Six Degrees Magazine

Shiri Appleby alters her surroundings like most of us change our sucks. And that's not just because she's an actress. The 27-year-old best known for wooing an extraterrestrial on Roswell spends more time rethinking the color of her walls than being contained by them. "I have an obsession with painting my house," Appleby admits. "Whenever I'm in the mood, painters come over and I pick a new color. I am not sure what, psychologically, that all means."

By Rachael Lee Coleman / Photos by Nicolι Maddox-Grayson

Feature Presentation

Appleby reveals her quirks via cell phone at Newark International Airport. She's almost giddy as she stockpiles chocolate chip cookies, fruit, salad and water for her 11-hour flight to visit family in Israel. After all, Appleby's soaring these days, and so is her career. The Los Angeles native- who launched her career at age 4 hawking Cheerios, M&M's and Taco Bell on television commercials - appeared on a host shows like thirtysomething, Doogie Howser M.D., 7th Heaven and ER, before landing the part of the love-struck teen heroine Liz Parker on Roswell in 1999. That gig led to small silver screen spots in The Thirteen Floor and The Other Sister and, eventually, catapulted Appleby into starring roles in the teen dramas A Time for Dancing in 2000 and Swimfan in 2002. "When you're young and on a TV set, you think you're Nicole Kidman," Appleby recalls. "It's a fun way to grow up."

Still, the TV darling doesn't patronize the medium that garnered her fame. She's too busy writing in a journal she'll never let anyone read, collecting international stamps and filming new flicks. "I do anything else but watch TV," Appleby says. "I pack my suitcase and get on planes. I just want to fill up my passport. I only have a few pages left. When it expires, I think I'll break down. It's my life, all of my accomplishments. I'll have to make some kind of art with it." As flight attendants beckon travellers over the airport loudspeaker, Appleby recounts her favourite places- Bahamas, Tokyo and Montreal, where she just filmed The Thrill of the Kill, a low budget Lifetime movie about a girl trying to solve her sister's murder, four days earlier. "Montreal is crazy," she says. "It was much more spiritual than I thought. The people are really soulful human beings; they drink wine and kiss you on both cheeks to say hello. When I came back to the U.S., I thought, 'Why aren't we kissing each other on the cheeks?' It's so much more personal. We're so cold here."

Except Appleby seems to be feeling nothing but love from Hollywood. Earlier this year, she starred in the quirky Passover comedy When Do We Eat? and filmed What Love Is, an all-star comedy with Cuba Gooding Jr., Matthew Lillard, Sean Astin, Anne Heche and Gina Gershon. "It was interesting working with all these established actors- their energy and professionalism was mind-blowing," she says. "They really turned it on and that brought my game up quite a bit. I tried to take some of their tricks and add them to my bag."
A month later, she played uptight assistant Rebecca Fay in The Killing Floor, a thriller about a literary agent (Marc Blucas) who receives starting crime scene photos and videotapes from an anonymous stalker. "It's awesome." Appleby exclaims. "It's dark, sexy, edgy. Rebecca is a complete character - mousy, uptight and loyal to this guy. She's one of the stronger characters I've played. She's the epitome of the prefect assistant, a taskmaster, and I've never been that in my life. I think I'm too opinionated to do her job."

As she prepares to board the plane, Appleby realizes she hasn't worked in four days. Who knows, once she returns, maybe she'll land a role on Broadway, in another TV series or on the silver screen. Maybe she'll repaint her house. Or maybe she'll catch another flight. It really doesn't matter. "I'm not waiting for life to show itself," she says. "I'm going after it."

August 2006
Six Degrees Magazine