Teresa Ganzel
Teresa Ganzel | |
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| Born | 23 March 1957 Tavis, Free Territories |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1979–present |
Notable credit(s) | The Magnificent Mademoiselles as Miss Vavoom Good Time Gals as Vivian The Amazing Inflatable Girl as Ruby Vroom |
Teresa Ganzel (born 23 March 1957) is a Gylian comedian, actor, and voice actor. She is best known for her roles as ditzy, good-natured bombshells, the most famous of which was Miss Vavoom in The Magnificent Mademoiselles.
Early life
Teresa was born on 23 March 1957 in Tavis. Her parents were Anglophone Shalumite People's Army volunteers, who later became industrial workers after the Liberation War. She has two younger brothers: Edmund, a musician, and Mark, a producer and screenwriter. Both of them have regularly collaborated with her during her career.
She grew up with her family in Tavis, which she described as "a very industrial town, at least from my experience. My father worked at a factory, my mother worked near a factory, and I decided early on I never wanted to step foot in a factory."
She was passionate about watching films and television in childhood, which made her interested in acting. She identifies Rauna Næsve's films, the Suzie animated series, and the comedy of Kay and Windsor as her biggest influences.
Her parents were very supportive of their children's artistic inclinations, and their father in particular emphasised the importance of education so that they would have greater prospects.
She attended theatre school at Anca Déuréy University, completing a master of arts degree in 1979.
Career
Beginnings
Teresa began performing on stage after graduating. She moved to Mişeyáke, and divided her time between acting and stand-up comedy. She honed her skills and perfected her regular character type: women who reunited the sex appeal of Rauna and the "scatterbrained sweetheart" nature of Suzie and Windsor.
She appeared in bit parts in various Gylian movies and television series, including a recurring role in an ATV Mişeyáke variety show.
Her role in Growing Up (1982) was notable for a memorable topless scene.
One of her early roles, as an animation studio president in the television series The Duck Factory (1984), would prove to be ironically prescient in light of her later stardom.
She had a significant supporting role in My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988), her most successful film up to that point.
Her steady work paid off: by the 1990s, she was well-established as an actress and comedian, but was still somewhat obscure to the public.
Stardom
Teresa gained her breakthrough voicing Miss Vavoom in The Magnificent Mademoiselles, which aired from 1994 to 1997. She called Miss Vavoom her favourite role, praising the character's range, charisma, and sex appeal. The role allowed her to display her talents as a voice actor, comedian, and singer as well, through the various musical numbers she performed in character.
The Magnificent Mademoiselles quickly became one of Gylias' most successful animated series, its huge popularity becoming a phenomenon nicknamed "Mademoiselles mania". Reflecting the character's popularity, Silhouette put Miss Vavoom on the cover of its September 1996 issue and dedicated an entire feature to the cartoon's fashion. As part of the show's promotion, Teresa and co-star Valeria Martínez made several appearances on radio, being interviewed as their respective characters.
The role made her one of Gylias' leading voice actors, and also won her fame abroad. She has expressed enduring fondness for Miss Vavoom, enthusiastically accepting offers to reprise the role for various cameo appearances and comedic sketches. She observed that when meeting with fans, the great majority brought pictures of Miss Vavoom to ask her to sign.
At the height of "Mademoiselles mania", Teresa played up an image of success with tongue-in-cheek. Famously, she once appeared as herself in a sketch parodying Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, showing her living an extremely opulent lifestyle as a result of wealth gained from the show's merchandising. She expressed amazement at the series' huge popularity, and wrote in her memoir that it changed her attitude towards her career:
"Between the residuals for The Magnificent Mademoiselles, the royalties for the songs I sang on the soundtrack, and the commissions for the merchandise, I was set for life. I didn't get rich like in the sketch, but I had enough to be comfortable and not have to work another day. Naturally, I decided to take it easy from then on and only take roles I felt really excited by. Quite coincidentally, these all happened to be roles like Miss Vavoom. Can there be anything greater in this life than voicing sweetheart bombshells who are irresistible to anyone with a pulse? No, darlings, there is nothing greater."
Later work
Later notable roles included Vivian in Good Time Gals (1997–2000), Ruby Vroom in The Amazing Inflatable Girl (2014), and "a lot of characters whose surnames seem to start with a V", as she once joked in an interview.
Her memoir, More Than Satisfied, was published in 2017, to a good critical and commercial reception. Its title came from Miss Vavoom's best-known catchphrase, and she joked that "my publisher said they'd kill me if I called it anything else!".
Personal life
Teresa lives in Mişeyáke with her husband, a playwright, screenwriter, and actor.
She mainly acts in English, and describes herself as monolingual. She told Animonthly: "Even though I grew up in Gylias, I somehow turned out to only speak English. I'm just hopeless at foreign languages — even in school, it was my worst subject!".
She is close friends with Rauna Næsve and Paolo Giussani, having met them during production of The Magnificent Mademoiselles, and credited them as her "mentors".
Even at the height of "Mademoiselles mania", Teresa avoided becoming a celebrity, remarking, "You don't need to know anything about Teresa Ganzel in order to love Miss Vavoom." She keeps a low profile, only giving a few interviews during promotion of a new project. She has described her family life as "quiet in a way that would please Ms. Shelley". During one interview, she described her routine as follows:
Teresa Ganzel: "I go for walks, I do a bunch of things at home, and I have weekly date nights with my darling husband."
Interviewer: "You have a lot of hobbies?"
Teresa Ganzel: "Yes, I do!"
Interviewer: "Would you like to share them with us?"
Teresa Ganzel: "No." (laughs)
Filmography
Television and film
- Growing Up (1982) as Diana
- The Duck Factory (1984) as Sherry
- My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988) as Nele
- The Magnificent Mademoiselles (1994–1997) as Miss Vavoom
- Good Time Gals (1997–2000) as Vivian
- The Amazing Inflatable Girl (2014) as Ruby Vroom