|
It's almost offensive how
much that episode did for my career.
-Hatcher on the "Are they real?"
episode of Seinfeld
AFTER Teri Hatcher's preternatural
bosom inspired
the famous "Are they real?" episode of Seinfeld
(Hatcher's episode-closing response:
"They're real, and
they're spectacular!"),
Jerry Seinfeld wasn't the only
one intrigued by this
impossibly petite beauty.
After years
of disappointment and modest success,
Teri Hatcher had finally caught the eye of the public-
-as she would shortly catch the eyes of studio executives,
and
even Clark Kent. All she had to do was prove that
she was real.
Hatcher was born in the Bay area
to
a physicist father and computer programmer mother.
She asserts that she was an unattractive "nerd"
in high school
--although no photographic proof has been furnished.
After graduation,
she attended community college
to study math and engineering, then attended the
American Conservatory
Theatre.
Although at the time she didn't have designs
on an acting career,
she was definitely coming out of her shell:
in a remarkable transition for a former nerd,
she became a cheerleader for the San Francisco 49ers
when she was twenty.
Her life began to change when she agreed
to lend moral support to a friend who was attending an open casting
call for The Love Boat.
Hatcher won a spot in a troupe of dancing mermaids,
a failed
publicity attempt to up the sinking show's appeal.
This small
taste of success was all Hatcher needed
to give acting a full-time shot.
Later that year, after prancing her
fins on The Love Boat,
Hatcher made her TV acting
debut as Penny Parker in MacGyver,
which turned into a recurring role and initiated
a painful,
three-year romantic involvement with its star,
Richard Dean Anderson.
("I got completely burned,"
Hatcher says.
"He was cheating on me all over the place.
It was pretty damaging.")
Her romantic track record was
already shaky
--she had a ten-month marriage to personal trainer Markus Leithold,
who has since sold his story of their short-lived coital bliss to
the tabloids.
But despite her personal problems, she continued
to plug away,
guest-starring on numerous shows and starring
in several failed pilots.
Hatcher managed to land small roles
in several films
--notably as Sylvester Stallone's sister in Tango & Cash
and as a big- haired airhead
in Soapdish,
which showcased her comedic talents.
A starring role in The Cool
Surface
also showcased her "talents",
but it's a performance Hatcher would like to forget.
("It
was one of those low-budget films that
you hope will turn into
sex, lies, and videotape,
but doesn't.")
Stardom finally found Hatcher in
a most unlikely role :
Lois Lane in the long-running series
Lois & Clark:
The
New Adventures of Superman.
She gained a loyal following for her portrayal as
the sexy,
spunky reporter, although she says
the program's evolution into
a family show caught her off-guard.
("The pilot script
they showed me was much more
realistic, dramatic and adult than
the series
turned out to be.
It looked more like an episode
of N.Y.P.D. Blue . . .
I am not saying I haven't
enjoyed working on the show,
but it is not the show I would
have signed on to do.")
Hatcher's success also made her
the Rita Hayworth
of the new technology set.
Her popularity on the Internet is
legendary
: for a long time,
she held the title for the most downloaded female
(a photo of
her wrapped in Superman's cape),
and she has countless virtual
shrines that compile her
With a marriage to actor Jon Tenney
(their daughter, Emerson Rose, was born in late 1997),
and revealing
roles in the features Heaven's
Prisoners,
2 Days in the Valley, and the latest installment
of the enduring James Bond franchise,
Tomorrow Never Dies,
Hatcher is on a winning streak.
Upcoming roles in David Schwimmer's directorial debut offering
Since You've Been Gone and in the Val Kilmer
starrer Dead Girl
should only confirm the fact that
Hatcher's talents are anything
but artificial.
|
cheerleader |
