THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS’ Nia Peeples (Karen) is excited that her thriller, Inside Out, is finally out on DVD.
“It’s a very interesting, twisted little movie, which was one of the reasons I fought hard to do it,” relates Peeples, who stars with Eriq La Salle (ex-Benton, ER), Steven Weber (ex-Kevin, AS THE WORLD TURNS), GREY’S ANATOMY’s Kate Walsh (Addison) and PASSIONS’ Richard Steinmetz (ex-Martin).
“It wasn’t a movie where everyone got paid a million. It didn’t have a huge budget, but they got these players because the script was so intriguing, intricate and complex. Although David Ogden was a first time director, he wrote it and had a great handle on it. It was different than anything I’d done before and was a great working experience.”
The thriller takes off when a stranger named Dr. Peoples (La Salle) moves into a quiet suburban neighborhood and turns things “inside out” for happy locals like Maria and her husband Norman (Weber).
“Maria is sweet, loves her child and husband and is at a time in her life where she’s coming into her fullness as a woman,” says Peeples of her character. “Things are becoming wonderful and very sexy because she’s become settled with who she is.”
Unfortunately, her husband isn’t in the same place. “He is going in the opposite direction, in terms of distancing himself, drifting away and being very myopic with things that have nothing to do with life,” Peeples explains. “Here is this budding flower and the man who should be paying attention is not. That leaves a big hole in Maria’s life, making her very vulnerable to things she’d never imagined.”
Leaving Peeples open to doing something she’d never imagined — like a nude scene! “I’ve been asked to do them forever and said no, but this time it’s an integral part of the story,” she notes. “I didn’t even think twice about it when I signed on, but it was as difficult as I expected it would be. I’ve done love scenes and semi-nude scenes, but this was a tough one.”
Not so tough, however, was hanging with her costars. “Steven is a crack-up,” she says. “He’s Mr. Comedy, but he was so serious about this role, because it’s opposite of his everyday, self-denigrating humor. It was funny because he was searching for this character and I would bust him out of it every time, because I have a huge sense of humor. He asked me, ‘Why aren’t you doing a comedy?’ I don’t know! No one’s ever hires me for it, but I’m funny!
“Eriq and I have since spent more time becoming friends. He’s got a sense of humor too, but he doesn’t show it much,” she continues. “He’s a serious, dramatic actor and did a great job on that character. He was an important part of making this film come together. When he got hold of the script he liked it so much he did what he could to get it made.”
And now Peeples is doing what she can to get it seen. “We must have shot it in 2004,” marvels Peeples. “People have been asking me about it forever. I don’t know how fans get information, but they get it before I do. They’re so loyal they pick up every little bit of information that’s out there. They knew I’d shot it, who starred in it and have been hounding me for years about when it would come out. Now, finally, I’m so happy to tell them them it comes out June 19, 2007.”
