Script convinces Ward on series

Writing, mature role lured former "Sisters" star to "Once and Again"

By Nancy Van Valkenburg --
Sela Ward wasn't looking for another one-hour series.

In fact, after finishing an exhausting six years playing Teddy, the alcoholic sibling on "Sisters," Ward had publicly sworn she'd never do another show so demanding.

So she didn't exactly welcome the pilot script for "Once and Again" with open arms, even if it was by Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, writer/creators of such gems as "Thirtysomething" and "My So-Called Life."

"That script sat on my desk for, like, almost two weeks," Ward told critics at the fall television press tour in Pasadena, Calif. "And I said, "You know what?' to my agent, "I'm not interested. I don't care if it's Ed Hoomahooma and Marshall Hooma.'"

Her agents prevailed.

"By the time I got through with the script, I couldn't get it out of my head," Ward said. "I hadn't seen writing like that maybe in my entire career."

Ward and Billy Campbell ("The Rocketeer") star in the romantic drama, which debuts at 9 tonight on KTVX Channel 4.

Ward plays Lily Manning, a newly separated mother of a teen and a preteen daughter. Campbell is Rick Sammler, divorced father of two similarly aged sons. The adults meet at their teens' soccer game. Romantic sparks fly, and the two "fortysomethings" begin to feel like awkward kids themselves.

As a romance involving mature adults, "Once and Again" is a rarity on the fall schedule. Hollywood's laser focus on teens really irks Ward.

"I feel like my life is just beginning," said the 43-year-old actress. "I don't think I've ever been happier. I feel right. I feel yummy. I feel incredibly intelligent."

Yet, roles for mature (but not elderly) women are rare.

"If you look at actresses playing opposite the Michael Douglases and even Harrison Ford, you know, excuse me?" Ward said, laughing incredulously. "Can't (men) play opposite someone closer to their own age, or even 15 years younger?"

Ward's own feelings of vitality and her anger over Hollywood ageism made her sign on for "Once and Again."

"They've written something that celebrates age, that celebrates that, at 40, there is life. At 40, there are new experiences. At 40, you can have the same feelings and emotions and state of expectancy (about life) that you had when you were 19 or 18."

The pilot episode is remarkably well written and moving. Zwick and Herskovitz promise to explore and develop all the regular characters, just as they have on their previous shows. The young actors cast as Ward's and Campbell's children seemed confident their roles will add interest for younger people who tune in to the show.

But at its core, "Once and Again" is about and for grown-ups (and perhaps mostly for female grown-ups). It's not about raging young hormones and blind faith.

"Once and Again" is about having lived enough to know the cost of failed love, yet somehow daring to take that risk again.__Standard Examiner (September 21, 1999)