Brittany Ishibashi is a busy actress: not only will she co-star in this summer's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows as Karai, but she'll also reprise her role as Erica in Netflix's Grace and Frankie.
Most Supernatural fans know Ishibashi as the face of Maggie Zeddmore, one of the members of the Ghostfacers, a team of paranormal investigators with their own reality show. That show within a show eventually became a real Web series, thanks to its popularity with Supernatural fans.
Ishibashi spoke to us about her work, including what fans can expect from the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie and why Ghostfacers took off the way it did.
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, you're playing Karai, who is Shredder's daughter in the comics and cartoons. What can we expect from that character in the movie?
I'm playing Karai, and in some iterations, she is Shredder's daughter, natural or adopted. In this one, it's not referenced, but I do consider him like family.
My version of Karai is definitely like a soldier first. She is fierce and a deadly warrior and she's incredibly loyal and will do whatever it takes to carry out Master Shredder's plan to take over the world.
This film is pretty great because there are so many villains. And I think fans are going to get to see some new villains, too. And it's a pretty cool collaboration between the villains and a face-off against the good guys.
What was it like working on this movie and with a cast that includes Megan Fox, Stephen Amell and Will Arnett?
Pretty cool. We all kind of stepped into this universe and just kind of got to play as these characters, and it's really, obviously, everyone is familiar with Megan Fox, Stephen Amell and Will Arnett and their work. Everyone was so down-to-earth and so genuine and so funny. We always had so much fun on this film. I kind of spend a lot of my time with the villains - like all villains, all the time - and for being bad guys, I think we had a lot of fun.
Ghostfacers from Supernatural eventually went on to become its own Web series. What was the experience like working on Supernatural and then later the Web series?
Really cool, because how often do you get to create a character and play that character in that world and then continue it past that episode? The Ghostfacers are the longest living characters on Supernatural and - I don't know if I can fully say - but we may be back for next season.
When I first got that audition, it's really funny, it kind of played into the role of Maggie Zeddmore, but I was driving down to San Diego to see my boyfriend and I was stuck in traffic and they called me and said 'You have to come back. Your audition tape has no sound.' So I was like, 'I'm already on the 405. There's no turning back now.' And so they told me to record myself, so I recorded myself on this awful resolution camera. And it must have been so accurate because I got the part.
I couldn't have asked for a better creative team and crew, so close with all those guys. And it was fun to be the only girl, too, and pal around with all those guys. I was a fan of Supernatural, too, so stepping in was a little bit like an emotional freakout for me. And also meeting the two leads - my boyfriend was like 'Should I fly out there? Do I need to be concerned about it - those guys are good looking?' And I was like, 'Oh, no, you can stay down there. You can stay at home.'
Supernatural fans love Ghostfacers: why do you think they responded so well to that concept?
You know, because we're just like them. We're curious and love that world. And even though we make a lot of mistakes, it's kind of like 'get back at it, do it again.' And we're kind of scrappy, you know. And that was a huge part, too, of all the other viral content. And then we did the Web series, too, and filming all our stuff, like in York, in England.
We're like this scrappy team that always puts each other first and has each other's back.
You're also on Grace and Frankie on Netflix with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. What is it like working with them and working on that series?
Those two are icons and definitely two heroes of mine. Working with them has been such an incredible experience to learn from them as an actor, but also as a woman. They've been in this industry for so long, and the stories that they have and the way they approach the craft just to get through the day is so inspiring.
And they're just really funny, too. I've got a lot of scenes this coming season with Lily, and watching her work, it blows me away every time. She's a powerhouse and she also has the most beautiful eyes you will ever see on a human being - you can get lost in her eyes. But she's such a smart woman. She's so passionate.
There's another woman in the cast, too, June Diane [Raphael] who I work with a lot and she's so hilarious.
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows hits theaters on June 3 and season 2 of Grace and Frankie arrives on Netflix on May 6.
Photo: Riker Brothers
