The hit of 'Mall Cop'

Zele Avradopoulos is both an actress and the owner of her own organizing business.

Zele Avradopoulos of Waltham appears in a brief but vivid scene in "Paul Blart: Mall Cop," the new Kevin James comedy that has fared well at the box office despite some blistering reviews. Raised in Columbus, Ohio, Avradopoulos spent 13 years teaching English and drama in Greece before moving back to the United States. Now 40, she has landed acting jobs in theater, commercials, and TV shows (she has played two small roles in Showtime's "Brotherhood") while launching a residential organizing business called ZOrganize. "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" is her first feature film.

Q. For the many people who have not seen, and probably will not see, "Paul Blart: Mall Cop," could you describe your scene?

A. I am the woman who beats up Kevin James in Victoria's Secret.

Q. Every woman's dream.

A. [Laughs] Yes. I try to buy a bra, and another young lady tries to buy the same bra, and he provokes me by basically saying I'm fat. He implies that I have a temper problem because I'm overweight.

Q. How did you land the part?

A. I auditioned for C.P. Casting. They did casting for "Gone, Baby, Gone," "The Departed," "Mystic River."

Q. Is it hard going in cold and auditioning?

A. What I found the most difficult was that when you're outside the room, it's really easy to come up with a preconceived idea of how to play the part. Then you go in there with your preconceived idea and they say: "Why don't we try it this way?" There's a tendency, because of your excitement, to not be focused and to look like you're acting instead of being natural. [The casting director] worked with me on being small for the camera. The camera picks up everything; you can't lie to the camera. I just focused on what they wanted.

Q. So you didn't act like Dustin Hoffman in "Tootsie" and demand to know the motivation of your character.

A. No.

Q. The critics, it must be said, have not had good things to say about "Paul Blart: Mall Cop."

A. Some have been positive, some have been negative. I understand where they're coming from. It's a subjective business. It was great having the opportunity to work with Kevin. He's very down-to-earth, and he had great ideas.

Q. What's the dream Zele Avradopolous scenario?

A. I would love to do a TV show about organizing, something that goes into more depth than the shows that are currently on cable, where you go back and visit the person's home that you helped fix, and see if they're maintaining it. That's the big one. Everybody can set it up. It's maintaining it.