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Getting Family Guy Animated with Lauren Conrad of The Hills
by Troy Rogers
 You know that you have arrived and found success in the entertainment industry when Family Guy creator, Seth MacFarlane, takes time to give you the animated treatment. After making a name for herself on Laguna Beach before taking her fame game to new reality heights on The Hills, Lauren Conrad created a unique niche in the entertainment industry with her own self-titled brand.
As a result of her success on The Hills, despite the stereotypical blonde perception, Conrad is now working in the fashion industry with her own line called The Lauren Conrad Collection while also striking a variety of endorsement deals to promote products through her image. Although Lauren Conrad will soon be leaving The Hills, she won't be getting away from TV without receiving an animated makeover courtesy of Fox's Family Guy.
On Sunday, May 3, Conrad joins the Family Guy cast in a guest role that sees a hung-over Brian (Seth MacFarlane) get the shock of his life when he picks up Lauren Conrad only to discover The Hills star is anything but the image of what people see on TV - smart, educated, articulate and professionally savvy.
Leading up to the Family Guy episode, "We Love You Conrad," which also features her TV mate from The Hills, Audrina Partridge, and actress Drew Barrymore, we joined a conference call with a few other outlets to get the Family Guy scoop straight from Lauren Conrad herself and how she feels about her image being branded in animated form.
Lauren Conrad on her favorite Family Guy character and how she ended up on the show:
"My favorite character is Stewie and a while ago did - I only did a few lines, but I did a couple of lines on an episode where they were watching television and they did a clip of Laguna Beach and that’s how I met Seth and the first time I got to do the show."
Conrad on what it’s like to see the cartoon version of herself:
 "It’s fun. I mean, that’s actually the most exciting part, to see what you look like animated. I think I was just, basically, a blond character though this episode."
On whether there is a Family Guy character she thinks is like her:
"[laughs] I don’t know. I don’t know if there’s someone I really want to be like on that show. Maybe Lois, I don’t know. I feel like she’s the most normal."
Lauren Conrad on her favorite current TV shows:
"Let’s see ... Right now I’m watching - I really like Lost. I’m watching Brothers & Sisters and 30 Rock is my favorite."
Conrad on whether she’s looking to do more acting or voice work after leaving The Hills:
"Acting, no. I’ve done a couple of cameos on shows. It was fun to do for the day, but it’s not really something I’m interested in. I did really enjoy doing the episode, though, and I’ve been doing voice work for about five years just because of the show I’m on. So that’s something I would be interested in."
On whether she thinks the real Lauren Conrad is different from what people see on TV:
"A little bit. I don’t know if it’s necessarily me or just the reputation of an average reality star they were going for. But the idea in the episode is that they basically make fun of me for being dumb and then he [Brian] discovers that I’m actually a genius, and it’s kind of a character I play because America likes dumb people. So that’s kind of the idea of it. I think it’s a more exaggerated version of who I am, but it was kind of fun to play."
Lauren Conrad on whether she had any input into her character:
 "No. I stuck to the script, actually. I think that their writing is better than anything I could come up with. But I did actually have to hire an acting coach just for the day to get me through it, because a lot of the lines later on in the episode I did are very complicated. I’m talking a lot about history and serums and conductors.
There are a lot of facts and a lot of big words, and I had to say it as if it was coming to me very easy. So I had to learn the lines ahead of time rather than just reading them. So I actually had to research some them because my acting coach I worked with told me that if I really understood what I was talking about, it would come through a little more true."
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