Charmed
We're Sure
Dolly,
June 2000.
Imagine
dealing with wolves, warlocks and goo-spitting demons on a daily basis. For Charmed
star Holly Marie Combs, it's all part of the deal. Interviewed by Sara Graham.
Do
you believe in magic?
Not
in a way the show believes in magic. I believe in more mystical things and
intuition. I believe in positive thinking, which is basically what spells are
about-repeated positive thinking.
What's
a day on a set like for you?
There's
always some specials effect happening. And we have to imagine a lot of this,
like fireballs or frost or demons flying at us.
Do
you ever get used to that?
I
think we have gotten used to it now, because they say the most ridiculous things
to us. They say things like, "Okay, now the demon is going to explode and
now he's dust." And we just know!
Can
you even see it?
No-we
look at a green screen most of the time, and then they add in the effects after
we do our stuff. Most of the time we don't even know what the demons look like.
What
do you do in your down time?
We
sit, we do crossword puzzles. Alyssa and I play Scrabble. And Alyssa makes me
watch every talk show that's on at the time.
Are
you closer to "little sister" Alyssa than you are to "big
sis" Shannen?
I'm
equally close with both of them, but I've just recently become close with
Alyssa. I didn't know her at all from before the series, but I'd known Shannen
for seven years before. My boyfriend at the time was friends with some of her
friends, and we just met that way.
Were
you ever a Beverly Hills 90210 fan?
No,
i wasn't really into it when i was a kid. I was more of a rebel when i was a
teenager, but a lot of my girlfriends were into it.
How
about Who's the Boss?
I
did see that because I was younger then -I hadn't gotten into my rebellious
stage yet. And it was great. As a girl growing up in New York, it was easier to
relater to Alyssa's character.
Are
the three of you like real sisters?
Yeah,
we have that sisterly bond going. We spend so much time together that it's hard
for it not to happen. Everybody tells Alyssa that she sounds like me, and
everybody tells me I sound like Shannen. And we have our little inside jokes
that nobody understands.
Is
it nice to have "sisters" now?
It's
really nice. I had surgery recently, and we shut down for two weeks. These are
life-and-death things when you really need people, and they were both there.
It's nice. It's become this family atmosphere where we take care of each other.
It is different than any experiences I've had, but it's also a lot of fun. And
we've all synched up our menstrual cycle. It's weird!
Do
you ever find yourself acting more like your character when you're giving advise
to each other in real life?
Yeah,
sometimes. It's weird for me and Alyssa because she's actually older than me,
but she plays the younger sister. so it's weird to switch roles on TV, and give
her advise as the older sister when, usually, it's the other way around.
Unlike
Piper, are you the responsible one amongst your friends and family?
I'd
like to think so! Piper is so much more unreliable than me, mostly because she
overreacts and is so worrisome. She's always neurotic and always
high-strung. I just don't have the energy to be like her all the time.
What's
the food on the set like?
It's
bad! I think our budget on Charmed goes to other things, like special
effects. Our show is expensive to make, so the food is not so great. But I think
it's so bad to discourage us for eating it. It's the Aaron Spelling plan!
Was
it hard to adjust to Charmed after filming the drama Picket Fences?
Yeah,
it was. On Picket Fences there
were so many scenes where we just sat and talked and acted. And in Charmed there's
so much action, which I thought would be fun and easy. I thought, "Oh, I
get to kick some butt and run around and scream," but it's actually a lot
more difficult than I thought. Running away from a demon you can't even see is
hard to make look convincing. You have to be scared to death.
Does
your family watch Charmed?
Yeah,
my mum watches it every week. She'll call me and say something like, "That
green sweater did not fit you. It was too big in the shoulders and it did not
look good."
Are
you the star if family reunions?
I
am with the little girls, my little cousins, because they just absolutely love
the show. They go to school and say, "That's my cousin," but of course
nobody believes them. But they'll say, "No, Piper is really my
cousin!"
What's
the biggest misconception about starring in Charmed?
People
think it's glamorous, but it's really not. It's us standing in our boots and
sweatshirts. The other day we were in wigs and false eyelashes, and I guess the
finished product will look very glamorous but, at the time, our eyelashes were
aching from the glue, the wigs were itching, and all we wanted to do was tear
them off. It's not nearly as glamorous as it seems- especially on Charmed.
Usually I've got goo on me, or some kind of alien slime!
Do
you have a website?
Alyssa
and I do. Her mum has her own company on the 'Net, called safesearching.com,
which you can go to by typing that in, which is a porn-free search engine. So
you can look us up, and find our sites and not see us naked, basically.
That
must be a pain...
It's
weird, as I've only been topless once, in one film. And there are all these
other pictures floating around that aren't me. I’m almost okay with the one
picture that is me, because what am I going to do? It is me and I
actually did do it. But I didn't think at the time they would freeze-frame it
into 15 different pictures!
That
must be the worst thing though, when it isn't even you!
Well, it depends on the picture. (laughs) It really depends on the body!
Thanks
to Karen
for typing this article and let me use them!
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