
There was a moment last week when Olin met Freddie for the first time at the Elle event. You’d think she’d want to get to know her friend’s new crush. Instead, Olin excused herself abruptly. Olin says she had a good reason for being curt. “I got a really bad feeling about him,” she remembers. “I just did, and that’s hard for me! If Whitney really likes a guy and I don’t like him, it’s awkward. I just wanted to get away from him, because I didn’t want to say my opinion before she realized it for herself. So, I just tried to get myself out of the situation for the first time ever," she says, laughing.So that was then, but how does Olin feel about Freddie now? “He is shady,” she says point-blank. “From the second that I met him, I was like, something is not right. He’s hiding something, and I still get that in the pit of my stomach every time I’m with him. Even though he’s a nice guy and he’s beyond handsome, he’s one of these sweet talkers. I don’t trust him for a second.”
Last week, we also saw Olin interact with Olivia Palermo for the first time when they had to work together at the charity event. Needless to say, that didn’t go so well. Olin says, “She drives me nuts. I don’t get along with Olivia very well. I think she’s great on the show. I think she’s a very pretty girl. Would I ever be friends with her? Absolutely not.” In fact, Olin says that though she has met people who travel in Olivia’s circles, she still hasn’t met “anybody who has her back in any way.”
Olin does admire Olivia for one thing (well, sort of). “She has great style,” Olin points out. “It’s an art the way she organizes herself. I swear to God, it must take hours. I’ve never seen a hair out of place on that girl.” Recently, you may have seen Olin outside “The City” in ABC’s “Brothers & Sisters.” You could say she has joined the family business. Her father, Ken Olin, is the show’s executive producer, and her mother, Patricia Wettig, is Holly Harper. Olin plays Michelle, a young woman who may or may not carry a baby for Kevin (Matthew Rhys) and his husband, Scotty (Luke Macfarlane).
Nepotism may have helped her land the role, but Olin says she still has to work to make it believable. “I don’t know if I could do it,” she says. “It takes a strong person to give that baby up at the end of the day. That’s a struggle I think that I would really fight, and I’m going to have to really think about that for my character.”
Olin says shooting the two shows at the same time can be grueling, but she doesn’t see herself quitting either one. “I would hope for more parts on shows while doing ‘The City,’ and I’d like to continue that. I’m really trying to focus on being 100% present for ‘Brothers & Sisters’ and ‘The City.’ Eventually, I hope to continue to act and eventually direct. So, I definitely want to be able to do both at the same time.”
By the way, in case you’re wondering what costume Olin ended up in for Halloween – she tweeted: “Little Red Riding Hood post being eaten by the wolf … I'm pretty scary.”
credit - Jethro Nededog @ LA Times
