Exclusive: Emily Osment talks ‘Almost Family’

Check out our exclusive interview with Emily Osment about the pilot premiere of ‘Almost Family’!

Poster for the new FOX series, “Almost Family”

After discovering the controversy surrounding her father and his fertility research, an only child finds out that she has hundreds of half-siblings.  From the producer of “Friday Night Lights” and “Parenthood” and the writer from “About a Boy” and “Desperate Housewives”, “Almost Family” is the story of an unusual family formed through extreme odds.  The show tackles issues on identity, human connection, and what defines a real family.  Can the lies and secrets of one man affect the new relationship of these newly found siblings?

Best known for her role as Lilly Truscott on “Hannah Montana” and appearing in other Disney related shows and movies, Emily Osment stars in “Almost Family” as Roxy Doyle.  We got a chance to speak with her about the premiere of the pilot episode of “Almost Family”!

The Knockturnal: You’ve acted in Young & Hungry, Hannah Montana… What was it like making that transition from a “Disney kid” to “I am a grown woman”.

Emily Osment: Sure, I think the misconception mostly with child actors is that you’re labeled as something specifically for so long but in reality, I’ve had the pleasure of working in this industry for a long time and I’ve grown so much for that and the impact that working around adults at a young age does to your mind and to your body and everything in the industry is very cool. So, I’ve been working around adults for a long time and that’s kind of taught me how to behave a little bit more and it helps me decide what projects I want to work on and what I’m interested in. So going from that to this is very cool because this is a drama and I haven’t done a drama in awhile and, not to this degree, obviously. And it’s very cool and this is first time I’m playing a character that’s older than me which is also interesting. This character is about like 3 or 4 years older than me which is very cool.   So yeah. I’m interested to see the trajectory of the show and to see where my character goes. My character’s going to be centered in the Me Too movement.  For this trajectory of the show so my character is an ex-Olympic gymnast and everything involving the show is very topical so we’re going to be dealing with sexual assault. We’re going to be dealing with the Ancestry.com and 23 and Me.  Everybody is finding out who their biological family is so that’s very cool moment in time for us. So I’m just excited to be a part of a show that’s willing to talk about things, honestly. It’s really cool.

The Knockturnal: And you spoke a little bit about how this character has differed from your others, but what are you finding more in this character that you haven’t been able to explore in other characters?

Emily Osment: I think the way that Roxy handles anger and shame and guilt is very different from any other character I’ve played. She’s a very visceral character.  When she feels something, she says it. She acts on it. You see, you saw on the pilot some guy touches her butt and she jumps on him. So her response timing to how she feels emotionally is very quick and I like that about her. She’s kind of aggressive in her behavior and I haven’t played a character like that in a long time, I think.

The Knockturnal: What were some challenges that came before that you had to overcome quickly?

Emily Osment starring in the new FOX series “Almost Family”

Emily Osment: Oh, man. I think the sadness of playing a character that has a drug addiction that has an emotional deficiency because of the environment she’s been in for so long is hard. She’s a deeply sad character and I think that’s why she has a different reaction to finding out she’s related to so many people she didn’t know. Her reaction is elated because she has a family she has wanted for so long and everybody else is like no, no, I’m okay. I don’t need this. And she very much needed it, so she has a different path than everyone else.

The Knockturnal: What would you say your favorite part of filming was?

Emily Osment: Filming in New York. I love New York. My brother lives in New York for 15 years and my brother went to NYU so I would come and visit sometimes.  I think being in New York is a really cool environment.  I’ve never shot a show not in Los Angeles, where I’m from, so, kind of adjusting to a new city is very cool. And I love everybody on the cast and it’s going to be an adjustment but a very cool one.

The Knockturnal:  Whenever you’re not going coast to coast what’s one thing you do that people would not guess that you do? 

Emily Osment: Gosh, I don’t know. I don’t see myself in that light.  I think I grew up in the city that I work in and I went to high school and college in the city the I love so much. So, I’ve garnered a lot of very cool, very normal, friends. A lot of my friends aren’t big celebrities everybody is just a cool person in my life and I love to play music. I have a band called Blue Bird, really excited about that right now.  It’s a project that’s been on my heart for a long time and I was with a label when I was a teenager and I released a pop record and it’s been quite a few years and now I’m releasing music under the moniker Blue Bird and planning myself, I’m producing myself, writing myself. And it’s been all me so that’s why it’s taking so much time. But hopefully, in New York I’ll do some pop-up shows. I did some shows in LA with So Far Sounds. I know they have a New York office so we’ll see!

Interview by Lenique Vincent

Check out the trailer for “Almost Family” below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL-gvYvyWgA