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‘Glee’ alum Heather Morris dances into an evil role

By Rick Bentley, Tribune News Service
Published: September 1, 2017, 6:02am

Life has been going at high speed over the last eight months for Heather Morris. The California native who exploded into stardom when cast as Brittany Pierce on “Glee” was a contestant on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” this year, and after her run ended she stepped in as a member of the reality competition show’s live tour, “Dancing with the Stars: Hot Summer Nights,” in July.

She did that while also being a mother of two (with husband Taylor Hubbell) and just after making the Lifetime movie “Psycho Wedding Crasher” in December 2016. The made-for-cable production, which debuts Sept. 3, has Morris co-starring with one of TV’s best known actors from prime-time soap opera dramas, Joan Van Ark.

Morris was attracted to the “Psycho” role of Jenna Kravitz, a wedding dress maker who develops a one-sided obsession with the groom (Jason Cermak) of her latest client (Fiona Vroom). Her effort to get close to the man she’s certain secretly loves her starts by making friends with the bride but then escalates to stalking and eventually a very dangerous encounter.

“For me, this was great because it was something I had never done,” Morris says just days after getting home from the “Dancing” tour. “This character is a little off in that she doesn’t see things the way others see them. She’s emotionally unstable so she doesn’t see herself as a villain. She just thinks she’s doing the right thing.

“I have always wanted to play a villain. I hope this is the first of many I get to play.”

The clues to why her character is an emotional mess are provided through Aunt Daisy, the character Van Ark plays. Aunt Daisy runs both the wedding gown shop and her niece’s life with an evil nature that would put Cinderella’s wicked stepmother to shame. The only way Jenna can have a life is to slip away when she can and try to take over someone else’s happily ever after.

Morris, 30, wasn’t even born when Van Ark’s “Knots Landing” launched, so she had to call her mother to get a quick update on her co-star.

“My mother is a big fan of her and once I mentioned it, she was really excited,” Morris says.

What Morris quickly learned was that all those years Van Ark spent in prime-time network dramas gave her plenty of opportunities to learn how to play a character with great cruelty. It was an opportunity for Morris to observe one of the masters at playing villainous characters at work.

Anyone who has tracked the career of the actor/dancer/mom would know Morris’ interest in dancing predates her interest in acting. It goes back to when she was a 9-year-old growing up in Scottsdale, Ariz., where she studied jazz, contemporary and tap dancing. That training would become the foundation for Morris professionally, including being one of Beyonce’s backup dancers and starring on “Glee.”

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