Two and a Half Men, Drop Dead Diva
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For many years on television, April Bowlby was one of those actresses that never really received top credit. She instead was a supporting or recurring character on many popular television shows. That would change in 2019 when Bowlby finally got her chance to be the star of the show, entering the superhero universe. It’s been a long time coming for Bowlby, who was most known for playing the wacky girlfriend early on in her career.
Bowlby spent the early part of her life in Northern California, and was born on July 30, 1980 in Vallejo and grew up in Manteca. Bowlby was modeling at a young age and into her college years at Moorpark when she headed farther South down the Pacific coast. After getting off to a hot start in modeling, Bowlby took an interest in acting, receiving her start in the field during her mid 20s.
Her first passion was actually dancing, however. “I wanted to be a ballerina so badly,” Bowlby said. “You can be seen and take over the spotlight without speaking. I had a fear of speaking in public back then.” Thankfully, Bowlby was able to overcome that very common fear.
Bowlby’s first acting role came in a 2004 episode of the series “CSI”, and the next year appeared on an episode of the spin-off series “CSI: NY”. 2005 also featured Bowlby making guest appearances in “Stacked” and “Freddie”. The highlight of the year, however, was when Bowlby took on the role of Kandi in the series “Two and a Half Men”, becoming one of the main cast members after starting relationships with both main characters.
“It was such an incredible show to be a part of; everyone is so talented on that show that it is insane,” Bowlby said. “Some of my favorite moments included the process of that show. I just loved how Monday through Thursday you come in and rehearse, and it was almost like a play...Sometimes I couldn’t make a joke work, and I would ask Charlie Sheen or Jon Cryer. They were always so helpful, would recommend different ways to say it like this, and would it help if I did this. It was just a cohesive thing, and the whole experience of it was such a pleasure...My character Kandi was such a fun character to play, as she was so out there you could do anything with her, and she had no rules.”
Bowlby’s role on “Two and a Half Men” spanned for a decade and nearly 20 episodes, becoming one of the show’s most popular characters. During this time, Bowlby also had another recurring role in “How I Met Your Mother” thanks to her relationship with Neil Patrick Harris’ character on the series. Over the next couple of years, Bowlby also had a TV movie and more guest appearances, and had her film debut in 2008 with “All Roads Lead Home” and the following year with “The Slammin’ Salmon”.
In 2009, Bowlby found her first long-running role as being part of the main cast when she played Stacy Barrett on the series “Drop Dead Diva” for the first six seasons through 2014. Another couple of guest appearances and the movie “From Prada to Nada” also took place during that time.
During the mid 2010s, Bowlby became well known for her TV movies and several more guest spots, especially on CBS with shows such as “Mom” and “The Big Bang Theory”. She’s continued her TV movie career and most recently was on the big screen with “Unbroken: Path to Redemption”. Now, Bowlby is part of the superhero team known as the “Doom Patrol” as part of the DC Universe playing Rita Farr, also known as Elasti-Woman.
Bowlby’s character on the show is a starlet that contracts a virus that causes her body to morph in a lot of different ways, though the first season shows her breaking down into a blob-like character that destroys towns, all while being a movie star. It’s not an easy character to play, and Bowlby did a lot of research.
“I watched a lot of movies from the 1950s,” Bowlby said. “I read the Rita Hayworth biography, and it’s fantastic. A lot of preparation came even with the clothing. Our supersuits department were so amazing...You can barely bend over, so you’ve got this whole new behavior in your body as well, and then you put the transatlantic accent on, because there’s a cadence to the 50s movie stars.”
Seeing the finished product was exciting, but also shocking to watch herself literally turn into a destructive blob. “I was a little embarrassed of myself,” Bowlby admitted. “I saw it, and I thought, ‘Oh, no, somebody get her a jacket Help her! Hide her! Get her inside!’ That’s how I know that they did it right. It felt like a very exposed thing...There’s a lot of shame in that. People don’t show their messes, and that’s what we do in this show. You see people’s messes.”
Bowlby has certainly shown that she’s among the top model to actor projects in recent Hollywood history, and she enjoys being able to add some creative control to her characters compared to modeling. As to what she would be doing if it wasn’t for acting, Bowlby says that “One of my dreams when I was little was, I’d like to be a florist or work in a flower shop. It just smells good all the time and you’re surrounded by amazing, beautiful flowers. And then also, a close second would be a librarian.”
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