E.G. Daily talks new music video So Pretty and her work on Rugrats

We recently had a chat with actress and musician E.G. Daily about her music video, So Pretty, and recent work.

E.G. Daily gave us the pleasure to talk exclusively with Hidden Remote about her new music video “So Pretty” and the beautiful message the song portrays. Of course, we didn’t miss the chance to discuss her work on Rugrats and other projects.

Hidden Remote: You started acting at a very young age, 8 years old to be precise, and you have a very gifted and unique voice. When did you realize that your voice would open doors for you in various aspects of entertainment?

E.G. Daily: Well I knew that I had some abilities as a little girl to do things with my voice. But I didn’t know what it was and didn’t think much of it. But then as I got older, I started noticing, well other people started noticing actually, that I could imitate people really well. That I could imitate little kids very well. It was an imitation factor and it was a God given gift.

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It wasn’t until I was in a play one time back in the ’80s. I had to do this character of different ages. I had to go from a baby to a five-year-old to a ten-year-old, and then someone heard me and told me I was very gifted at my voice and that I should do a voice over… I ended up booking my first voice audition for Rugrats and the rest is history. Singing was just always there all along so I could contort my voice the whole time since I was a little girl. Really knowing that I had an ability didn’t really happen until I started booking these voice over jobs.

HR: Wow, that’s amazing. Well, you have a very gifted talent. I was a huge fan of the Rugrats growing up.

Daily: That’s awesome. Thanks.

HR: A lot of people actually never realized that the voice of Tommy Pickles was actually a girl.  Did you get that a lot?

Daily: I get that a lot! I feel like I have a part boy in me anyways. So, yeah I get it all the time.

HR: It was an amazing show. Congrats. When you started off doing guest roles, sitcoms, and even movies, what would you consider to be the biggest breakout role in terms of your career?

Daily: As far as on camera, film, or voice over? Or what are you thinking?

HR: It can be either or.

Daily: Well, I would say for feature films, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure was a big breakout role and also Valley Girl for me. Then, somehow I managed to get a lot of cult films like Rob Zombie movies – Devil Rejects and 31. I would say Friends actually the breakout TV role for me. I played Phoebe’s ex-singing partner for the smelly cat episode.

Then Tommy Pickles and Buttercup were breakout roles in the voice over world. Then, as far as music, I would say “Say It, Say It” and my Wild Child album which is quite old but a great record. That was my breakout music debut. People really loved that record. “Say It, Say It” was my first number one dance hit around the world.

HR:  When you spoke right now about Buttercup and Tommy Pickles – when those roles started coming for you, how did you prepare for them?  How did you narrow down a specific voice for those characters?

Daily:  Well, I never really overthink it. I never really knew how to do voiceovers when I first auditioned. The first one I booked was Rugrats. I was ignorant then. Ignorance was bliss in that case. I just saw a picture of the character or I see claymation of the character and then the very first voice that comes out of my mouth is the one. It’s just based on what it looks like.

It’s probably one of my favorite things to do. To create a voice for a picture or a photograph. I can create a voice for a tree or a little bush. It’s one of my favorite things to do.

HR: That’s cool. Did you have to try a lot of different voices for Tommy Pickles when you auditioned for it? Was it one of those that the first voice that came out was it?

Daily: It was the first one that came out. It was also a voice I was doing ever since I was a little girl. It was a voice I had developed. So when I looked at the picture, I knew it was that voice I had been doing my whole life. So yeah it was pretty incredible.

HR: That is pretty incredible. During your time with the Rugrats, did you expect the phrase “A baby’s got to do what a baby’s got to do” would become an actual worldwide recognizable catchphrase?

Daily: I had no idea!

HR: It was a lovely surprise?

Daily: Oh my god.  Everything about Rugrats was a lovely surprise. I never expected that one day it would win Emmys, become global, and even stars on the walk of fame. It became a very popular show. It was endless magic with that show. Always completely surprising.

HR: It was immensely popular.  My two favorite shows growing up were Rugrats and Friends.  How was it on the set of Friends? How was it working with the cast?

Daily:  It was really great. It was a very sudden thing. They had already cast someone else in the role when I suddenly got a call saying “can you run over to the studio and audition for something?” I told them I just had a baby and they still needed me to come in. So I ran over there with a baby and a bassinet in one hand and a guitar on the other hand.

I had to quickly learn these lines and, surprisingly, I booked it that night. Everything was so fast and I didn’t have time to absorb it. I guess I was replacing someone that had already been cast and they had already done two days of rehearsal so I missed those two days and I just had to jump in. But it was an incredible part of my journey to be able to come out on that show.

HR: It is an amazing show. Besides voiceovers and different roles, you are also a very talented musician. Do you sometimes prefer writing music than recording voiceovers or it basically goes hand in hand?

Daily: That’s like asking me if I like my daughter Hunter or my daughter Tyson? Which one do I like more? I can’t answer that because they are all my children. They are all my projects, my babies. So I do not have any preference, I just love doing them  I’m glad I actually get to do different things and don’t get stuck in anything being bored or slow. I don’t worry, I just move on to the next project.

HR: Speaking of music, your new video “So Pretty” is great. I loved it.  It has a meaningful message that you portray. It speaks about inner beauty and to love yourself no matter what.  I especially liked the ending that it has real-life confident messages from real people.

Daily: Thank you. Yeah, I loved it. We asked people to record and send in their thoughts about inner beauty and being yourself. It speaks about the versatility that all women have and how they handle the pressure of beauty. We did a whole thing on that.

Some people seem to go too crazy lengths to be beautiful and almost to the place where they put themselves in danger. I ultimately loved everyone’s description of what beauty really is.  It comes from the inside. People sometimes are busy focusing on the outside that they never really work on what really makes you feel beautiful. They’re self-care, self-appreciation, integrity, and kindness and those are the things that make you feel really beautiful. I know for myself. I feel the most beautiful when I am being the best person that I can be. Good health and exercising. Being kind to others. That’s when I feel beautiful. When I am being an awful person, I don’t feel my beauty no matter how many people are around me doing makeup and hair.

HR: I understand. It is actually a very positive message especially now in this day and age in Hollywood compared to how it was before. Do you think the message from “So Pretty” especially directed towards everyone to be confident about themselves and inner beauty will work in Hollywood?  Do you wish you could see more of that?

Daily: Well I hope it does.  You see people like the Kardashians who are so influential in the beauty world. They have manifested this incredible thing focusing on beauty and fashion. It’s just that sometimes that is not healthy, especially if you are not feeling confident and grounded. It’s important to fill that part of yourself up too. You can’t always check if you have enough of this on or enough of that on. Sometimes that alone isn’t enough. At some point, being yourself is enough.  You have to love yourself in the end.

HR: It sometimes gets to be too much pressure.

Daily:  A lot of pressure. There’s no problem in working on your outside beauty, its great, but you have to be filling up your insides with confidence and beauty as well.

HR: I noticed that you actually recorded the music video with your two daughters.  How did they feel during the whole process? Did you enjoy recording it as a family, especially with the message the song has?

Daily: Oh, yeah of course! My daughters are millennial, they’re beautiful. We really try to help each other work with our insides, our inner beauty. They are both about fashion and beauty. If you go to their Instagrams, you can see that. One is @Iamnotmiketyson and the other is @thehunterdaily. They’re both really very much so about fashion. They were around in the recording of the song and the video. It’s been a beautiful process enjoying this journey together with my family.

HR: One last thing before we end. Is there any new project coming out soon that could get fans excited?

Daily:  Mainly the “So Pretty” song.  Download it or stream it and listen to it anywhere you can. Watch the video on my EG Daily YouTube page. If you go to EGdaily.com, a lot of that is up there and right now we are just promoting the song and new animated shows coming in the new year but mainly “So Pretty” and the message and the movement of that.

HR:  Thank you once again E.G.  I wish you the best in any future projects and I appreciate the time for this interview.