Five questions with Catherine Bell of 'Good Morning Kiler

Five questions with . . . Catherine Bell of 'Good Morning, Killer'

Catherine Bell

In case you're suffering from Christmas TV-movie fatigue, Catherine Bell has the cure for what ails you: an action-packed crime drama that's got nothing whatever to do with the holiday season.

"Sometimes you need to break it up with something that's dark and dangerous," the leading lady of TNT's Good Morning, Killer says. The movie, which premieres at 8 p.m. Tuesday, stars Bell as Ana Grey, an FBI agent obsessed with catching a serial kidnapper. Bell did the movie during a break from her day job on Lifetime's Army Wives. "This character is very complex," Bell says. "I like that she's not perfect. She has issues, but she still gets the job done." TNT likes the character, too. There already has been talk of making more Ana Grey movies, or possibly a series, once Bell ends her tour of duty with Army Wives.

1 You do emotionally charged scenes in Army Wives. You play it light in "The Good Witch" movies for Hallmark Channel. But you rarely kick butt any more like you did as Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie on JAG. Is that why you did this?

Yeah, I kind of missed showing that side of me. There are definitely elements of Mac here, but this character is a little different, too, more cerebral. I had never played an FBI agent. In doing research, I found that these agents are very intellectual. They use their minds to track the bad guys.

2 The movie is based on a 2003 thriller by April Smith. She approves of casting you as Ana Grey. Does her endorsement mean a lot to you?

It's flattering. But I'm pretty confident that her readers will like the movie, especially because April Smith wrote the script. She obviously knows all the characters inside and out. The movie might not be a word-for-word adaptation, but we kept much of the darkness and much of the intensity.

3 Your Persian mother gave you your exotic looks. You've been described as "ethnically ambiguous." Is that a blessing for an actress?

It's a blessing now. But when I was starting out as an actor, it was terrible. I wasn't ethnic enough to play ethnic roles, yet I also wasn't considered All-American/Caucasian enough. But that's changed over the years. Because who's to say what a typical American looks like?

4 With troops leaving Afghanistan, might this signal the end of Army Wives?

Fortunately, or unfortunately, you're always going to have troops and they're always going to be somewhere. So there will always be Army wives and stories to tell.

5 How has motherhood to two kids (ages 8 and 1) impacted your life as an actor?

I never felt comfortable playing a mother until I became one. I love taking care of these little guys and teaching them and protecting them. That has probably helped my acting in being warmer and more understanding and more compassionate, all the things that moms are supposed to be.

-- David Martindale, Special to the Star-Telegram

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/12/07/3578549/five-questions-with-catherine.html#ixzz1fthqMSO7

http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/12/07/3578549/five-questions-with-catherine.html

Thank you very much !!!