Meet Shiri Appleby: The Sanest Actress On 'Girls'

Unlike the dysfunctional twenty-somethings that we've grown to love on the HBO hit, Shiri Appleby's character, Natalia, really seems to have her life together, making her the sanest girl on "Girls." 

We got the opportunity to talk to Shiri, who gave us some surprising answers about what Adam Driver is like in real life, her move towards directing, and how far she's come since her twenties.

How did you get the role on Girls?

Well, I'm friendly with Jenni Konner--executive producer on the show, and I've been wanting to get into directing.

So I had been talking to her about coming to New York to shadow one of their directors, which is basically like an internship where you follow a director around during prep and production to learn about directing television and how they direct specifically on that show. So when I was out there shadowing Jesse Peretz on episode eight actually, Lena asked me if I would want to come do the show, and I was thrilled. So that's how I got the part.

It was definitely like a best case scenario.

Lena Dunham is famous for blurring the line between reality and fiction. Did being on set feel like another episode of Girls, or are the actors more distinct from their characters than we imagine?

You know, I really only worked with Adam, and he's definitely different from the character he plays on the show. He's like a really grounded guy. He's very thoughtful and very open with me. We got along really, really well.

I think the character on the show is obviously a lot more troubled and has a lot of demons. And if Adam Driver has those demons, I haven't met them!

I think that his character is something that he's definitely created between him and Lena. I haven't worked enough with the other actors to really have a fair comment on them.

Natalia meets Adam after her mom sets her up on a blind date. Has your real mom ever interfered in your love life?

Oh yes. Definitely. She's never set me up on a blind date, but she was definitely a participant on my dating journey.

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