Courtney Thorne-Smith is getting pretty good at playing those paranoid, insecure types. In her latest starring role on Ally McBeal she's prim lawyer Georgia, a woman plagued by fears her husband still lusts after his ex, Ally. Married to Cage/Fish & Associates partner Billy Thomas (Gil Bellows, above) she's haunted by the daily presence of Ally. But in real fife, the actress has no such fears about the man she plans to marry.
Having announced her engagement in November to geneticist Andrew Conrad, 31 -year-old Courtney plans to tie the knot in this US spring. "He's the perfect man," she gushes. "It still amazes me that I almost didn't meet him. " Courtney met Andrew on a blind date a year ago, and confesses it was only because of her sister Jennifer's insistence that she even went along. Today she's grateful she did: it was love at first sight for the couple. Andrew was soon scheming with Jennifer to buy the actress the perfect engagement ring.
"Having sex with my fiance, I connect with love, and that's the most important thing in my life," Courtney confides. "We have no doubts about our love for each other. We have a wonderful relationship.
But I don't know how Georgia puts up with her situation--I know I couldn't."
This isn't the first time Courtney has pined over a Billy on screen. For years her flaky character Alison Parker on Melrose Place struggled though a relationship with flatmate Billy Campbell (Andrew Shue). Off screen the pair were an item as well, but broke up in 1993 after a year together.
"The Billy and Alison story-line was so strong that Andrew and I turned to each other because of our characters," she explains. "But when we had our first summer break, we realised we didn't have anything in common. He wanted to go jetsetting and I wanted to stay at home with my cats." Now, Courtney says she's still friends with the other Andrew in her life, and there are no bitter feelings.
The San Francisco-born actress admits she is terrified of commitment, having watched her own parents' marriage crumble while she was a teenager. "When you're a child of divorce, marriage is a scary prospect, although I believe it lends a more realistic approach to life," she says. "I don't have all the fantasy around it that other people might have. I'm more realistic."
Courtney began her acting career during high school when she joined the Ensemble Theater Company in California. She made her movie debut in the film Lucas, which set Winona Ryder on the road
to superstardom 13 years ago. Courtney says that she's happy with the different direction her career has taken compared to that of her former co-star.
"I'm very happy," she insists. "Melrose does what it does extremely well. We looked for ways to make it light and fun we were playing, creating this surreal world. On Ally, we're doing that as well, but it gets exaggerated in a different way. Melrose was melodrama, while Ally is comedy and straight drama."
Courtney adds that she really enjoys it when her roles are challenging - like the time her Melrose Place character suddenly became an alcoholic. "I liked it when she was drinking," she laughs, "because I got to go hysterical - she got mad and had some backbone. Otherwise, she just whined a lot. And who wouldn't? Look at her life."
No stranger to TV's legal profession, Courtney previously had a recurring role as Kimberly Dugan on another David E. Kelley series LA Law, and leapt at the offer to play Georgia. "Our characters are always bitching and scheming, but in real life we have all grown into close friends," she says.
"My first day, I came in late. So I felt like everyone knew each other and it was my first day at a new school. Everyone was very sweet and we were all polite to each other. But that fell apart very quickly. We all have the same childish sense of humour, so you assume that everyone is kidding all the time. It feels like a family we tease each other like brothers and sisters. I don't know if that's created by the long hours, or because the material's so good it creates intimacy. It's a great place to work."
Ask Courtney how she deals with all the renewed interest in her and she replies with level-headed coolness. "We keep talking to each other, so the media buzz doesn't create a conflict among us," she explains. "I've learned that the media picks people to focus on and shifts them continuously."
And, like her co-stars, she says she's been amazed by the reaction to the series. "As for Billy and Georgia, people would get really heated," Courtney laughs. "They'd say to Calista, 'You guys were meant to be together,' while to me, they'd say 'How can you let her do that?' Now I think the love triangle thing's done.
"One of David's strengths as a writer is that he gets bored with a story-line before the audience does. With the triangle fading, they're discovering Billy and Georgia's relationship, and that's fun."
Story- Gill Pringle
