Set Your DVRs, Part II

Catch Gia on Impress Me on April 22 and 29 at 10:30/9:30c only on PopTV!

How I came to be part of the cast of Impress Me is a true LA story. I first learned about the show because my old buddy, the massively talented Ross Marquand, stars in it. He told me he was having a great time filming this web series called The Impression Guys, but he downplayed the magnitude of it all, at least enough to damper suspicions of egotism.

“Yeah, I’m working on this web series,” he told me as he finished spreading homemade jam on a piece of toast for me. “It’s produced by Rainn Wilson. Pretty cool.”

He did not tell me it was the best show (not yet) on television. He also did not tell me what I treat I was in for with his homemade jam.

Fast forward a couple months. My dear friend Aaron Ginsburg–another megatalent–who asked me, “Have you seen this show show called The Impression Guys? It’s amazeballs!”

Of course tell him I know Ross, to which he responds that I must immediately call Ross and demand that I be on the show. Which is exactly what I did, despite the fact that it was one o’clock in the morning.

Ross (who, by the way, is now also starring in The Walking Dead on AMC) was kind enough to pass my name onto Ben Shelton, the brilliant creator/director of Impress Me, and Ben invited me to spend two days in Santa Barbara filming episodes 7 and 8–the best two days I’ve ever had on set.

Once on the glorious compound that is the Shelton estate, I learned that Ben and his brother Josh Shelton went to college in Seattle with the guy playing my husband, super funny and absolutely darling Jeff Grimm, and they all went to school with my childhood friend Nik.

It gets weirder still. All of those guys also happen know another friend of mine since second grade, Josh, and separate from that gaggle of peeps, Ross also knows Second Grade Josh. To top it off, I walked onto set on day two and stared right in the face of hilarious Brian McGrath with who was a fellow classmate of mine at Upright Citizens Brigade.

It’s not a small world. It’s a thimble.

Ross truly was being humble about how great The Impression Guys is, but the powers that be saw its genius and gave it a full network release on Pop TV Wednesdays at 10:30/9:30c after Schitt’s Creek (starring comedy legends Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy). Now called Impress Me, the show is the second scripted series to be ordered by the network. Considering that Ross and his delightful and gifted co-star Jim Meskimen are two of the most brilliant performers I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing in person–let alone worked with–it’s no surprise to me that the show is blowing up.

So set those DVRs. I’ll show up on April 22nd and 29th playing a sexy hippie. You know, type casting.