An Interview With Ally Walker

From Michael Emerson (Lost) to Christine Baranski (The Good Wife), one of my favorite aspects of this job is having the opportunity to interview some of the amazing stars from the television shows I cover. I especially love speaking with an actor who has had many years of experience because the depth of their wisdom about their craft is absolutely fascinating.

I recently spoke with a lovely actress named Ally Walker, who has had an incredible amount of television credits to her name and really understands the ins and outs of the television industry. She has starred in major dramas such as Profiler, Tell Me You Love Me and most recently, she played recurring character Agent June Stahl on the popular FX drama Sons of Anarchy....

Q: You've been in a number of successful dramas over the years, which series was your favorite?

Ally: "I liked all of them. Moon Over Miami was a hoot; I really enjoy doing comedy, so it was a lot of fun to do that. Profiler was really intense and was fun for me to dig my teeth into. Sons is great because of June - I love playing someone with absolutely no conscience."

Q: What was the best advice you received about acting?

Ally: "Work gets work. Just work because work will bring you work. That's what I did, I just kept working. I always went after a role I liked. I like to work; I like to create."

Q: I read that you turned down the role of Rachel on Friends, is that true?

Ally: Laughs - "Ok, let's not go there... I had just come off from doing Moon Over Miami, I wasn't offered the role, I was offered to be taken straight to the network for tests. It was for either Courtney or Jen's role. I had decided to try and do movies again because at the time, in our business you were told if you were a young actor that if you wanted to do movies, don't do TV. I didn't really pay attention to that, but I was trying to pay attention to that at the time. I had done the TV thing and now I'm going to go back to film and stick with it. Obviously it's really different now -- being on TV can help you get movies."

Q: Are you sorry you didn't pursue the role?

Ally: "I think I went through a period where I thought I was an idiot - and a lot of people probably agreed with me. I think the amazing thing about Friends is all of them together. I think that particular group of people, along with the writing, made that show successful. I think their chemistry with each other was the ticket. I don't know if I had been there if the show would have been as good as it was."

Q: Tell us about your role on Sons of Anarchy...

Ally: "I play June Stahl, an ATF agent who is the motorcycle club's nemesis. I really liked playing her, she was very fun. June did what she needed to do for herself. She crossed that line between doing the right thing for the right reasons and she then did it because she wanted to win. I think she's always been that way, but it was magnified because she can't catch these guys, she can't trip them up and it was driving her absolutely mad. She would go to any length to take them down. Everything was a performance with June, like a cat batting a mouse around -- but with June that mouse always seemed to grow fangs and bite her back. I loved playing June."

Q: You've been tapped to star in the new Lifetime drama Exit 19, what can you tell us about the show and the role you'll be playing?

Ally: "It's about a single mom who originally had two children, but now only has one son and her younger brother and they all live together. She's a homicide detective in Los Angeles. It's very quirky. I like playing a character that is vulnerable, but strong at the same time. I loved the script; I fell in love with the writing. Lifetime is really putting out some good stuff now."

Q: Do you watch any TV shows on a regular basis?

Ally: "I'm pretty bad about watching TV shows. I watch a lot of FX. I'm not a big TV watcher because I have three kids -- we watch a lot of sports in our house because I have boys."

Q: Anything to say to the fans?

Ally: "Thank you for being so supportive. I couldn't have done it without you."