Photo: Courtesy of Alison Brod Public Relations.
How is it performing with your husband Paul McDonald (previous American Idol contestant and lead singer of The Grand Magnolias)?
"I can’t imagine being on stage with anybody else. I actually couldn’t do it if it were anybody else. If I weren’t singing with Paul, I wouldn’t be singing at all. We do this thing together and it wouldn’t exist outside of us because, I do enjoy singing, but it’s not the singing that I enjoy as much as the way he makes me feel about singing."
How did you two meet?
"We actually met at the Red Riding Hood premiere in L.A. My dad was my date. I usually go to premieres of movies that I’m not in, and my dad actually saw Paul first and was like, 'Go say hi to that guy. I'll hold your popcorn.' The rest is history."
You were pretty young when you got married.
"We got married in 2011. And yeah, I was 23, now I’m 25-and-a-half."
For whatever reason, it doesn’t seem like that many women in this generation are getting married in their early twenties. What do you think are some of the advantages?
"You know, I don’t know what the answer is. My parents were together for 14 years, and then they got married, and then they got divorced within three years, so I didn’t grow up feeling like marriage was a necessity for me. Then I met Paul and it just seemed to make sense. I don’t know if the answer is your supposed to date for X amount of years. I’ve met people who got married a week after meeting, and they’ve been together for 42 years, and then I’ve met people (like my parents) who waited over a decade to get married, and it still wasn’t the right fit, so I guess you just do what feels right."
One of the pros to getting married young is definitely being a young parent. Do you want to have kids in the near future?
"I think about that all the time. I’d love to be a young parent if I’m going to be a parent. I’m watching the years go by, like I’m going to be 26 and Paul’s going to be 30 on his next birthday, and we’re still not quite ready. So, I don't know. I might just end up being an old mom if I wait."
You design, you sing, you act, you produce — how do you balance it all?
"I don't know. I feel like I always say I’m not a good multitasker, but I multitask a lot, so maybe I’m better at it than I think. I know that in terms of Paul, it's really important for me to let him know that he’s my priority. But the rest of it — I thrive on being busy. If I don’t feel overwhelmed, and I don’t feel like my head’s going to explode because I have so much going on, then I’m not happy. I love to feel like I’m scared about what I have going on, that I’m outside of my comfort zone. This is why I’m going to start directing soon, and I produced a few movies this year, and I designed a jewelry line, I got my butt up on stage to sing even though I was terrified of it like every second of the way."
What are your tips for staying sane when dealing with a busy schedule?
"I just started yoga and meditation. Running and working out and yoga and doing all that stuff is the only time my brain can't think of anything but the exercise at hand, and I like it."
Photo: Courtesy of Alison Brod Public Relations.What's on your holiday wish list?
"I like to pick out things that I need because I feel like, although I do appreciate just thoughtful gifts without a hint, I also think it's just important to be very specific about the things that I need, so this year one of those things is the Nespresso frother for almond milk. That’s my jam. I asked for that. Between Santa and Paul and my father, someone’s going to make that happen. And, I’ve carried the same carryon suitcase for 11 years, and it's time for a new one. The handle is broken and the wheels don’t work, and we just got back from the Dominican Republic yesterday, and I swear to you every person we walked by at the airport wanted to kill me because of this. I mean it’s like screaming, squeaky wheels, and there’s no handle. I need a man to put the suitcase in the overhead compartment because I cant lift it because there’s no handle that works. It's time, 11 years, it's time."
Are you looking forward to anything special for the holidays?
"We go to Alabama every year. We start recording the rest of our album December 15, to be released at the end of January. And, we’re doing that in Nashville and then we go to Alabama to be with Paul's family. And, my favorite thing ever is watching Paul’s grandma open her gag gift. She gets a gag gift from the grandkids every year. And last year, it was sequin underpants. That should be good this year. Yeah, I guess grandma's house is my favorite. She's so fun, she loves it. She's like the most vibrant, unbelievably vibrant, and happy grandmother. Paul is a miniature version of his grandmother."
Any films you've worked on recently that you're excited about?
"I did three films this year that I’m very excited about. I did a movie called Murder of a Cat with Sam Raimi, the legendary Sam Raimi, and then I did Intramural, which was my first straight comedy, with Kate McKinnon and Jack Lacy, and I just wrapped a film called Scout, that was directed by Laurie Weltz, a woman I am very inspired by."