NEWSOK! Next Big Deal: Meet Leah Pipes, of the Jodi Arias Movie on Lifetime!
Trust Lifetime to get a move on when it comes to the mesmerizing public spectacle that was the Jodi Arias trial. Just about a month after her guilty verdict, Jodi's story will air in movie form as Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret on Lifetime, this Saturday, June 22 at 8pm.
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OKMagazine.com spoke with Leah Pipes, who appears in the film as Travis' girlfriend. In keeping with her creepy year, she also stars in the upcoming Vampire Diaries spin-off The Originals, which will air on The CW this fall. She chatted about her insights on the trial and what we can expect from the film.
OK!: What’s your role in Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret?
Leah Pipes: I play a Mormon girl who went to church with Travis, and Jodi gets wind of our relationship. The jealousy really comes through when she sees him with another girl.
OK!: How does the movie play out? Is it only the murder, or the trial as well?
LP: Yes, there’s the trial. For Lifetime, they really kept a lot in, with the sexuality and the gruesomeness of the murder. I think those were a few things they wanted to keep for the sake for the story. It’s a pretty saucy film for Lifetime, it really is.
OK!: Do you think people’s perspective on Jodi will change when they see the film?
LP: I don’t know. Tania Raymonde who played Jodi really does a fantastic job. She added a lot of layers to her character as Jodi, and layers make people interesting more relatable. People might cut her some slack after seeing all the different sides to her personality.
OK!: Why do you think people were so fascinated with her?
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LP: It’s still shocking when women are aggressive and snap. There was also a beautiful young woman taking naked pictures of herself, and those are being shown in the court room. It was a sexy case, and now she’s this dowdy girl with glasses and brown hair, and she used to be a blonde bombshell. It was fascinating. Every day there was some new, explosive side to the story.
OK!: You're also on the new CW show, the Vampire Diaries spin-off. What’s your role on The Originals?
LP: I play the token human in The Originals. I’m the sweet human girl who has potentially a darker past. The Originals is about the original vampire family, and Klaus comes back and New Orleans is overrun by his former protégée Marcel.
OK!: Will you get a love interest?
LP: There’s a hint of a friendship with Klaus, and there is a hint that Marcel is interested in her. Maybe grooming her for his queen, because he sees himself as the king of New Orleans. But I don’t know if he’s going to go for it.
OK!: Whose career would you love to have?
LP: I really love Laura Linney. She has done such interesting things in her career, and she’s so talented and cool. I like Julianne Moore. I respect women who have done bigger-budget movies, who have done smaller-budget movies. It’s about doing interesting roles.
OK!: Is there a light, happy project you would like to do next?
LP: Yeah, I guess I have been doing a lot of creepy stuff! I’ll do anything interesting to be honest, but I guess I’m due for a rom com aren’t I?
Are you planning to tune in to the Lifetime movie on Saturday? Did you follow the Jodi Arias case closely? Why do you think people were so interested? Tell us in the comments below or tweet us @OKMagazine.
