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For seven years, Rosa Blasi played Dr. Luisa ”Lu” Delgado on the hit Lifetime show, Strong Medicine. A native of Chicago, Rosa performed at the esteemed Piven Performance company, as well as Second City. She starred in a number of musicals and toured with the legendary Kenny Rogers. After moving to Los Angeles, Rosa got her big break on The Bold and The Beautiful for CBS. Soon to follow was a starring role on the MTV/UPN sitcom Hitz, along with Andrew Dice Clay.. Other credits include Frasier, Becker, and Drew Carey. Rosa starred in the acclaimed Showtime film Noriega: God’s Favorite opposite Bob Hoskins. She was also seen in the Sarah Michelle Gellar movie, The Grudge, playing Bill Pullman’s wife. Rosa recently completed a pilot, Inseparable, for CBS starring Ed O’Neill and Christine Baranski.

Interviewed by Matthew Rose

You began performing in theater productions in Chicago at the age of eight. How did you know at such a young age that acting was for you?
I saw the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders on The Love Boat, and I thought "I want to be on TV like the D.C. cheerleaders!". I was too young to figure out, you could just be on TV or in films as an actual actress. As soon as I got a cup of clue, I was set on being an actress.

Your parents are both teachers. Very stable, safe jobs. Were they worried about their daughter going into such an unstable profession?
My Dad was convinced I was destined for this life, my mother, up until I got my first series in 1997 liked saying "well.....you could always teach acting". I would hysterically cry to them over the phone, during my roller coaster experience out here, and she was just protecting me.

One of your more infamous early jobs was touring with the Kenny Rogers Christmas Show. What was that like?
The Kenny Rogers experience was amazing at the time! I felt very cool, temporarily quit my waitressing job, and was making $1000 a week plus per diem! That was HUGE. But the road life was hard. Sleeping on buses and hotels, constantly fighting colds etc. But so so fun. At the time, it was one of the greatest experiences of my life.

Along with Kenny Rogers, you also worked with a young Sean Hayes. Of course, he would later go on to star in NBC's Will & Grace. Did you get a sense back then that he was this talented comedic actor?
Sean was always "special", but not in the short bus kind of way. He was ALWAYS cracking us up, and I did know, he would conquer L.A. when he came out here to act. I just didn't know he would become part of a legendary television comedy, and win more awards than Michael Jordan. I vividly remember him being in my parents basement, in Mt. Prospect, IL showing us the characters he had come up with for a Saturday Night Live audition. We were all in hysterics.

You worked a lot in musical theater. Do you ever miss that world? How is the musical theater world different from the film/TV world?
The musical theater world is different from the television film world in many ways. When you are doing 8 shows a week (in theater), you basically live together. Constant joking around, bonded by the performances every night. You are all more or less in the same boat struggling. Once you get to TV and film...there are massive salary differences, dressing rooms, billings, the ratings box office stuff, more of the business bullshit, usually some egos, tantrums etc. Of course that world is more rewarding financially and career-wise, and of course there is bonding, but it isn't the same.

Were you hesitant to leave Chicago and move out to Los Angeles? For actors thinking of making the move, what should they do to prepare before they leave?
I say DONT move here, until you have earned it as an actor. EXHAUST EVERY POSSIBILITY in Chicago, NY, Dallas, Miami, or whatever town you are closest to. THEN, and only then, come out here with experience and confidence. Not just cuz you have a $200 headshot. I came out here with over 40 theatre shows on my resume and that is why I was signed the first week. That is why right away I was taken seriously etc. Now, with that said...I didn't support myself acting until 3 years later! I was a nanny and a waitress before my first series. That is the reality.

How did you get your first agent in L.A.?
A recommendation from a Chicago acting coach. He set up the meeting.

Soon after moving to L.A., you landed a recurring role on The Bold and The Beautiful. We have heard about how fast paced daytime soap operas can be. Was it hard as an actor to adjust to that genre?
That was the ideal 1st job! It was great! I learned about makeup and fast memorization. I liked that it was fast paced. It didn’t draaaaaaaag like the days do on a drama.

You were a cast member of the UPN sitcom HITZ, starring Andrew Dice Clay. Unfortunately, the show lasted only one season. How difficult was it to be on a network show for a year and then have to go back to pounding the pavement?
That was great cuz I went from waitressing, to buying my first home. So no complaints there! I guest starred for basically 2 years, learned the next time, not to spend all my money, and then got another gig. I did things backwards. I got the series regular job and THEN I started doing the guest stars. It was humbling, but a great learning experience.

Frasier. Drew Carey. Becker. You guest starred on a number of sitcoms. Then, in a total 180, you played Manuel Noriega's wife opposite Bob Hoskins in Noriega: God's Favorite for Showtime. How did you land that role?
Good question. Basically I was just given the opportunity to audition. A lot of times, if you are "known" as a sitcom actress to casting directors...they wont even see you for a serious part! That happened to me (besides Noriega) up until I did Strong Medicine. Then after that show ended 6 years later, my agent is "convincing" people to friggin see me for comedies again!!!!!!

For seven seasons, you starred on Lifetime's Strong Medicine playing Luisa Delgado, a doctor and single mother. What drew you to the part?
It was the same casting directors from Noriega that brought me in . Judith Holstra and Lori Sugar. I was not thinking I was going to get cast as a 33 year old and a single mom! I was 27 at the time. I was very skeptical and very bitter, having just gotten denied a sitcom pilot part I went to Network (twice) for! I said "No thanks". Didn’t get the sitcom pilot job, and my agent asked me again to audition. I was not interested. He said basically "this is the best part I have read for a WOMAN in 5 years! At least read the script! and then tell me your answer." I read it. I couldn’t help but agree, and I auditioned thinking I had no shot.

Strong Medicine featured a cast and producers (Whoopi Goldberg, for example) that were predominantly female. A rarity on television! How did having a lot of women around you help you as an actor?
I think it helped with the writing and figuring out that audiences wanted to see a medical drama from a woman’s point of view. Not necessarily me as an actor though.

Do you think it is harder for a woman to make it in this business?
No. Unless you are auditioning for a war movie? You are always going to need women right? Unless it's Prison Break? And even that dude has a girlfriend. Stand Up is harder for a woman.

You were on a successful show, receiving a nice paycheck week after week. But, a lot of your actor friends were still struggling. How tough was that for you? What, if anything, do you do when you’re working to prepare for potential lean times?
INVEST IN REAL ESTATE PEOPLE!!!!I can't say that enough. I tried getting my actor friends auditions when I had a show, even meeting with my representation. I will give advice to anyone who asks for it. Myself and a friend even had a "the Big move to L.A.!" seminar in Chicago for actors about making that big move out there. The leap. You want the people close to you to succeed, but you can only do so much ya know? Look at me? I don't have a job right now technically. I am filming a sitcom pilot for CBS, but that is one week, and NO guarantees. It's the business we have chosen. If it were about the most talented people "making it"....they could just take the graduating classes from Julliard every year and stick them in TV/film. It's a lot about how you look. If you are right for the part. NOT GIVING UP. Charisma. Oh and some talent....pretty much in that order.

One of the things they do not teach you in acting class is the financial end of the business. A lot of actors who make it big run into money problems. What is the biggest financial lesson you have learned?
Invest in real estate. I blew through my first series money. Yes, I bought a house (a house I could afford if I was not working and had to waitress again. I rented out two of the three bedrooms to friends) and that was great. But save for when you are not working because everybody sees that day.

With Strong Medicine wrapped, you are in a sense starting over once again. What does that feel like?
So exciting!!! And so weird to truly not know when I will get another steady paycheck. I felt like a newbie going to (only sitcom pilot auditions) no dramas. So in the sitcom world, I haven't done anything there in over 6 years! I hadn't had a pilot season (HELL) in that amount of time as well. Right away through pilot season, I was like..."Oh yeah. I forgot this sucks." But it was time to leave Strong Medicine. It felt right.

You have started doing stand-up comedy around L.A. Now, stand up is a totally different animal. What made you want to delve into that world?
I had an opportunity randomly through an experienced comic friend. I took it. I told NOT ONE PERSON in case I shit the bed so to speak. I had a blast. It was incredibly different than anything I had ever done...and the scariest. And I was hooked.

Do you feel that there are more opportunities for actors in Hollywood now as opposed to ten years ago when you arrived? If so, what accounts for that change?
There are less opportunities than 10 years ago. Movie stars are doing pilots now. Commercial money is A LOT less than before. The only "more opportunities" are for people that look like me. Ethnic as they say. There are way more people that look unique or different, and less of the blonde/blue eyed-a-dime-a-dozens out there.

But don't completely fool yourself. I had a test deal fall through because I wasn't [the right type] a month ago! That was on a Monday. I was pissed, but I had ANOTHER test deal on the table, at the same time, so I was feeling pretty cool. Until the next day, Tuesday, when I was told "I did not look ethnic enough" for the part! That test deal too was canned. I had two and now I had none. Uh...identity crisis much? Later in the week things turned around. I auditioned for the CBS pilot I am working on now with Ed O'Neill and Christine Baranski. And you know what? I could be replaced any second. We are all disposable if we are not household names. Isn't it grand?

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