BWW Interviews: Frankie Shaw Talks New ABC Series MIXOLOGY & More

This TV season, ABC is taking a casual night at a bar to a whole new level. The network's new series 'Mixology' (airing Wednesdays, 9:30 p.m., ET) follows five men and five women and takes place over the course of one night at a bar called "Mix". Each episode focuses on two or three characters, with the end result of the evening revealed on the show's season finale.

Frances 'Frankie' Shaw ('Blue Mountain State') stars as Fabienne, described as the catty frenemy to single-mom Jessica. This week, BWW spoke exclusively with the actress to find out more about the new series as well as her other upcoming projects.

You currently portray Fabienne on ABC's Mixology. Can you tell me a little about the show and your character?

When I was first cast as Fabienne, I was told she was added to the series (starting in the second episode) because the girls-side of the cast needed a villain. I think they were looking for conflict to arise without it having to have it centered around a guy. And it's true - Fab's sort of a loose cannon. She says what she's thinking - EXACTLY - what she's thinking, no filter, no censorship. But she's not trying to be offensive, she's really just insecure. She actually has a really soft and sweet side to her - this is all revealed as the season progresses. Fab is SO much fun to play, I can get away with being totally obnoxious, self-centered and completely oblivious - aspects that only those closest to me ever have the privilege of witnessing in my real life J.

The audition process was pretty easy. The pilot had already been shot, and as I said, they were looking for something pretty specific. I read once for the creators and then had my screen test. I had been working on this HBO show Hello Ladies at the time of the test, which was also being produced by ABC STUDIOS, so I think having that connection helped. What felt so good about the audition was the allowance for improv. That always makes me feel comfortable, when they say "throw the script away and just go." It zaps you into the present moment, because if you can't get into character immediately you will fall flat on your face.

The show gets better and better as the season goes on, each actor really finds their groove and are more comfortable with the material. What also helped is that we genuinely loved working together. Most of us had been working for six, eight, ten years without a big network series regular gig. So there was this humility across the board. It was one of those rare experiences where genuinely every single person on the cast and crew and writing team were good, honest, down to earth people.

In college, you took a semester off to work as a third-man on a lobster boat. How did you decide to take that unusual job, and what was that experience like?

I was finishing my sophomore year at Barnard college in New York and decided I need to get out of the city for the summer. Barnard had a babysitting service, and I was hired by a New York family - Andre Bishop and Peter Manning - theater Royalty - to live with them on Vinalhaven, an island in Maine and work as a nanny for their then four-year-old daughter, Katie Peach. Those guys changed my life. I remember when I first got up there, Peter sat me down and had a "talk" with me about expectations because I would stroll down from my room at noon. I had no idea what I was doing! He taught what it meant to be a good employee. They also introduced me to a whole other WORLD that included culture, manners and most obviously, The New York Times. They said you have to read the op-ed and front page first before rewarding yourself with the Arts section. They took me to dinners with James Lapine and so many others. They taught me how to set the table and how to cut chicken.

When I visited my aunts from South Boston at the end of the summer, they were all amazed at the little lady I had become. It was this joke that it took two New York gay men to finally raise me properly. It was true. They did. And when I was contemplating staying in Vinalhaven for the fall semester to work on a lobster boat, it was Andre who said, it will only make me a better actor. I think that sealed the deal. I interviewed on two boats. The first one asked if because I worked for two gay men, if that made me a "lezzy," I obviously opted out of that position. And I took a job on The KingPin II as a third man and worked with a stern-man named Jim, and Arbus was my captain. We would get up and go out on the water at 4 am, and come back by 5 or six. We would work all day except for a ten-minute peanut butter and jelly sandwich break. It was the hardest job I've ever had - packing bags of rotting herring into lobster traps, and sorting out all those lobsters and crabs. If you caught a pregnant mama lobster you had to throw her back in, and sometimes Jim would take a bite of her eggs, right off her body! I still remember the how stunning it was to be out on the water when the sun rose up.

You are appearing in the upcoming movie 'Lullaby', which recently screened at the Tribeca Film Festival. What is your role in the film, and when can we expect it to hit theaters?

I have a small role in Lullaby. My scene was with Gerret Hedland who is dreamy. He is so talented and just all around amazing. I'm not too certain the trajectory of that movie. The role came about because my agent asked me to read the lead in a reading of the script - it's an incredibly well written and emotional screenplay - and the director liked my read and then offered me one of the smaller roles that was still open. That's actually how I got my role in The Pretty One as well - a fantastic indie that comes out in online/VOD in May. This one I have a much bigger part in. It stars Zoe Kazan, Ron Livingston, and Jake Johnson. I did a reading of it for the director and then she offered me the part of Zoe's best friend. ALWAYS do the readings!

Are there any other exciting projects for you in the works?

The Pretty One as I mentioned, and Someone Marry Barry is a comedy that just came out and can be seen on Itunes etc. And I'm in the process of developing a few projects as a writer. A TV show loosely based on my life as a broke single mama and then also a feature that takes place in Southie, a big female comedy type of thing which I'm writing with a writer from Mixology!

About ABC's MIXOLOGY:

One bar. One night. This high-concept comedy from the writers of "The Hangover" chronicles the misadventures of 10 people in search of love. Or sex. But mostly love. Okay fine, sex.

Recently dumped by his fiancée, Tom (Blake Lee) hasn't been out on the town in a decade. His best friends, the handsome, confident Cal (Craig Frank) and wiseass Bruce (Andrew Santino), are throwing Tom back into the dating pool whether he likes it or not. Tom's first encounter is with Maya (Ginger Gonzaga), an attorney who's as beautiful as she is brutal. Before long, Tom is in tears. But the night is still young and the boys have plenty of people to meet in Mix's chic crowd, including Maya's engaged friend, Liv (Kate Simses), aggressive and sexy single mom Jessica (Alexis Carra), Jessica's gorgeous yet catty frenemy Fabienne (Frankie Shaw), bubbly cocktail waitress Kacey (Vanessa Lengies), hot and mysterious bartender Dominic (Adan Canto), and failed internet entrepreneur Ron (Adam Campbell). As the night unfolds and closing time approaches, some people may get lucky while others are destined to spend the night alone. The question of the season is...who's going home with whom?

"Mixology" stars Adam Campbell ("Epic Movie") as Ron, Adan Canto ("The Following") as Dominic, Alexis Carra ("Incredible Girl") as Jessica, Craig Frank ("8.13") as Cal, Ginger Gonzaga ("Legit") as Maya, Blake Lee ("Parks and Recreation") as Tom, Vanessa Lengies ("Glee") as Kacey, Andrew Santino ("Punk'd") as Bruce, Frankie Shaw ("Blue Mountain State") as Fabienne and Kate Simses ("What's Your Number") as Liv.

Photo credit: ABC/Michael Ansell

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