For Katerina Tannenbaum, that moment came shortly after she was cast in the icon's new. "I was called in to the Warner Bros. sound stages to talk to Michael Patrick King about my character’s backstory on a Sunday," the actress said. "I walk in and I see Ru in a corset, high heels, and booty shorts, practicing this fan dance, which is one of the opening numbers you’ll see in the show. I was like, Holy shit.
Tannenbaum grew up in Portland, Oregon, acting in community theater from the age of four. When she was seven, she said, "I announced to my family that I was moving to New York to become an actress." It didn't happen right away, of course, but eventually she ended up at Stella Adler, where she studied acting—though she left earlier than planned. "I felt like if I got any more training I’d be more confused as to how to approach a job," she said. "I think the best part of going to school was that it gave me a toolbox that I can dip into if I need it, but most of the time things are so instinctual.
After leaving school, she began modeling and auditioning. The call about *AJ and the Queen came at the end of a particularly busy week. "After 10 auditions, my brain was fried," she remembered. "I was so exhausted. So, I called my agency and I was like, look I don’t think I can do this last one. I don’t have it memorized, there’s so much text, I’m going to botch it." Happily, she went anyway and nailed it.