TV Guide: December 2nd, 2005

Popular alum Leslie Bibb recently joined NBC's Crossing Jordan (Sundays at 10 pm/ET) as Tallulah "Lu" Simmons, a police-department psychologist who has the oh-so-unenviable task of taking a long, hard look at Jerry O'Connell's Woody. Will Lu be the one to further douse any remaining flame between the hotheaded detective and M.E. Jordan?

TVGuide.com spoke with Bibb about that, ham sandwiches and her love for Will Ferrell — even though, she admitted just before we started, she has never seen a single episode of Lost. Or Desperate Housewives. Yeesh.

Leslie Bibb: TV Guide hates me, I know it.
TVGuide.com: Oh, hate is such a strong word. So, look at you, someone nicknamed Lulu playing someone named Lu!
Bibb: I know, can you believe it? Hey, I've got to switch phones because I'm about to run out of batteries. [Looking around] Where in the ham sandwich is my phone? There it is.... Can you hear me?

TVGuide.com: Did you just say "Where in the ham sandwich"?
Bibb: Yep. I'm trying not to swear.

TVGuide.com: Where did that expression come from?
Bibb: You've never heard that? Everybody says that. I'm a Virginia girl, so maybe it's a Southern thing — but don't quote me on that. I'm trying to stop swearing because I usually sound like a trucker.

TVGuide.com: You, like, totally chopped off your hair for Jordan!
Bibb: [Laughs] Everyone's talking about that! You know what, I change it all the time. Now I think I'm going to grow it long. I had extensions for a movie I just did.

TVGuide.com: This isn't your "serious shrink" hair?
Bibb: No, this is "I was bored and felt like cutting it, and then I got the job."

TVGuide.com: Will the Woody-Lu love-hate thing soon be consummated?
Bibb: Here's what happens: Because Crossing Jordan is run by the most amazing people in the world, they let me go off to do this movie, so I did about three episodes, and then I came back for [Episode] 14 on. It was unbelievably kind that they let me do this.

TVGuide.com: But still more love-hate ahead?
Bibb: Still love-hate. We're starting to get into the thick of things; the plot is starting to thicken. There's a big thing that happens between Woody and Jordan, and just when everybody thinks it's going to go one way, they throw in a twist.

TVGuide.com: You were on ER back when I watched that show religiously. Refresh my memory on who you played.
Bibb: I was an intern named Erin Harkins. I had a "thing" with Luka, and he almost killed me.

TVGuide.com: Oh yeah, they were in that car crash and the episode went "backwards" explaining what led up to it.
Bibb: It was pretty cool, I loved that episode! That was a fun show. Again, it was another show that I never watched, and then I got that job and I said to my sister, "I have all these scenes with a guy named Carter," and she was like, "Oh my god! That's Noah Wyle!" When I got the job, I was like, "Whatever, it's a job," and now I look back and think it was so cool to be a part of television history.

TVGuide.com: Is it true Erin was supposed to die in that crash, and they changed their minds to keep you on?
Bibb: No. No. Didn't die. I had to go do a pilot called Line of Fire, so I got out to do that and all of a sudden I did my rounds "upstairs."

TVGuide.com: Would Goran Visnjic have gotten your vote to be the new James Bond?
Bibb: That would have been a nice James Bond. He's a stud. He's got that Clive Owen thing going on.

TVGuide.com: Do you keep in touch with anyone from Popular?
Bibb: Carly Pope and I are really good friends.

TVGuide.com: You girls meet for Starbucks every day?
Bibb: Well, seeing that she lives in Canada, that'd be a little difficult! [Laughs] But we stay in touch. I just got an e-mail from her saying that she's in town, so I'll probably be getting together with her — probably not at Starbucks, but maybe at Aroma?

TVGuide.com: She actually went in for the role of Brooke, which you wound up getting, right?
Bibb: This is true. We both were auditioning for Brooke, and as soon as we left, they ran out and gave her the sides for Sam — which is always terrible for the other girls, the others reading for Sam. They're like, "S---!"

TVGuide.com: Hey, you just swore!
Bibb: I did. It's over. I have to be honest, I woke up swearing this morning.

TVGuide.com: Popular's Christopher Gorham is doing Out of Practice now....
Bibb: What's Out of Practice?

TVGuide.com: [Sighs heavily]
Bibb: I know. I know. Should we end now? Is the interview over?

TVGuide.com: I mean, you have this recurring Jordan gig, the income is there to buy a TV....
Bibb: Actually, my friend, I'm part of the cast now.

TVGuide.com: Even more so! You can get a CRT set pretty cheaply....
Bibb: My friend, here's what you need to know about Leslie Bibb: I just got a cell phone in the last year, and my first laptop in the last six months. I am the most techno-unsavvy person on the face of the earth. It ain't good. I'd much rather play Scrabble than watch TV.

TVGuide.com: Is it true WB misled the producers about Popular's cancellation, letting them set up cliff-hangers that were never resolved?
Bibb: News to me. That show, as much as I loved it, I think it was good that it ended when it did. Ryan Murphy went on to do Nip/Tuck, so it was better for him.... And personally, I think when you get something so fast, you don't appreciate it and all you've got is attitude and you've got no g-r- with the attitude — you've got no gratitude. I'm glad it didn't go any further because it allowed me to step back and go, "Oh, man, it's nice to actually have a job!"

TVGuide.com: Right, you don't want your first gig to go nine years and then — wham! — you're like, "How do I audition again?"
Bibb: Even if it ran for four years, you become a person you don't want to be, and I found myself becoming a person I didn't want to be — I wasn't grateful for anything, I was just chock-full of attitude. Now when I walk onto a set, I'm like, "Wow, I'm so lucky!" It sounds corny, but it's true. Hey buddy, guess what? I just found out that this little independent film got into Sundance?

TVGuide.com: Wristcutters: A Love Story?
Bibb: Yes!

TVGuide.com: Is the title meant to be ironic or funny?
Bibb: It's supposed to be funny, but we're in the dramatic competition. It's about a guy who kills himself, and I'm sort of his object of infatuation. He sort of glamorizes this relationship [we had when we were both alive] that wasn't that good.

TVGuide.com: Tell me about "Untitled Will Ferrell NASCAR Comedy."
Bibb: That's my movie!

TVGuide.com: Were you a Ferrell fan going in? Or, "I've never watched SNL, either."
Bibb: Please. And I'm an even bigger fan coming out. "More cowbell." I really feel like I was the luckiest girl in Hollywood this year because I got the best job. He is the nicest, kindest, most sincere, talented, funny, generous actor you could ever work with.

TVGuide.com: Is he all "serious" about being funny, or just funny?
Bibb: He's just funny. And he has no qualms about making something funnier for you, even at his expense.

TVGuide.com: What's the bullet on your character?
Bibb: I play Will Ferrell's crazy wife, Carly, and she's just... I feel like Carly is a star of her own country love song. She knows what she wants, and she's very savvy about getting it. Maybe she's not the nicest girl in the world, but she's really funny. She's a delicious villain. I say stuff where you're like, "She did not just say that."

TVGuide.com: Did you get to drive the cars?
Bibb: I didn't, but I did take my rental on one of the speedways at night and it scared the s--- out of me, I was screaming the entire time — and I was going like 40 mph. But man, I'm telling you, it was the time of my life. I feel really lucky right now — Crossing Jordan has this wonderful set where everyone is so nice and we have a good time, and the writers let me play this really fun, kick-ass character. This [next] episode I get to break down some doors.... And I also get to be naked. Oops! I just let something slip out of the bag! Oh, I'm just kidding.