Jennifer Blanc has been able to turn giggling into a regular role on a TV sitcom.
Blanc plays the rather dizzy teenage girlfriend of the rebellions 16-year-old Adam on NBC's "The Mommies," and the shows producers - as well as the viewers - have been so impressed that she's been upgraded from a recurring character to a regular.And, to be fair, there's a good deal more than just giggling to both Blanc and her character, Tiffany.
"Yeah, she kind of doesn't have a clue and she is an airhead," said Blanc, who's in Utah on a ski vacation. "But a lot of people thought she was this trampy little airhead - which she's not. Really, it's that this is her first boyfriend. She just doesn't know how to act."
The writers of the show have given Tiffany more to do, and Blanc has taken that chance and run with it. One recent episode found Tiffany and her on-screen nemesis, Adam's mother, Marilyn (Marilyn Kentz), learning more about each other and developing some mutual respect.
Another episode cast Tiffany as the manager of a fast-food restaurant. In both, Blanc had a chance to display her considerable acting talents and nice comedic touch.
"I really just had a good time with what I was doing," she said. "I'll tell you, it's really nice that they've developed my character. I'm really happy about it."
Of course, no matter what Tiffany is doing she's sure to be giggling.
"The giggle has sort of become part of Tiffany," Blanc said. "In every episode she's giggling about something. Which I love."
Although Tiffany is based on a real-life person (as are all the characters in the show), it was Blanc who added the distinctive laugh.
"Yeah," she said with a giggle. "I think that's where it came from, originally."
"The Mommies" is Blanc's first regular role on a sitcom, but she had plenty of experience coming in. She appeared in her first movie (1984's "Old Enough") at the age of 12, co-starred in "Brighton Beach Memoirs" on Broadway and in the touring company, and did a couple of other plays before taking some time off to attend high school.
After graduating, she headed for Los Angeles where she landed a regular role in the short-lived "Hull High" TV series, appeared in several made-for-TV movies and guest starred on everything from "Married . . . With Children" to "Saved By the Bell" to "Beverly Hills, 90210."
And, in the past few months, Blanc has been extremely busy. In addition to "The Mommies," she starred in an upcoming Showtime movie titled "Cool and Crazy," which was directed by Ralph Bakshi.
"He's wonderful. He's really funny. He's got a lot of really wonderful kind of out-there ideas," she said of Bakshi, who has a rather out-there reputation.
"We stuck to the script to a certain extent, but he let us - as long is it was within out character - kind of improvise, which is really neat. Some of the stuff that we were doing before he actually said action ended up in the movie."
She also traveled to London to do voice-overs for the upcoming Steven Spielberg animated feature "Snowballs." Blanc portrays the lead female dog in this movie, which is scheduled to be released sometime in 1994.
The fact that she's been so much in demand is at least part of the reason the producers of "The Mommies" decided to sign her on as a regular.
"They approached us, I think because Tiffany is a vital character to the show. And then when I was getting so busy, we weren't sure when I could be there," Blanc said. "And now I can be there whenever they want."
And she's more than happy with the change. She's a big fan of the show's two stars, Kentz and Caryl Kristensen - a pair of housewives who turned their lives into a comedy act and, eventually, into a TV show.
"They make it fun. They're really good at what they do," Blanc said. "I think they're terrific on the show and they're really funny in real life. I find myself laughing hysterically on the set.
"I think when you're having fun when you're working hard, it comes across on the show."
Of course, she's also glad to get a bit of a break from production, offering her the chance to spend some time at Deer Valley.
"It's my first time in Utah and I think it is so beautiful," said Blanc, who learned to ski just this week.
"Actually, I missed my ski school yesterday and my boyfriend taught me how to ski," she said. "When we first got off the ski lift, that whole thing was sort of scary to me. And then I was afraid to move even two inches because I was scared I'd never be able to stop. I had no idea how."
But after some lessons in how to stop, she started to get the hang of it.
"By the end of the day, I was going up by myself. I had a great time," Blanc said. "Of course, I had to be careful because I can't hurt myself."
It probably wouldn't work for the character of Tiffany if Blanc suddenly showed up in a cast.
"I don't know how they would explain it," she said with a laugh. "But I don't think that's going to happen because I'm going to be in ski school all day today."