Former MuchMusic VJ Amanda Walsh flirts with a womanizing Matthew McConaughey in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
When Amanda Walsh first walked onto the set of Ghosts of Girlfriends Past she had to pinch herself. The actress and former MuchMusic VJ from Rigaud, Quebec, appears as Denice, the bridesmaid in the quirky romantic comedy starring Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner.
“I’ve done some TV stuff where I got to work with some pretty great actors like Molly Shannon, but this is a big Hollywood movie, which is really neat,” she says. “There was a scene I shot with Matthew McConaughey when I realized, ‘Yeah I’m really here.’”
Walsh’s star has been rising steadily since she left MuchMusic in 2004. Since then, she’s gone on to appear in television series like Smallville and Sons and Daughters, as well as the 2007 Rear Window retread, Disturbia. After a starring role in last year’s belated Wargames sequel, The Dead Code, Walsh was happy to sign on for Ghosts, which she calls “a nice, fresh take on a romantic comedy.”
The film follows Connor Mead (McConaughey), a womanizing photographer, at his brother’s wedding, where the ghost of his dead uncle (Michael Douglas) and three female spirits show him the consequences of his womanizing ways. With a cast heavy on bridesmaids and ex-girlfriends, Walsh says she really enjoyed the girl-time on the set.
“Just the way the film is set up… I spent a lot of my time with a gaggle of other ladies -- a lot of lady-bonding time,” she says. “It was kind of like we were getting ready for a wedding for five weeks. You’re always in wedding clothes and a strapless bra, which is not so much fun for five weeks.”
Also not so much fun was when she did a face plant while shooting a scene with McConaughey. “I think I made quite an impression,” she laughs.
Not that she was too star-struck — on MuchMusic Walsh had plenty of opportunity to interview celebrities. However, she says she appreciated that the film gave her a day-to-day relationship with its big-name stars.
“Interviewing was a really challenging and interesting part of my job,” she says, “but it’s not the most natural kind of interaction. You get more of a sense of who that person is when you work with them every day. In an interview you just get a taste. Although it’s weird that I’m giving that answer in an interview.”
Interacting with stars isn’t the only area where Walsh’s stint at MuchMusic has helped her. Though she was worried it might pigeonhole her, she says that hasn’t been a problem — not many Americans watch the Canadian music station, and the experience has been an asset..
“I definitely think [working at Much] helped me become more at ease in front of the camera, because that was my life, talking to the camera every day,” Walsh says. “The camera ceased to be something that could make me nervous. I had to be ready for anything because everything was pretty much unscripted. It was an amazing life experience.”
These days Walsh is waiting to hear if a pilot she did for HBO, Washingtonienne, will be picked up and is keeping busy with sketch writing and improv classes.
“I think it’s important to keep working on your craft,” she says. “You need to do what you love to do as much as possible. For me, I’m always learning and trying to be a better actor. And besides — it’s fun.”
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