Pride and Joy

As nominated actress Jaime Pressly prepares for tonight's Emmys, she recalls her early years in Kinston

KINSTON -- Jaime Pressly may feel more at home in Hollywood than Kinston these days, but, as her TV alter-ego might say, there ain't no Bojangle's biscuits in Hollywood.

And even if her all-time favorite food were available on the West Coast, Pressly would still have reason to come to her North Carolina hometown two or three times a year. She has family and friends here, and that's important to the 29-year-old, up for a best supporting actress Emmy tonight for her breakout role as trashy Joy Turner on NBC's hit sitcom "My Name is Earl."

Win or lose, Pressly can count on Kinston to be there for her as it has always been.

Her most recent visit came last month. Fresh from a trip to England, she and her boyfriend, California DJ Eric Cubiche, spent a few days at Atlantic Beach with her beloved older brother, Jim, and his family. Then it was back to Kinston for a barbecue with her dad, Jimmy, and his second wife, Theresa.

The Carolina trip was a welcome respite for Pressly.

"[Eric] said it's the first time she's relaxed in a long time," Jimmy Pressly says.

But the break was shortlived. She was back to work by late July, shooting new episodes of "Earl," as well as doing interviews and TV appearances promoting the show, which begins its second season Sept. 21. And, of course, she's getting ready for all of the Emmy-night madness.

"We got the dress," she says Tuesday, speaking by phone from the Los Angeles office of J'aime Productions, her clothing line. "It's Badgley Mischka. It was sewn in Italy, and beaded in India, and it's flying in tomorrow."

Definitely a fan favorite, Pressly received "Earl's" most high-profile nomination for the awards tonight. The series also was nominated in four smaller categories, and it took home two awards --for casting for a comedy series, and for single-camera picture editing for a comedy series -- in creative categories announced last week.

As excited as Pressly is about her big night, she's even more stoked about the second season of "Earl."

"This season is better, if you can believe that," she says. "It's funnier than last season. My character actually has one of the biggest story arcs this season."

Too bad she's sworn to secrecy by the show's producers.

Kinston to California

All this excitement is just what the kinfolk and friends back in Kinston expect from Pressly. They say she's never been the type to sit still for long.

Craig Hill, now the principal of Kinston High, taught Jaime in kindergarten and again in ninth grade, when she was a cheerleader. He says he could see her ambition in the way she performed gymnastics as a child.

"I think she's fearless," he says. "She's willing to take risks. I remember when she was in a PTA program that I had, where she was doing forward rolls -- you know, rolling with her feet over her head, with her face down.

"She was the child that could always do the extra things that no one else could do."

By age 3, Jaime was taking gymnastics and dance, the latter with her mother, Brenda, who later opened the Studio 86 dance studio in Kinston. Brenda also did choreography for community theater, which made a strong impression on the young Jaime, too.

Her idols were Goldie Hawn, whom she admires (and relates to) for evolving from ditzy blond "Laugh-In" bikini girl to respected comedic actress, and Shirley MacLaine, the sort of old-fashioned "triple-threat" dancer-singer-actress that Pressly aspired to be.

Pressly's striking looks -- those ice-blue eyes and pouty lips -- could open doors for her even at a young age. When she was 13, her Aunt Sissy (a model herself, whom Pressly says she favors physically) took her into a Charlotte modeling agency. She was signed immediately.