An East coast native, Ruby Goldin decided to take her chances out West after her time at Temple University. You know her as Paulie, Leslie's hard-not-to-love roommate on The Leslie series, who has no problem laying down truth bombs to her BFF. Check out our interview with the actress below.
netTVnow: How did you get involved with the series?
Ruby Goldin: I got involved the good ol’ fashioned way.. found a post on Backstage, self-taped my audition, emailed it to the address provided and boom! Honestly though, I’m always amazed that I happened to even come across that audition on that particular day.
netTVnow: What drew you to role of Paulie?
RG: If my memory serves me correctly, the casting notice described Paulie as, “The quirky best friend if there ever was one. Her filter tends to run at zero.” I’ve never been cast as the “quirky” type before, so I thought it’d be fun! And when I read the sides, I just loved the way Paulie told it like it is, you know?
netTVnow: What was your process for tapping into the mindset of Paulie?
RG: I sort of had to take any self-consciousness that I, as the actor, felt about playing Paulie and throw it out the window. Paulie uses an outward confidence, brashness and humor to hide a lot, I think, and although those aren’t my personal methods to deal with my own issues or insecurities, I can relate to what she’s trying to mask.
netTVnow: I love that Paulie is Leslie’s sort of moral but sometimes not-so-moral compass, what are some of your favorite Paulie and Leslie moments?
RG: Oh man, there are so many! I love every moment that those two have together. But if I had to choose, I would say the mother/daughter type moment before Leslie’s first night going out, the ‘open doors’ debate and when Leslie is freaking out about coming out too late.
netTVnow: Paulie has some amazing one-liners, what were some of your favorites?
RG: I thank Kate (Johnson) on the daily for making Paulie so damn funny. Oh boy, let’s see… “We are young, and we are sexual human beings, and that shit needs to be embraced.” “Do you have your vibrator? A good lesbian never leaves home without one!” and of course, “Do you want mine? I volunteer as tribute!”
netTVnow: Was The Leslie this your first web series? What did you find most surprising about it, if it was?
RG: It was my first web series and I think I was most surprised by the sheer amount of talent that everyone involved in the project possessed and all of the love that every single one of them poured into it.
netTVnow: How would you describe Paulie?
RG: Paulie is the type of girl that says what she’s thinking and feeling and never apologizes for it. She’s the type of girl that will give you all of her love, whether in friendship or otherwise, until you hurt her. I think she has a huge heart and cares deeply for her friends, but may have gone through some things in her past that has made her a bit untrusting of the opposite sex. And at the end of the day I think she’s just trying to figure out who she is and what her place is in this world.
netTVnow: Any similarities between you and your character?
RG: Me and Paulie [laughs]? Yes, definitely. I think Paulie and I are both pretty confused about what the hell love is for a 20-something year old in this day and age, regardless of whether you are straight, gay, bi, etc. It’s all a mess. However, we have somewhat different ways of dealing with it. I admire how connected and unabashed Paulie is about her own sexuality. I respect how she embraces it in a way that many women are still too afraid to do because of how they might be perceived in society, but if a man were to act that way, no one would bat an eye. So in some ways, I try to bring a little bit of Paulie into my own life.
netTVnow: What was it like to be part of a web series that has such a strong queer focus and portrays such strong allies?
RG: Amazing! I feel like I’m almost cheating a little bit, hanging out with the cool kids although my character sometimes says and does things that are not quite appropriate. But as someone who grew up very close to the LGBTQA+ community, and always advocated for their rights, I am honored to be part of a project that has been so welcomed by that community and which has resonated so strongly with the members of it. And it truly opened my eyes to a world that I had sort of just been hanging out next to, but had never fully understood until now.
netTVnow: Where do you hope to see Paulie in season two?
RG: As much as I love all of Paulie’s hilarious one liners and brilliant #wordsofwisdom, and trust me I don’t want that to go away, I’d like to see a little more of her softer side as well. Maybe see her shed a bit of that hard exterior shell that she’s so expertly built up. Maybe learn a little more about her life and her past and who she is beyond, ya know, being the world’s greatest friend to Leslie.
netTVnow: Any upcoming projects we can share?
RG: I just got back from a month long trip to Southeast Asia so I had to put things on hold for a bit, but stayed tuned! I can’t wait to get back to work! Follow me on all the social medias to stay up-to-date!
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