What kind of projects are you working on at the moment?
The interviewer’s job is to ask the right questions to get the public aware of something important. The subject’s role is to say the right things in the right way in a certain amount of time. Sounds easy, but there’s much more to it. Now try being both. Carly Steel, actress and host of Entertainment Tonight, proves that it’s possible that the right energy and a little courage goes a long way.
In addition to ET, I’m working on Jet to the Set, which is a movie travel show where we pick an iconic TV locations with the actors who filmed there, and we’re tour guides. We go to where they filmed, where they stayed, where they shopped, where they ate, where they hung out while on location. So it’s kind of like location on location, which gives us local knowledge through the eyes of the celebrities. We shot our first episode in the summer and our first episode airs in October. My co-host and co-producing partner is Lauren Feldheimer, who has an amazingly successful HSN shopping line, so we combined our skills and came up with this show. I’ve been working basically every day for six years, so I haven’t had as much time for film projects. It’s definitely something I want to get back into this summer.
Between your acting and your interviewing career, where do you feel your passion resides?
When I’m hosting, I want to be acting; when I’m acting, I want to be hosting. When I’m doing both, I want to be producing. So I think I have a little bit of the “grass is always greener” in me. Hosting is about developing your own character and relating to others. It’s nice to get into different roles, though, and express different parts of yourself. It’s always an adventure. So I’d say my passion is in both areas.
You must spend a lot of time doing homework for your upcoming interviews.
I’m very nerdy so studying and researching is one of my favorite elements of the job. It’s nice to have that time to do that. I find people very fascinating so I love to read past interviews. I love to watch the tougher-to-interview actors, especially on the late night shows and see what opens them up and makes them laugh. It’s not just about studying what they’ve done and who they are. It’s about studying their marks and seeing what they respond to and don’t respond to well. Half of the job is getting information and half of the job is creating fun, relaxed moments with that person.
Do you have a hard time asking the hardball questions on ET, or is it always a lighthearted atmosphere on set?
I create a lighthearted atmosphere where I can ask hardball questions. That’s kind of the balance and the trick of it. Figuring out when to come in with them and where to come in with them. I try to come in a sympathetic way where I’m on this person’s side. It’s not my strategy to make them feel uncomfortable or to get something out of them that they don’t want to talk about. It’s your job to service your audience and to take time to commit to your own integrity and your own relationship with that talent, because you’ll have to work with them again and again. It’s always a balance. I take it on a case by case basis. I pick and choose when to ask the hardball questions and when not to. I feel it out. A lot of it is about instinct, balance and intuition.
A lot of what we do is about energy more than anything. It’s not really what you ask, it’s how you ask it. I’m very sensitive to people and I tap into people when I’m chatting with them. If you feel like they’re not in a place where they want to be receptive, you have to match that and pull them out of it. People sense fakeness and you must be authentic at all times.
Take it from a woman who has been on both sides of the camera: nothing is ever as simple as it seems. Sometimes beneath the charisma is a woman low on beauty sleep, and behind the lighthearted energy is a studied, focused pop culture nerd disguised as a television host. A little editing and carefully chosen wardrobe helps, but without strategy, nothing in Hollywood will last. Even the most simple conversations take practice, research, and quick wit. That’s what gives Steel a unique ability to span many facets of the industry. You may never know where to look, but expect Carly’s name popping up again and again – for this and many, many reasons more.
Look for Carly Steel as a correspondent on TV’s Entertainment Tonight and Jet to the Set, and on the big screen in the upcoming The Brits Are Coming.
Creative Credits
- Written by
- Jason Radford
- Photography
- Alissa Pagels
- Retouching
- Brianna Kish
- Hair Stylist
- Jean Ramos
- Makeup Artist
- Paula Heckenast
- Styling
- Rachel Jimenez
