You've heard of actors "phoning in" a part. Well,
TV's new Cher--as in Clueless, not "Sonny
and..."--literally did her audition that way.
Well, almost. Newcomer Rachel Blanchard was just
another 20-year-old Canadian from a quiet
neighborhood in Toronto--a sophomore at Queens
University--passing the summer lounging at her
folks' cottage in northern Ontario, when her agent
heard about a new sitcom Paramount was in the
process of casting.
Blanchard had never been to California--to her,
"West Coast" meant British Columbia. But she had
acted before--she first hit the boards in local
theater productions at the age of seven and is a vet
of Canadian films and TV shows.
But that was it. Clueless
was a long shot--and she
didn't have the resources
to make the trip to
audition live.
Even worse, though she
knew the show was to be
based on a hit film,
having spent the previous summer backpacking across
Europe, she was pretty clueless about the show's
namesake.
So she studied scene and character breakdown sheets
and turned on the home camcorder. With a copy of the
script, and a pal playing best friend Dionne, she
read the role of Cher, the quintessential Bronson
Alcott (read: Beverly Hills) High material girl.
Fortunately, having attended a private girls' school
in Toronto for several years, Blanchard had a pretty
good idea of how cliques-with-an-attitude work.
Off went the tape to Los Angeles--and back came an
invitation for Blanchard to come on down and
audition in person (as in, expenses paid).
"Everyone told me L.A. is really
laid back," she says of her first
trip to Hollywood, "but it seems
pretty fast-paced to me. I think
Toronto's more settled."
She was surprised by the number of cars ("lots and
lots") and pedestrians ("hardly any"). But she
admits she has not yet seen all of Los Angeles.
"Mostly just Paramount Studios, where I auditioned
and we shot the pilot, and Sunset Boulevard," she
says.
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hen it was back to Canada and the family
cottage--nurse mom, economist dad, brother and
sister. Indeed, the outdoorsy Blanchard was alfresco
when the Big Call came telling her she got the part.
She was told to report to work in a few weeks,
leaving her little time for her favorite things:
hockey, camping and mountain biking. (The bike is
coming to L.A., though beloved dog Gypsy must stay
behind.) Mostly, Blanchard recalls, she spent the
rest of the summer thinking about adjusting to life
in L.A.
Just playing Cher, the part
that landed Alicia
Silverstone a
multimillion-dollar studio
deal, should provide
Blanchard a crash course in
L.A. style of a certain,
somewhat extreme, sort.
Named for the great singer
of the '70s, Cher is a
sun-streaked, designer-clad,
cel-phone and beeper-toting
teenager with perpetually
pastel-colored
fingernails--the stereotype
much of America sees when
you say "L.A."
She's also the creation of
writer-director Amy Heckerling (Fast Times at
Ridgemont High, ) who wrote and directed the movie.
For the ABC series, which debuts September 20,
Heckerling has brought back a number of the film's
principal players--Stacey Dash (Dionne), Elisa
Donovan (Amber), Donald Adeosun Faison (Murray) and
Twink Caplan and Wallace Shawn (beleaguered
teachers)--to reprise their roles.
She added Michael Lerner as Cher's overworked single
Daddy and David Lascher) Blossom, White Squall as
her "non-stepbrother."
"Rachel won the role because of her
innocence, optimism, wit and charm,"
Heckerling says.
"These are all qualities the character possesses, so
it's important that our lead actress possess them as
well. Rachel is a wonderful Cher." But only if she
acts wonderfully.
"Ninety-nine percent of Cher isn't me," Blanchard
cautions, "which is what's going to make her so much
fun to play. I appreciate much simpler things, and
I'm not a big shopper. You know, boys and
clothes--that's not really my style."
Though "definitely good-hearted," Blanchard admits
Cher thinks she's "really hot stuff and that every
problem can be solved with money."
Pure Beverly Hills? Not really, she says. Cher
"could exist anywhere. Though, if she lived in
Toronto, she'd have to shop in different malls."
