Exit Interview: Rebecca Creskoff
On the HBO series Hung, Rebecca Creskoff plays Lenore, a deliciously manipulative life coach who’s taken up pimping. It’s not exactly the role this 39-year-old Cheltenham native and Penn grad imagined as a career-maker, but when the New Yorker calls you “immensely gifted” — well, girl, you keep that pimp hand strong! With a guest role on Desperate Housewives this month, Creskoff (and her Maltese) checked in from Los Angeles to discuss her unusual sex scene preparation, the commercial she hopes you’ll never see, and why the Jonas Brothers can’t look her in the eye anymore.
EXIT INTERVIEW: The girl from Cheltenham is on Hollywood time these days, eh?
REBECCA CRESKOFF: I’m so sorry I’m late! I took my dog, Buster, for a walk, and he wouldn’t poop. It was like the most epic non-poop ever.
EI: No problem. Your family has some serious roots here, right?
RC:[Buster barks] Oh God, sorry. My father was … [Buster again] Oh, for the love of God, I’m so sorry. [to Buster] No! [back on phone] My neighbor’s car makes him go crazy. My father was a trial attorney, and now he runs a trucking company. My mother is retired, but she used to co-own a store called Details. My sister works at Gladwyne Montessori. I was visiting for Labor Day at the Shore. My parents’ house in Longport is now blocked in by all these other houses, but you can still see a little sliver of the ocean.
EI: How would you describe your experience at Penn? Enriching? Challenging? Inebriating?
RC:I don’t know if this is bad to say. I basically spent my Penn years in my room with my boyfriend. I was doing plays extracurricularly, but Penn didn’t have a theater major at the time. It’s sort of a blur. My life comes into clearer focus when I get to grad school at NYU.
EI: Did all of your education prepare you for your first role — in a feminine hygiene commercial?
RC:[laughs] I was going out a million times a day for commercials, and I booked a Massengill commercial. It was a pretty big deal. There was a story arc. It was the journey of “What is a douche?”
EI:Do you recall your lines?
RC:I do, but I hate you for zeroing in on this. [laughs] I had to say, “Do guys get itchy, too?”
EI:You’ve also worked with a cast of major divas. How was the Jonas Brothers’ show?
RC:[laughs] I did it for my nieces and my friend’s nieces. I was already a semi-superstar in their eyes because I did an episode of Hannah Montana. Those boys were so sweet and so smart and well-behaved and impressive.
