Actress Alison Brie, who played wide-eyed innocents on Community and Mad Men, was excited to get her hands dirty and shatter this image that people have of me” by starring as a wrestler on the Netflix series GLOW. The show, executive produced by Orange is the New Black‘s Jenji Kohan, shows women from a wide array of backgrounds bond and work together to become the Gorgeous Ladies of Wresting. Alison plays the lead Ruth, a failed actress for whom a chance to jump in the ring represents pretty much her only shot at fame. To say the role is a departure for her is an understatement, but she manages to turn in a convincing performance. The 34-year-old actress and her co-star Betty Gilpin recently spoke with W Magazine about the show. Alison who calls her work on the show her “dream job”, had lots to say about working on the female-centric series.

On what drew her to GLOW: This character is so compelling, I connect with her in such a deep way. Also, to be working with so many women, to have interesting storylines for so many characters and then to add on the wrestling and get to do something very physical and show that side of ourselves. I think for a lot of women on the show and certainly for myself, it’s an unexpected side. That’s exciting and dangerous to me. And even now, when you tell people you’re working on a wrestling show that they kind of cock their head a little and are like, “Really? You?”

On the challenges of playing a wrestler: When you’re learning stuff, you want to have zero hesitation because it’s a job and we’re all doing this together…it was definitely confidence-building and empowering. And cool the way that every woman on the show just ran at this challenge. There was no hesitation, ever. I feel like we learned things that were very difficult, and sometimes emotions ran very high when we were trying to figure out how to crack a new move. But everybody was going full force and that bounty of support and adrenaline and excitement was thrilling and helped all of us to embrace what we were doing.

On GLOW and body image: In terms of how we related to our bodies, it was a game changer…as actresses and as a society, sometimes I feel like women are made to be almost hyper aware of their bodies in a very unhealthy way. Figuring out what the standard of beauty is and trying to fit into that box. And this was about being one with our bodies rather than being at odds with our bodies. It wasn’t about setting outlandish expectations for our own bodies—it was about embracing our strengths and working with our bodies, feeling like athletes, feeding and fueling our bodies in a literal way with calories and also in an emotional way. You needed confidence, you wanted to build yourself up and think, I can do this, I’m capable. And when I was thinking about my body, I was seldom thinking about how it actually looked and more thinking about what it can do.

On the spandex-heavy GLOW wardrobe: We just existed in them all the time! Eating in them. Because again, this speaks to the environment on set: it was a community of women. We were 14 women in the cast, our showrunners are women, most of our writers are women, many of our directors are women. A lot of our crew were dudes, we had some women, but also the dudes were great. It was such a wonderful environment, [show creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch] set a tone, and all of us, too, being like: this is our set and we will wear what we want and we will be how we’re going to be.

[From W Magazine]

While there has been no official word as to whether or not the series will be picked up for a second season (I hope, I hope), Alison is eager to get back in the ring, telling The Hollywood Reporter, “We’re really looking forward to getting back into training — all the women are.” She went on to say, “We all miss the wrestling. I’ve kept up my heavy lifting with my trainer and am just staying in top shape to be prepared. But it’s a little scary, too, how there is no end in sight about how good the moves have to be. They just have to get better and better!”

I, for one, loved season one of GLOW and can’t wait to find out what happens next. Of course, I adore Alison Brie and the entire cast of the series is phenomenal. Side note: as some of you mentioned in the comments of the last post, Netflix is currently streaming a documentary about the real Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling that, although not enough to tide you over until season two of GLOW (make it happen, Netflix), is definitely worth a watch.

Photos: Getty, WENN.com