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Other interresting profile on Daphne Zuniga. She speaks about "American Dreams"

AND check THE PICTURE OF HER...... SO SEXY!!!!!!



FEATURE / Profile Daphne Zuniga

Melrose Place's Jo says she's living her "American Dream."
By Rosa Calves
Daphne Zuniga is your typical American woman, sometimes. At other times, she’s your typical murderer, recovering alcoholic, or former Playboy playmate. No one character defines her, and the versatile actress will let you know that right away.

But she does admit that there’s a special place in her heart for the role that introduced her to millions of TV viewers in the early 90s: JoBeth “Jo” Reynolds on Fox’s hit TV show Melrose Place. For 4 seasons, generation Xers watched Jo and her ensemble of gorgeous neighbors make love, war, and television history on Monday nights. “I definitely related to her,” she says of the strong character she played. “At times I had to refrain from telling the writers to make her more like me, because I got confused. I’d think: ‘Wait a minute. This is a role I play. Just because I believe in something, doesn’t mean Jo believes in it.”

Acting professionally since the age of 17, Zuniga made her Hollywood debuts in the early eighties, acting in young adult movies like The Dorm that Dripped Blood (1981) and Quarterback Princess (1983). But the jobs kept coming, including appearances in a few episodes of Family Ties and the lead in the Mel Brook’s comedy Space Balls.

Admittedly, as a young Latina finding her way in the biz, she took on parts that she couldn’t necessarily relate to: “I was usually the uptight, smart white girl.”

Raised by a single mom, Zuniga describes herself as a half-Guatemalan, Berkeley, welfare child. “The fact that I was cast as WASPy, well-to-do, well-read preppy girls was funny.” Did the casting directors know her background? No, and they didn’t care, she says. “Your background has nothing to do with your career. I was the Latina that never got cast as a Latina. I was always cast as the WASP,” she explains.

Zuniga grew up acting in school plays and putting on shows for her relatives, at home and on family vacations to Guatemala. “I was a natural. I would make the grown ups sit and watch me do skits. To this day, whenever we go back [to Guatemala], they remember my skits.”

This fall TV season, Zuniga returned to the small screen, taking on the role of a former Playboy Playmate, Shelly Pierce, on the TV show American Dreams. She’s reminded of her Melrose days, “When I started Melrose, I was so excited to act every single day. I loved it. I want to go in and work as much as possible.”

As for playing a Latina one day, the actress is realistic: it’s not going to happen. “Nowadays there are more roles for Latinas, but [casting directors] only go by your looks. They really don’t care who you are.”

Is she ok with that? Absolutely. Acting is still as fun today as it was when she was 14. And that’s why she’s in the business. “I go to work now, put on my false eyelashes, my hair extensions, my stuffed bra, and walk on the set as Shelly; and there has to be a sense of play, or who the hell wants to watch?”


Cataline Profile: Daphne ZUNIGA