Actress Challen Cates plays Mrs. Knight on Nickelodeon’s Big Time Rush, a hit show about hockey players turned band mates. Before landing the role on BTR though, she was already a veteran of the TV acting world. We caught up with Challen to find out what it’s like acting alongside one of the hottest boy bands on and off TV!
KW: How did you get the part on Big Time Rush?
- Challen: It was really through the most normal way. I got the audition through my managers and auditioned for the part. I had met the casting director previously but I didn't know anyone else involved with the project.
KW: What do you like most about the show?
- Challen: The comedy! Well, the music too. But the comedy is so big and bold and I love all of the interesting situations that our characters get tossed into.
KW: Do you feel as if you’re similar to your character at all?
- Challen: Well I am a mother in real life and I absolutely love my children. And like Mrs. Knight, I put my children first. I always want them to be happy, to have every opportunity, and to follow their dreams.
KW: What is it like working with the guys in the band?
- Challen: It is always fun and exciting and unpredictable.
KW: What made you first become interested in acting?
- Challen: I was painfully shy as a child and I think that the idea of speaking someone else's words took a lot of pressure off of me. It became easier to be someone else, a character, with a script.
KW: What is something most people don’t know about you?
- Challen: I am the Vice President of a winery.
KW: What are some of your hobbies?
- Challen: Pilates, travel, entertaining, wine tasting, and fashion.
KW: Do you have a favorite behind-the-scenes moment from Big Time Rush?
- Challen: It was basically a private concert at the Avalon Theatre in Hollywood. We shot the first concert scene there and it was so emotional to see the band perform on stage in a real theatre. It brought tears to my eyes.
KW: Halloween is just around the corner, what is the best costume you have ever come up with, and what do you plan to go as this year?
- Challen: My husband and I dressed as Pebbles and Bam Bam. He's blonde and I'm a redhead so that part was easy. I went to the fabric store and made our costumes out of animal print. And then of course I wore a bone in my hair.
KW: You are a producer as a well as an actress, can you tell us a little bit about your other projects?
- Challen: I haven't produced anything in quite a while but I'm always on the look out...
Your Fave...
- Movie: Gone With the Wind
- TV Show: Mad Men
- Book: To Kill a Mockingbird
- Food: Chocolate pot de creme
Have Your Say!
What do you think of Mrs. Knight on Big Time Rush? Let us know in the comments section below!
