Not So Wicked

Dan Steinberg / AP Photo Kristin Chenoweth talks to The Daily Beast about her faith, her work ethic and pitches an idea to Lorne Michaels.

How did you find the time to write a book? So many people say they will, but few actually do.

I didn’t think I had it in me either. Simon & Schuster came to me and said I was a person of interest. At first I was like “Uh, no, because I’m not Shakespeare and I’m not going to try to be.” Then after they were asking me questions about my life, I thought maybe that [my journey] would be inspiring and helpful to some people. There’s a misconception about me, that I’m just happy and perfect all the time. I’m the most imperfect person I know, and I have my really bad days. Whether you’re in show business or not, everybody has dreams. Writing about how I achieved some of the dreams and how much more I want to do was really important.

“There’s a misconception about me, that I’m just happy and perfect all the time. I’m the most imperfect person I know, and I have my really bad days.”

You’re in the middle of so many projects, will another book be warranted in a few years?

People have asked me, “On your deathbed, are you going to give it up? Are you going to do the tell-all?” I think that I won’t, because I like to think I’m a little classier than that, but you never know. [Laughs] I do have a lot of good stories I didn’t tell. There have been nasty people and the loves that were never mentioned, so maybe when I’m 90—if I make it—I’ll do it.

What’s your advice for those trying to make their start on Broadway?

New York is competitive enough that unless you’re just born with perfect pitch and know how to read music and can act perfectly and know how to dance, why would you need to rush here at 18? If I moved to New York when I was 18, I would have never stayed because I personally wouldn’t have been able to make it. My biggest advice is to get your education and your training, because you can only get better. College is a time to really grow as a person. People think, “Wow, things came easy for her.” No, they didn’t! I worked my butt off, and when I came [to New York], I worked my butt off again. I still work my butt off, train, and study. You have to continue to do things to improve your craft and hone it.

Next month you’re performing in a gala evening at the New York City Center. How important is it to work on your voice?

Singing is my passion, for sure. Acting, to me, is part of singing and dancing. It’s all an extension of who we are as artists. We sing because we can’t speak anymore. I do think if I were to lose my voice it would kill me.

A Little Bit Wicked: Life, Love, and Faith in Stages. By Kristin Chenoweth and Joni Rodgers. 240 pages. Touchstone. $25. You discuss your “First Four Great Loves” including West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin. Was there any hesitation to include your romances?

Of course there is because you think, “Where are we going to be?” I always feel like it was a pretty public relationship and people know about it, and for me not to include it would be almost weird. It was a huge chapter of my life, and I happened to fall in love with someone who is one of the best writers we have alive today, so I am a very lucky girl that he said he would write about how we met. I’m so grateful for that and grateful I had that relationship. I will always love him. He’s a very special person.

Much of your book focuses on your faith and upbringing—how difficult is it to maintain that in a business where religion is considered very private?

For me, it’s a part of who I am, so it’s not like I wear it on my sleeve. If people ask me, I’m going to tell them what works for me, but that doesn’t mean I’ll judge them for not believing. I work with all kinds of people with all kinds of faith or no faith, and I don’t judge them. I also want to say that I think it takes a lot of faith to not believe in something, just as much as it takes faith to believe in something. When people judge me and say, “How can you believe in God?” I say, “How can you not?” It takes just as much faith and work to do that.