For the pivotal role of Amy Renfro, Coolidge and the producers turned to pop singer and reality television star Jessica Simpson. After wowing audiences as the leggy bombshell Daisy Duke in “Dukes of Hazzard”, Simpson was looking for the perfect follow-up project – and found it in “Employee of the Month”. “I knew that after playing Daisy Duke, the second film I did was going to be crucial,” admits Simpson. “People had already made their mind up about me as an actress, and I wanted to prove I had more to offer.”
While Amy Renfro is introduced as the kind of girl who only goes for Mr. Employee of the Month, the film eventually reveals a different side of her character – as well as a few other interesting surprises. Like Cook, Simpson hadn’t even finished the script before she called Lionsgate and committed to the project.
“This role lets Jessica stretch her wings a bit and show that she’s an intelligent actress who knows what she’s doing,” says Joe Simpson, Ms. Simpson’s father and manager, and one of the producers of “Employee of the Month”. “Amy is the opposite of a Daisy Duke. She’s not trying to be sexy. She’s just a regular girl who’s fun and lovable, and who has a couple of surprises up her sleeve.”
Apart from the intimate revelations featured on her reality television show, “Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica,” Jessica Simpson had no experience playing opposite a love interest on camera. “I was a little bit nervous going into it, hoping that there would be some sort of chemistry and that I could make it believable for the audience,” admits Simpson. “But Dane made it easy. He made me comfortable, kept me laughing and kept my smile genuine. I really couldn’t ask for a better co-star.”
“Jessica’s just amazing,” avows Cook. “She’s grounded and sweet and her smile lights up a room. She’s incredibly real, and she has a natural vulnerability that comes through on screen.”
“I think Jessica is going to be a surprise in this,” observes Coolidge. “She takes direction better than a lot of actors. She has great chemistry with the guys. And there are some things she threw at me that really impressed me. She was great.”
Rounding out “Employee of the Month”s central love triangle is Dax Shepard in the role of Vince, the preening, ambitious head cashier who is also Zack’s nemesis. Known to audiences for his appearances in the television series “Punk’d,” and the film “Without a Paddle”, Shepard brings a priceless combination of swagger and insecurity to Vince. “I play the bad guy in this, which I’ve never been asked to do,” says Shepard. “I get to come in and be the guy who falls down a lot and acts like an idiot. It was really fun.”
“I can’t even say his name without giggling,” says Simpson of Shepard. “He’s a doll. He’s smart.He can make an entire room fall on the floor laughing. He’s the perfect Vince.”
Shepard often veered from the script and injected his own ad-libs during his scenes, a habit that might have spelled disaster in the hands of a less talented performer, but in this case yielded fantastic results. “His improv is incredible,” says Panay. “You can just roll camera and he just goes. And God only knows what you’re going to get out of him. We got gem after gem after gem from him on a daily basis.”
Related Link: Read the Full Production Notes for Employee of the Month
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