Posted on 01/04/2006 6:42:46 PM PST by pissant
EDMONTON - Kari Matchett lives in L.A. out of necessity, but she'll never give up her Canadian Prairie roots.
Matchett, one of the stars of ABC's popular new sci-fi series Invasion, was born in Spalding, Sask. While L.A. is where the work is now, she says Canada will always be home.
"I can't imagine not having a home in Canada," says Matchett, the thirtysomething National Theatre School-trained actress. "A few people have said to me, 'Are you going to get your American citizenship?' I look at them in horror. 'No!' I'm sort of surprised at the vehemence in my voice and the kind of almost anxiety that that thought causes me.
"I spent my whole life in Canada until February, and it's just who I am.
"I love being in L.A., and I love the newness and I love doing the show, but it's where I am now. It's not who I am. There's something intrinsically intertwined in my being with being Canadian that I know I'll always have."
On Invasion, which returns to CTV and ABC next Wednesday night, she plays Dr. Mariel Underlay, one of a number of characters who've gone strange after apparent encounters with aliens.
She got the role, her biggest so far, after her first foray into L.A.'s pilot season, when actors audition frenetically for dozens of proposed film and TV projects. Invasion was one of several roles for which she was being considered.
"I auditioned for a number of things and almost got a number of things, and then Invasion was the thing that I ended up getting, which was, in retrospect, the best thing."
Matchett says moving from stage acting into film and television was a logical step in her career. She predicts she'll act on the stage again, but right now it feels right to stick with TV and occasional film parts, such as her role in Civic Duty, expected to be released this year.
She remembers having a Peggy Lee moment one day at the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ont. She was acting in one of Canada's premiere theatres with some of the country's best actors, and found herself thinking, "Is that all there is?"
"Every time you sort of hit this watermark that you've set for yourself, I think there's a natural progression to say 'OK, what else?'
"And what I realized then was I actually wanted to really try my hand at television and film."
In 2001, she landed a guest appearance on the series Blue Murder, for which she won a Gemini Award, and subsequently joined the show as one of four leads. She was also nominated for Geminis for her work on Power Play and A Colder Kind of Death.
Her big Hollywood break came in January 2004 when she was cast in the TV miniseries 5ive Days to Midnight opposite Timothy Hutton. It was a reunion for the pair, who worked together for two seasons on Hutton's critically acclaimed Nero Wolfe Mystery series.
Matchett says she won't know until April if Invasion will be renewed for next fall, but having a steady job and not having to scramble through audition after audition has given her a little peace of mind. She'll enjoy it while it lasts, although she can't envision staying with one show for seven years, which is what she's signed on for with Invasion.
"You can't help but hope it's going to have some longevity. The thought of it lasting for seven years is actually more frightening than positive to me. I want it to last for as long as it feels right and good. I don't have a number attached to that.
"One of the survival techniques that I've had to embrace in my life with the career choice I've made is go with the flow and what happens is what is meant to happen and give over to everything fully and then you know you did your best and you've had the full experience."
To succeed, Matchett believes her show will have to provide viewers with a unique experience, something they haven't seen before.
"You can't copy, you can't recreate, you can't try to pattern and then create something out of that pattern. It has to be original. That's why Lost is a big hit and that's why Desperate Housewives is a big hit. It was something that hadn't been done before. It wasn't a procedural, it wasn't like a crime thing, it wasn't a doctor, it wasn't a lawyer thing. It was just brand new stuff."
Matchett thinks Invasion has some of that originality.
"Although people have put it in the same genre as Lost, it's not Lost. I mean it is succeeding. It's not the No. 1 show but it is succeeding. It's got a really strong big solid fan base and its popularity is continuing to grow, and if it succeeds in terms of being like a runaway hit like Lost or something like that, it's because of its originality."
Invasion airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on CTV and at 11 p.m. on ABC. The regular season resumes Jan. 11.
I dunno about this one, pissy.
Yeah, but when they abduct you the anal probe just doesn't make it worth it.
Depends on who the prober and probee are.
That is a MUCH better pic.
This isn`t about that stupid cowboy movie is it?
The first Pic looks too much like the dingbat ED Hill on Fox and Friends.
Heck no! We don't need a 500th thread about gay cowboys.
How'd you come across this, anyway?
Well, maybe not all of them.
The first barely looks like her, to be honest.
I have my methods. ;o)
LOL. I'm putting on my tin foil protective helmut tonight!
See post #11. Cartman has a legit complaint.
Hmmmm. An antenna in her nose?
Whatever animals they herd, the MSM is elated about it and wants it to be a smashing success. My guess is flop city.
ahem.. Freepmail
Zoinks. Now that is an Alien I DO NOT want to meet.
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