Exclusive: Glambergirlblog Speaks with Shondrella Avery to Discuss the 10th Anniversary of Cult Classic Film “Napoleon Dynamite”

Photo: D’Andre Michael

Earlier this week I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with actress Shondrella Avery. She landed roles in a number of television shows and films such as: One on One, Girls Behaving Badly, “The Secret Life of Bees” and “End of Watch,” but her most beloved character was the role of Lafawnduh in the 2004 film “Napoleon Dynamite.”

After speaking with Shondrella for a little over 40 minutes I can say without a doubt that she is one beautiful spirited person and it was a honor speaking with her. She’s so appreciate about her experience from working on “Napoleon Dynamite” and where it has taken her career. Since the cult classic film in celebrating its 10th anniversary with the cast, crew and everyone involved, I got to speak with Shondrella exclusively and take a trip down memory lane.

For those of you who don’t know, “Napoleon Dynamite” stars Jon Heder as the title character, an awkward teenage boy who lives in a small town in Idaho. Napoleon befriends the new kid Pedro (Efren Ramirez) and joins forces with him in an attempt to be elected class president – now you know where those “Vote For Pedro” shirts came from. In the mix of all that, insert Napoleon’s brother Kip (Aaron Ruell) who’s on the hunt for internet babes until he finds Lafawnduh, Napoleon’s Uncle Rico (Jon Gries), his Grandmom (Sandy Martin) and bunch of other misfits.

One of the first things I asked Shondrella was to describe the plot of the film in her own words and she gave me a very insightful answer. “‘Napoleon Dynamite’ is a story about, in my opinion, this is just from my perspective as I saw it and as I see it and as I read the script, it’s about a cast of misfits, for lack of better words, the unusual suspects, more of your not popular people, who actually become redefined by maintaining themselves and being able to conquer the more popular people,” she stated.

She continued, “And through that journey, one of the cast of character’s Kip Dynamite happens to find himself and finds the love of his life through searching the internet because clearly he’s not popular enough to find someone local because all the local people are not interested in him. So he has to dig deep and he managed to find, I guess slated as one of the best candidates out of the internet, so that would be me, Shondrella, I played Lafawnduh who captured his heart on the internet.”

Shondrella and I continued our trip down memory lane discussing how she landed the part of Lafawnduh, how close the cast actual was, Lafawnduh and Kip’s infamous wedding scene, her favorite line from the film and more!

Outside of talking “ND,” Avery discussed an upcoming talk show series she has in the works, her philanthropy work with Sickle Cell research, A Place Called Home and so much more! Shondrella Avery is truly a remarkable woman!

You can follow Shondrella Avery on social media, @Shondrella on Twitter and @ShondrellaAvery on Instagram and Facebook.

Take a listen to my fun interview with Shondrella Avery from “Napoleon Dynamite” below. Enjoy!

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