Talk Greenville [01-06-2010]

There are those who can brag of a Carolina birth. And then there are those who move here and proudly call it home, boasting like a native. Actress Catherine Bell falls into the latter category, after sinking her soul into the heart of the Lowcountry and claiming it as her own. The 41-year-old’s route to the Palmetto State has been twisted, to say the least. Born in London to a Scotsman and Iranian, she moved to America with her mother as a toddler.

Bell’s childhood in Los Angeles included becoming a U.S. citizen and taping a few commercials, but mostly studying math and science. The self-described glasses-wearing geek entered UCLA to become a biomedical engineer. Luckily for fans, a modeling gig in Japan derailed that plan and she soon expanded her horizons to include full-time acting.
While most performers are happy to land one successful series during their career, this thrill-seeking bombshell can list two among her credits. The vivacious tomboy first came to fame as the all-empowering “Mac” on CBS’ long-running “JAG.” Now the married mother of one (who’s expecting again) shows a completely different side on Lifetime Television’s “Army Wives,” as the demure Denise Sherwood. The drama films in and around Charleston, which is where Talk Greenville caught up with Bell after work on her way home. She was as warm and engaging as any Southern-bred beauty, and openly shared her love of fast bikes, boats and Scientology.

Talk Greenville: Congrats on “Army Wives.” It’s Lifetime’s most successful series to date. And what a season we’re into.

Catherine Bell: (smiling) Yeah. Lots of surprises and excitement. It’s a very intense season. Let’s just say I cry a lot! (laughing)

TG: The show has always filmed on the coast. But tell us about your move to South Carolina.

CB: We’ve actually been here full-time for a couple of years now. But my mom and her husband just sold their house and moved here a couple of months ago. It’s pretty official now. We’re here, my daughter is in an amazing school here, my mom’s here, we’re having a baby here, it’s pretty much home now.

TG: Why pull up your California roots?
CB: My husband and I love it. It’s gorgeous, first of all. A lot of people don’t know; it’s kind of off the radar. Half the time my friends go, “How is Charlotte?” And I’ll go, “No! It’s Charleston.” It’s very different, but I think all of us locals, I call myself a local now, we kind of like it that way because we keep it a little bit quieter. You know, we’re out on our boat all of the time, you’ve got the beach right here; people are so friendly, so nice. It’s a really good place to raise a family, really fantastic.

TG: What’s your perfect day?

CB: We live close to Sullivan’s Island. We ride our bikes down there quite a bit and the whole area is just gorgeous. It’s a beautiful beach, very different from anything in L.A. and much warmer. You really can’t go in the water in L.A., it’s freezing. So we go to Sullivan’s Island, hang out at Poe’s. Have you been to Poe’s Tavern? All the beers on tap and the amazing burgers. There are so many restaurants here, that’s another thing we fell in love with.

TG: Tell us about your visits to Greenville and playing in the BMW Charity Pro-Am.

CB: This was my sixth. I love coming up for the golf tournament. That was my first experience with South Carolina. It’s just gorgeous; it’s very different from Charleston. There are the mountains, it’s more hilly, very green. And that downtown area is just fantastic. I fell in love with the people and the quaintness of the town and the friendliness, that good old Southern hospitality. I love Greenville and I have some friends up there. It’s exciting.

TG: How’s your game right now?

CB: (laughs) I haven’t played all that much, but I’m trying to get back into it. (Tournament director) Darin MacDonald convinced me it would be totally fun to play at six months pregnant. I definitely have a little something in the way of my swing! The physics are a little off. It’s fun making fun of my bad shots.

TG: You’re also into extreme sports — racing, motorcycles, kickboxing, flying. If you had to narrow it down to just one, what would it be?

CB: One? Let’s see. Nowadays it would probably be different than if you’d asked me 10 years ago. I think that it would be wakeboarding, which is not really an extreme sport but we love it. Now that we’re here in Charleston, we’re out on the boat a lot and it’s so much fun. It’s an amazing workout.

TG: Has your 7-year-old daughter, Gemma, calmed your inner adrenaline junkie?

CB: Yes! That’s why if you’d asked me 10 years ago I would have had a different answer. I still ride motorcycles and love motorcycling, but I find I don’t do it as much. When my husband and I first met, we tried skydiving once, and that was kind of scary. And we tried bungee jumping once, also kind of scary. I definitely have a sense of adventure, but it’s all toned down. You really expect to change quite a bit when you have children and I didn’t think I ever would. I’m not scared of death or anything like that, but you just get a little more careful and you want to protect yourself.

TG: And now a son is on the way.

CB: We’re so excited. It’s something we’d talked about for a long time and we’d gone back and forth and I’m kind of, “Do I want a second one?” We never really had the right time for it and I’ve been working so much, but our daughter has really wanted a sibling and has been begging us for a couple of years now. She’s pretty persistent. It seemed like the right time and it’s all working out.

TG: You and your husband, screenwriter Adam Beason, have been together about 17 years. That’s long by Hollywood standards.

CB: I know, right? We need to multiply it by seven like dog years! He’s writing a script right now that we’re co-producing with Gale Anne Hurd. She’s amazing. She did “The Terminator,” “The Abyss” and incredible movies. She’s helped us develop a script we’re doing with Lifetime. We’re hoping for the official green light any day and we’d shoot it in Charleston a couple of months after the baby comes. So I’ve gotta get back in shape pretty quickly.

TG: As for your extended family and Iranian heritage, you grew up in the states during the hostage crisis in the ’70s. Did you feel any impact?

CB: I was too young to be aware of what was happening. I do remember that my grandfather used to work for the shah and they left before the revolution. They left their homes and all of their belongings and really never could go back and get it. They lost everything. I certainly saw the effect of that whole mess.

TG: Do you share your international heritage with Gemma?

CB: For sure, absolutely. I don’t have a lot of connection to England. I never really grew up there and I’ve only been there a few times. But the Iranian side of my family I’m so close to. I grew up speaking Farsi and living with my Persian grandparents and eating Persian food. I’m really glad my parents are here now and they can teach Gemma that. They’re starting to speak Farsi with her and it’s great. She’s learning to pick up the language.

TG: Tell us about Scientology. How does it affect your life?

CB: It’s a huge part of it. When I got into Scientology I was actually really shy and kind of insecure; a little bit of a party girl and a little bit crazy. One of the first services I did, I actually wanted to handle my auditioning problems and insecurities. I would get callbacks and I’d get nervous and blow it. I actually got to handle that in like a week! It was amazing; it was a very, very short process. The very next day I had my final callback for “JAG.” And you know the rest of that is history. That changed my life.

TG: So you kept up with it?

CB: Every since then, I’ve continued to study, and everything I’ve studied has just made sense, it’s been like really common sense, very well laid out. I use it all the time. I use it in dealing with people, my relationships, my problems, how to handle problems and you know help other people, my career, all of it, finances, preserving the quality of my life in all of the different areas.

TG: Do you see it as a religion or lifestyle?

CB: I wouldn’t say it’s a lifestyle; it’s called an applied religious philosophy. It is a philosophy, but you do apply it to your life. But it’s a religion, because it deals with you as a spiritual being. That’s the main aspect of it, that you are an immortal spiritual being. In that sense, it’s certainly a religion. One interesting thing that a lot of people don’t know is that you don’t have to give up any other religion to practice Scientology. I have friends who are Jewish or Catholic, or different religions, and are also Scientologist. You don’t have to give up those beliefs about God or that kind of thing.

TG: When it comes to who you are, are you more Mac or Denise? Talk about two totally different roles.

CB: That’s a good question. It would have to be a little bit of both. I think I’ve certainly had some of the aspects of Denise, you know, where she’s a little bit more shy and coming out of her shell. And then I kind of became more of Mac. But maybe not so totally. Mac is more of a superhero, she was pretty together. (laughing) She was a kick-boxer, spoke practically every language and she could save the world several times a day without batting an eyelash or breaking a nail.

TG: Sounds like definitely a bit of both, on and off the screen! Good luck with everything.

For more on Catherine Bell and “Army Wives,” go to CatherineBell.com.

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