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Rose McGowan |
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The last time we saw Rose McGowan, she was being chewed up by an automatic garage-door in Scream. Now, the 28-year-old Italian-born actress (she moved to America aged nine) has come back to life via the power of witchcraft. More specifically, she's stepped into the shoes of recently-departed Shannen Doherty in the hit series Charmed, as long-lost sister Paige Halliwell. As the newest 'third' of the three charmed ones, she's stilll finding her feet both as a witch and as the newcomer to the show. More! spoke exclusively to her on the set of Charmed. It must be scary joining a show where everyone already knows each other… You know what? It really wasn't that bad. I went to a whole bunch of schools when I was young, used to meet new people all the time, so in that respect it wasn't really that different for me. I honestly didn't think about it too much in advance. Oh come on - you get a role in a hit TV show and you don't obsess about it? No, really. I actually think there's a certain amount of head-in-sand-ness that can be to your benefit when approaching a new job. Maybe I should have thought about it more, but I think it was to my benefit that I didn't. It was fine, I just treated it like it was something brand new for everyone not just me. You're the new witch on the block - it's quite sweet watching Paige playing around with her new powers. It's fun for me too. And what's good is that the audience are watching and thinking what they'd do if they had magic powers too - you know, finding out what the lottery numbers are, never working again. And they get to share that with Paige as she discovers her powers. Including the scene where she gives herself a far-too-big boob-job? Oh yes, those were huge weren't they?! [laughs] Then again, she's learning, and of course things are going to go wrong. Actually those are the episodes I enjoy most. Where things misfire. Paige seems to bring a new sense of fun to the family. Definitely. Fun is what Paige is all about. And even in the more strenuous moments, be it hardcore emotions or fighting demons, there's nothing wrong with taking the piss out of something. Which is how I live my life, I guess. Some of that comes from the writers, but I think I bring a lot of it myself as well. She's also kind of camp, don't you think? Hell, why not? If it can't be campy, what's the point? Good point. And of course she gets to wear the funkiest outfits… Oh yes, and I get to shop for myself. On weekends I go to stores, pick clothes out and have them hold them for me, then the wardrobe people here go and collect them. I have very specific tastes. I wouldn't necessarily wear all the things that Paige wears, but I have a very clear idea of what she would wear. I've been very hands-on in that area. Have the viewers welcomed her to the show? They seem to like her, yes. My biggest compliments come from people in grocery stores. It's so weird - this woman came up to me and said 'My husband watches the show - he's 60.' Things like that crack me up. But it's interesting that there doesn't seem to be a specific type of viewer. We seem to go across the board, and that's fascinating. I get a lot of compliments, but I'm not going to repeat them all to you, because that would make me sound a complete a-hole. And you wouldn't want that to happen, would you? [grins] Certainly not. But you're proper famous now - surely people are going to form their own ideas about the kind of person you are? Being famous is horrible and great at the same time - retarded and fabulous. It's like a birthmark: it doesn't really say anything about you, but still people stop and stare. I guess I had a different kind of birthmark before I came to Charmed, and now it kind of feels like I've got new ones mutating all over my body all the time. [laughs] So are you enjoying the whole Hollywood party thing now? Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't actually go to places that are super-Hollywoody. You can go there and have a laugh at the people but after a few minutes you realise you're still there and you have no excuse, and you think 'Right, I think now I shall go home and kill myself. Put the gas on the stove and go for a nap.' I like karaoke bars and that kind of thing. There's a lot of preconceptions about my life, but to be honest, I think Alyssa (Milano, Rose's onscreen sister) has a much wilder time than I ever do. You seem a bit too 'normal' for LA. LA's strange. If you think of it as the place where the prettiest person in each little town across America ends up, it's completely bizarre. One thing I do notice, and maybe I'm a bit spoiled by, is a sort of grooming. The fact that people really do take care of themselves and their appearances. But more so than anywhere else. Every other city, the people look kind of shaggy, or rough round the edges compared to LA. The whole witch thing - isn't it just like old-fashioned sexism? You know, 'If a woman speaks her mind, she must be abnormal' type thing? I speak my mind, and to me that's normal, but apparently that's not how everyone is. I've often thought that just by being in Hollywood and being me, well I don't quite fit the mould, do I? I've said it before, though - had I lived in the time of the Salem Witch trials, I'd probably have been burned at the stake. But dammit, I'd have been wearing something that looked good. And that's what counts. [laughs] You also get to enjoy screentime with some very hunky co-stars… [grins] I do, don't I? My scenes with Julian McMahon (Cole) are usually a real laugh. He does these stupid mouth twitches which are completely inappropriate on camera, and they crack me up all the time. You need to keep him in hand, obviously. Oh yeah, and believe me, I do. I beat him up all the time. Plus I saw a picture of him in Speedos once and that is totally unacceptable. Holly (Marie Coombs, the other onscreen sister) said 'Oh it's because he's European', I said 'No he's not, he's Australian. And he has no excuse as far as I'm concerned.' And if I can leave you with that message, English boys, please wear bathing trunks. There's never any excuse for Speedos. | ||
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