A Chat with Allie Gonino About The Lying Game, Future Plans

You know her as Laurel Mercer on The Lying Game. I had a chance to sit down with Allie Gonino this weekend at the ATX Festival in Austin, Texas to chat about the show and it’s fate as well as her future and aspirations. Here are the highlights of this TVHackr exclusive interview.

TVHackr: People love The Lying Game.

Allie: It would be a shame if it didn’t get picked up. We love the show and love filming in Austin. I’m trying to live by the philosophy that easy does it – if it happens, great, if it doesn’t then there will be something better or something else that I’m meant to be doing other than that. I’ve got the music thing going on and luckily that keeps me busy while I’m not working on The Lying Game. Either way I’ll be fine, but I just spoke with the cast the other night at a party and we all feel the same way. We all really want to come back. They’ve kept our contracts open through July 15th to see how the new shows, Twisted and The Fosters, do. That’s what we’re up against at this time.

I think we have really good actors on the show. I’m always proud at the end of every episode at how we bring the story to life.

TVH: You got to sing on the show, which was also fun.

Allie: Getting to sing was also a highlight. It was such a passion and getting to record in Austin; I never had that experience before The Lying Game. The Good Mad’s music has such a unique feel.

I formed The Good Mad during The Lying Game and it just so happened that the creator said ‘we want to get Laurel a music storyline’ and I was like well, listen to my band. I already have a band, we’re already packaged and ready to go and we have songs. They liked the music, had them audition and they got it.

TVH: I was at the ATX Festival last year and wondered why The Lying Game, which actually films in Austin, wasn’t represented.

Allie: I know! We film in two distinct parts, the front ten and the back ten, so it probably just worked out that way.

TVH: I don’t like those long breaks. It breaks the momentum. Didn’t The Lying Game go about nine months between the two parts last year?

Allie: Yeah, but it’s still been fun. You know, you gotta toll with the punches in our industry and it’s so unpredictable and so fickle that I’m just grateful to get work. I like having a life that’s different around every corner.

TVH: If The Lying Game comes back, what do you hope happens with Laurel?

Allie: I can’t wait for the three sisters to really get some crazy sister triangle dynamics. I think we’ve seen the Emma side of Laurel and we’ve seen the Sutton side of Laurel. Sassy versus sweet. Laurel has both those sides, which I think is cool about her, so I’d love to see how it plays out with the three of them interacting.

TVH: How do you think it would play out?

Allie: I don’t know. I want to see some sister drama.

TVH: I imagine Sutton angry that she never took the time to form the bond that Emma did with Laurel and putting Laurel in the middle of a battle for her affections.

Allie: Yeah, Sutton might find that bond threatening. Triangles are always sticky. I could see Laurel getting into a situation where she’d have to stand her ground or play peacemaker a little bit. I don’t know, I just want sister drama. I never got to have that as a kid because although I had sisters, they were way older than me.

TVH: Why was Laurel always the sister who ended up with the guy who wanted somebody else?

Allie: I broke up with Justin after he came to avenge mother’s death and Jordan had Mads. I don’t know. Maybe Laurel is just on her own path. Maybe she just hasn’t found a guy who’s strong enough for her yet.

In her downtime, while not playing music with her band, The Good Mad, she has filmed a movie for Lifetime called Hidden Away and another for Hallmark titled Mom and Dad Undergrads, both expected to air in the fall.

If The Lying Game doesn’t get picked up, Allie hopes to travel and get a different perspective on American culture. Having just come from the ATX Festival Casting Deconstructed panel, everything on Allie’s to-do list was the advice they were giving to have a successful career. Living her life to the fullest.