Exclusive Interview: Hayley McFarland

Hayley McFarland can’t remember a time she didn’t want to be an actress. She currently stars as Tim Roth’s daughter on Lie to Me and recently recurred on the first season of Showtime’s The United States of Tara. I recently had the chance to talk to Hayley about her role and how she got started acting.

JC: Tell me about your current project!

Lie To Me. It’s a show on Fox and it’s about Dr. Cal Lightman. I play his daughter. He’s an expert in the science of lie detecting. He can tell facial tics and different stuff in your voice to know when you’re lying. He solves cases.

It’s kind of me just trying to be a teenager and acert my independence, which is kind of hard when he can tell everything I do.

JC: Do you prefer theater, television, or movies?

Well when I was younger all I wanted to do was musical theater. i wanted to be on Broadway, but when I was thirteen I decided to come out to California and try movies and television. I’m kind of focusing on that right now.

JC: What has been your favorite role thus far?

Lie To Me’s kind of fun because I like working Tim [Roth] and stuff. But I did have a lot of fun United States of Tara because I got to wear these really cool 40s close and say all sorts of snarky things.

JC: What is your dream role?

I’d really love to do something that J.J. Abrams is doing, like be on Lost! That would be so awesome, that’s one of my favorite shows.

JC: Who have you liked working with?

Working with Tim is a lot of fun. He’s really goofy and he’s been kind of fatherly, taking me under his wing. I’ve had fun with him.

JC: Have you ever been starstruck when you go on set?

When I was doing An American Crime, working with Ellen Page – she was really cool, but it was kind of intimidating.

JC: Who are your role models in the industry?

I do like Ellen, she has really unique and has made unique choices in her choices. I like Natalie Portman and Audrey Hepburn.

JC: How did you get your start in acting?

I wanted to do musical theater. I was about six or seven when I started. And then I got an agent in Oklahoma and started doing commercials.

JC: Do you have any advice for fans looking to get into the industry?

If you really love it, then just do it for fun.

JC: Do you have any celebrity crushes?

I do think Daniel Radcliffe is pretty cute!

JC: Do you have a good luck charm?

Not really!

JC: Is there anything you would tell your teen fans?

Don’t take things too seriously. Everything seems so important at the time, but in hindsight it’s always really silly.

Image Credited to Sharp & Associates Public Relations