VEEP STAR SARAH SUTHERLAND ON GRADUATING FROM COLLEGE TO ACTING ALONGSIDE JULIA LOUIS DREYFUS

July 19, 2017

11:57 am

photos / BENJO ARWAS

styling / YETY AKINOLA @ Wilhelmina

makeup / JORDAN LIBERTY @ Wilhelmina

hair / DOMINIQUE LERMA @ Wilhelmina using Oribe

story / ALYSSA HARDY

It’s no secret that comedy is a nuanced art form. For many, simply being funny comes naturally, but the act of making someone laugh, on cue over and over again is something that most comedians practice for years. For Sarah Sutherland, one of the stars on HBO’s hit series VEEP, it wasn’t even on her radar. Sarah plays “Catherine” the daughter of the U.S. Vice President, Selina Meyer, played by comedy legend Julia Louis Dreyfus. Their relationship is one of the greatest plot points in the show: Selena constantly berates her daughter, and Catherine expertly shrivels to it resulting in hilarious interactions in almost every episode. While playing off of one the most famous comedians of all time may seem like a job for a seasoned actor, surprisingly, this role was a first for Sarah, “I was not qualified for that job,” she says of her role on VEEP. “I had never done improv training. I didn’t have a comedy background. I was lucky because initially that part was a guest star that was recurring and I think they weren’t really sure what capacity she would exist in the greater context of the show, so it made it more possible for me to be considered for something like that on that scale.”

Working with a legend like Julia Louis Dreyfus is understandably intimidating. However, it’s also one of the best ways for an actress that just got out of college and landed an HBO show to hone her craft. “I feel like I’ve learned so much just by watching her. She has such an incredible sixth sense for comedic timing and she’s always passionately and tirelessly working at making something funnier. There’s this notion that sometimes people who are funny in their work aren’t funny in life but she definitely defies that stereotype.”

jacket / sarah’s own top / Topshop skirt / White Fox The Label RINGS / YG pave + Catherine Weitzman Maya Brenner + Zoe Chicco Sunglasses / Marc Jacobs

Sarah’s character Catherine is not just ‘the daughter’ in the show, she’s also an integral part of the comedy throughout the entire series. At her core, Catherine isn’t actually funny, her timid personality brings out funny moments in the other characters. “As an actor what excites me most is just finding the truth of something. I think Catherine is an interesting character because she isn’t inherently funny. If anything she’s insanely serious. That humor comes from external circumstances.” She explains, “I think that I’ve continued to learn the importance of listening in acting because I also think with comedy and especially when you’re dealing with improvisation which we do, and have a certain amount of it indeed.”

If you’re expecting that a political satire based on a female president would touch on some relevant topics in their newest season, you might be disappointed. “Yeah, it’s an interesting thing because historically our show has never reflected a specific person. Or specific current event. There are definitely threads that are echoes of things that have happened but it’s definitely like a jambalaya of inspiration. This season was plotted out and we had started shooting long before the election results came in. I think it was one of those things where all of us naively thought that the plane could go down but it won’t actually go down and then it did.”

Similar to her role, Sarah is sweet, timid almost with an apprehension toward traditional communication other millennials in her generation are using. She doesn’t have a Facebook, no Instagram, Twitter is out, and don’t even think about Snapchat. “I never even had Facebook when I was in college, like I’ve never had any form of social media or Myspace or LiveJournal. It’s something that didn’t occur naturally for me, I’m totally not judgmental of it. For me, I think it helps your believability as a character. If people don’t have a sense of who you are and what you had for breakfast and who your friends are, it helps.”

With the new season of Veep under way and her latest film wrapping up. Sarah’s next adventure is a road trip that has nothing to do with film. She has her sights set on a cross-country road trip checking out diners in random cities. Just don’t expect to see any of it online though, she’ll likely keep that to herself.