Not yet a member? Register now.
Username
Password

Advertise | Subscribe | Email Newsletter | Archive Search | |

	House passes health care legislation Obama and Netanyahu to meet Shalhevet to close lower schools, high school will remain open LIVE BROADCAST: L.A. Hunger Seder 2010 Three IDF soldiers attacked in Hebron Rabbi Lipa Schapiro dies A first look at the Simpsons’ upcoming visit to Israel Czech Republic: Doctors’ Group Apologizes to Jews No Netanyahu-Obama meeting on schedule Quartet condemns east Jerusalem building

	Sandra Bullock’s husband has affair with Nazi lover What do Britney Spears and the Holocaust have in common? Sandra Bullock leaves Jesse James for cheating with a nazi loving hussy Emily Stern—Howard Stern’s daughter—on stage and off

Arts

February 28, 2002

Spell Binding

Tori Spelling takes on physical comedy - and critics -- in "Maybe, Baby, It's You."

By Naomi Pfefferman

Tori Spelling knew she had something to prove when she took on the physical comedy, "Maybe, Baby, It's You," a two-person play about relationships at the Coronet Theatre.

Even after she received rave reviews for her darkly comic turns in the late 1990s films "Trick" and "House of Yes," Spelling -- best known as the virginal Donna on "Beverly Hills 90210" -- had a decade of Hollywood hazing to live down: How she'd be working retail if daddy weren't "90210" mega-producer Aaron Spelling; how she was spoiled, talentless, anorexic and plastic surgery-addicted (a rumor she denies).

"The stuff in the press used to make me cry," sighs the 28-year-old Jewish actress, who in person is attractive, funny, quirky and self-effacing. "But my instinct is to fight people and do what I want despite them. And what I most want now is to do physical comedy."

Which is why Spelling, who's had the aspiration since discovering "I Love Lucy" as a kid, risked the demanding sketch comedy "Maybe, Baby." In the course of two hours, she must transform herself into 11 different characters, ranging from a junior high nerd to Medea on a blind date. And while critics have praised her exuberance and comic flair, there have been the inevitable digs, like this one in the Los Angeles Times: "Tori Spelling is making her professional stage debut. Quit waiting for the punch line."

Spelling just rolls her doe eyes and laughs good-naturedly. "I am so used to backhanded compliments that it would be weird if people just took me seriously," she says.

If the actress has a steel spine, it's clear her survival instincts are genetic. During a recent interview, she tells a story about her father's impoverished Dallas childhood: "When he was 10, he heard about a Christmas story contest and the winner would get a bike," she recounts. "So he spent days writing a beautiful story -- even though he was Jewish, he felt Christmas was a time for people coming together. And he won the bike and he was so proud. And then they found out he was Jewish and they took it away from him."

Spelling may have been the actress everyone loved to hate, but at least she never experienced anti-Semitism. She grew up quietly celebrating the Jewish holidays in the family's 100-room mansion: On Passover, her mother, Candy (who, contrary to popular lore, was born Jewish), hosted a seder, led by Aaron Spelling, who translated the Hebrew from the haggadah. On the High Holy Days, the family attended Sinai Temple. If the actress has one regret, it's that she did not become bat mitzvah: "Being a child, if you're given a choice, you go, 'Oh, religious school, no,'" she says.

Another regret is her past choice of boyfriends, which is why the single actress was drawn to "Maybe, Baby" and its theme of soulmate-searching. She most identifies with the once-burned character of Medea: "When I was younger, I'd always pick the bad boys," says Spelling, who made the tabloids during her tempestuous relationship with Nick Savalas, son of "Kojak" star Telly. "Then you get older and you think, 'Those nice guys are looking pretty good.'"

"Maybe, Baby" is helping her cope with dating as well as her career. "In the past, I've always been so worried about what's going on with life and boys," she says. "But since I've been doing this play, I feel I can breathe for the first time in years. I wake up every day and I feel talented and beautiful and confident. The play has given me all of that."

"Maybe Baby" runs through March 23. For tickets and information, call (310) 657-7377.

---

Post your comment below!

COMMENTS

We welcome your feedback.

Privacy Policy

Your information will not be shared or sold without your consent. Get all the details.

Post a Comment

Name:
Email:
URL:

Type the word you see below:

Comment:

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

	Aharon Applefeld’s story of unlikely pairings and redemption Oy! His Mother’s Italian. His Father’s Jewish. And he’s funny David Schwimmer engaged to British photographer Zoe Buckman Bar Refaeli urged by Jewish nationalists not to marry DiCaprio Politics Elbows Its Way Into Film’s Oscar Party American Funnyman in Israel’s Army

More like this

• Our Turn
• Our Legacy Project
• Mother convicted of starving children
• Koufax and Torre to appear at Nokia together

---