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Ellen Feiss Interview
Posted by
michael
on Fri Nov 22, 2002 08:48 AM
from the did-you-know-that-there-are-mugs-with-your-face-on-them dept.
from the did-you-know-that-there-are-mugs-with-your-face-on-them dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The Wait is over! Ellen Feiss's interview is up! And she really was on drugs, (well, allergy meds.)" She's, like, going to be traumatized about this forever, like.
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Ellen Feiss Interview
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Re:Damn right she's traumatised! (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe a Brown student (Score:4, Funny)
Re:YHBT (Score:5, Funny)
And then when I hit the back key to try to repost my whole troll was gone.
And it was... like.... a bummer.
I'm A. Troll, and I
wow /.'ed already (Score:4, Funny)
Re:wow /.'ed already (Score:4, Funny)
Give me karma (Score:4, Informative)
her pc crashed, she made the switch, and now she's famous. meet the internet's latest it girl.
By Zachary Frechette
Ellen Feiss is a lot like most 15-year-olds, with one notable exception: Some guy in Holland is wearing a T-shirt with her face on it right now. Actually, a lot of people are wearing that shirt with her picture or drinking coffee from a similarly themed mug purchased on one of Ellen's numerous fan sites. After appearing in a "Switch" ad for Apple computer (www.apple.com/switch/ads), Feiss quickly became an Internet celebrity, spawning stories in newspapers from coast to coast and sparking discussion in chat rooms across the world. There was even a look-alike contest held outside Amsterdam, although most of the entrants were men. Some have argued she seems a bit too, um, light-headed in her commercial, but that hasn't stopped Leno and Letterman from trying to book her (actually, it probably helped). As a sophomore in high school, Ellen still isn't quite sure what to make of her 15 minutes, but between meetings with her agent and MTV executives, she took some time to answer questions for Post-.
How did you get involved with the Apple switch campaign in the first place?
It's kind of a funny story. I'm friends with the son of the director, Errol Morris. I'm friends with his son Hamilton. I went with him after school, him and two of my friends. We didn't think we were going to make ads; we were just going to get the free set food. So we go there, and they're like, "We need a couple more people, so I guess the three of you can make ads." So we all made ads, and me and Hamilton's got picked. I had no idea I was going to do it until I got there.
Is the story you told true?
Oh yeah, it's definitely true.
What was the paper about?
It was about Chinatown, and the formation of Chinatowns in America. I lost like three pages of it; it was terrible. It was a really, really good paper.
Did Apple compensate you for the commercial at all?
I'm not actually sure how much I got paid because it was in installments, and the whole contract was dealt with by my parents, so I'm not actually sure. Oh, and I got an iPod. It's like the coolest thing ever.
What was the initial response of your friends and family to the commercial?
They all freaked out. I called my dad while I was at the set because I had to get him to say that he was my guardian and it was OK for me to do it, and he didn't believe me that I was going to do it. So they all freaked out when they found out I got the ad.
Did you get a lot of phone calls after it aired?
Yeah, a lot of old camp friends, actually.
When did you start getting the sense you were becoming a celebrity beyond the commercial itself?
I was on vacation in Arizona this summer, and when I left everything was fine. It was kind of like, "Oh this is cool, I'm in a commercial," but that's it. And so we left. When we get back two weeks later, it's like a bombard, it was so big. I have like 20 messages on the answering machine from different people telling me about this, random people like people who work with my parents and all these other people. I get back and I'm in The New York Times, and I'm in the L.A. Times, and Letterman wants me on his show, Leno wants me on his show. I'm like, "I just got back from vacation!" It's funny because I get back, and the New York Times is like, "Ellen is unreachable for comment because she's supposedly on vacation," and I was like, "How do they even know this?" It was really kind of scary, actually, a little overwhelming at first.
So do you have any interest in doing Leno or Letterman?
I was offered to, but I decided not to because I thought it wouldn't be so much "Who are you, Ellen Feiss?" It would be more like, "Are you a stoner?" blah blah blah. I did get other offers besides that that I'm getting into. MTV wants to talk to me. They're doing a pilot on me. The guy's going to come to my house in two weeks and interview me, and then show it to the CEO of MTV. I got a lot of crazy offers. I thought if I went on Letterman, it would be like I go on Letterman, and then I go on "Regis and Kelly," and then I go on Channel 5 News, and then it would kind of fizzle out pathetically. MTV's a little cooler.
Any idea what the MTV show would be about?
No, he has no idea. He just said he liked the ads and said I was a cute kid.
Do you think this has the potential to jump-start a career in entertainment?
I don't know. I also got a call from the Farrelly Brothers. They were like, "You know we really like your ad," so they wrote down my name or something. I have an agent now. This guy writes me down -- the producer of all the Farrelly brothers movies -- and he's like this kid is whatever whatever, this ad is pretty funny, so he writes my name down and he's trying to get in contact with my agent. Since I didn't have an agent at that point
So have you made a bunch of new friends at school?
No, it isn't that weird. I get a lot of really obvious comments from people like "Did you know that there are mugs with your face on them?" and I'm like, "No I didn't; why don't you tell me about that?" Just comments like that. It's like, "Thanks for telling me about that."
Are you OK with all the Web sites, and people walking around wearing your face on their T-shirts?
Oh, whatever, I think it's kind of funny. These people don't have lives. I don't know, it was kind of bizarre at first. I went to my Web site but I decided not to read any of the comments because I thought it would be too weird. I heard about some of them, though, so I was like, "Weeell, I'm not going to read those."
Did you hear about the look-alike contest in Holland?
I did! I saw the pictures, too. It was really funny.
Did you have a favorite picture?
The toothless old man was hands down the best, but no one actually looked anything like me.
Has Apple tried to contact you since all this happened?
They contacted me to supposedly advise me. They were like, "We don't really want you to take this anywhere," but I decided to get an agent anyway. I went to Macworld in July. It seems like the kind of thing where if you're not in the biz
Do you have a favorite switch ad besides your own?
Probably Hamilton, just because I know him, and I saw him make it. It was so funny. Me and Hamilton have decided that our new nemesis is Jeremiah Cohick. He's our age, and he's trying to steal our limelight! We decided we don't like him. We're out to get him.
Does it bother you at all that some of your fame might be related to your perceived state of sobriety in the commercial?
It doesn't really bother me. I do admit to looking pretty out of it in that commercial -- I think I look horrible. It was after school, but I was the last person to make the commercial, so by the time I made it it was like 10, so I was really tired. The funny thing was, I was on drugs! I was on Benedryl, my allergy medication, so I was really out of it anyway. That's why my eyes were all red, because I have seasonal allergies. But no one believes me.
Do you feel any connection to the Dell dude?
No, none whatsoever. That guy's a doofus. I get a lot of "What if you guys had kids?" And I'm like, "What if we had kids?" Why would you ask that? What a weird question. They'd probably be blond.
shes only 15?? (Score:5, Funny)
Pay attention now mods, this is an attempt at HUMOR, not a troll, or flamebait, or offtopic. Thank you.
Re:Give me karma (Score:5, Funny)
Seems like you're not the first to ask this. From the interview, and I quote:
"What a weird question. They'd probably be blond."
-- james
Re:Give me karma (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, I don't know if that's part of the ITY2k segment or not... But anyway, it's a reference to Conan O'Brien.
Re:Give me karma : OBLIGATORY RESPONSE (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Give me karma (Score:5, Funny)
Dell Dude: "Dude, you're getting an abortion!"
-FF
(Going to hell for that one...)
Re:Give me karma (Score:5, Funny)
That's how everybody feels at Macworld, sweetheart...
Re:I mourn... (Score:5, Insightful)
My sister is in high school, talks EXACTLY like this girl, and has a 4.79 GPA. Just because the interviewer decided to keep all the slang and "likes" and "uhhs" in the transcription doesn't mean the American School System Is Going To Shit. It only means this girl hasn't taken her Public Speaking course yet. She seems pretty intelligent, mature, and courteous to her international detractors for a 15-year-old.
Besides, do you think maybe, possibly, the interviewer transcribed it that way for **effect**? It was done this way so people like you could look at it, shake your head gravely, and make some witty remark on Slashdot about That Stoner Chick.
Take the stick out of your Anonymous Coward ass and quit looking down your nose at someone none of us have met.
Re:Enlightenment, anyone? (Score:5, Informative)
Go here to see her ad [apple.com] and you can make your own decisions. Warning - if you have a soft place in your heart for cute goofy stoner chicks you just might become obsessed. :)
Re:Enlightenment, anyone? (Score:5, Funny)
Doesn't everyone have a soft place for cute goofy stoner chicks?
I just assumed that was a universal maxim, like how art on sci-fi magazines and novels has nothing to do with the stories to be found inside, or how mice, no matter how optical, self cleaning, nanotech, will always need to be cleaned at the crucial moment of the game winning frag...
Re:good (Score:5, Insightful)
She's a 15 year old girl who, other than sharing an unfortunate generational tendency to overuse the term like, seems to have her head screwed on pretty well.
Go Ellen!
Who? (Score:5, Informative)
Right... (Score:4, Funny)
This is Slashdot. Now that the server is down, the wait is just beginning...
Oh wait, it's still (sluggishly) responding. I'll repost it (somewhat) anonymously.
Re:I'm a little disappointed... (Score:5, Funny)
Hello? McFly?
Re:I'm a little disappointed... (Score:4, Informative)
That everyone hates PCs? (Score:4, Funny)
That everyone hates their PC?
Re:I'm a little disappointed... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:In the long term (Score:5, Funny)
What we need to do is wait until Ellen's mac goes bleep, bleep and then shove a slackware cd into her hands. Then she can do commercials for linux.
Re:In the long term (Score:5, Insightful)
How is this bad for Linux? This is called healthy competition. Until Mac OS X, there really was no good UI for a desktop Unix-y OS. Linux desktops have improved dramatically since OS X was released, at least partly due to the fact that the developers have OS X as a benchmark of how good a Unix desktop can be. (Granted, they'd be improving even faster if so many developers weren't trying to clone the awful Windows interface, but that's another matter
Mac OS X and Linux are good for each other. More Unix-y OS users out there to provide a market, more developers writing software that can be ported to each other's platforms, more people getting the idea that Unix is not something scary and dangerous
If Apple ever has 90% market share -- hell, if Apple ever has 50% market share -- you'll have something to worry about. Right now, Linux and OS X are natural allies.
Re:In the long term (Score:5, Interesting)
Adopt Apple's HI guidelines for Linux (Score:5, Insightful)
I understand why Linux developers look to Windows. It's a familiar environment for most users. But I think we don't give users enough credit: provide them a well thought-out, consistent, attractive interface, and they'll do well. Of these three atrributes, consistency is the key.
The cool thing about the Mac interface is that everything works the same. No matter what you're running, you'll know where to find things. Windows behave consistently from app to app. Once you've spent a couple hours on a Mac, it's a BETTER pointy-clicky interface than Windows.
Mac developers design their interfaces with the Macintosh Human Interface guidelines in mind. I wish there were something similar in the Linux world:
http://developer.apple.com/techpubs/mac/HIGuide
Ah, yes: we must maintain our choices. No consistent interface for us. Long live the Revolution.
Re:In the long term (Score:4, Insightful)
How so? Linux is free. It doesn't matter what anyone else does. Linux will always be an available choice.
Also, the Unix-type operating systems are all designed to work with open standards. Want to share files with a Sun box? Go right ahead with NFS! Want to share files with a Windows box? Lucky for us the Samba Team is reverse engineering the SMB protocol. You can add Mac OS X and Linux and BSD boxes to a Solaris NIS domain. You can add them to an NT domain only because of the Samba Team's work.
Also, Apple doesn't have a monopoly on the desktop. They even have a different architecture for their computer systems, which means they cost more to make. Therefore, to be successful, Apple has to compete with commodity beige-box PCs on features alone to get people to pay more for a Mac. Is this a bad thing? Not if it makes the computing experience worth it for Mac users.
Summary (Score:5, Informative)
That's all from memory and I read it a while ago. Stop complaining about the server being slashdotted or CmdrTaco will come to your house and eat your children.
SPOILERS ABOVE (Score:5, Funny)
elen feiss's popularity (Score:5, Interesting)
Like, thats a lot. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Like, thats a lot. (Score:4, Funny)
(It's a joke!)
"Bendadryl" my butt (Score:5, Funny)
The funny thing was, I was on drugs! I was on Benedryl, my allergy medication, so I was really out of it anyway. That's why my eyes were all red, because I have seasonal allergies. But no one believes me.
Mmmhmm.
Look, Ellen, I've done a lot of dope during my day. Bunch. Used to grow it, in fact. And I've taken Benadryl, too.
Not once has Benadryl made people think I'm high. Never. I've taken Benadryl, gone to work, nobody even knew. Weed makes people think I'm high. The bloodshot eyes, the lazy movements, the relaxed jaw and speaking style. Fuck, you're wearing a cotton pullover with a hood. Comfy clothes, man. Comfy clothes are all you care about wearing when you're stoned. Detective Rev. says that you were high as a fucking kite but can't admit it because you'll get in trouble.
Can't blame you, but can't believe you, either.
Re:"Bendadryl" my butt (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:"Bendadryl" my butt (Score:5, Funny)
All She Wanted Was a Pepsi! (Score:4, Funny)
'She's on drugs.'
No she's not; she's thinking. Go get her a Pepsi.
.........
She's not cazy!
Institutionalized!
Re:"Bendadryl" my butt (Score:4, Insightful)
been stoned on antihistamines. I mean, everything
from slightly floaty to completely immobile. And
no, I don't take them recreationally, this is just
what I've noticed when I've taken them for legit
reasons.
This does not constitute an opinion on the veracity
of Ms. Feiss's claim.
Re:"Bendadryl" my butt (Score:5, Funny)
I mean look at your proof. She was wearing comfy clothes. Comfy. What could influence an individual to wear comfy clothes but the gentle ministrations of marijuana? Comfy clothes. Thank you. I now know that my grandmother is a stoner. My friend's little sister, also a stoner. Hundreds of people, who I used to think maybe they just liked soft cotton, all stoners. Comfy. clothes. Joggers beware. I'm on to you.
Re:"Bendadryl" my butt (Score:5, Funny)
Uh no. THC is a CNS depressant. Joggers are obviously on some kind of stimulant to get up at oh-dark-thirty, put on their jogging suit with racing stripes, head out into the freezing cold and destroy their knees. I suspect crack.
Benadryl makes ME stoned (Score:4, Insightful)
Speaking of yow, your sig, dude. Thanks for the "Visualization mode OFF!" moment for today.
Seems nice enough (Score:5, Insightful)
At least she can laugh about all of the crazy stuff, like dress-up contests. Too many other people would, "like, freak out because that's really, like, wierd."
Ah to be 15, ignorant, naive, on Benadryl, and an instant celebrity.
Lies! Damned lies!! (Score:3, Interesting)
It's kind of a funny story. I'm friends with the son of the director, Errol Morris. I'm friends with his son Hamilton. I went with him after school, him and two of my friends. We didn't think we were going to make ads; we were just going to get the free set food. So we go there, and they're like, "We need a couple more people, so I guess the three of you can make ads." So we all made ads, and me and Hamilton's got picked. I had no idea I was going to do it until I got there.
According to Ellen [apple.com] at Apple's site:
I'm writing to share a tragic little story.
My Dad has a PC that my sister and I used to use for our homework assignments. One night, I was writing a paper on it, when all of a sudden it went berserk, the screen started flashing, and the whole paper just disappeared. All of it. And it was a good paper! I had to cram and rewrite it really quickly. Needless to say, my rushed paper wasn't nearly as good, and I blame that PC for the grade I got.
I'm happy to report that my sister and I now share an Apple PowerBook. It's a lot nicer to work on than my dad's PC was, it hasn't let me down once, and my grades have all been really good.
Thanks, Apple.
Ellen Feiss
So which was it - an email to Apple, or a hookup with the director's son?
Re:Lies! Damned lies!! (Score:5, Informative)
Post:Is the story you told true?
Ellen: Oh yeah, it's definitely true.
Post:What was the paper about?
Ellen: It was about Chinatown, and the formation of Chinatowns in America. I lost like three pages of it; it was terrible. It was a really,
If the story is true, it doesn't matter if she knows the son of the director.
Re:Lies! Damned lies!! (Score:5, Insightful)
She was writing a paper, lost it, and had to rewrite it. This lead to the purchase of an Apple PowerBook.
She was later picked for the Switch ad by pure chance and happy (?) coincidence. Apple asks her to write the "letter" to share the story behind her switch.
Thus they're both true. You misapplied cause and effect to imply an effect that wasn't there.
The funniest part of the interview (Score:5, Funny)
"Oh, whatever, I think it's kind of funny. These people don't have lives..."
What's that sound? Ah yes, the sound of 1000 slashdotters being stabbed through the heart.
Well, at least Natalie Portman still loves you.
Re:The funniest part of the interview (Score:5, Funny)
No, none whatsoever. That guy's a doofus. I get a lot of "What if you guys had kids?" And I'm like, "What if we had kids?" Why would you ask that? What a weird question. They'd probably be blond.
I had to clean my screen after reading that comment - I laughed so hard saliva went everywhere
-- james
That's IT! I've had it! (Score:5, Funny)
That's the last straw. Did we really need to know the destination of your oral fluids???
I'm now officially declaring a JIHAD on those spawns of satan, Joke Congratulation Posts.
Jokes? Fine. I've no problem with them. A lot of jokes on slashdot are at least a good attempt at being amusing. But joke congratulation posts? Whether satirical or straight, they just blow goats.
I'm sorry. I'm now going on a one-man crusade to mark all joke congratulation posts, irrespective of their origin, as -1 Overrated. You may call me sad and pathetic, you may call me strange - but I retort that those who post Joke Congratulation Posts are even sadder!
Re:That's IT! I've had it! (Score:4, Funny)
T-Shirts? (Score:5, Funny)
Oh, whatever, I think it's kind of funny. These people don't have lives.
That's it, I'm taking this T-shirt off. And you can have my mug back.
Try As I Might... (Score:5, Funny)
Natalie Portman Forever!!! (*waves pennant feebly*)
BlackBolt
Re:Try As I Might... (Score:5, Funny)
Ellen, Stalk Different
Re:Hey! (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah, her nipples were like two stacks of dimes....
Don't mind me. Too much Benadryl...
Mirrored (Score:3, Funny)
Brown Daily: Good morning Ellen.
Ellen Feiss: yo mannnn...
BD: How was your time working with Apple?
EF: Do you.. like.. have any crack?
BD: umm..
EF: Apple gave me crack.. it was.. like.. really good crack.
BD: Let's talk about your upbringing.
EF: It was.. like.. gone..
BD: Your upbringing was "gone"?
EF: nooooo.. the crack at Apple.. it was like.. really good crack..
BD: OK, well then let's talk about Apple. Did you meet Steve Jobs?
EF: It was really.. good crack.
[the above story is fictional..]
Re:Mirrored (Score:4, Funny)
stuff like this makes me punch kittens.
shutdown -h now (Score:4, Insightful)
""We need a couple more people, so I guess the three of you can make ads." So we all made ads, and me and Hamilton's got picked. I had no idea I was going to do it until I got there."
So I get the impression from this that the ad was made up. Didn't the majority of y'all just finish trashing Microsoft for doing that a few weeks ago?
Apple "switch" campaign... (Score:4, Insightful)
FOX TROT!! (Score:4, Funny)
Mirror (no joke) (Score:5, Informative)
Free set food? (Score:4, Funny)
Sounds like someone had a hit of the munchies...
Memorable Quotes of Ellen Feiss... (Score:5, Funny)
"I also got a call from the Farrelly Brothers. They were like, "You know we really like your ad," so they wrote down my name or something."
"Supposedly, though, my agent is "floating my image," quote unquote. I don't know what the hell that means."
Kids...
Re:Memorable Quotes of Ellen Feiss... (Score:4, Funny)
I remember her. She's the one who cheered when Woz got the Best Picture Oscar.
How news worthy is this? (Score:3, Insightful)
"Area girl friends with TV director's son, gets part in ad!"
Does this sound like an Onion [onion.com] article?
Ellen's Parodies (Score:5, Funny)
In all fairness to the switch ads (Score:5, Interesting)
Sure win2K and XP are more stable, but after tons of install/uninstalls of apps and programs the thing starts to seriously slow down and munge itself. Since 95 I've had windows corrupt it's own dll's atleast 2x a year on all the systems. This isn't even counting production boxes at work that have mysteriously killed IIS dll's.
The thought of having to tech support my Son's computer is beginning to make me throw up. He already has a skill for crashing win2K and XP by pressing down on a half dozen keys for a minute. Toddlers and young children don't know that microsoft didn't design the keyboard as a ladder or piano. All they know is when I push down on all the keys with my palm, the box makes lots of funny noises. I've seen young children bang on mac keyboards without causing it to lock up hard. Sure the ads are stupid, but many people consider themselves computer challenged. If buying a mac means I don't have to re-install windows on my Son's box 5x times a year, I'm there. I rather not waste 4 hours per install, when I could be doing other things more fun.
Re:In all fairness to the switch ads (Score:4, Insightful)
I mean, the nice thing about a Mac is that it just works. I don't need to waste time trying to figure out why the crap that should work--that was working yesterday--is not working today.
I've worked with all kinds of OS's--from Debian on a Sparcstation to OpenBSD on my old Pentium laptop. Hell, I administer an NT domain and keep a mid-sized network of production Windows machines up and running. For what it's worth, I've had a little experience getting stuff to run. I'd say that right now, I'm more productive, and less worried about getting my system running right than I have been with any other OS.
That aside, I think you may be having hardware rather than software related issues. I don't know what's happening to you, but I don't think it's Windows that's to blame. Again, there's plenty of reasons not to like Windows; the poor interface design inherent in Windows, many of the management tools are simply buried, are counter-intuitive, or just don't exist. Windows' popularity is the result of the best marketing in the world, not the best quality.
Because Microsoft's paramount concern is to get their OS to run hardware from a myriad of vendors, they have put the stability of the overall system second to the marketability of the OS. Albeit, Microsoft has done a pretty good job getting their OS running on lots of different equipment, but the down-side is that they really have no control over the quality of the overall system.
If you stick with PCs, try a business-class system from Dell, or another commodity vendor that has control of the entire system. For me, I'm extremely happy with my Apples. A few years ago I laughed at Apples. I'd never be caught near an Apple computer. Now, I'd never go back.
At home, I still have my Mandrake Linux Desktop, my FreeBSD server, my OpenBSD firewall and the wife's token Windows box--I'd never want to get rid of them (except for the hassles of the Win Box)--but I spend more and more time getting things done, learning new things and having fun on my Mac than I ever did trying to get what was working yesterday to work once again. I have enough trouble at work keeping things running right, I don't want to come home to do the same crap.
Really, really pathetic (Score:3, Funny)
Slashot Interview Anyone? (Score:5, Interesting)
Sum of all fears... (Score:5, Funny)
Who? (Score:3, Funny)
Who?
Ellen? How about Janie?!? (Score:4, Insightful)
Instead, I recommend Janie Porche. She's literate and smiles. A lot. Much easier to deal with, in the long run. Trust me on this one.
Ok, someone please explain (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Ok, someone please explain (Score:5, Funny)
B00B5
In Other News (Score:3, Funny)
In a brilliant PR move, Apple has trademarked the word "Like" and is sending cease and desist letters on behalf of their new IP acquisition. The question of prior art has arisen, though the only clear contenders, Moonunit Zappa and "My So Called Life" have yet to respond at the time of this posting. Film at 11.
Ellen's no dope (Score:3, Insightful)
That's the smartest thing ever said by a temporary celebrity about temporary celebrity.
Hilarious interview; a figure for our time (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Slashdotted already! (Score:5, Informative)
her pc crashed, she made the switch, and now she's famous. meet the internet's latest it girl.
By Zachary Frechette
Ellen Feiss is a lot like most 15-year-olds, with one notable exception: Some guy in Holland is wearing a T-shirt with her face on it right now. Actually, a lot of people are wearing that shirt with her picture or drinking coffee from a similarly themed mug purchased on one of Ellen's numerous fan sites. After appearing in a "Switch" ad for Apple computer (www.apple.com/switch/ads), Feiss quickly became an Internet celebrity, spawning stories in newspapers from coast to coast and sparking discussion in chat rooms across the world. There was even a look-alike contest held outside Amsterdam, although most of the entrants were men. Some have argued she seems a bit too, um, light-headed in her commercial, but that hasn't stopped Leno and Letterman from trying to book her (actually, it probably helped). As a sophomore in high school, Ellen still isn't quite sure what to make of her 15 minutes, but between meetings with her agent and MTV executives, she took some time to answer questions for Post-.
How did you get involved with the Apple switch campaign in the first place?
It's kind of a funny story. I'm friends with the son of the director, Errol Morris. I'm friends with his son Hamilton. I went with him after school, him and two of my friends. We didn't think we were going to make ads; we were just going to get the free set food. So we go there, and they're like, "We need a couple more people, so I guess the three of you can make ads." So we all made ads, and me and Hamilton's got picked. I had no idea I was going to do it until I got there.
Is the story you told true?
Oh yeah, it's definitely true.
What was the paper about?
It was about Chinatown, and the formation of Chinatowns in America. I lost like three pages of it; it was terrible. It was a really, really good paper.
Did Apple compensate you for the commercial at all?
I'm not actually sure how much I got paid because it was in installments, and the whole contract was dealt with by my parents, so I'm not actually sure. Oh, and I got an iPod. It's like the coolest thing ever.
What was the initial response of your friends and family to the commercial?
They all freaked out. I called my dad while I was at the set because I had to get him to say that he was my guardian and it was OK for me to do it, and he didn't believe me that I was going to do it. So they all freaked out when they found out I got the ad.
Did you get a lot of phone calls after it aired?
Yeah, a lot of old camp friends, actually.
When did you start getting the sense you were becoming a celebrity beyond the commercial itself?
I was on vacation in Arizona this summer, and when I left everything was fine. It was kind of like, "Oh this is cool, I'm in a commercial," but that's it. And so we left. When we get back two weeks later, it's like a bombard, it was so big. I have like 20 messages on the answering machine from different people telling me about this, random people like people who work with my parents and all these other people. I get back and I'm in The New York Times, and I'm in the L.A. Times, and Letterman wants me on his show, Leno wants me on his show. I'm like, "I just got back from vacation!" It's funny because I get back, and the New York Times is like, "Ellen is unreachable for comment because she's supposedly on vacation," and I was like, "How do they even know this?" It was really kind of scary, actually, a little overwhelming at first.
So do you have any interest in doing Leno or Letterman?
I was offered to, but I decided not to because I thought it wouldn't be so much "Who are you, Ellen Feiss?" It would be more like, "Are you a stoner?" blah blah blah. I did get other offers besides that that I'm getting into. MTV wants to talk to me. They're doing a pilot on me. The guy's going to come to my house in two weeks and interview me, and then show it to the CEO of MTV. I got a lot of crazy offers. I thought if I went on Letterman, it would be like I go on Letterman, and then I go on "Regis and Kelly," and then I go on Channel 5 News, and then it would kind of fizzle out pathetically. MTV's a little cooler.
Any idea what the MTV show would be about?
No, he has no idea. He just said he liked the ads and said I was a cute kid.
Do you think this has the potential to jump-start a career in entertainment?
I don't know. I also got a call from the Farrelly Brothers. They were like, "You know we really like your ad," so they wrote down my name or something. I have an agent now. This guy writes me down -- the producer of all the Farrelly brothers movies -- and he's like this kid is whatever whatever, this ad is pretty funny, so he writes my name down and he's trying to get in contact with my agent. Since I didn't have an agent at that point
So have you made a bunch of new friends at school?
No, it isn't that weird. I get a lot of really obvious comments from people like "Did you know that there are mugs with your face on them?" and I'm like, "No I didn't; why don't you tell me about that?" Just comments like that. It's like, "Thanks for telling me about that."
Are you OK with all the Web sites, and people walking around wearing your face on their T-shirts?
Oh, whatever, I think it's kind of funny. These people don't have lives. I don't know, it was kind of bizarre at first. I went to my Web site but I decided not to read any of the comments because I thought it would be too weird. I heard about some of them, though, so I was like, "Weeell, I'm not going to read those."
Did you hear about the look-alike contest in Holland?
I did! I saw the pictures, too. It was really funny.
Did you have a favorite picture?
The toothless old man was hands down the best, but no one actually looked anything like me.
Has Apple tried to contact you since all this happened?
They contacted me to supposedly advise me. They were like, "We don't really want you to take this anywhere," but I decided to get an agent anyway. I went to Macworld in July. It seems like the kind of thing where if you're not in the biz
Do you have a favorite switch ad besides your own?
Probably Hamilton, just because I know him, and I saw him make it. It was so funny. Me and Hamilton have decided that our new nemesis is Jeremiah Cohick. He's our age, and he's trying to steal our limelight! We decided we don't like him. We're out to get him.
Does it bother you at all that some of your fame might be related to your perceived state of sobriety in the commercial?
It doesn't really bother me. I do admit to looking pretty out of it in that commercial -- I think I look horrible. It was after school, but I was the last person to make the commercial, so by the time I made it it was like 10, so I was really tired. The funny thing was, I was on drugs! I was on Benedryl, my allergy medication, so I was really out of it anyway. That's why my eyes were all red, because I have seasonal allergies. But no one believes me.
Do you feel any connection to the Dell dude?
No, none whatsoever. That guy's a doofus. I get a lot of "What if you guys had kids?" And I'm like, "What if we had kids?" Why would you ask that? What a weird question. They'd probably be blond.
zach frechette '04 forgot to ask if ellen knows janie porche's phone number.
Re:did she ever hear of "autosave"? (Score:3, Insightful)
Not sick, not in the slightest (Score:4, Insightful)
The normal adult human male (as shown by psychological studies) finds females to be in their _peak_ of attractiveness from the ages of 14 to 24. This is normal human sexuality for adult males to be attracted to teenage girls - males find teens more attractive than 30somethings.
The condition by the name of "Paedophillia" means being primarily attracted to pre-puberlessant children. This means under 12s; pre-puberlessants. A normal human male of any age is going to be capable of finding a 14 year old girl (and perhaps younger) both physically and mentally attractive.
It was considered in 19th century England that no normal woman could enjoy / want sex, and any one that did was perverted and immoral. Victorian England had great negative associations with sexuality in general. In the paedophile-hysteria of the last decade and half, people in English-speaking countries have falsely come to associate any attraction to under-18s as being 'sick'. If this is so, then just about everybody is sick. Of course, an inidividual's sexuality sits on a spectrum in regards to age just as it does to hetro/homosexuality, but more 40year old guys are going to be able to find this 15 year old Ellen Feiss attractive than ones who are not.
What I think is morally suspect is the righteous spouting from people who don't bother to carefully consider the truthfulness in their view of the world....
Re:You people are pathetic. (Score:3, Funny)
After you? Or do you work as Slashdot Troll Master?
Don't you all have stuffed penguins to fuck or something?
No, it's much more funny to let them drink until they pass out [stuffedpenguins.com].