Lisa Durupt Talks ‘Love, Guaranteed’ and the Advice She Got From Rachael Leigh Cook [Exclusive Interview] (2024)

Lisa Durupt felt like such a fraud while auditioning for the part of Denise in the new Netflix romantic comedyLove,Guaranteedthat she texted her agent immediately when it was over. “I was like, ‘Don’t ever send me for something like that again.'”

She loves to audition but she felt like it didn’t go well. There was a small detail she couldn’t get past — in the script, Susan’s (Rachael Leigh Cook) female office assistant Denise was written as menopausal.

Durupt isn’t trying to pass for 20, but with a toddler at home, she definitely couldn’t relate.

I got to talk to the rom-com veteran about making Denise her own, the advice she got from Rachael Leigh Cook about building an enduring career in Hollywood, and going to Hallmark “parties” twice a year with her friends.

Durupt got the part, and if you’ve seen Love,Guaranteed you know that menopause is replaced with a flask. But Denise is a loveable alcoholic and Susan’s law firm that is fighting the good fight for the little guy needs employees.

“Probably nobody else stuck around but she’s got these two little lost souls in Roberto [Sean Amsing] and Denise in that [they’re] thick as thieves,” Durupt said. “Denise probably wouldn’t last anywhere else because she drinks all day.”

Susan can’t pay well, but Denise has to take what she can get. Durupt told me that while it’s not explicitly said in the film, Roberto has a husband to do the job that makes real money.

Sometimes legal assistant runts come in handy. Durupt joked that Denise probably had been out with all of the guys her boss goes on dates with for “research” when their new client, Nick (Damon Wayans Jr.), wants to sue Love, Guaranteed over their false promises.

“She’d be that girl that gets promotion codes for them because she uses them so much,” Durupt added.

Denise’s most important task (other than allowing us to live through her as she sneaks booze throughout the workday) is supporting Susan as she goes through the incredibly weird journey of falling in love with a current client.

That’s taboo as a lawyer, and while Durupt has never been in that exact situation, she can relate to the wall Susan puts up on the subject of dating Nick.

“I was very against dating my husband [Michael Lyons] for a long time,” Durupt confessed. They were friends and, “…it was almost too easy.”

She had watched her friends struggle in relationships, and used her career goals as a reason to resist his requests to date.

#Relatable, honestly, and that’s what makes Love, Guaranteedso watchable. “I definitely understood that part of their relationship where [Nick] was gung ho and [Susan] was… finding different reasons whether it be fear or just uncertainty [not to begin the relationship],” Durupt said.

Off-screen, Cook and Durupt bonded over the struggles that all actors go through while on the rollercoaster ride that is pursuing an enduring career in the entertainment industry.

Durupt said Cook is “unscathed” by the lows that are sometimes part of the job. “Nobody’s been able to put out her flame, so to speak.”

Sometimes, when “life kicks your butt” Durupt can see it on a co-star’s face, but Cook has remained kind and optimistic throughout her decades-long career.

Cook came up with the concept for Love, Guaranteedand “drove it forward,” Durupt said. She learned a lot from Cook about taking the reins of a project and getting involved as a woman on the other side of the camera. “I took away from that some really great advice.”

While having one of those conversations on set with Cook, a camera guy heard Durupt talking about wanting to produce, and connected her with a director friend. The two went on to make a holiday movie called Christmas With a Crown.

Durupt also stars in the film with Andrew Walker, who has become “like family” from their work on Hallmark Christmas movies together like 2016’s A Dream of Christmas.

Durupt said that Hallmark has seasonal events to tell actors about upcoming projects and these “parties” are why she has bonded so fiercely with actors Nikki Deloach (MTV’s Awkward) and Alison Sweeney (Days of Our Lives). “I don’t know any other network that will do that consistently.”

“I think because the brand itself is quite PG and wholesome, the people who want to work for [Hallmark] and the people [Hallmark wants] to work with, at the base of it are just really good people,” Durupt said.

Christmas With a Crown does not yet have a network attached to it, but Durupt hopes to stay in the holiday movie genre in the future and put her hockey background to good use one day.

She will pop up on Netflix again in her role as Mrs. Gayle Kavinsky in All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean(currently in post-production).

But until production starts up again in Canada (or elsewhere) Durupt is enjoying time at home with her young daughter. Instead of sips of vodka like Denise, she cherishes any time she can find to take an extra sip of coffee. “It’s gold.”

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Don’t miss Lisa Durupt inLove, Guaranteed streaming now on Netflix!

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