Calabasas Magazine

Actress and Calabasas native Shiri Appleby, who co-stars in the acclaimed independent film Undertow, is a stylish beauty among stately beasts at the wild and wonderful Saddle Peak Lodge.

Never let it be said that Shiri Appleby is not willing to suffer for her art. While shooting the stylish indie thriller Undertow, the latest from writer-director David Gordon Green ( George Washington), "I got chigger bites up and down my legs," she says. "We were putting nail polish on them to relieve the itching —it was awful."

Fortunately, the experience of making the film, which Roger Ebert has hailed as a masterpiece, evoked more pleasant memories: "It was a total departure from anything I had ever done before, and unlike anything that anyone had ever trusted me with, so I was thrilled."

Undertow, which was released in October, is one of eight films Appleby has made over the past two years, making a smooth transition to features after a successfull run on the television series Roswell. The Calabasas native geban acting at the age of four with a string of commercials, wich led to TV guest spots and small film roles.

"I was really shy growing up, so my parents wanted to put me in situations that would force me to come out of my shell," she says. "I guess it worked, because when I started acting, I really took to it, and being on a set felt like this magical environment."

As for her hometown, "It was a great place to grow up, " says Appleby, a former cheerleader at Calabasas High. "Parents were really involved in their kids' lives, and it was a very safe community. When the Sagebrush Cantina is the wildest spt in town, you know yu're living in a pretty innocent place!"

Nov/Dec 2004
Clabasas Magazine