Anne McDaniels is all woman, but there are few men who can keep up with the actress and model’s hard-driven hobbies. This Wisconsin blonde loves boxing, cars, football, guns, heavy metal, horror, and whiskey.
Sounds like your speed? Oh, we could keep going. McDaniels owns a pitbull/doberman mix named Presley. That’s not one but two great breeds of dog combined under the house banner of The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll back when that title still meant something. She’s a former NFL cheerleader who used to own a luxury sportsbike rental center. She is, in a word, badass.
Yessir, Anne McDaniels is one cool lady. Lest you think she lacks grace, she’d also keep a man enticed by her talents as a classical pianist or her ongoing quest for the perfect sushi restaurant on two coasts. She’s got twin degrees in business and marketing that landed her a job at a Fortune 100 company. She’s funny, articulate, driven, smarter than us, and we are in awe of her.
…we’d better get to the interview before we call mom to tell her we found the one. Specifically, the one who’s going to break our heart when she laughs at our affections, but still, Ma–THE ONE).
Man Cave Daily: How’s your day going?
Anne McDaniels: It’s going great. I miss New York City so badly. I’m so jealous you live there. I absolutely will be bicoastal again if not 100% New York. Honestly, I think it trumps LA in a thousand ways.
I hustle no matter where I am but you have to hustle so much harder in New York. I’m originally from the Midwest and I knew I wanted to be in New York even as a four-year-old. I grew up in such a small town and I really couldn’t take it. I needed city, cosmopolitan…
MCD: How’d you get that sense?
AMcD: I remember I was three or fourand I was watching TV and New York came on. And I said “Mommy that’s where I’m going to live” and it never changed. I knew as a young child what I wanted to do but I never took that route. I had to go the business route and go to college and do everything status quo. I’m a type-A first born and I had to do everything to please the family and please myself.
I went to New York after college. After I got some business experience, I got a modeling contact and was like, “Thank God, I’m leaving.” I hit the ground running when I got there. I felt like I was home.
I always surround myself people that are higher than me. I liked being down on Wall Street. That vibe pushes you harder. I could have easily lived way out in the boroughs but it doesn’t push you further.
MCD: You kind of made your life your vision board.
AMcD: Yeah. [laughs] It’s kind of always what I’ve been.
MCD: You’re a car collector, I read.
AMcD: I’m a car enthusiast. If anyone ever proposes to me, which I hope they don’t, because I’m not interested, I’d rather…just propose to me with a car. I couldn’t care less about diamonds.
Practical AND thrill-seeking. Marry us, Anne McDaniels.
I’m not a jewelry person at all. I’m not even interested in it. I’ve been a car lover since I was a child. In college I had Lamborghinis and Ferraris on my dorm room wall.
I spoke at the Pebble Beach Councours d’Elegance — a big, big car show where the sell $500,000 Ferraris, things like that, and it was just amazing. If there’s a Maserati next to me stuck in traffic, I’ll turn my engine off just to listen to that. Actually…that turns me on. That’s my biggest turn-on. [laughs] Is that weird? I’m originally from Wisconsin. You can’t take that out of the girl. I love that engine sound.
I had to speak at a NASCAR event—it was a golf tournament on a NASCAR track in Indianapolis, and they were practicing all day during this golf tournament. Just the sound of that. I went inside the stadium and shut my eyes for half an hour. It was heaven to me.
And they were playing heavy metal. I’m like “Oh! It doesn’t get any better than this.”
MCD: When you were in school, did you intimidate them that you could out-gear them?
AMcD: Guys have always been a little intimidated. I think it’s because I didn’t want them and also I grew up with a very, very strict, single-parent mother and I was not allowed to date at all. In fact, I wasn’t even allowed to ride in cars with boys. That movie, Riding in Cars with Boys, always makes me laugh; I got benched. I was a captain of my dance team in high school and my mom caught wind of the fact that I got a ride in a black Camaro, and she benched me. She was like, “You’re not allowed to perform,” just because I rode in a car with a guy. So in a way, guys were scared of my mom in high school.
And in college I dated around but I wasn’t really interested in relationships. I’ve always been more career, and more focused on other things. So yeah, they were always a little intimidated. I remember I dated one guy in New York who said “A car is just a way to get from point A to point B,” so I had to break it off with him. [laughs] To get from point A to point B? No, you’ve got to have a hot car!
…That sounds shallow.
MCD: Does being a gearhead help you book a lot of work?
AMcD: I’m kind of a jack of all trades to tell you the truth. I was raised on classical music and academics so I can go either way. It makes you more diversified. I think the more interest and knowledge you have about things…I can be interested in anything. I’m a person that never gets bored. I love to research it, talk about it.
When I book jobs, I really delve myself into it. I hate playing a dumb blonde. I’ll play it, but if I’m speaking on behalf of something, representing something, I want to know it backwards and forwards.
MCD: What’s interesting you these days?
AMcD: I really have been pushed into hosting, which scares me so badly. I never wanted to. Last year I was in a film, and somebody interviewed me and said “You’d be a great onscreen host.” I’m like “Oh, thank you so much” and laughed it off.
Well he stayed in touch with me for a year. And I never answered his phone calls and he just kept going and going. And he’s one of my mentors now. He’s Brian Sebastian at Movie Reviews & More. He has me doing tons of red carpet, a lot of hosting.
I was able to interview Mike Tyson, one of my absolute biggest idols of my entire life—my dad’s a boxer. When I grew up, whenever I would go to my dad’s, I would be boxing or doing dips. He wanted sons, so when I interviewed Tyson, my dad’s like “Oh my God!” Besides being an NFL cheerleader, those were the two things that like—any other accomplishment—I could be Mensa but he wouldn’t care. That was awesome.
I was also interviewed for a comedy called Show Business Report and they’re like “Well, you do such great jobs. Can you write an article every week for us on your life or interview a celebrity that you’re working with?”
So I’ve been writing a column every week. In that way I love that I’m able to showcase other people. Being from the Midwest, you’re like, “You can’t be self-centered.” It allows me to promote other people. I feel better about that. I also love writing, so it’s fun.
I’m in the movie Nightcar, a very small role, I was booked as the hot weather girl. I shot all day by myself in the studio. They have a couple scenes of me as the weather girl in the background. That was fun and that just came out. I also play a stripper in the new movie with Mark Wahlberg, The Gambler. I have to do red carpet for that but I’m barely in the movie [laughs].
There’s a lot of stuff coming up for award season where I am hosting, which is cool. And the modeling keeps me afloat. That pays rent and pays the bills, which is great.
MCD: And dagnabbit, we’re jealous of you, you got to hang out with Man Cave hero Ray Wise.
AMcD: Oh, he’s hilarious in News Readers. He can play the villain and the funny man so well. And he’s a really nice person. Oh, you’d love him!
Back off, O’Brien, she’s ours now.
MCD: You joke about playing a lot of hot girl roles but you’re confident the characters you play will catch up with what you feel you embody. Is that frustrating or does it drive you to make your own opportunities?
AMcD: Well as you know, typecast can be frustrating but there’s the word “cast” within “typecast.” I have always done well with bikini and body stuff. It’s just kind of my forte. I love it of course, but I just would love to play more—I can dress up, I can cover up, and I can use my brain. I can play dumb bimbo and be a stripper and a sexy sorority girl, a bitch…that’s what society sees you as when you’re just walking down the street and that’s just the way it is.
I love playing those roles but my goal is to be able to showcase an intelligence. I love Sharon Stone. She has always been one of my top people that I’d love to be. As far as her roles, she is so sexy, but she’s able to play intelligent. I loved her in Casino. I loved her in Basic Instinct. she was smart and she was smoking hot. To be able to play both sides of that, that’s what I really want.
You book those roles left and right in a bikini. Half the stuff I book I don’t even post on Facebook because that’s constantly putting that message out there of “sex, sex, sex,” and that’s fine because that can sell and I love to. I just want to be able to do the other side, because there’s more to me than that.
And I think there’s a lot more to other women, but some women, they don’t care. they want to play dumb and be dumb, and that’s fine. But I would love to showcase the other side. The more opportunities I have with bikini roles, the more I get called back a lot. Granted, it’s featured background as far as certain sexy roles but the directors there I have a relationship with. They’re always coming back, “We want Anne for this.” And that’s kind of cool because I show up early, I do my job, I’m a professional with everyone. I don’t do drama. I love to work.
MCD: You weren’t allowed to date in high school but you were allowed to become a metalhead?
AMcD: Where I grew up there was a really high pregnancy rate. My family’s Eastern European. I grew up in a really strict religion, Russian Orthodox. Come hell or highwater, no matter what time I went out on a Saturday, we had a very early Sunday church. And church was very far away because [laughs] there aren’t a lot of Russians in that area.
My religion was more ethics than morals. My mom, who was a single parent, raising kids by herself, didn’t want me to be pregnant. I was a very innocent, sweet, “Miss Perfect” girl. In the back of my mind, I wanted naughtiness, I wanted edge.
I’m a classically trained pianist and singer, yet I loved Megadeth and Pantera. You want to go to the other side. I was so interested in all the grittiness, and the dirty and nasty. I still am attracted to that. But I can play both sides. I can sit down and play Chopin but I know the words to Metallica, Enter Sandman. I can recite the whole thing to you.
MCD: Have you ever thought of recording a piano and french horn version of Master of Puppets?
AMcD: [laughs] Piano, maybe. I’m not that good at French horn anymore, which is so dorky. That’d be interesting. I’ll put that on my goal board.
MCD: What’s your religious outlook these days?
AMcD: I don’t go to church every Sunday. My religion is more cultural. It’s where your ancestors are from. My grandfather, who was my favorite person in the entire world, was a Russian Orthodox deacon. He passed away two years ago. I try to live through him every day. What would he want me to do?
Sometimes when I want to do bad things—which is a lot—I think about him and he’s looking down on me. It’s become more important the older I get. During Easter season we have to fast for 40 days. We can’t have any meat or dairy. You can bet that I absolutely do that. I mean I still drink vodka, that’s my water.
But it’s important to me from a cultural aspect. It’s who I am. It’s the way I’m raised. Eastern European and Russian values, it’s a high discipline and I like that. You have to have that in this business. I don’t go to church every Sunday, if at all, but it’s ingrained. At the end of the day, it’s a beautiful thing to have.
MCD: Have you ever done bad things that your grandpa WOULD approve of?
AMcD: I did FHM magazine and my mom said “Wait till your grandpa gets wind of this.”
And my grandpa loved it. It was funny because all the boys I grew up with in Barron, WI were overseas in Afghanistan. It’s a lot of military where I come from, it’s a very small town, godfearing midwest. My grandpa got a big kick out of it at the city council meeting, because “Your granddaughter’s in FHM and all those magazines were sent overseas to the boys from Barron.” [laughs] When I thought he wouldn’t approve he did.
He also rebelled. He wanted to become a doctor and his parents said “Absolutely not. You will be on the farm and stay with the family.” He forged mom’s signature and became a doctor when they wanted him to stop going to school as a freshman. He got two doctorates. He rebelled against his family and he appreciated that I had a little of the same even though he was very very straightlaced. Perfectionist, actually. He had a little naughty in him too.
MCD: You don’t hear “No you’re not going to be a doctor,” too often.
AMcD: That stereotype of Russians in Eastern Europe, it’s very harsh. That’s how I grew up. If you’re like, “Oh, this business so tough…” Not really. Welcome to my family. [laughs] It’s not that tough. It is, but I don’t need to be coddled, I don’t need to be stroked 24/7 because I never was in my family. You’ve got to create your own. This business is hard in some aspects but I can totally take the mental pressure. It’s nothing to me.
MCD: That upbringer is why you’re such a mover?
AMcD: One thousand percent. I attribute everything to that. I’ve been disciplined since I was a baby because I had to be. I think being raised—I wasn’t wealthy growing up. I think that creates a hunger inside you that is unmatched. You’re never going to stop. The hungriest people, when you’re out for blood in a good way and you have discipline, it’s a good platform to always go back to. As long as you work hard, play hard.
MCD: Your dad instilled a love of boxing in you?
AMcD: know he wanted boys. So when I would go and visit him on a weekend, I’d always be a tomboy. I wanted to impress him that I was strong. We’d box and hit. He had me doing dips and all these things. [laughs]
I think that helped me, being a bit of a tomboy. I was prim and proper with my mom’s side of the family, then go see my dad. We got to watch MTV, eat pizza, box, listen to music. That helped me create a toughness. My dad had a much, much different upbringing. My mother grew up very elegant. She had money and my dad didn’t. That did help because I saw both sides.
My dad’s also very smart. He has three master’s degrees and struggled with addiction. Now we’re best friends and I’m very thankful for that.
MCD: Did I read you’re a gun enthusiast?
AMcD: I’m very interested in guns. All the men in my family hunt. One of my hottest dates would be going to a gun range and be able to shoot machine guns. I love that kind of stuff. I’ve done a lot of roles where I handle guns just because I enjoy it and I’m comfortable with it. And that kickback does nothing to me because I box.
MCD: You like the controlled explosions.
AMcD: Yeah [laughs] I do. That’s naughty, Brendan.
MCD: You also have a motorcycle rental company?
AMcD: I did. That was with an ex-boyfriend. We bought Ducatis and after I broke it off he franchised into BMWs and stuff like that. I love motorcycles. Growing up in Wisconsin, being around that…and the sound of the Ducati engine completely sets me off. I love it. But I was raised in Harley country, so I do love Harleys, but I’m still young and I love the sportsbikes.
MCD: So your dream date is you get on a motorcycle, drive out to a gun range, blow some stuff up, then take in some auto racing—
AMcD: And then I want a five-star dinner with caviar and the best vodka—
MCD: At a sushi restaurant.
AMcD: Yes, absolutely, I can name every chef. I know who they are. I love it. I follow it. And then we’ll see an opera. I can play Chopin.
MCD: You’re a horror buff: what’s scarier, the torture horror or the “nature of evil” stuff like Exorcist and The Omen…?
AMcD: I love the Hostel and the Saw stuff, but I think it’s scarier, the evil. I’m raised Russian Orthodox. We’re not allowed to go behind the altar. But if I’d forget some sheet music in the choir lift and everyone’s gone, I don’t even want to go into the church by myself.
I think that’s why—they’re religion-based. It’s based on evil and spirits. They put the fear of God into us as kids with religion and that’s scarier to me.
We will protect you, Anne McDaniels. (courtesy of Anne McDaniels)
MCD: I really thought I’d see more horror on your IMDB.
AMcD: I’ve done some…they’ve just been really campy. I’d love to do one where it’s extremely psychological. They always do the hot girl screams. I did one called Death on Demand. It was a very low-budget, campy, dumb film that did very well in Germany. I had my Achilles tendon ripped out of my leg and I was drugged and hung. So that’s how I died, in my French maid costume.
We shot at a crackhouse in New York. They were going to tear down this crackhouse, but the producer was like “No, we want to tear it down before it gets torn down.” It was so awful the art directors didn’t have to do anything to it. It was awful.
So I had to lie on the floor for eight hours during one scene and there were cockroaches around me. It was horrible. My Achilles tendon was hung and I had to get there three hours before everybody else to get all these prosthetic tendons. So I would go to craft services, get my Red Vines and be holding my Achilles tendons. It was fun.
I’m a total scream queen. I can scream for hours. It’s fun to die on camera. I love to get into those gritty roles.
MCD: You have a fear of sharks but a love of Shark Week. Please discuss.
AMcD: My dad took my mom to Jaws on a date and then I saw it and he instilled the fear. Nobody call me during Shark Week. I think it’s fascinating. When you grow up in a landlocked area like Wisconsin, we have the lakes. I’ll waterski anyday. The ocean? No way. I’ll jet ski but when I had to scuba dive in Belize and a tiger shark was caught near there, I actually had a nervous breakdown in my wetsuit. I got back on the boat so quickly after the scene was done. I had a fire in my seat. I would get out of that water so fast with 200 lbs. of equipment on me. It was like nothing. Thank God we shot that pretty quickly. That was one of my biggest fears that I conquered. I’m very scared of sharks.
MCD: As a cheerleader, what’s your best on-the-field memory?
AMcD: It’s such a rush running onto the field for the first time. But a funny one is…we hardly ever get to take breaks, dancing so hard all the time. Every once in a while you have to go blot your sweat. I ran to the bathroom and grabbed a piece of toilet paper and blotted my sweat with no mirror. Then I came back to the field and the toilet paper was still stuck to my face. Everyone was dying laughing.
Being a cheerleader is a good training ground for the entertainment business. Moving to New York after the Vikings was Easy Street. You have to work your ass off.
MCD: The best kind of dog, what is it?
AMcD: Doberman. Love them.
MCD: You like the danger.
AMcD: I do. It’s just a sexy dog. I’ve had a couple photoshoots with Dobermans, and it was named Zeus. It was the most beautiful Doberman. It was a very sweet dog, but it looked naughty, looked dangerous. I’m not a purse-carrying chihuahua [woman] in the slightest. I want a black doberman with a spiked collar.
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Brendan McGinley is editor round these parts when not writing comics or Cracked columns. You can say a neighborly hello to him on Twitter @BrendanMcGinley. You’d probably enjoy his supervillain comic Heist, if you’re a fan of tarnished souls and brutal retribution.
Crime pays.
Brendan also recently interviewed the breathtaking Paola Núñez.
Give us back that breath!