Talks about acting, family, friends, and the joys of doing laundry

You know her as Liz Parker on the hit UPN show, "Roswell." Over the past two seasons you've seen her grow from a shy, love obsessed girl, to a powerful take-charge player, and she promises that this season you'll see a whole lot more of her in other ways.

Like her character, actress Shiri Appleby has many sides to her personality. She is sometimes quiet and reserved, sometimes loud and outgoing, but mostly she's just a normal girl who happens to be part of a great show that has a huge fan base.

Appleby has been in front of the camera since she was a kid, first doing commercials and then moving on to guest spots on television series. She took a break from acting during high school so she could enjoy what high school is all about: good friends, good times, and, of course, a good education. She returned to acting during college, when she landed her role on "Roswell."

Venice Magazine caught up with Appleby at a recent photo shoot in Hollywood. Even though she's done a ton of interviews and has appeared on several magazine covers, she admits that she still feels weird talking about herself, even today. Sitting poolside in the shade, she manages to open up a bit, telling us about growing up, acting, "Roswell," the current affairs of the United States, and more.

I guess I should start off by asking you about the recent terrorist attacks. Do you remember what you were doing when it happened?

Yeah, I was sleeping. Someone called me and woke me up and told me to turn the television on, and it was just crazy. I sat in front of the television for like 14 hours that day, just watching.

How are you handling it so far?

I'm still absorbing it. I guess it's one of the most profound things that has happened in my life and I don't really know how to explain how I feel because of the fact that it's just beginning and I'm just seeing images and I don't yet have the whole story. It's absolutely an enormous tragedy and it's a [singular] event that I can say has changed the way I lead my life.

Speaking of leading your life, how has becoming a successful actress changed it?

I guess it changes your life, but, at the same time, it makes your life a little bit normal. Now, people just react a little differently when they meet me. It just makes me look at reality [more closely] and weed out things that aren't true. And I get to do a lot of fun things and meet a lot of cool people. It's a really fun job.

You've been in front of the camera since you were a little kid. How much acting did you do up until high school?

I was working quite a bit. I had done about 50 commercials, I was a regular on three television shows, and tons of guest spots. I was really working all the time. It was fun, especially when I was younger, because you would go to sets and there would be donuts and people would just want to play with you and do your hair, so you think it's a magical place when you're younger. Now I look at it and it's like all the magic is gone. Just seeing how many hours I sit there now.

When you got to high school, you took a break from acting. Why?

I just thought that high school was going to be the greatest time of my life and I didn't really want to go to auditions. I remember my freshman year I was sitting in the waiting room [at an audition] and they told me the producers were going to be an hour and a half late. I was like, I have to go, there's a football game in half an hour and I have to be there, so I'm not going to sit here anymore. High school was just too important to me. It was this time when I was growing up and there were new people, and cute boys, and going to auditions seemed so mundane. Spending my high school on a set with a studio teacher just did not compare. So when high school came around, my motivation kind of slipped.

You must have been really involved in high school then.

Oh yeah. I was the yearbook editor two years in a row. I was a cheerleader my sophomore year; I was in leadership. I was just that girl who was always running around with a camera. Everyone thought it was really dorky to get involved in the yearbook, but I was just convinced that it was cool. I really loved photography. They had nice cameras you could borrow on the weekend and it was really great. I made a whole world around high school. There was never a dull moment. My mom called it a soap opera. It was fun!

Were you planning on returning to acting?

Well, I wasn't. The time comes to fill out your college applications and all my friends were going to attend Santa Barbara State, and that was just too far for me. I decided I was going to go by myself without any of my friends to the University Of Southern California, and I was in theater for a while. It was fun, but it wasn't like being with my friends, so I become much more motivated to get a job so I could get out of school.

Were you bored in college?

No. I really liked the education part of it, but socially I wasn't [enjoying] it like I was in high school. Once I got to college, I [thought] I'll just keep taking these classes and I'll learn a lot and just keep going to auditions and hopefully something will happen. Then my second year, during Christmas break, I made the pilot for "Roswell," and then by the end of my second year, it got picked up. In August we were shooting.

I read that the casting director for "Roswell" didn't want to see you the first time around.

Yeah, it was like, no way, she doesn't want to see me! I just had to show her that she was wrong. So I figured out a way to get in the door myself. The whole time it was never really about getting the job, it was about showing somebody that I knew what I was doing, or at least thinking I knew what I was doing. [laughs]

Then you ended up auditioning for all three female roles, right?

Yeah, I auditioned for all three parts like eight times; it was crazy.

What are the differences between the new season and the past two?

Hmm, it will be better this year, I think. The first season was all about relationships, the second season revolved around science fiction, and this year they're trying to combine the two. I think it's so much better this way, because you don't get an overdose of either one. I think it keeps the audience more entertained.

Your character (Liz Parker) is quite involved in relationships.

Oh yeah, she is quite involved, a little obsessed, I think. This season, she and Max start dating again and they rebel together and they hold up a liquor store and get arrested. Then she's forbidden to see him, so they have to hide and do these romantic things. You sort of see how they get back together, but I really don't know what will happen then.

The WB cancelled "Roswell" at the end of the last season and then UPN picked it up this season. How did the network change affect you?

Personally, from my end, it didn't really change, because it's all the same people I see everyday, I still go to the same set. Thankfully, UPN picked us up and they've been really supportive of the show. And, they're allowing the writers to write what they actually want to write; so I think this will be the best season so far.

What was the fans' reaction to the uncertainty of "Roswell?"

Well, we have a very loyal fan base for the show. When they thought it was going to get cancelled after the first season, they sent in like 10,000 bottles of Tabasco to the network, because the aliens like hot sauce. So that got around to the news media, and it showed we really had loyal fans, so the show didn't get cancelled. The second season, after it got cancelled, the fans heard that it might go over to UPN, so they started sending bottles of hot sauce again to UPN. They sent letters, overloaded their email systems, and they even took an ad out for me in Variety last year. They're just very loyal fans. Their persistence is what keeps the show alive.

How did your relationships with your friends change when you got the role on "Roswell?"

It changed them all, because in the first season, I was really fighting everything, I was like, 'This is not happening to me-I'm still in college.' I didn't want it to be different from my friends, but that fight made it really worse, because I wasn't expecting my life to change, but after a while, you start to resent yourself for not enjoying what is happening to you and you're doing it because you want to make the people close to you feel comfortable with it. So it takes a little while to accept what is happening, and say, 'Ok, I can't be ashamed or embarrassed, or feel like I owe other people things because I've gotten lucky.' So, you sort of have to work at it, and certain people deal with it differently. Some people are comfortable watching people at their low points while other people like watching people at their high points. One has to react to the situations and people and it takes people a little bit of time to accept what is happening, as it does with anybody. I think it's more like a life metaphor than just my situation. But, now at this point, I don't see it as a big deal. It's exciting, but you have to be like, 'Ok, this is my job, this is what I love to do, and I shouldn't be embarrassed because I'm an actor.'

I hear you just finished a new film.

Yes, I did a movie this summer, tentatively called SwimFan85. It's a story of temptation set in high school. My character is going out with a boy played by Jesse Bradford (Speedway Junky, Bring It On) who is a swimmer and they have this great relationship. Then this new girl comes into town played by Erika Christensen (Traffic), and they have one night of lust and romance and it goes crazy from there.

How is working on television different from working on movies?

It's totally different, because TV is so quick-they give you the script two days before and you just start going. There are no rehearsals, it's like, ok, stand there, turn your head a little more towards the light, and go! With movies, it's like you've got two weeks to sit around, get to know each other, talk about your characters, figure out the relationships, and then when you get to the set, it's very quiet. On a TV set, everyone is friends; you're there for nine months, everyone is playing games, and it's just hectic. I feel like it's grad school for acting.

Do you enjoy one more than the other?

No, it's all fun. Personally, as an actor, I really like making a film, and I would also love to do theater. And, as an actor who really likes having a job, I love doing television. [laughs]

Is there a direction you want to go in?

Well, I'd really like to do film and theater, but I have a commitment to the show that I am definitely willing to ride with until it's finished. I don't need everything right now.

What are you doing when you're not working?

I visit Santa Barbara a lot because that's where a lot of my friends went to school. I go to the beach and paddle around out there. I'm learning how to play the guitar, I'm obsessed with backgammon, I knit, I crochet, and I read a lot. In fact, I'm reading The Great Gatsby now. I hate going to the grocery store, but I really like doing laundry.

You like doing laundry?

I love doing laundry! I find it to be so therapeutic; it's like the greatest thing in the world. Not that I ever iron anything. No, I just take it out of the dryer, kind of mash it up a little, and then throw it in the drawer. Just the whole laundry aspect of it. It's just fun to clean it and wash it out. It's like my room-it will stay messy for five or six days, then I'll clean it, then it will be dirty again in a few days.

What does your family think of your acting career so far?

Well, my parents are very proud of me and very protective. They want to make sure I do and say the right things. My brother thinks it's pretty cool, too. He just wants me to be very wholesome. My brother is a very smart computer science major at UCLA, and when we sit down, it's like, ok, you have a lot more to say than I do! Overall, they're all very proud.

What keeps you going in this business?

Well, a lot of things. I really like acting and auditioning. I like being put under pressure and having to perform. I also like the fact that I'm in different situations, and I have to figure my way out of them. I am also in love with the expression part of it. That's what really drives me.

Sounds like you really enjoy being an actor.

Yeah, well, this kind of stuff (interviews by the press) is fun when it comes to me, but I always feel awkward sitting here talking about myself, and saying, 'Yes, I'd like to be famous'-well, that's just not me. I just feel so pretentious sitting here. It gives me a headache afterwards; then I sit in my car, thinking, did I say anything I shouldn't have?

What's next for you?

I'm working on "Roswell" until April, and then I don't know. I'll be 23 in December so I'm going to have a big birthday party!

October 2001
by David Beebe
Venice Magazine