L-A D Sida 1
L-A D Sida 2
Intervjusidan
-Recent fad admit to trying:
Exercise
-Favorite actor:
Dumbo
-Favorite actress:
Cinderella
-Favorite movie:
Bambi
-Greatest fear:
Dying of thirst
-How I want to spend New Year's Eve 1999:
Alive, well and at home
-Favorite TV show:
Umm, hello!
-Favorite singer:
Frank Sinatra
-Film or theatrical role for the opposite sex I would most want to play:
Dorian Gray
-If I could only keep one household appliance it would be:
Stove
-Something you'd be surprised to know about me:
I have absolutely nothing
-Favorite book:
The Bible
-Favorite food:
Curry
-Least favorite food:
Bland
-Favorite comfort food:
Burgers
-Favorite item of clothing:
Flannel pajamas
-Nobody knows I can:
Juggle
-Greatest achievement:
Quitting smoking
-If I couldn't be an actor I would be:
A teacher
-Cause I most believe:
Kids - and Mums
-If I had one wish:
No pain for kids
-Most treasured possession:
My kids
-First thing I do when I wake up in the morning:
Drink water
-Last thing I do before I go to sleep:
Don't get so personal, guys!
-Most embarrasing moment:
Riding a Harley and the wind blowing my T-shirt up
-Best quality:
Impetuousness
-Worst quality:
Impetuousness
-Biggest regret:
Not enough kids
-Something that makes me see red:
Death penalty
-If I could live anywhere, it'd be:
Ireland and Italy
-What I dislike most about my appearance:
Those adorable love handles
-Smartest thing I ever did:
Marry Donnie
-Greatest love:
Don E. Fauntleroy
-Quality I most like in a mate:
Humor
-My epitaph:
Thanks for the memories
Don¹t let SUN¹s Lesley-Anne Down Fool you behind all that domestic bliss is a life teeming with drama and adventure.
Compared to her character, Olivia Richards whose child was stolen and passed off as the son of her daughter, Caitlin‹ the life of SUN¹s Lesley-Anne Down must be relatively tame. Or so one would think. By the looks of things, the actress is happily surrounded by her husband and children, dogs and a luscious garden, all nestled snugly in the confines of a proverbial (if not literal) white picket fence.
To top it off, Down, 44, and husband Don FauntLeRoy, 45, recently welcomed a new baby to their family. Could life be any more picture perfect?
"I have a house, a husband I love, children and a new baby, a job I wanted. I¹m very happy," she says. But roll back the clock, and you¹ll find her history every bit as uniquely complicated as that of her character.
A model at 10, Down entered the business at an age when most of her peers were still playing dress-up. "Every other mother in the country didn¹t agree with that, I assure you," says Down. "There was an enormous backlash on that one."
At first, she did a lot of catalogue work. Then at 12, Down got her first TV commercial and was flown to Barbados for the shoot. It was becoming crystal clear that her priorities were quite a bit different than the average adolescent, a fact that caused quite a stir at school, where Down had been a straight-A student. "When I was 12," she recalls, "the headmistress caught me in a fashion show when I should have been in school. My case was used in England as an example. I think my parents and the agency were fined, and I was on the cover of all the newspapers."
The school's headmistress gave Down a pretty convincing lecture about why she should quit modeling and almost made her point. Almost. "As I stood there, she brought a whole pile of mail that was for me from boys and girls who had written and they were all opened!" Down remembers, her voice still brimming with outrage. "I was absolutely appalled that she had opened someone else's mail. I took the letters, said goodbye, walked out of the room and never went back."
From that point on, Down went to theater school and it was a good thing, too. At 14, she was dubbed "Britain's most beautiful teenager" through a mail-in contest, a development that would not have sat well with her former headmistress. In keeping with her life's new path, Down promptly left school altogether at 15 1/2, the legal age to do so in England. Very soon after, she left home as well. "I was working. I was earning quite a bit of money every year," Down explains. "I knew what I wanted to do. And I did, indeed, leave home when I was 16. An adult in England."
Down's boyfriend at the time, Bruce Robinson, 23, was a writer who would go on to pen The Killing Fields and to direct Uma Thurman in Jennifer 8. "He's an exquisite writer," she notes. The couple shared a house, which belonged to a very rich lord and mutual friend, and stayed together for 10 years, "longer than many marriages," she notes. "On weekends we would either visit my parents or go down to Bruce's parents, who lived in a darling farmhouse on the coast."
The actress describes her own parents as "creative in their own way not professionally, though." Her father made pottery, painted and still writes. Her mom was a ballroom dancer and used to sing in Scottish prisons. Were they progressive for their time? "No," she chuckles, "but my father probably would have been hung 200 years ago."
When asked to describe her mother, Down says, "Mom doesn¹t give up. She's stubborn," a trait the actress has inherited. Fighting illness, Down¹s mother once technically 'died' but was revived and placed on life support, which was put on and taken off several times before she finally stabilized. "She¹s an atheist. She won¹t go," explains Down. "My father says, 'If your mother believed in God, she would have died eight years ago.' There's absolutely nothing for her to go to, so she's staying here. It's just a miracle, and I love her for doing that."
From her father, Down has learned "to find the silly things of life, to never take anything too seriously. We have a responsibility to be happy," she asserts. "You have been given a life, enjoy it! When I see miserable sods walking around gruesome, I want to shake them! We have a responsibility to really be joyful about what we have."
As if to illustrate the principal, Down recalls a very happy memory: "My father used to take me to school when I was very little," the actress says smiling. "The other day we were talking about a day when the pond was frozen and we were riding through the park. We both have a complete memory of it ducks were sitting on top of the frozen ice as he was taking off (on the bike) to my kindergarten school. We were laughing, and the snow started."
By 1975, Down had made it to the big screen, appearing in the feature film Brannigan. Between 1976 and 1981 the actress made a number of movies, including The Pink Panther Strikes Again, The Betsy, A Little Night Music, The Great Train Robbery, Hanover Street, Rough Cut and Sphinx.
There was marriage, too. The actress met producer Henri Gabriel while they were making Sphinx. "I was young and stupid," she admits. "But it was magical! We met in Budapest and were married at the foot of the pyramid. We honeymooned on Mauritius and traveled around the world. It was a very, very fast time in many ways."
After Sphinx and divorce from Gabriel Down made TV movies, including Agatha Christie¹s Murder Is Easy and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. However, in the U.K. and to PBS audiences Down is best known as Lady Georgina Wolsey in the highly acclaimed series Upstairs, Downstairs.
While in London, Down met and eventually wed William Friedkin, the director of such notable films as The French Connection and The Exorcist. Divorce from Friedfkin stopped her career in its tracks when the ensuing custody battle dragged on for nearly three years. "I was offered a lot of work, but I couldn¹t do it," says Down.
The legal battle was downright vicious at times, but Down says that she holds no animosity. "I¹m kind of thankful really," she admits. "I was a young woman in a strange country (the U.S.) and it seems everyone turned around and stabbed me in the back. I spent a million dollars in two years on lawyers. I stood up to that I learned my strength. I was strong enough to come through with a love and understanding of my (current) husband, Don. That will never ever be broken."
Husband Don FauntLeRoy confesses that he was in love with Down before they ever met. "I was working on a Steven Spielberg movie," he recalls, "and I got a phone call to work on a miniseries. Patrick Swayze was the leading man, and the leading lady was Lesley-Anne Down. I quit the movie. I had seen her in screen, and she had such a wonderful persona."
Down earned a best actress Golden Globe for her work in that miniseries, the acclaimed North and South. She also took home statuettes for its sequels, Book II and Book III, as well as for her role in The Last Days of Pompeii.
"We clicked real quick, I mean from the very first day on the set," says FauntLeRoy, who came into Down¹s life during her Friedkin divorce and custody battle. "It¹s all behind us now. It strengthened our relationship. We both put our careers on hold during that period. But you learn that from every bad there comes good."
And the good did come eventually. "We always wanted to have a child together. That was delayed, even thought lost, because of the things that were going on with our ex-spouses and turmoil in the children¹s lives," says FauntLeRoy, who has two daughters Season, now 16, and Juliana, 18 from a previous marriage. Down has a son, Jack, 15, by Friedkin.
"There had been some horrible, horrible times. We kept them away from the divorce, the proceedings, the press, but they were still exposed to it. It required constant repair of their little hearts and souls," he recalls. "It wouldn¹t have been fair at the time we wouldn¹t have been able to give enough time to a baby, and it could have hurt the other children."
Finally, on March 11 of this year, the couple welcomed their son, George. Down had been told that her chances of having a baby were slim to none, so news of her pregnancy was a joyful surprise. She had visited FauntLeRoy on location in Park City, Utah, where he was working as a cinematographer. "We were in a great house on the top of a mountain with a wonderful view. She conceived there," he says.
A regular churchgoer, Down plans to send George to Catholic school. "I want him to learn about all kinds of religions and make his own mind up," she says. "I don¹t want him to be selfish without religion people can be very selfish. You must love your fellow man."
Along with the banning of nondenominational prayer, Down thinks it's unfortunate that schools "don¹t teach about love, marriage or babies, the things we are put on this planet to do to love and procreate. There are no lessons for parenting of loving, and when you have a baby, there are no instructions with it," she laughs, "Everything that happens is new; you¹re learning it with the child."
"Through the divorce and remarriage, I think all the children taught me that nothing is constant," Down reflects. "Just when you think they¹re driving you crazy or they're perfect, the opposite will occur. You just can never give up on them."
There is one constant in Downis life, however: love. And it's more than apparent as she and FauntLeRoy speak of each other and their marriage. "Donnie taught me all about loyalty," Down says, beaming at her husband. FauntLeRoy replies with equal fervor: "Lesley-Anne is the mother of my child and my best friend. She understands me, offering communication and companionship.
"She is the most wonderful creature that walks this earth," he continues. "And she¹s a phenomenal mom. There were times when the kids were bouncing back and forth and living under two sets of values, rules and regulations. It was very difficult to juggle all of that, but she handled it all brilliantly. She's great with George and all children; they get into her arms and there's an amazing connection‹‹even with children she doesn¹t know."
It seems obvious that FauntLeRoy is glad he proposed to Down, right? Wrong. "In reality, she proposed to me." he clarifies, "about three weeks after we became lovers."
"I am a forthright woman," Down chimes in. "I believe it was a leap year, darling."
Currently, while Down handles her full schedule at SUN, FauntLeRoy is wrapping up an independent film project, Deal of a Lifetime, based on the classic musical Damn Yankees. After 27 years of working his way up through the ranks in camera, FauntLeRoy started directing about a decade ago. His directorial debut was Saving Grace, which was written by Down. Last year that couple worked together once again on the Fox-TV movie Hearts Unlimited, set to air Aug. 18.
If it's every little girl's dream to get married, have children and live in a house with a picket fence, then Down has made the ideal a reality with one exception. "We¹re going to get the picket fence this weekend," she says. "It's for a little area where my chubby dog keeps lying on the gardenias."
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999
Q. In your opinion, what's the best part of working on Sunset Beach?
The jokes, the fun, the comradarie
Q. Of all your movies, which one was your favorite? Is there one you regret doing?
Great Train Robbery. No - I got paid
Q. Is there a fan of your you remember most and why?
My husband - he quit Goonies to work with me
Q. Was Lesley-Anne Down really pregnant during the time on Sunset beach when the storyline said she was pregnant?
Yes.
Q. Does Lesley-Anne Down reply to her own fan letters? Why does it take so long?
I do and I'm sorry - but I cook and clean too.
Q. I would like to know if Lesley-Anne Down wears a wig on Sunset Beach.
Hair Pieces.
Q. Are the rumors that she is leaving Sunset Beach true?
Vicious lies! Spread by Susan Lucci!
Q. Do you know how tall she is?
5'5' (165 cm)
Q. Do you know if there is a Lesley-Anne Down fan club? If not, is there anything we can do about it?
Start one please
Q. I wonder if Lesley-Anne DOwn has an email address?
No.
Q. What is Lesley-Anne Down's son Jack's birthday? Aug 30, 82.
Q. Does Lesley-Anne Down have any pets? If so, what are their names?
Harry & Debbie (dogs) Natchez & Moshi (cats) Tweetie (bird)
Q. Where is Lesley-Anne Down from in England?
London baby
Q. Does she still have family in England?
Mummy Daddy - endless others
Q. Will she ever be making appearances in England?
Shopping for my mum!
Q. Does Lesley-Anne Down often ad lib lines?
Is every day often?
Q. Who is the most fun to work with on the set?
It's a group thing really. We get really silly in groups
Q. Have you ever considered doing something other than acting? Or in addition to acting... Such as... Some stars paint... or write children's books?
I have written - gosh it's hard
Q. Are you going to be coming to Southern Oregon soon?
I would love to - don't know when
Q. What advice would you give to an aspiring actress?
Work - go places - and don't quit your day job.
Q. Is there a certain thing that an actress from England should know before moving/working in the US?
You need a VISA
Q. What is your favorite color?
Periwinkle blue
Q. Is there a specific cherity that you reqularly support?
City Of Hope
Q. Do you have any upcoming appearances planned?
Sorry no.
Q. Who is your favorite author?
Herman Hesse.
Q. What was your favorite subject in school?
History
Q. Would you like to see Sunset Beach bring on more of her relatives some day?
Maybe her very naughty trashy twin
Q. Do you think that SUnset Beach will be cancled in December?
No.
Q. What would you like to see the writers do with your character on Sunset Beach?
Stop me having to carry Trey - he's heavy
Q. How much input do you have on changing lines and stories that you don't care for on SUN?
As much as you wish
Q. What is it like to work with Spike? Will we see more of him this summer?
Adorable - hope so.
Q. Have Jack or one of your step-daughters ever expressed an interest in acting?
Juliana - I'm trying to get her a walk on
Q. Do you have an agent and a publicity director?
No.
Q. What is the best way to find an agent?
Pray or go to the dog pound
Q. Do you drink tea?
Earl Gray with milk
Q. What is your favorite food?
Indian or Thai - spicy!
Q. What is the one thing you have a weakness for?
Small creatures
Q. Are you afraid of anything?
Of course
Q. What is your favorite type of role to work in? (comedy? action? drama?)
Comedy - but it's hardest
Q. Which do you prefer working on, a movie or television show?
Something with a budget
Q. Will you ever be doing theatre again?
No
Q. WOuld you ever consider doing your own talk show one day?
Absolutely - I love to talk
Q. Why don't we see you on talk shows or interviews that much?
I don't have a publicist
Q. Who were your role models growing up?
My Aunt Francis
Q. Who is your all time favorite actress?
Myrva Coy
Q. Who is your all time favorite actor?
James Stewert
Q. Where is the best place to travel to?
Home
Q. Is it true that you don't drive?
No - don't be silly
Q. Do you get recognised often in the streets and when you go out?
In England.
Q. Do you do your own shopping?
Yes
Q. If someone gave you three wishes what would you wish for?
Peace peace + peace
Q. Was that you really singing on Arch of Triumph?
Certainly was
Q. Did you see the original movie Indiscreet before making the remake?
Deliberatly not
Q. Indiscreet seemed like a really fun movie to make, did you enjoy making that TV movie?
And how much of it was close to your own self in real life? Yes yes + no
Q. What was the worst experience you've ever had on set?
Throwing up at the feet of Ramses in the Cairo museum on 'Sphinx'
Q. Who was the toughest costar you had to work with?
The bats on 'Sphinx'
Q. What was it like to work with Elizabeth Talyor in 'A Little Night Music'? And why can't I find it on tape?
She is kind + was fun. She was lovely to me + on later.
Q. What religion do you practice?
Catholic
Q. What do you think of Jon Darvall? (he did your interview in England that aired over a week during the closing of Sunset Beach)
What a great fan
Q. Was there ever an interview that you wish you hadn't agreed to do?
Many
Q. What is the new film about? When will it come out?
Romantic comedy
Q. Is the new movie going to be in theaters?
?
What's the most embarrassing thing your child has ever said in public?
Lesley-Anne Down: "I was in a market with Jack when he was about 3. It was summertime in Malibu and people had very few clothes on. There was a rather large gentleman in shorts wandering through the milk aisle where we were. And when you're that large, you have folds everywhere. The man stopped right next to us, and Jack said, 'Mommy! That man has [slang for breasts]!' It was the most embarrassing thing. The man was two inches from me. I looked at him and said, 'No, darling. On a gentleman they’re called muscles.' And we walked away."
Did you see the recent scene on SUN where Olivia picked up a neclass, and it turned out to be massive colony of maggots? Don't worry - Lesley-Anne Down (Olivia) didn't actually have to touch the disgusting creatures. "I can't stand maggots, and I don't like rats, either," Down admits. Now, most of us don't have to have anything to do with either type of vermin, but occasionally, actors find themselves having close encounters of the creepy-crawly kind. Not that Down has a problem with every less-than-adorable animal. "I don't mind spiders or snakes," she says. In fact, once on a movie project on which she was working, "they had a snake on the set, a huge python, about 10 feet long. It was in a box, and I felt sorry for it. So I told the trainer that the snake could have my dressing room. Mr. Python and I lived together for the day." Which still leaves us wondering just who it was we saw handling all those maggots. Luckily for Down, that unpleasent task fell to a double.
On February 26, Sun cast and crew threw Lesley-Anne Down (Olivia) a surprise baby shower. Between Organizer Vanessa Dorman (Caitlin) and cake-baker Kathleen Noone (Bette), a good time was had by all.
It goes without saying that Down was somewhat surprised by the "SURPRISE!"
Down said afterward, "Despite the fact that they hadn't been able to contact my husband to see what baby gifts I already had received, I managed to get all the things I still needed."
What Perks?
Lesley-Anne Down ..AKA: Olivia on Sunset Beach
For some reason beyond our comprehension, SB's Lesley-Anne Down (Olivia) has been left out of the perkdom posse. Tragically, the actress reports, "I can't say that when I go to Ralphs [an L.A. supermarket chain], I get a discount because they recognize me, even though they do. And as far as being bumped up to first class, I was. But that's just because I was pregnant. I don't think they had any idea at all who I was." What about the traffic citation thing? Surely a cop looked the other way at least once? "I do the speed limit, so I don't ever get tickets," reports the responsible motoist. "The only time I ever did get a ticket, I waved to a policeman as I did this illegal U-turn that I had no idea was illegal. It was a completely broken line in the middle of a side street. There was a fire statioon down the road, and apparently, you can't do a U-turn two miles from a fire station. He gave me a ticket and made me go to traffic school." Lesley-Anne, we feel your pain.
Well versed in the ups and downs of parenting, SUN's Lesley-Anne Down is thrilled to be pregnant again. Lesley-Anne Down enters a new chapter in her life as a parent in March, when she is due to give birth. Down is already the mother of a teenaged son and stepmother to two teenaged girls. She now looks forward to have her first 'traditional' family with her film director of photography husband, Don E. Fauntleroy.
Presently, only Down's son, Jack, 15, by director William Friedkin, remains at home, Julianna, 16, Fauntleroy's daughter, recently moved back with her mother, Susan, and her sister, Season, 18. Season always remained with her mother and visited her dad on weekends while Julianna was raised by Don. Jack whose dad remarried twice since divorcing from Down, has had two stepmothers and one stepdad in Fauntleroy.
Down is thrilled to be having a child with "a man I love whom I'm not going to be divorced from. Nothing is ever easy, but by comparison (to stepparenting), this is going to be easy!" Some kids can deal with divorce and moving. Others need more stability and discipline in home and in school. Not all can bounce around. "As I did," says Down. "I went to seven different schools before I was 12. Lived in six different houses. I was an absolute bouncy ball and liked it all my life until I met Don."
Down is looking forward to an even more traditional home. "The anticipation of the joy of that is extraordinary!" she says. "I hope I am old enough to appreciate it. We blow so much when we're young." Down's pregnancy was "pure accident," she admits. "It was fate." When Down got the test results over the phone, "I didn't tell Don right away and we went for a walk on the beach. I was completely silent, and then I started laughing like I was raving mad. He warned me that at any moment someone with a straightjacket would come out of the bushes. Then I quietly told him I'm pregnant.'I knew it! I knew it!' he shouted. He's so happy.
"His first son and the baby's mother were killed by a drunken driver when the youngster was only 5," Down confides. "Then his daughters, Season and Julianna, were so young when he and Susan divorced. It's sad for parents who have split families. He's such a good dad." "Don and I have had it all as far as the relationship is concerned. We've come through a war zone," says Down referring to their divorces, settlements, custody arrangements and everything life brings.
"Parents divorcing is bad enough for a child," says Down. "When another person comes into the picture, it's only natural that there will be rivalry, especially with the opposite sex. It's difficult for the natural parent to step back and just let the stepparent work things out. Luckily, Don has that gift. He's really remarkable." During any problem or discussion between Down and her stepdaughters, Fauntleroy would not take sides. "It was harder for me to step aside between Don and Jack," admits Down. "I'm a very protective mother, likely because of the custody thing I went through." Her divorce from Friedkin and the ensuing custody battle over 2- year old Jack was an emotional trial that made tabloid news in the USA and in England. "England crucified me, the American press was kinder," recalls Down. "but it was a bit like having to lift a car off your child. It took that kind of strength on a daily basis to get through it. It was aging, draining." Luckily, Jack has a good relationship with his father, who also has an adult son, Cedrick. "He's a good dad," Down is quick to point out. Fauntleroy's daughter Julianna and Jack were raised together and "always loved one another," says Down. "In one of my favorite photos of them, they're three or four in their underwear in the Caribbean. A big wave was coming in and they screamed as they hugged each other. Recently, looking at that photo Jack said to me, 'I really miss Jubes. We're really such best friends."
Now Jack is looking forward to his baby brother. "I've never seen a 15-year-old so delighted," says Down. "He's so happy. He hugs me all the time and tells me he loves me, that I look so beautiful and slim! He can't wait. The girls are happy too." Through it all, Down feels the best things to remember are "love, communication and good common sense. After all there really isn't very much you can really give. Stability, love, education and finally freedom are perhaps the few things you can give kids." -Lorraine Zenka
Lesley-Anne Down (Olivia, Beach)
"For me, it's having to spend time in a windowless dressing room. I am such an outdoorsy person. i love the light, windows and fresh air. To work in an air-conditioned box is very bad for me. That's it. Everything else [about being a soap star] I adore."
By: Tony Calega
Dated: October 19, 1999
Though saddened by Sunset’s cancellation, Lesley-Anne Down is thrilled to be finally getting her life back.
"Personally and professionally, I am two different people," Lesley-Anne Down (Olivia, Sunset Beach) explains. "So what people say or write about me I feel is actually about an entirely other entity." Quite a daunting statement to make – especially to a writer who is about to do a profile on her!
"My reasoning is simple, really," she continues coolly, as if in response to a question that was playing through my mind but I was too afraid to ask. "There was a time in my life that was so horrendous, so intense and so full of half-truths, that somehow or another this mechanism of self-preservation kicked in and I distanced myself from everything."
Regardless of the rough times, which she prefers remain private, Down is anything but distant. In fact, she’s extremely accessible, exuding a sincerity that is as refreshing as it is intoxicating.
A perfect example of this is when she discusses her son George. Nearly a year and a half old, he is the apple of her eye – and quite the worldly eater. "George loves spicy food," she reveals. "He eats Mexican for breakfast, Chinese for lunch, Japanese for dinner. He has frightfully sophisticated tastes for someone so young."
George’s conception was an unplanned yet pleasant surprise for down and her husband, Don. E. FauntLeRoy, but having children 16 years apart (she also has a son, Jack, from her marriage to director William Friedkin) provided the most astonishment. "When I had Jack, it was like having major surgery, all masks and headdresses, and feeling like you’re going in for a heart transplant instead of having a baby," she recalls. "With George, it was like, ‘Would you like a cup of tea? And ‘Which channel would you like on the telly?’"
Bringing up children at two distinctly different times has proved revelatory. "Raising a child now isn’t as carefree as it was 15 years ago," Down explains. "I know the pitfalls because I have the knowledge, and realize how children can be influenced and what dangers face them. IN that respect, the paranoia of raising a child has been raised for me."
Down gets plenty of help at home with George thanks to the constant interaction with his other siblings. "One night recently, Don and I went out and left the baby with Season (Down’s stepdaughter) and Jack," she says. "They took him off to a sushi bar. I thought that it was such an adorable and lovely thing that they didn’t just stay hime; they took him out and lived a life with him."
DOWN IN THRILLER
Lesley-Anne Down (ex-Olivia) returns to the small screen this week in PAX TV's latest Mary Higgins Clark's production, You Belong to Me, airing on Feb. 24 at 9 pm/ET. The Sunset Beach alum plays Dr. Susan Chandler, a radio psychologist who uses her forum to track down a serial killer. "She gets caught up in a situation that she's the center of, and she manages to get out, solve and save someone," says Downs in her lithe British accent. "Sort of like marriage, isn't it?"
Playing Higgins's strong protagonist called for Down to do some harrowing stunts, including being bound and gagged in a plastic bag. "The bag was noisy, and we had to do all the audio again in dubbing," she reveals. Anticipating a long master shot, Down got in the bag, held her breath and stayed still. "I got in the bag, and I was thinking, 'This is great, we've got it, we just have to do [close-ups],'" she says. "All of sudden, there are men coming at me, slicing the bag open with a knife and ripping gags out of my mouth. They said, 'We thought you were really dying!' I said, 'That is what you're paying me for! Now load the camera, get me into that bag, and let's get this take!'" Down asserts that she put more energy into You Belong to Me than she has in previous projects, but researching the role of a radio psychologist was a breeze. "We've all listened to Dr. Laura Schlessinger, haven't we?" she exclaims with a chuckle. "We all know how not to play a psychiatrist."
Down briefly returned to the daytime screen last February, appearing as Lady Sheraton in Days of Our Lives's Coronation Ball. The experience reminded her of why she's ready to leave her daytime days behind. "That Days thing for a week nearly killed me," she recalls. Down prefers to spend her time with her four children, which includes her three-year-son George, who was born while Down was on Sunset Beach. "[Sunset Beach executive producer] Aaron Spelling had just been through that whole big thing with Hunter Tylo (Taylor, B&B) and Melrose Place. I actually did manage to do a show whereby I could have a baby." Down doesn't have any projects on the near horizon, and that's just the way she wants it. "When I get to my deathbed, I don't want to take my last breath and say, 'Well how glorious. I've left the world my acting credits.' I won't even think that because what I've left the world will be my children, who are beautiful and wonderful people. I hope they will do good things on the planet."
Just one year ago -- the first week of February 2001, to be precise -- Lesley-Anne Down was guest starring on Days of our Lives as Lady Sheraton, a bejeweled Eurocrat who pomped-and-circumstanced her way down the grand staircase -- arm-in-arm with soap vet Ian Buchanan -- at Princess Greta von Amburg's ill-fated coronation. (In case you don't remember, a fair number of guests got carried out in body bags!) Now the British film star (and Sunset Beach grad) is returning to American TV in another autopsy-turvy vehicle that mixes murder and mayhem. On Sunday night, Feb. 24, she stars in the Pax TV original suspense movie, You Belong to Me, based on the bestselling novel by Mary Higgins Clark. Lesley-Anne plays Dr. Susan Chandler, a headstrong psychologist who uses her radio call-in show to investigate the mysterious cases of lonely women who disappear and later turn up dead.
Chatting by phone with SoapCity, the actress was eager to discuss her latest project, but she also didn't mind reminiscing about some other career zeniths (from Upstairs to Downstairs to Sunset Beach). Actually, the only thing that gave her pause was the subject of heights itself (the literal kind). Here's what she had to say:
Her French Connection connection:
"I don't really know how the offer to do You Belong to Me came about. They just called me up and said, 'Do you want to do it?' I said, 'Oh sure, very nice.' I did know Sonny Grosso, who is the executive producer, but I hadn't seen him for many, many years. I'd known him [back in 1971] because my ex-husband William Friedkin directed The French Connection, which of course was based on Sonny's own experiences as a cop. Sonny was the Gene Hackman character, Popeye Doyle. So Bill and Sonny knew each other, but I hadn't seen him for years and years. It was another lifetime."
Mary Higgins Clark -- a writer who understands women:
"I actually had not read You Belong to Me, but I had read a lot of Mary Higgins Clark's other books. She's a really good read. Her stories are always solid and kind of interesting. She always has a female protagonist, and from an actress's point of view, the female characters are very strong. Whenever you read a book that has a male writer, the women may be strong, but you will always get the love interest. They will always end up boffing somebody. In Mary's books, that doesn't come up. Her women are perfectly fine being on their own, thank you very much. Perfectly fine not having a guy in their life. Life is fine for them the way it is. She doesn't feel that it has to be commented on that they don't have a love life. It is the antithesis of daytime drama. For Mary Higgins Clark's women, it's work-work-work-work-and-no-play. For soap opera women, it's play-play-play-play, no work."
Parenting, postcards and reverse psychology:
"My older son, Jack, is 19. He's at Sonoma in college. Thank God, he's not interested in acting. He's studying business and psychology. I never pushed him to any of that, though. It was reverse psychology. If you want them to do something, tell them not to do it. My little one, George, isn't so little anymore. He's about to turn four. No, I didn't take him with me to Toronto [where You Belong to Me was shot]. It was cold, and not only that. When you're working, it's just not sensible, because what you end up doing is taking a nanny with you, or hiring somebody up there who is a nanny, who is then a stranger to your kid. Your kid is not only without you -- because you're working -- but with a stranger. So he stayed home, and I sent him a letter; and I got a brochure from the hotel with a picture of the high skyrise building where I was staying. I drew a little arrow saying, 'That's mummy's room.' I mean obviously it wasn't my room. I didn't know where my room was! I just knew I was on the 25th floor. He loved it so much that he slept with the letter under his pillow, and he showed everyone the picture and said, 'That's where my mommy is now.' He still has it now and he gets it out and says, 'Mummy, you sent me this letter. Would you read it?' (FYI: Jack's father is film director William Friedkin; George's father is Lesley-Anne's current husband, cinematographer Don FauntLeRoy.)
Okay, let's talk about that scene in You Belong to Me when the killer tries to smother Lesley-Anne's character by wrapping her head in a plastic bag:
"I think it was more harrowing for the crew than for me. It was unpleasant, but no, it wasn't harrowing for me. If I had been an actress with claustrophobia, it would have been, but I don't have claustrophobia. Actually, I have vertigo. I can't do that. I can't look over the edge of a cliff, thank you. I can't do it. I simply can't. If I read a script and if there is anything like that, I say no. Any kind of height wouldn't suit me. 10 feet? Sorry! I don't even like getting picked up, and I didn't realize for years why I didn't like that -- you know when guys pick you up? I don't mean pick up in a bar. I mean literally getting picked up off the ground. You put me on a bicycle on a straight road, no bumps, and within two minutes I will have fallen off that bicycle. My front wheel will find the only pothole and send me flying. I can't not be on the ground."
"Oh, my God, we thought that you were dying..."
"The stunt coordinators on You Belong to Me were petrified to have me in the bag. I could sense that they were being gentle about it. But I thought -- just do it, get it over with, thank you very much. It was a pretty long take -- it went right up until the point when you think that she's dying, suffocating to death. I was sort of doing these [gasping] little breaths -- and suddenly, the crew ripped the bag open, and stuff was taken out of my mouth, and my hands were undone and I was like, 'What's going on!' They were going, 'Oh my God, oh my God, we thought that you were dying!' I said, 'Guys, had I not been able to breathe, don't worry, I would have gotten myself out of this bag. Let's go again!' So it was more harrowing from the crew's point of view than mine."
And speaking of harrowing...
"Olivia Richards, the character I played on Sunset Beach, was great fun. Her middle name was Harrow. You know, doing soap operas, if you have a jolly good character like Olivia, they may have nothing in common with you, really, but for that period in your life, they become like your alter ego -- your fun alter ego. Off-screen, as you get older and establish a mature life with husband and children and schedules and the whole thing, there is a certain decorum that you have to maintain, a certain way that you have to behave. At a certain point, you're careful not to have another glass of wine and so forth. Well, it's great fun to be able to go to work and do a character where you can scream, shout, pretend to drink...The producers and writers of Sunset Beach were really very lovely to me. They wrote some super stuff for me."
A hard DAYS night -- Lady Sheraton at the ball:
"I was the highest-paid extra in history. Ian Buchanan and I were just glorified extras. And I have to say that being an extra is horrible. (She laughs.) The last time I was an extra, I was 12 years old -- 13 actually. I was already an actress doing proper parts, but my friends at school were going off to do extra roles in a movie called The Man Who Had Power over Women, with Rod Taylor. They said come along, so I went along and spent the day being an extra with a bunch of other screaming girls. It was awful. I hated it... But the coronation ball on Days, that was camp, wasn't it? I think they hated me on that show. I think I behaved badly. The reason I behaved so badly is because my father, who was due to leave to go back to England, suddenly had pains in his chest. He had an angiogram and didn't get off the table; he [stayed in surgery] to have a quadruple bypass. He's all right now, but you know the long hours doing that episode were horrible. I do mean, seriously, horrible. It would have been perfectly acceptable, tiring yes, but perfectly acceptable [working those long hours] -- it was what I was getting paid for -- but not this particular week with my father going through the operation. I mean, he was going through the operation when I was coming down the staircase. I had to rush every day, get to the hospital and [the NBC studio in] Burbank is 40 miles from the hospital. So it was difficult for me that week dealing with being an extra -- a highly paid extra. And you know, [the Days producers] are not thinking about poor Lesley and her father -- they of course are thinking about the main cast. So it was incredibly difficult, and I was probably very awful and I apologize for the whole thing."
The house at 165 Eaton Place:
"The thing that I enjoyed most was [playing Georgina on] Upstairs, Downstairs. I loved it. It was lovely in every aspect. It was a rather smart soap opera -- it was the ultimate soap opera basically. Soap operas in America lack that one element that Upstairs, Downstairs had, which was historical. The whole thing was about the characters' private lives [in early 20th century London] but there was always a current event driving it. [i.e., the sinking of the Titanic; King Edward VII coming to dinner.] And when the Bellamys first got electricity in the house. There were all these social events woven into the story. So it was totally and utterly the ultimate soap opera. It was not harrowing. It was just very, very pleasant. The [cast and crew] were lovely; we got on together. The second thing I really enjoyed doing was a TV movie about a stripper called The One and Only Phyllis Dixey. It was an English docu-drama that I did when I was 23. Just loved doing it. Very interesting part: I had to age from 15 to 53. I just adored it."
Future plans:
"I suppose I'll just play the same sort of parts but... older. After all, the next generation comes along. You Belong to Me was a very nice step up for me. To play someone who was not being hit upon by men. It was quite nice really. Maybe that's the next stage of my life. You do get to a point where it is kind of gross to see people wanting to kiss you on the screen."
