Vanessa Marcil

From Complete Woman

by Lora Wintz

Vanessa Marcil is on the scene - and she's here to stay. After portraying the wildly popular Brenda on General Hospital, fans were crushed when Vanessa decided to leave the daytime drama to pursue other opportunities. The minute she stepped into the Beverly Hills, 90210 zip code as cousin Gina, though, it was evident that those opportunities included an extended stay in the spotlight. In this exclusive Complete Woman interview, Vanessa talks about her career, and her days off.


How did you get started in the acting business? I got into it by accident. My friends in high school were all in drama classes and when I was a senior, I started auditioning for plays with them. After high school, I went to college to study law. A friend of mine had an audition for a play and I drove because her car broke down. The director asked if I was auditioning. I said no and he said, "You should audition." I did, and I got the part. A manager, the same one I have today, was in the audience, and she told me, "You should get an agent and try to do film and television work." I asked her what I would have to do and she said I would need to get portrait head shots. I hate to have my picture  taken, so I told her thank you. She got hold of me later on and said, "Listen, you really should do this." I said, "No, I hate to have my picture taken, so never mind." So she took Polaroids of me and started submitting Polaroid pictures with my resume. About a month later, I got the role of Brenda on General Hospital.

General Hospital has a pretty big fan-following, and your character was popular. What was it like to be thrust into the spotlight all of a sudden? I became a little agoraphobic (fear of public places) after that. It's kind of scary because you feel like if people think you're that great, you're going to disappoint them. If they see you and you're in a bad mood - which we all are some days - that they're going to think you're a horrible person. So I think in the very beginning, it was really scary, and I put a lot of pressure on myself trying to figure out how to do everything right. Then I just finally realized that I need to be true to myself and not worry too much about what other people think of me.

How did you get your role as Gina on Beverly Hills, 90210? The show called and offered the role to me when they found out I was leaving General Hospital. I was really flattered. I basically just walked off the ABC set and on to the FOX set!

What was it like to start on a show where the cast was already established and had been working together for years? Was it hard? It was a bit like having your family move to a new town, or going to a college where you don't know anybody. I really love working with Luke Perry and I love working with Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling. I just started working with Brian Austin Green at the end of last year's season, and he's a really great actor. I'm having a lot of fun and I'm learning a lot, too. All these actors have been doing this type of show for the last 10 years, so I've been trying to sit there and learn from them, as well as about all the other aspects of the show - directing, producing, camera work and lighting. There's so much to learn; it's overwhelming.

Do you know what Gina and the rest of the 90210 crew will be doing in the next season? I know a little bit. I'll pretty much be taking care of the dysfunction on the show. Gina's in charge of dysfunction!

With your work schedule being so crazy, is it hard to maintain relationships with family and friends? That's really been the hardest thing of all, I got so excited when I started working and I was so afraid that if I stopped for one second, it was all going to go away. My friends and family used to joke with me about how they would have to call me and leave messages about huge events that happened in their lives - like I didn't know who they were anymore because I was always at work. It was kind of funny at first, but then.

Every time I saw my niece, she was two feet taller. I decided to try and spend more time with them. I've slowed down a little bit and started to make my family and friends more of a priority.

What about dating? Is it a consideration with your schedule? It couldn't be any less of a consideration at this point. I don't even know what dating means!

When you do remember the definition, what would be a great, romantic date for you? I think a romantic date is a guy who shows up a little grungy - not too pulled together, like his hair could be a little messed up. He should be wearing baggy, flat-front khaki pants with a white button-down shirt or a T-shirt and just be picking me up at the end of his day, not looking like he specifically went home to change his clothes for me. He takes me for a hamburger or a slice of pizza at a little dive place that's really dark, maybe has some blues music playing. And he sits down with me and really is open and honest and vulnerable and has a great sense of humor. It's really the person that I think makes a date great, not the clothes or where we go and how he looks. Sounds like a nice, relaxing evening. What else do you do to relax when you have time off? ? It's sports - either playing sports or watching sports really relaxes me. I love snowboarding! I usually go every weekend during the winter. I started learning about four years ago and just got good over the last year; I've been going off jumps and going down the half pipe. I watch every single sport - I'm a sports-channel-watcher, but to play, I love most snow sports.

When you go out with friends, are they snowboarding and watching sports with you? All my girlfriends are tomboys - we're all tomboys. I don't have any girlie friends; we don't get together and paint our nails. We go play sports and we watch the Lakers and the 49ers and yell and scream. We all have chipped nail polish on our fingers half the time.

Fun, sports and nail polish aside, what do you see happening in you life in the future? I think I'd enjoy directing; I really like to be involved in the acting process. And I'd love to own my own media company some day. I want to make my own movies.