The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)
Issue link: http://wpialumnimag.epubxp.com/i/277771
Spring 2014 23 that's my voice,' and I decided to write a script on spec. I had this attitude of just saying yes to everything. That eventually led me to the right people, got the script to Matt [Stone] and Trey [Parker], and they called me in." Suddenly, a lot things started happening in her career. It was while she was working on South Park that she was called in by Comedy Central to take over from Jimmy Kimmel on Win Ben Stein's Money, and she put in a stint as the smart- mouthed, wise-cracking host of this quirky game show. She also wrote a movie script, The Sweet- est Thing, a romantic comedy romp that was re- leased in 2002, starring Cameron Diaz, Thomas Jane, and Christina Applegate. Ultimate High Pimental's current project is Shameless, a Show- time television series whose ffth season she is now putting together as the show's top writer and supervising producer. An adaptation of an edgy British comedy, Shameless is set in working- class Chicago and is the story of Frank Gallagher and his six children. Gallagher is a manipulative, self-centered drunk, and the show focuses on how the various family members manage the damage and chaos he causes in their lives. "Frank Gallagher is an addict, a sociopath, and a narcissist," Pimental says. "Those kinds of people are going to choose their addiction over everything else. There might be glimmers that somebody else matters, but that's all. It's tough for Bill [actor William H. Macey, who plays Frank]. Actors want characters with some redeemable qualities, but until his character has an awaken- ing, a hitting bottom, the nuances are few and far between." In a script currently being written, however, Pimental hints that Frank may reveal a spark of decency in a future episode. Despite her success, there are still challenges in the unsentimental world of show business, but Pimental has survived enough setbacks that she knows how to recover and move projects forward. A couple of years ago she came tantalizingly close to having a tele- vision show picked up, but after many hopeful signs she got the call that the project was being shelved. "I mourned over the weekend, but by Monday I just started 'revenge writing,' where you write for you and not for them. That's the ultimate high." Pimental describes her current success as "a lovely and creative gravy train," but she is not one to sit still. She is also forging ahead with new projects, including writing another movie, acting, and directing. Her advice to young writ- ers? Persevere and know thyself. "I truly believe that you have to fnd and use your voice," she says. "We all have a unique perspective on life and art, and if you're tapping into that, you're doing OK. I used to be very protective about my writing, fearing that people were going to steal it. But a friend said, 'You have an infnite amount of ideas.' I always had this weird pilot light inside of me, this knowing that I have something to say, something to put out there." A sort of comedic chemistry, you might say. J WPI_spring14_features1.indd 23 3/9/14 12:11 PM