2 BROKE GIRLS: Getting to Know Beth Behrs of CBS’s new comedy

The new CBS comedy 2 Broke Girls stars Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs as two young women a little down on their luck. Kat plays Max, a Brooklyn-badass with sharp wit. Beth’s character, ex-socialite Caroline, lost all of her money and is starting over as a waitress in the same diner as Dennings.

In the show Beth plays a graduate of the Wharton School of Business, the prestigious business school at the University of Pennsylvania. This past week executives from CBS, along with Beth, came to speak to students at Penn. I am lucky enough to be an undergraduate student at Penn and was thrilled to attend this lecture and the meet-and-greet event prior to it.

At the event I spoke with Beth and she was so sweet. She was open to talk with all of us about living in LA and what it’s like to be an actress. She was so humble for someone who just got a star role on a new hit TV sitcom! She even brought her aunt and uncle along for the lecture (they live in a suburb outside Philadelphia).

Beth, a self-proclaimed “goof ball”, always wanted to do comedy (her idol is Debra Messing from Will & Grace). She knew that acting was her passion since she was a child, sharing an anecdote about how her mother used to feed her lines at auditions for local theaters when she was only four years old! She then went on to attend UCLA to study acting. After college she joined the acting scene in LA, hoping to get a good role, and clearly she did!

Beth was drawn to the role of Caroline Channing because she “wasn’t spoiled and bitchy” and she feels that her character has a good heart. One of the things she loves about the girls on the show is that they aren’t out to get one another, like many female characters often are. Caroline and Max just want to help one another succeed. By working together and saving up their money they plan to open a cup cake bakery.

While Beth didn’t attend Wharton, she and her character do have a few things in common—like Caroline’s pink taser, Beth has pink pepper spray that she carries around. She said that she used to keep in on her in her own apartment when she first moved in. She also told us that she, like Caroline, was not a very good waitress. On Beth’s first night waitressing she spilled an entire tray of drinks on her table…oops!

Beth loves working on the show and being on set. Each episode takes one week to rehearse and then film in front of a live studio audience, which actually takes four or more hours…who knew? She also loves getting to work with Whitney Cummings (creator and executive producer of 2 Broke Girls). She said that Whitney is both kind and generous and is an extremely driven woman (in addition to 2 Broke Girls, Cummings is also writing and starring in her own sitcom, Whitney on NBC).

Beth’s final advice for students is that whatever they are passionate about, they should work on and produce their own content while still in school. Whether they create a TV show or movie, act in a school production, or write scripts, Beth advised the Penn students to be driven and to never give up. Beth herself used to call tons of directors and casting agents, hoping for a job. She said that out of everyone you call, 90% will never call you back, but that 10% that decides to give you a chance could change your life.

Beth is a remarkable woman to speak with. She is funny, generous and smart, and like her own advice Beth is certainly “a fighter” and an inspiration for young actresses and actors hoping to make a name for themselves in Hollywood.

2 Broke Girls airs Mondays at 8:30/7:30c on CBS.