Melia Kreiling on Her Bingeable New Show ‘Mammals’
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It’s a good sign for a TV show when, as Melia Kreiling says, “you get to episode four and you’re like, ‘Oh, holy crap.’”
Her new project, “Mammals,” out Friday on Prime Video, is six episodes of a “wild treasure hunt” that leaves viewers hooked all the way through.
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“You just don’t see any of it coming,” Kreiling says.
The half-Greek, half-American actress, 32, stars as Amandine in a cast that includes James Corden, who plays her husband, and Sally Hawkins. As she was packing up her home in Los Angeles, California, ahead of her New York City, New York,
move, WWD chatted with Kreiling about the buzzy new show and her next project, a role in the new season of “Emily in Paris.”
WWD: What drew you to “Mammals?”
Melia Kreiling: I was sent several scenes and I opened them up and I couldn’t believe what I was reading. It was perfect. I just remember it was an instant connection to this role, really. This female role just felt like it was coming from me. It felt like I could just hear it instantly in my head. I could hear me saying those words. It was a little bit surreal.
WWD: What do you like about Amandine?
M.K.: She is a complicated person, but I just loved how far she’s willing to go to make sure that this relationship works, if that makes sense. It might not be in the most conventional way, but there’s a very profound love there and she is trying so hard to make it work, while also not giving up on what she really believes is important to her, which is the magic and that hopeless romance that she carries. She’s really exciting in the way she does it. She’s not doing things in the simplest way. She is forward thinking and she’s a really smart, smart cookie.
WWD: When did you know you wanted to be an actor?
M.K.: Well, there are two answers to that. Everyone else around me in my life told me that I started acting when I was very, very young. I was in school plays, and I remember really enjoying it. But then I took a turn when I was a teenager and I really went into contemporary dance. I was at a very intense conservatory school for dance, and I went to drama school in London as well. I really started to be interested in it as a profession toward the end of my drama studies because I started to really understand what the work entailed more. Before that, it was something that I enjoyed watching but I hadn’t quite understood what it means to do it. So it wasn’t until I was completing my acting studies that I really was like, “OK, let’s do this.”
WWD: How did you get cast in “Emily in Paris?”
M.K.: “Emily in Paris” came about in the summertime. I was back in Europe just to see family, and a casting director over there suggested me for this part. I just auditioned and was really excited about it because who doesn’t love “Emily in Paris?” It was a perfect summer job, honestly, being in Paris with all these wonderful people, because they really are just great. They’re so fun and their sets are so fun.
WWD: What can you say about your character?
M.K.: Very little. But I can say that I play a visual artist who goes to Paris to exhibit her work at Camille’s Gallery.
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