Exclusive: Angela Relucio Talks ‘Casual Encounters’ and Game of Thrones Dreams

While I was aware of the premise of “Casual Encounters,” I wanted to hear her it from her perspective given the significant role she plays in the film.

“Yes, it’s a classic case of a man with a broken heart…played by Taran Killam. He gets his heart broken and his friends tell him to get back on that horse and start dating again. So of course he goes on a dating website and meets a variety of women who can hopefully help him get over his break up but they’re not sure he’s looking for love in the correct places. (laughs) I am one of the dates.”

After discussing the film’s plot, I began to think of the real world applicability in regards to the subject matter. When it came to preparation for the role, I was curious about Angela’s own experiences with online dating and if she had explored the world further for her role in “Casual Encounters.”

“You know…in my single days, I did consider going on that Millionaire Matchmaker site because I was like, ‘What is this all about’? Ultimately [it] wasn’t for me but in New York City I used to host 8minutedating.com with a friend so I have a good amount of knowledge in the speed dating area. Not so much the online dating but I’m a big fan of online dating and speed dating. I feel like it helps streamline the process a little bit.”

The romantic comedy genre can be formulaic at times. With “Casual Encounters” falling into the realm of that genre, I was curious about what made it different from Angela’s perspective.

“When you think of romantic comedies, a lot of people sometimes think it’s like overkill or that it’s [sappy] but I think this is just the right amount of sap because it’s one of those things where the guy realizes, without giving away to much, that the love that you’re looking for is just right under his nose. And it’s just a matter of the ridiculous things that can happen in real life when you’re meeting someone new and dating.”

Some actors fall in love with a particular genre. With “Casual Encounters” being a romantic comedy, I was curious about what type of actor Angela Relucio was. When asking her about her favorite film genre, she expressed her desire to explore them all. But that also led into a discussion of her love for fantasy and her longing desire to be in HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”

“As an actor of course I want to explore all of it. I am at times more for drama than comedy although I do love doing comedy. With ‘Casual Encounters’ I just had a field day because it’s rare that I get to play a character like Kacy. But I love horror, I love sci-fi, and I like epic-fantasy a lot. I daydream about being in the next episode of ‘Game of Thrones’. How likely it is, I’m not sure. Or whenever I watch ‘Lord of the Rings’ or ‘The Hobbit’ I just wish I were an elf from Middle Earth. So there are things that are fantastical that I would just love to be part of but of course those have a certain gravitas to them so that’s where the drama comes in.”

“Game of Thrones” is not a place for new characters to thrive as many have a short lived time on the show. I jokingly pointed out that if Angela were cast in “Game of Thrones,” her life expectancy may not be that high.

“Yes, life expectancy in Westeros is not that great…(laughs)”

Every actor has a role that they are continually typecast for. While there may be some diversity in the roles they play, there is always that one role that they play more than others. Given Angela’s blossoming career, I was curious as to what her typecast role would be.

“I’m finding my strength as an actor, or what people are finding my strength as an actor, is more the opposite of what my character was in ‘Casual Encounters’. Typically I play a professional woman. Someone who is in the medical field or the military field or the law field. ‘Smarty McSmart’ is what I like to call the role because I can do technical tech well and when people are discovering that they’re calling me in for that kind of stuff. And I love it. I actually do like these nerdy roles and I don’t feel like I’m typecast just yet. Maybe I will in the future but I’m happy to know what my strength is and that other people are starting to recognize it.”

Speaking of typecast roles, “Casual Encounters” star Taran Killam is predominantly known for comedy being part of “Saturday Night Live.” But while comedy may be his forte, we’ve seen him play some more serious roles as well. Working with Killam, I wanted to hear Angela’s take on him breaking out of the comedic roles.

“Taran [Killam] is fantastic because of course he’s a funny man right? He’s fantastic in SNL but I’ve seen his softer emotional side in ‘Casual Encounters’ and…I buy it, and I feel sad right along with him. And then I see him working in all of these other roles and in more serious movies like ’12 Years a Slave’ and I think he’s fantastic so I have no doubt he’ll be fantastic in whatever he does whether it be comedy or drama.”

Noticing a film titled “The Embryo Who Came in from the Cold,” I saw that Angela was the lead voice actor in the film. I was curious as to what got her involved with voice acting and if it was something she would like to explore in the future.

“Yes. I had tried [voice work] before, I had dabbled in it. But I think it’s part of my bucket list to voice a cartoon so this will be my first time doing that actually. I can’t wait to see what that will be like. I’m actually really excited about it. Anytime I see a cartoon, I always wish I was one of those voices. But then you know it’s like that one person doing 40 different voices and you’re like, ‘that takes skill’. So I don’t want to take that away from anyone that is a voiceover artist fulltime because I’m an admirer of those people.”

“The Lovely Rejects” is another upcoming project of Angela’s and in this film she has a minor but very different role than she’s used to playing.

“Yeah, the role of Adrian I play in [The Lovely Rejects] is actually a lot different than things I get to play because it’s a little be more of the bad guys role. And I don’t get to play those very often. It’s not a huge part but it was pretty [interesting] in that I’m not the protagonist and I’m not the best friend and I’m not a functional character in that I come in and say a lot of information. I’m literally just a bad guy with a gun. (laughs)”

Speaking of her more recent projects, I was curious as to what she was most looking forward to in the future. She spoke very highly of a mini series called “Six” appearing on the History Channel. The series revolves around Navy Seal Team Six missions and she plays the source of intel for the team.

“Yeah, actually I’m super excited about a mini series, a limited series called ‘Six’ that is premiering on the History channel on July 18th. It’s produced by the Weinstein company and it is about Navy Seal Team Six and their mission and every season will focus on a different mission. But I’m playing a Navy intel officer who gets to brief the Seals on really crucial information that the mission depends upon.
 
So I’m excited to see what that will be like just because these stories are pretty relevant today and I feel like [they] always will be and it hits close to home for a lot of people. When people see this I think they’ll be really happy [with] the way it turned out.”

It was a very engaging and fun conversation with Angela Relucio. I thanked her for her time and speaking with us and she was very gracious as well. We wish her the best and look forward to her future projects.

“Of course, of course! It was a pleasure to speak with you Ryan!”