If you watch "Mad Men," Alison Brie probably caught your eye some time ago as Trudy Campbell, the dutiful and proper wife of ad man Pete Campbell. She dresses to the nines and knows how to get her way, even though she is a bit gullible when it comes to her husband. (The new season begins July 25 at 10 p.m.)
Last season, Brie broke out of her girdle to become a scene-stealer on NBC's single-camera comedy "Community," the show about community-college students in Colorado that stars Joel McHale, also of "The Soup." In it, she plays Annie Edison, a neurotic perfectionist and former Adderall addict who falls in love quicker than you can say Adderall addict.
Soon, Brie will play a jealous personal assistant in the fourth "Scream" movie, joining "Scream" veterans Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courteney Cox-Arquette.
The 26-year-old actress is as busy as it gets, which she loves because, as she playfully says, "running from one job to the next makes me feel very important."
"Community," her regular gig, returns in the fall on Thursday nights for its second season, and who knows whom Annie will fall in love with then? Brie doesn't know because production begins on July 26, so don't bother asking her if Annie and Jeff are now Jannie.
"I think Annie has a crush on having crushes," Brie said in a recent telephone interview. "It seemed there was always a new guy that she'd be gung-ho about and get really into. Since she's just out of high school, that can take on many forms. And I can relate a lot to it. Even though ... I wasn't as naive or nerdy -- I'd like to think -- I still think there was a process of discovering myself and trying some things out. She is very brave at the end of the day, and she has her goals that stay the same, and I connect with a lot of that."
Popular with TV critics, "Community" was just hitting its ratings stride when its freshman season ended. So NBC is airing a marathon of six of the show's best episodes on Thursday night, hoping to nab new interest. The rest of the cast includes: Chevy Chase as Pierce, Danny Pudi as Abed, Gillian Jacobs as Britta, Ken Jeong as Señor Chang, Donald Glover as Troy, and Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley.
We walked down memory lane with Brie to prepare for the marathon. (And, no, she gave up nothing on the new season of "Mad Men," respecting that show's cone of silence).
"I feel like there were a lot of people that started to hear about 'Community' toward the end of the season or since we've been out of production," Brie said. "The little marathon will give people a chance to see the episodes, and they chose some really great ones."
