Sarah Chalke Source » » Sarah Chalke’s Christmas movie debut

Disney’s Prep and Landing is ABC’s premiere TV special completely overseen by the iconic Walt Disney Animation Studios. Prep and Landing star Sarah Chalke gives SheKnows a call for an exclusive chat about her role in both the holiday film and Disney legacy as well as how this talented Canadian performer landed in Hollywood via an audition for a “new” show that turned out to be Roseanne.

Prep and Landing airs December 1 at 8:30 pm and takes viewers inside the world of an elite unit of Elves that secure Santa’s journey each Christmas Eve. Think of Prep and Landing’s crew as Santa’s Secret Service.

SheKnows: What was it like for you to be a part of a holiday film — something that can and will be played for hundreds of years now?

Sarah Chalke: That was the thing that was so cool about this is when I think about Christmas memories as a kid, one of the things that stands out is me and my sisters all on the couch watching Charlie Brown. I feel like it’s amazing to be a part of one of those and to have something for your kids to watch that you did.

SheKnows: I know you grew up in Canada, what first brought you to Los Angeles, or New York…what brought you to the US?

Sarah Chalke: I grew up in Vancouver which was a cool spot to grow up if you wanted to act. Because, it was Hollywood North and it still is now. There is so much that is shot in Vancouver.

SheKnows: Yeah, much more than the X-Files…

Sarah Chalke: (Laughs) It’s a great place to start as opposed to this giant pond (Los Angeles). It’s good to figure stuff out, which still felt giant-like to me, it was nice to have a resource that I felt when I got here I had a tiny bit of experience under my belt. What brought me down here was I auditioned for something that they told me was for a new show. In fact, it was for Becky (from Roseanne). So, I got a part on Roseanne. That was the first time I came to LA and ended up working for four years without fully moving here. I just kind of went back and forth to Vancouver because I was 17 and still finishing high school. I worked in Canada for a few years after that and then decided at 24, OK, now I’m like I’m ready to move there and my best friend just finished film school. We packed up her truck and got a six-month sublet down here — that was all we could wrap our heads around. “OK, we can do this for six months.”

We both laugh.

Sarah Chalke (continuing): Then I had the Scrubs audition after about a year.

SheKnows: Besides Scrubs, another favorite of mine that you have been a part of is How I Met Your Mother. I know the character of Robin (Cobie Smulders) is made fun of all the time because she is from Canada. Does that part of the show ever get to you as a Canuck?

Sarah Chalke: (Laughs) Are you kidding me? I love it! It’s so good. It’s nice to see these little homages to Canada. I see them as more (laughs) homage than mocking. I think it’s absolutely hysterical. She’s from Vancouver as well.

SheKnows: Cobie’s representing!

Sarah Chalke: I love all the hockey references…

SheKnows: …and the Hoser bar.

Sarah Chalke: (Laughs) I know! And the Canadian words that we all get completely messed on all the time. You’ll be in a conversation with somebody and you’ll be dropping words like parkade, or garburator, or tuke and they look at you like you’re crazy.

SheKnows: (Laughs)

Sarah Chalke: It’s another land.

SheKnows: I know I asked about the importance to you as an actress to be a part of a holiday movie. But, what about having a role in a Disney movie? What did that aspect mean to you?

Prep & Landing: inside Santa’s journey
Joel D Amos

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Sarah Chalke: It’s an honor to be part of a John Lassiter project too.

SheKnows: Oh, absolutely.

Sarah Chalke: His movies are my favorites. Up…just floored me. The way that he combines the funny and the heartwarming on Up, you’re laughing and crying within the first 10 minutes. There’s always something fun for the whole family and every single age group, too. He incorporated that into Prep and Landing as well. We grew up being obsessed with Disney movies. It was really cool to be a part of.

Prep and Landing airs December 1 on ABC

SheKnows: I know the voice acting element is a bit different having been there, done that. How did you find that challenge as opposed to live action like on Scrubs?

Sarah Chalke: Yeah, it’s so different. It’s really fun. You go in there, not with the other actors. It’s just you.

SheKnows: Yeah…

Sarah Chalke: You’re not doing a scene with them going back and forth. You go through your character line by line. It’s kind of fun. Whereas when you’re filming something you might have a few different takes to try different stuff. There’s going to be a finite number of takes whereas with animation, it’s just you and the writer and directors and the microphone. You can really take a line and go through it 20 different times. You’re just doing fun thing with your voice. It’s a really interesting, fun and different way to work. I also love the whole premise of the story.

SheKnows: Seriously, Santa Claus doesn’t just take off and land without help!

Sarah Chalke: It’s the untold story of these elves that go to the homes and establish things on a whole nether level before Santa even gets there. These elves make sure everything’s going to be perfect for him.

SheKnows: Like the Secret Service advance team.

Sarah Chalke: Yeah, totally (laughs)!

SheKnows: When you first saw yourself in animated form, I don’t know if you first saw a sketch before laying your tracks, what was it like when you saw yourself drawn?
Sarah sees herself in a new light

Sarah Chalke: One of my favorite parts of this character is that she’s adorable. She has this homemade jingle bell jewelry, jingling around all the time. She’s chugging egg nog lattes so they can be awake for these crazy shifts they have to work. She’s such a perfectionist and so high strung. I thought she was the cutest thing when I saw the drawings. It’s really fun because I had no idea what she was going to look like – then it was fun to see the drawings and then the storyboards, each time we would go in, they would let us take a peak at the next layer of animation that had been done. That was so cool to see the different stages that it goes through. It’s an amazing process. The writers and directors are working on this for the past few years.
Sarah chalke’s holiday traditions

SheKnows: Do you have any personal holiday traditions you could share with our readers? Maybe some you’ve have kept from your childhood…

Sarah Chalke: Yes! One, that I’m going to promise my kids that we have to carry on, is my favorite was my grandmother made this amazing thing, German soup, called Heinz Chocolate en Faxen. It was hot chocolate soup with whipping cream. You can imagine as a kid, that’s Christmas morning breakfast.

SheKnows: Yum!

Sarah Chalke: (Laughs) So, getting to sit down to a hot bowl of melted chocolate with whip cream on top at eight in the morning (laughs)…you’re head will explode!

SheKnows: (Laughing) The kid in me cannot even wrap his head around it.

Zach Braff and Sarah Chalke in Scrubs

Sarah Chalke: I know, it’s pretty nuts. I’m definitely going to carry on that. But, my favorite thing to make and eat in the world is pumpkin pie. That is something I’ve made in different incarnations throughout my life. I was a vegetarian for a while. I was a vegan for a while. There was a soy, maple syrup vegan version. And then there’s the full-on, yummy, delicious one with pumpkin – that is a tradition that I will keep doing too. We also have a tradition in my family called Desentera. My mom grew up with them and we did as well. It’s sort of like this little plate of…German deserts.

SheKnows: Again…yum!

Sarah Chalke: But, they’re all kind of…you kind excited as a kid because you get this plate of candy. We would never get candy. I grew up in a house with no-sugar cereal — none of that. So, you get this plate of candy but everything is all Marzipan and all…(laughs).

We both laugh.

Sarah Chalke: (Laughing) It’s a little anticlimactic. I think I need to carry that one on with my kids, too.

SheKnows: You’ve got too! Well, Sarah, happy holidays to you and thanks for visiting with SheKnows.

Sarah Chalke: Thanks for having me, Joel.

From She Knows