 |
Holly Charms Hollywood :.
Charmed's
Holly Marie Combs reveals the reason she's psyched to be single--and why she didn't heed Tom Cruise's advice.
By Deanna
Kizis
As one-third of the hot trio starring on the WB's top-rated Charmed, 27-year-old Holly Marie Combs has every
right to be living an ultraglamorous life. But you'd be more likely to find this down-to-earth actress at a rough-and-tumble
rodeo than on Beverly Hills' posh Rodeo Drive.
On her days off, Holly, who lives in L.A.'s rustic Bell Canyon in a
Spanish-style three-bedroom home, drives her gargantuan pickup truck several miles down the road to the stables where she
boards her precious quarter horses Jake, Jesse, and Jezebel. It's there, in her grungy barnyard getups, that the no-frills
beauty is most comfortable. "I'm a hick," she says, petting Jezebel's chestnut mane. "I can't get away from trailers. I work
out of a trailer on the Charmed set. I love to go camping in a trailer. I drive a truck so I can pull my horse trailer. I
guess I'm trailer trash!" Not exactly. But one thing's for sure, even if she's way too humble to admit it: This Hollywood
star is turning heads.
Breaking Into the Biz
Combs was born in San Diego when her mom was just 15 and her dad
was 17. Her parents married, dropped out of high school, and made ends meet as best they could (her dad worked at a feed store
and her mom got a job at the Del Mar racetrack exercising horses), but they divorced two years later. When Combs was 8, her
mom decided to pursue acting, so they moved to Manhattan. Since breaking into showbiz is no easy feat, Holly's mother held
down waitressing and modeling jobs to help pay the bills, while her stepfather--who married her mom when Holly was 12--worked
as a bartender. The family was so cash-strapped, they often had to live in cramped apartments. The worst was a teensy studio
they lived in when Combs was a teenager. "I had a loft, and my parents' bed was underneath," Combs says. "You could only be
alone in the bathroom. I don't know how we did it."
With such family closeness, it's no wonder Holly caught the acting
bug as well. Around age 10, she began going on auditions and eventually appeared in several national TV commercials and landed
a blink-and-you'll-miss-her part in Born on the Fourth of July. Looking back, says Combs, "I thought I knew everything at
16. I was very confident." Case in point: During the filming of Born on the Fourth of July, the film's star Tom Cruise pulled
Combs aside to give her a little friendly advice. "He said, 'Don't let [director] Oliver Stone scare you,'" remembers Combs.
"I was like, 'I'm not scared at all.' and Tom said, 'Really? He scares the hell out of me.'"
Megaproducer David E.
Kelley (Ally McBeal, The Practice) got a similar dose of Combs's self-assured attitude when she read for the role of earnest
teenager Kimberly Brock on his 1992 series, Picket Fences. After her audition, Kelley told Combs she didn't have "a big enough
heart" to play the part, so Combs did what came naturally: She told him off. "I said, 'I just came off the subway, and you
can't have a big heart on the subway,'" she remembers. "If you're looking for someone with a big heart, what the hell are
you doing in New York?" Two weeks later, Kelley called Combs to tell her she had the role. The lesson Combs learned? In showbiz,
it's often the size of your cojones, not your heart, that really counts.
Finding Prince Charming
Despite her
take-no-prisoners auditioning style, Combs has a tender side, one she can't hide whenever she talks about David Donoho, her
35-year-old live-in boyfriend. The couple met two years ago on the Charmed set, where Donoho works as a key grip. At the time,
Combs was gun-shy, having already been married (to actor Bryan Smith) and divorced at the age of 23.
Smith and Combs
had met through a mutual friend when Combs was just 19 and tied the knot after dating for only three months. "It wasn't even
really dating," Combs admits. "We'd been sleeping together for about eight days when we decided to elope to Las Vegas." The
marriage lasted four years, and Combs thinks it failed because she was too young. "It was romantic to run off," she says.
"But marriage is more difficult than most teenagers can handle."
Nevertheless, Combs decided to get engaged again at
24 to a schoolteacher she met while vacationing in Mexico with costar Shannen Doherty. Why do engagement rings seem to leap
onto Combs's finger? "Maybe I'm just the marrying kind," the actress offers. "I tend to have long-term relationships. I'm
not one to date a lot of people." Fortunately, when she began having second thoughts about getting hitched, Combs called it
quits before walking down the aisle.
Determined not to make the same mistake with Donoho, Combs has vowed to take things
slow. "I had to really get to know him as a person before realizing I was attracted to him," she remembers, "which is so much
better, since with my past instant-attractions, everything has gone really wrong in the end."
They decided to move
in together last February, and so far, they seem to be drowning in domestic bliss. "He does romantic things, like start my
car for me every morning before work," she says. But it's their mutual love of the outdoors that really connects them. Recently,
Donoho taught Combs how to ride four-wheel dirt bikes, and the two regularly go camping and riding in Pismo Beach, two hours
north of L.A. "I'd never been an adrenaline junkie," Combs says. "And riding these things on huge sand dunes is ridiculously
frightening. But when it's over, you're like 'Yeah, I did that!'"
Fun and Games
Starring as Piper Halliwell,
the most "grounded" of Charmed's three witch sisters, is another kind of adventure for Combs. Although she admits that her
hit series is "pure bubble-gum entertainment," the shoots themselves can be grueling. "There's nothing we don't do," Combs
says. "We're like action heroes." Albeit well-dressed ones. "We used to have to chase demons wearing Prada stilettos," she
continues. "But they've finally started letting us wear sneakers for those scenes. It's a little more realistic."
In
spite of the trying work conditions, Combs can always count on her costars to lift her spirits. "The chemistry really works
among the three of us. We're friends, and that makes the show more real," says Combs, who has nicknamed the set the Estrogen
Dome. When tensions do run high, the tight threesome lets off steam by playing pranks on one another. "We've trashed on another's
trailers so many times, I've lost count." Combs says with a smile. "We once put plastic spiders in Shannen's trailer, and
we another time, we t.p.'d Alyssa's trailer door shut while she was still inside."
As she finishes her story, Combs
glances at her watch and realizes it's time to head home to feed her ever-growing number of pets (in addition to her three
horses, she owns five dogs, two cats, and two rabbits). After which, she hopes, she'll have time for a sit-down dinner with
her boyfriend. "I'm not really into the whole Hollywood scene." Combs says before climbing back into her truck. "Nowadays,
the simple pleasures in life suit me just fine."
From
seattlematt: What kind of music do you like?
Are you a Remy Zero groupie?
Yes, I'm a very big Remy Zero fan. We go to all his shows. I like all different
kinds of music, from country and to really hard rock.
From quadman:
What was your reaction when you learned Alyssa was joining the cast?
I
was shocked, actually. I had no idea the other girl was leaving. During the first scene I did with Alyssa, it was clear to
me she brought something completely different to the show. And it was something we needed.
From xnderbuffy: Is working
for Spelling very different from working for David E. Kelley?
No. It's funny,
but it's not. They are both very much in control of their projects, and they both take active roles in all aspects of the
projects. They're both basically control freaks.
From ghostfacekiller: What
movies do you like?
The last movie I saw that I liked was The Matrix.
And, of course, I saw Star Wars and found it very entertaining. One of my favorite movies is Wild at Heart.
From quadman:
What's your opinion on the WB's decision to move the show to Thursday nights?
I
knew this one was coming. I'm a little nervous, because it is the most competitive night on television. I kind of feel honored
that the network feels we can handle this arena--mostly nervous, though.
From hacker2093:
Do you keep in touch with anyone from Picket Fences?
I
do. I talk to Tom Skerritt occasionally. And I talk to a few of the crew guys. It was definitely a family atmosphere. Our
crew was very family oriented. It was a nice place to spend four years.
From bonny1212:
Holly, don't you get frustrated sometimes that all the media cares about is whether
all three of you girls get along?
Yeah, they used to be really concerned with that. Now, a lot of people
on the Internet seem to be really interested in our marriages and our love lives. So, it has sort of shifted.
From brandy5443:
Did you go to Alyssa's wedding? What was that like?
I did. It
was very nice--very beautiful and very inspiring.
From superpiper:
Is it hard working on a green screen so often?
It definitely is.
It was a new experience for me. It takes a lot of imagination and stamina. You can't feel embarrassed by what you're doing
because you're in front of a big, green screen!
From sarah_gellar: I watched the season finale of Charmed yesterday, and I thought
it was sooo sad what happened to you-know-who. Will you-know-who come back next season, as a ghost or something?
I
actually don't have the answer to that. I don't think our writers even have the answer to that. I think it's an idea floating
around, so, we'll see.
From christolj:
Does it bother you when people talk about your personal life on the boards?
It's
beginning to, because a lot of people have been picking on my boyfriend. I haven't said much about him, so, it kind of bothers
me when they start speculating about him.
From charmingirl: How long have you been a vegetarian?
I was for
seven years. I'm not any longer. I had these terrible cravings that never went away, and finally I just broke down. I had
to have a cheeseburger! From hacker2093: I saw Shannen
and Alyssa on MTV at the Skywalker Ranch for the Star Wars screening, but I didn't see you. Were you there?
Yeah,
I was there. I did an interview standing next to Alyssa. It was amazing! Lucas has amazing facilities up there. He has a huge
main house and a research library. We got to take a tour of the main house. It was, like, 76,000 square feet, but they told
us it's just where George Lucas works. He doesn't even live in it.
From belkelyn: Do you have any movie roles coming up?
I'm reading a couple of things right now. I'm very
interested in taking a vacation, but if I found something I really loved, I think I'd do it.
From tanyamichellerox: Holly,
do you and Shannen really drive trucks?
Yeah, we do. Occasionally, we do.
From sheryl9699: Holly, do
you have any tattoos?
I have three: one on each wrist and a rose on my shoulder.
From sheryl9699: How did you and Shannen meet?
We met through mutual friends probably six or seven years
ago. We've been friends ever since.
From calgrrl: Do you like for people to come up and talk to you, or do you prefer to be left alone in public?
There's
no one who has ever come up to me and bothered me or freaked me out, so, I'm still okay with people coming up to me. It has
changed now with Charmed, because the show's geared more toward kids, and they have no qualms about running up to you
in the mall.
From c_johnson: Besides Charmed, what's your favorite show on TV?
The X-Files and Friends.
It used to be Mad About You, but then with the baby, it just wasn't as much fun.
From shadygroves: What's a typical day on the Charmed set like?
We get dressed in some
very fashionable clothing, put on a lot of makeup and then go slay some demons!
From chlobo: Holly, do you have any pets?
I have two dogs, two cats, three lovebirds and a horse. The
cats are Blue and Selina, named after Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman. The dogs are Travis and Hugo. The lovebirds are Lollipop
and Flower, and we have a new one that just flew into my kitchen yesterday, but we don't have a name for it yet. The horse
is Jesse. The name came with the horse.
From stout1976: What male actors would you like to play opposite of?
Andy Garcia...Matthew McConaughey's
good. I'll take either one!
From nova_7: Tell us about your White Lighter.
My White Lighter will be returning next year.
From christolj: Why do you think you three have such great chemistry onscreen?
I think Shannen and I have
a chemistry because we know each other from before and are really close friends, so it was easy for us to play sisters. And
with Alyssa, we just got lucky. If you saw the original pilot, it was very different. So, it has worked out great.
|
