At age 5, Alicia Witt recited a jaw-breaking chunk of Shakespeare from memory on TV’s “That’s Incredible.” By the wizened age of 14, she was acting on “Twin Peaks,” and showing off her piano chops.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Now 45, Witt is hitting the multi-hyphenate triple crown: acting in a broad range of projects; touring to support her new album of original songs, “The Conduit;” and launching her first book, “Small Changes: A Rules-Free Guide to Add More Plant-Based Foods, Peace and Power to Your Life” (Harper Horizon).
Credit: handout
Credit: handout
Witt moved to Nashville in 2017 seeking a quieter life. Among her many roles: “The Sopranos,” “Orange is the New Black,” “Dune,” “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” “Two and a Half Men,” “Justified,” and “Nashville.”
Witt’s music and book bring her to Eddie’s Attic and Ponce City Market Oct. 6-7. Her recent interview with the AJC has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: You were in Atlanta in 2015 filming two episodes of “The Walking Dead,” where you got impaled on a spike and then eaten. How fun was that?
A: What a way to go! It was honestly one of the best experiences of my life. I was there for two weeks, but that very short time changed my life. I had just turned 40. I had the sense everything was shifting, and that shifting was geographical and spiritual. It was the beginning of a lot of quote unquote small changes for me, like realizing I wanted to live in this part of the country.
And when my episodes aired in 2016, for the first and likely last time ever I was No. 1 on the IMDB list of searches for actors. And as a result of that, this book agent reached out and asked me if I had any ideas for a book. I had been imagining this book but had no idea how to do it, so in a way “Walking Dead’ led to this book being born.
Q: You write in the book that following a freak accident in 2003 where a cat badly clawed your face, “What I’d experienced in my life up to that point was the effortless attention that someone perceived as attractive receives on a daily basis.” Attractive people don’t always see that about how the world treats them, do they?
A: I certainly never had. With all the insecurities that go along with being a young woman trying to make a living in this incredibly subjective sphere, I don’t even know if I saw myself as beautiful. Then I had this bizarre experience where this black cat fell from above and split my lip open and I needed plastic surgery. I was lucky that it did not do serious damage. I decided I was not supposed to worry if I was five or 10 pounds too heavy, all the stupid stuff. It was about figuring out what my true purpose was. I am so grateful to that black cat and his claws.
Credit: Travis Commeau
Credit: Travis Commeau
Q You’re doing a concert and a book signing here. Are you concerned about encounters with unvaccinated people?
A: I’m fully vaccinated and so is my band. At my show at Eddie’s Attic, we require either proof of vaccination or a negative test in the last 48 hours. And all my meet and greets will require people be masked.
I believe this is my third time playing Eddie’s Attic. I always feel like I’m playing for a roomful of friends when I’m there. I can’t even tell you how much I’m looking forward to it. We had a band rehearsal and we were on the verge of tears thinking about getting to be up on a stage in front of people for 15 cities.
Q: Last topic: Hallmark Christmas movies. You’ve starred in eight, and wrote and produced last year’s “Christmas Tree Lane.” As I’m sure you know, people who don’t watch these movies can be dismissive of them. What are they missing?
A: I was amazed what a crossover there is between a show like “The Walking Dead” and Hallmark Christmas movies. I’ll do the Christmas movie conventions and every other person is a horror fan. Or the reverse is true. I’ll do a science fiction convention (for “Dune” and “Twin Peaks”) and someone will come up in line and say (whispery shy voice) “I don’t know if I’m supposed to say this but I’m actually a huge Christmas movie fan; that’s what I know you from.”
I don’t want to convince someone to watch a Christmas movie if it’s not their cup of tea, but the most beautiful thing about them is these movies actually help people’s family dynamics go more smoothly. Christmas can be a stressful time, you’re bringing family members together and there’s all kinds of differences. I hear from people all year round that these movies actually help them do better with their family at Christmas.
MUSIC PREVIEW
Alicia Witt
7 p.m. Oct. 7. $12. Eddie’s Attic, 515-B N. McDonough St., Decatur. 404-377-4976, eddiesattic.com.
Book signing and discussion for “Small Changes.” 6 p.m. Oct. 6. $30, includes a signed copy of the book. Posman Books, Ponce City Market, 675 Ponce de Leon Ave. NE, Atlanta. posmanbooks.com.
