Diane Bliss is best known as the bowler doing the "Pepsi pump" arm movement in the Britney Spears Pepsi spot and as the tourist ordering the "Ben Stiller with (Kevin) Bacon" in one in the series of "New York Miracle" public service announcements. A regular at several Los Angeles comedy clubs, her sassy sistah-girl attitude will be featured in the Fall 2002 season of BET's ComicView stand-up comedy showcase and she has appeared on Damon Wayans' "My Wife and Kids" on ABC as the high school gym teacher.

From her home in L.A., Diane spoke with your Curvy Entertainment Columnist, Suzi Tasca, about her experiences of being a plus-size actress and activist in our thin-obsessed culture.

ST: What is the SAG Plus-Size Task Force and how did it come about?

DB: I've always been an activist. When I experienced sexism in the computer industry, I ended up testifying before the U.S. Department of Labor's Glass Ceiling Commission about the inequality in pay and working conditions.

When I moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting and stand-up comedy, I was so disappointed with the lack of positive roles for plus-size women. For instance, the Rob Schneider film "Deuce Bigelow." The story line is that Schneider's character is a gigolo arrested and tried for prostitution but his defense is that his clients are so revolting that no one else could possibly want to have sex with them so he's providing a valuable service.

The plus-size female character was supposedly so fat that when she walks through the courthouse, the building rumbles, tables shake and water sloshes out of drinking glasses. She takes the stand to testify and starts eating during her testimony. The role was so demeaning to plus-size women that they couldn't find a woman in Hollywood to accept the role, so they ended up casting the radio personality Big Boy and put him in drag.

Rather than just complaining to my friends about the negative roles, I decided to do something about it. I wrote a proposal and recommended to the professional actors' union, the Screen Actors Guild, that the Guild take action to influence the industry from within. SAG has interest groups for African-Americans, Latinos, Asians, women, and performers with disabilities, so I thought plus-size women needed their voices heard as well.

ST: What has the Task Force accomplished?

DB: We've spoken out against the use of fat suits in Hollywood, appearing on Entertainment Tonight five times and influencing the way the film "Shallow Hal" was marketed. In the first few interviews, Gwyneth Paltrow didn't seem to be very sensitive to the issue of plus-size women, but later interviews show her being much more sympathetic.

We are also planning a series of roundtable discussions with writers, producers, directors and casting directors to discuss how we can broaden the definition of beauty in Hollywood to encompass women of all shapes and sizes.

ST: How can we help?

DB: Our membership is limited to professional actors who are members of SAG, but if you are interested in seeing a wider variety of sizes of women in film and television, please email me at actorsatlarge@yahoo.com and we'll add you to our supporters email list. We plan to have an "Action Alert" where we can inform supporters when there are portrayals of plus-size women, negative or positive, and provide you information on who to write to comment.

ST: What made you get into performing?

DB: I gave my first speech when I was five years old for an extemporaneous speaking class at the YMCA. I got a thunderous round of applause and I've loved being in front of an audience ever since. When I was in computer sales, my favorite part of the job was giving presentations, so when I decided to pursue a more creative path, I realized I should follow my first love of performing. Friends kept telling me how funny I am so I decided to give stand-up a try. When I got a standing ovation my first time out, I was hooked for life.

ST: Who are your influences?

DB: Oprah has been such a positive influence on me. I'm continually amazed by her ability to connect with and inspire people to live their best lives. I remember watching her show one day about eight years ago when an author was discussing his book, "Dreams Into Action." His name was Milton Katselas and said that we often daydream about the things we'd like to do with our lives, but we seldom move from the realm of thinking about it into taking action to achieve the dream. He said his book would help readers identify the obstacles that kept them from realizing their dreams, figure out how to remove the hurdles and create a workable plan of action to help actually achieve your dreams.

I'd already been working on Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way," and I thought Milton's book would be a nice companion piece. I bought the book and did the exercises, which book helped propel me even further into the realm of realizing my dreams. Nearly three years to the day later, I had made my move to LA and began studying acting at Milton's world-renowned Beverly Hills Playhouse.

ST: Are there any obstacles in your work today?

DB: It's tough being a comedian because there are so many different reasons why people get stage time, other than the fact that they're funny. It has a lot to do with who you know, who you run with and how much you're willing to do to make friends. Many younger women starting out in comedy think they need to acquiesce to the men coming on to them - whether it's more established comics or club owners - but you can find a way to get stage time without compromising yourself and your values. You may have to go further outside the main circle to get stage time and create your own opportunities, but there's no reason to give in to the casting couch mentality.

ST: Who inspires you creatively?

DB: As an actor, I adore Susan Sarandon because she's taken parts that could be played in a very shallow, one-dimensional way and created very complex renderings. One of my favorites is her work in "Bull Durham." And I admire that she uses her visibility to draw attention to important political and social causes. My favorite comics are the political ones: Chris Rock, Dennis Miller, Bill Maher. I may not agree with them, but I admire their craft. Of course, I respect and appreciate Camryn Manheim for being a pioneer in the area of size acceptance for actresses. Janeane Garafolo is very outspoken and when she was recently asked why she isn't cast as the leading lady, she said, "I'm not playing the lead because I have too much body fat." I love that she put it out there so boldly. Margaret Cho is another comedian who lays her life on the line and talks about the pressures on women in Hollywood. I loved her new concert film, "Notorious C.H.O." Have you seen it?

ST: Not yet; it's on my list. I loved her previous one "I'm The One That I Want."

DB: I admire her strength and resolve in talking publicly about the pressures the network put on her to lose weight for her sitcom. She did what they wanted and lost the weight, but because she so much weight very quickly, her kidneys failed and she ended up in the hospital; she nearly died and really jeopardized her health. And the show died a terrible death, so it was all for nothing. I admire her courage in taking the industry to task for the unreasonable expectations that were put on her and what she had to endure in order to be considered an "acceptable" leading lady.

ST: What advice would you give to aspiring 'curvy entertainers' out there?

DB: Learn your craft. If you're an actor, study acting and take every opportunity to act, whether it's in community theatre, your school's drama department, whatever. If you're a comic, hit every open mic night you can find and write, write, write. For actors, the best book on how to make it in the business is "Acting is Everything" by Judy Kerr. Judy was the dialogue coach on "Seinfeld" for eight years and she covers everything from how to go about getting headshots, to how to get an agent and how not to get ripped off by the scammers. I also highly recommend that you audit any acting classes before you enroll and pay any money. Especially here in L.A., everyone who has even one legitimate TV or film credit is calling themselves an acting teacher and many are not qualified. Do your homework.

For models: Do NOT spend your money on the "modeling schools." Most of them are just money machines for the owners. Find a legitimate agent and ask them their procedure for open calls and accepting new talent. A legitimate agent will be honest and tell you whether or not you have potential; they will not charge you a fee to give you their opinion. You may not like the answer they give, but it will save you lots of time, money and heartache in the long run.

ST:What do you think will help in getting more plus sized women portrayed in the media?

DB: We need to be open to forming alliances among women of all sizes. The current atmosphere of size discrimination fuels the advertising, consumer products and health & beauty industries. People spend $7 billion a year on diet products because the industry and fashion magazines and society as a whole tell us that we're not OK the way we are and if we'll just plunk down $79.95 for their "new" product, we can be thin and pretty, which will finally make us happy. But you can't buy happiness and I know thin women that are miserable, so being thin isn't the end-all and be-all that we're led to believe.

Now, I'm not against advertising. I've earned a great living doing commercials the last few years. But there are fantasies and then there's reality. God and genetics have different plans for different people, and we need to get to the point in our society that a wide range of sizes and shapes and skin colors are all beautiful.

Dieting and starving yourself is not the answer. My mother gave me diet pills when I was 5 years old and that messed up my metabolism for life. I also believe that I'm one of the people that carries the so-called "fat gene" that dictates that my body holds on to food and fuel in case we're ever hit by a meteor or some other natural disaster. My body is genetically programmed to withstand such a disaster; when there isn't any food, my body will turn to it's massive fat stores; I'm gonna survive and the skinny girls are gonna be the first to succumb to starvation! Based on all this, it's completely unrealistic for me to think I'm ever going to be a size 8 -- size 18? YES, but a size 8 - no. I'm a size 24; I got up to a size 30/32 for a while and I'm working my way back down to what, for me, is a natural and healthy size 18/20.

It's absolutely tragic that women starve themselves to maintain unrealistic sizes and jeopardize their health in the process. I need to live a balanced life with more fullness in it - no pun intended. As long as we're focused on our imperfections and struggling to make our outsides perfect, we are depleting our energy and our ability to make our INSIDES better. If you spend all your time thinking about what you're going to eat - or not going to eat - or how much you have to work out to keep the pounds off, you have no energy and space in your mind to work on becoming the best comic, actress, den mother, business woman or whatever your own personal best is! The women that focus on physical perfection instead of enjoying the abundance of a complete life are missing out.

Sometimes it's just disgusting, revolting, angering and frustrating to be a big girl in L.A. People look down their noses at you with no shame. I have even been humiliated on set by a major star making jokes about my size to the entire cast and crew on a top-rated network show. I've always known that by speaking out on plus size issues, I could actually be hurting my career, but if my career has to be based on kow towing, conforming and remaining silent about injustices, then I'm not interested. I'll find another way to use my talents and skills to the best of my ability.

ST: How did you deal with the humiliation?

DB: I acted like I didn't even hear the insults. I looked straight ahead with a completely quiet, calm and serene look on my face while I meditated and prayed. Of course, when I got to my trailer, I called my therapist and let loose! But in public, I kept it in and showed him that BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY!

ST: And things are changing in the industry, slowly but surely.

DB: Yes! I believe the current trend is in our favor and the demand for plus size role models is exploding! There are three really great examples right now. First, the sold out audiences for "Hairspray" on Broadway with Marissa Jaret Winokur. Second, the film "Real Women Have Curves" got a huge response at the Sundance Film Festival. HBO financed the film and had originally planned to debut it on the cable channel but now it's going to have a theatrical release and you'll be able to see it at your local multiplex! I think they decided to take it to the theatres in part due to the run-away box office success of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" with Nia Vardalos, which is the third great example. I wouldn't say Nia is plus-size but she's certainly average size - maybe a size 10 --- certainly not a teeny, impossible little size 0.

She's said in interviews that she was having trouble getting cast in projects, so she developed her own one-woman show. As luck would have it, Rita Wilson is part Greek and went to see the show and loved it. Rita then brought her hubby, Tom Hanks, and the two decided to produce it as their first film project with their new production company. When they pitched it to the studios, first the studios wanted to change the ethnicity: "Latin is really hot - can you make 'em Latin? Or Italian? "The Sopranos" is successful - maybe it could be an Italian family." But Tom & Rita stuck to their guns and said it had to be a Greek family. And of course, the studios wanted to replace Nia with someone with more "star power" (read: thinner, prettier, whatever) Again, Tom & Rita said, "No way. This is her story - she stars in it." They got the film made and it's suddenly a "surprise" hit. Of course, it's not a surprise to those of us that are normal looking and want to see more normal-looking people on film, but apparently it's a surprise to the powers that be!

ST: Any final thoughts?

DB: You know, everybody's here for a purpose. I believe that my purpose is to make people laugh and to make people think. And to use my gifts and talents for a greater purpose. I feel blessed that I'm able to do work I love that actually makes a difference in the world at the same time.