Elisabeth Moss is constantly getting confused for her alter ego, Peggy on AMC’s Mad Men.
“Everyone is always surprised I’m this normal girl from LA who talks like a valley girl and laughs a lot,” she said in an interview with The Guardian. “The characters I play are often a bit serious.”
Her role in the critically-acclaimed Jane Campion miniseries, Top of the Lake, was no different. Moss fell in love with the role after reading the script, but wasn’t completely confident she could land the part. “[Campion] said I know you can do vulnerable, but I need to see you can cover that up and I need to see you have a hard side,” Moss recalled. “They were already offering it to big famous people. [Even once I started] I was like, ‘I can’t be like a detective! This is ridiculous! The first couple of weeks were like [sings] ‘I feel like an idiot. I’m trying to act tough and I feel so stupid.’ Ultimately, it wasn’t about being tough or hard or a detective, it became about being her. It became about creating a person who was unique and different.”
Despite Moss’ reservations, she does have full awareness of who she is as an actress. “I’m not being modest or putting myself down, but I’m not beautiful enough [to become a big star],” she said. “I’m not saying I’m not beautiful, but I’m not Megan Fox. I’m just not that girl. I will never be the lead in Transformers. I’m safe from that kind of stardom.
“I have no desire to be somebody that is recognizable all the time. There might be some big, huge movie star who feels like I do and just happened to get really famous and then what are you going to do? But with people who are actually successful and working I feel like it’s really rare to find someone who just wants to be famous. I’m not talking about the Kardashians, who by the way I adore and watch their show and love it.”
Moss also admits that she’s not the type of actress who will work nonstop.
“There are certain people I want to work with and certain things I want to do but I’m not one of those people that’s hungry and has to work all the time,” she said. “I look at those people and I’m like, aren’t you tried? Don’t you want to take a break?”
