Cybill Shepherd Enjoying Fresh Wave of TV, Movie Action
By Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith
Jun 23, 2008
Cybill Shepherd is busy working back-to-back assignments these days -- with her role as James Roday's mother on "Psych" being unveiled in the show's new season next month, another season of "The L Word" ahead, and two independent films. With her three children off on their own and her home downsized, the 58-year-old star of film, TV and stage -- who's lived through her share of tempestuous times and diva accusations -- sounds more mellow than in the past. Is she?
Cybill Shepherd Enjoying Fresh Wave of TV, Movie Action (Image: Wenn)
"Oh, yes. I think I was pretty mellow in the very beginning maybe, but success has a way of just hyping you up," she candidly observes. "It's hard not to believe you're going to stay at that level of everything -- popularity, financial gain. I've been around long enough [that] I've seen it come and go, come and go.
"I think the thing that contributed to the wonderful activity in my career at this stage is 'The L Word,' which has been a really great opportunity for me in terms of publicity, fan response and work," adds Cybill, whose daughter Clementine will also return on that Showtime series's final season, which begins production next month.
Cybill recently completed the off-the-wall movie comedy "Barry Munday" with Patrick Wilson, Chloë Sevigny and Malcolm McDowell. Now she's in Pennsylvania making "Another Harvest Moon."
"It's a multi-generational story with an amazing cast. Piper Laurie, Doris Roberts, Anne Meara, Richard Schiff, Ernest Borgnine … I can't believe I'm getting a chance to work with Ernest Borgnine! He's 91, and he helped me with one of my lines yesterday," she says of the beloved Oscar winner, who plays her father in the flick.
She's been putting in 15-hour-plus days. "It's tough, but I'm adapting. It's not about me, these hours. It's not someone trying to do something to me. I'm not taking it personally," she says. "There's a great camaraderie on this film."
HOME AGAIN: "Reno: 911!" regular Wendi McLendon-Covey says she's having a blast moonlighting at her old stomping grounds, The Groundlings comedy theater in Los Angeles. "I'm doing a really fun show at The Groundlings with Mindy Sterling, Michael McDonald from 'MadTV,' Kim Badgeley, Rachel Harris, Melissa McCarthy from 'Samantha Who?' … a lot of the old Groundling alums that have gone on to be successful," says the actress. "It's called 'Beverly Winwood Presents The Actors Showcase, and it's a send-up of all the bad actors' showcases -- and there are thousands -- in Los Angeles. It's a show that's been going on and off for like seven years, and it's how the casting people found me for 'Reno.' It's so much fun, and it sells out within minutes. They keep adding more dates, and now it sounds like it's going to run Monday nights through July.
"It is a scream. We all play fictitious people who have taken acting classes from this Beverly Winwood person. Everybody gets up and does things that are inappropriate just like in a regular showcase. I'm playing a woman who danced in high school, and 20 years later, she's feeling pretty confident she could be doing it again, so she chooses to play Cathy from 'A Chorus Line.' It is such a good time. I love looking out in the audience and seeing people gasping for air, or seeing that look of amused horror. It's horrifying in the best way."
AND THE CATCH IS … : An interesting casting notice that went out the other day for a Travel Channel host for a show about cruising the world. We hear that producers specifically have been seeking a female of multi-ethnic origin, along with travel experience, great energy, the ability to feel comfortable in different cultures, and a willingness to do her own hair and makeup.
And imagine the candidates who swarmed producers of a soon-to-shoot infomercial involving new cosmetic surgery techniques for face lifts, neck lifts and other goodies. Per casting sources, they sought men and women, 39 to 65 years of age, to make 150 bucks a day, plus $5,500-to-$9,500 in procedures. No general anesthesia.
With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster.
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