Karen Cliche is front and center in the movie Ice Cream Man, which reunites her with horror guru Eli Roth. Not only are they working together again, but Karen also gets to play the wife of Roth’s character—adding an exciting new level to their collaboration. But that’s just the latest chapter in Karen’s creative journey, as she discussed in the latest episode of the MOTIVATE with Brittany Frederick podcast.
“I was so excited to be acting with him, because he’s such a great actor as well,” she said of co-starring opposite Roth. “His mind just works a mile a minute… You’ve got to be prepared to work fast and be on your toes. He loves improv; so do I. So that dinner scene that we have as a family, almost half of it was improvised off the top, and then we just kind of went into the ten pages of dialogue. But it was so fun to see him work, to act with him, to be funny with him.”
Karen has inhabited several memorable characters over the years, from starring as Baylin in the undervalued Flash Gordon remake opposite Eric Johnson, to her recent scene-stealing appearance in The Westies. She portrays Lina Zaccaro, who gives John Gotti (Hamish Allan-Headley) an earful when her husband goes missing. It’s one of the rare scenes where Gotti isn’t the toughest character in the room. “There were a couple scenes that didn’t make it in the show,” she said, “but that scene was just so great.”
Yet for all the fun roles she’s played on-screen, Karen’s best role may be who she is off-screen. She strives to make a positive impact not only with her work as an actor, but through her involvement with different charities. She opened up about her emotional journey of questioning her career until she learned from fans how much she had touched their lives.
“I like that I feel like I’m doing something that feels selfish, but it’s actually inspiring girls to be strong and to stand up for themselves and whatever it is. I felt like okay, I feel like I can justify my career,” she reflected. “I know it sounds silly, but that’s important to me—to have played such really great female characters with a lot of strength… And then also just having a voice to speak about this stuff and raising awareness is also important. So I feel like it all kind of happened the way it should.”
Watch the full MOTIVATE with Brittany Frederick episode with Karen Cliche below to hear more from Karen about her journey as an actor and her thoughts on the constructive power of the arts. We also talk about how it’s hard to watch movies when you work in the movies, and get to know what’s on her reading list!
Ice Cream Man is in theaters now. You can also learn more about Karen’s favorite charity, Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. Photo Credit: Pascal Therien/Courtesy of ICON PR.
Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.
