Holly Marie Combs Interview and Seventeen article on Holly
Holly Marie Combs Interview
After four seasons of family conflicts and powerful social issues on David E. Kelley's critically acclaimed drama "Picket Fences," Holly Marie Combs was ready for two things. She wanted to have some fun and she wanted to grow up.
"As much as I loved 'Picket Fences," she says, "it was hard after a while to have all the arguments and the crying. Too much crying and fighting! Especially for my charector, Kimberly, being the teenager. So this looked like something that would be totally different, I don't want to say a lot more fun, but in a way more fun.
"And I get to play someone older, finally. That was important to me. I think Kimberly aged two years in four years, from 16 to 18 years. So it was exciting for me to play someone closer to my age."
On the WB's drama "Charmed", 25 year old Combs plays chef and resturaunt manager, Piper Halliwell, the middle child of three San Francsico sisters who have found out that they're heredity witches with magical powers. On top of all that they're the "Charmed Ones", whose duty is to protect the innocent and fight against evil. Along the way, they deal with dating, clothes, jobs, sharing a huge Victorian house and the other hassles of sisterhood.
The original pilot, which never aired, featured Lori Rom as the youngest sister, Phoebe. She was then suddenly replaced by Alyssa Milano.
"She was the right combination," says Combs. "We had a break between doing the pilot and starting the series. It was a little weird at first. We were like 'what?' It was totally unexpected, and we were caught a little bit off guard."
"It really did surprise me. But I had the first scene with Alyssa the first day, and she was so sweet and so nice, I couldn't find anything wrong with her. And she was funny, which the youngest charector really needed to have. It was the element that we were missing."
Playing the oldest sister, Prue, is "Beverly Hills 90210" star Shannen Doherty, and as soon as it was announced tounges began to wag about possible conflicts and diva behavior on the set. Combs is quick to dispel that notion.
"Actually," she says, "I'm not quite sure if I want to talk about this, but I kind of do, because I am so sick of all these rumors. I just had surgery (for a uterine fibroid) recently, and we shut down for two weeks."
"These girls, I mean Shannen was there with me through every doctor's appointment and held my hand and Alyssa was in my hospital room every day, she even climbed in bed with me. These are kind of life-and-death things when you really need people and they're actually there. It's pretty nice."
"It made a huge difference in how fast I got better to have them around and have them be so supportive of me. These were not pleasent doctors appointments and tests that they sat through with me. And my crew was so supportive of me. It's really become this family atmoshere where we take care of each other."
Not having grown up with sisters, Combs is also happy to be working on the show with so many other women. "It's great because there are so many women than actually just the three of us. That's what people don't relize. Our whole hair-and-makeup trailer is all women, and we are actually working with a women director right now. So I call it "Estrogen Dome". Women rule the set."
"It is different than than any experience I've had, but it's also a lot of fun. And we've all synced up our menstrual cycles. It's weird"
What did Combs think of the idea for the show? "I thought it was great because it would be something different to have three women, three brunettes, who are not neurotic or in need of therapy. I weas really happy that they were these independent, family oriented, very personally, in their own ways, successful. That always appeals to me. I like strong women."
Each sister has a particualar power. Piper freezes people in place, but that hasn't helped her hold on to a steady guy. Which is not to say Piper hasn't tried, but so far she's fallen for a warlock, a ghost, and a handyman who turned out to be a magical being.
"I have had it all. What's going on here? Phoebe's the one who's supposed to be dating up a storm. How come I have guys in and out of here every three weeks? I think there's one coming who's bad news, but he doesn't hang aroung either."
Luckily for Combs, real life is going a little better. During the interview, she pauses to take a call. "It was my boyfriend," she reports, "He was so sweet. He just called to say 'I love you'. There's got to be something wrong with this man. He's too perfect. He's a second grade school teacher, so he calls me at recess. It's so cute!"
"I just happened to meet him by chance, and thought he was a really amazing person. He's brave, with 22 seven and eight year olds everyday. I can't imagine how he does it. He teaches in South Central L.A., so he's got an even bigger challenge."
With the show doing well in the ratings and a lock to return next season, what would Combs like to see happen? "Actually, going to San Francsico would be nice. It's all Hollywood magic now, Apparently we are going next year sometime. That would be fun."
And for Piper? "I guess I'd like her to be a little more relaxed. They enjoy calling me 'Hyper Piper' on the set. She's always worried, constantly worried about something. That's part of her charm."
But don't expect Piper to start showing up in the same form-fitting, sometimes skimpy clothes that her sisters favor. "No," says Combs, "I've made it very clear! Because it was starting off that way in the beginning and I said 'No! We don't have to be naked all the time!" Article from Seventeen Magazine
Holly Maries Combs
AKA: Piper Halliwell on Charmed.
Why she picked this shirt: "I wear comfy, easy denim like this."
Labels she loves: "Buffalo, Earl Jean and my vintage Levi's jacket that found at the Rose Bowl Flea market in pasadena, California."
Perk City: "We get lots of free jeans from the Charmed wardrobe."
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