The Sun Also Rises


"Personally and professionally, I am two different people," Lesley-Anne Down (Olivia, Sunset Beach) explains. "So what people say or write about me I feel is actually about an entirely other entity." Quite a daunting statement to make – especially to a writer who is about to do a profile on her!

"My reasoning is simple, really," she continues coolly, as if in response to a question that was playing through my mind but I was too afraid to ask. "There was a time in my life that was so horrendous, so intense and so full of half-truths, that somehow or another this mechanism of self-preservation kicked in and I distanced myself from everything."

Regardless of the rough times, which she prefers remain private, Down is anything but distant. In fact, she’s extremely accessible, exuding a sincerity that is as refreshing as it is intoxicating.

A perfect example of this is when she discusses her son George. Nearly a year and a half old, he is the apple of her eye – and quite the worldly eater. "George loves spicy food," she reveals. "He eats Mexican for breakfast, Chinese for lunch, Japanese for dinner. He has frightfully sophisticated tastes for someone so young."

George’s conception was an unplanned yet pleasant surprise for down and her husband, Don. E. FauntLeRoy, but having children 16 years apart (she also has a son, Jack, from her marriage to director William Friedkin) provided the most astonishment. "When I had Jack, it was like having major surgery, all masks and headdresses, and feeling like you’re going in for a heart transplant instead of having a baby," she recalls. "With George, it was like, ‘Would you like a cup of tea? And ‘Which channel would you like on the telly?’"

Bringing up children at two distinctly different times has proved revelatory. "Raising a child now isn’t as carefree as it was 15 years ago," Down explains. "I know the pitfalls because I have the knowledge, and realize how children can be influenced and what dangers face them. IN that respect, the paranoia of raising a child has been raised for me."

Down gets plenty of help at home with George thanks to the constant interaction with his other siblings. "One night recently, Don and I went out and left the baby with Season (Down’s stepdaughter) and Jack," she says. "They took him off to a sushi bar. I thought that it was such an adorable and lovely thing that they didn’t just stay hime; they took him out and lived a life with him."

Family, obviously, is the most important thing to Down, but she and FauntLeRoy don’t plan to expand theirs any further, even though the Southern California community they live in is conducive to child rearing. "Living in Los Angeles is very uncommunity and unreal," she says. "Thankfully, we live in a place where the children can safely play in the streets, and you can just pop into your neighbor’s house whenever you want."

Down also loves the fact that she has bonded with the other moms in the neighborhood. "Most of the woman who live here and have babies George’s age are 20 years younger than me," she says with a laugh. "I’m old enough to be the mother of the mothers. They’re always asking me, ‘Are you going to have another baby?’ and it’s just bizarre because my brain says, ‘Oh, yes. We could be pregnant together.’ Then reality hits and I say, ‘What are you doing? You’re 45. They’re 25. Stop! Stop!’ I have to pull the blind down in front of the little fantasy I get sucked into."

Though her family life is extremely stable, the opposite can be said of Down’s work life on the recently canceled Sunset. "I’m very much a fatalist about these things, and feel everything about Sunset’s future was determined by the dollar," she says. "It is very short-sighted to cancel us from a network point of view, but on the other hand, I do realize that the network is pushed, shaken and manipulated by the affiliates."

Down says it’s terribly sad that Sunset has been axed, especially because she feels the show is such a daytime original. "Sure we have divorce, death and babies," she says "but there’s also a lot of incredibly innovative, amusing and entertaining stuff happening that I don’t see on other shows. The show has its downside sometimes, but for me, there have been many more pluses."

Down’s enthusiasm dwindles a bit when she discusses her character. "Olivia used to be an emotionally driven character," she says. "Now, she has evolved into an event-driven character, and I don’t think she works as an event-driven character. She was much more intriguing to play when she had an emotion that was pure to her. Now she is just reacting to what’s going on around her, and it’s not very interesting." Down does have hope that the writers will regenerate Olivia, band make her a little less serious. "I really do think, though, that she needs to relax – redecorate her house, meditate or even take a trip to the karaoke bar. Can you imagine? Olivia karaoking?"

Sunset’s elaborate fantasy sequences have given Down a chance to step out of Olivia’s parameters. "The fantasies are a refreshing break from my character," she explains. "They’re never Olivia’s fantasies (they’re usually Annie’s), which makes them less rooted in character, and much easier to go over the top with." A recent one – a take-off of The Jerry Springer Show – had Down done up in what was supposed to be full Cruella DeVil drag. There was only one problem. "Cruella DeVil is apparently copyrighted," she says. "So I couldn’t do the streaked hair and spotty coat. I was like, ‘All right, then. You want me to be Cruella DeVil without looking like her?’ It was a bit difficult, so I just took the idea and figured those who get it will get it, and those who don’t will think Olivia has turned into some sort of mad witch, or something."

Sunset is Down’s first stab at daytime, a genre she confesses is a hard one to get the hang of. "It’s eternally challenging," she says, "because you have to keep it fresh day after day. Plus, there’s not a constant flow of new blood as far as directors and actors are concerned."

The bashing of the daytime genre is something Down has experienced first-hand – and doesn’t quite understand. "Soaps are pooh-poohed by people – especially those who have never worked on one,” she says. "There’s this snob effect within the industry, which is perfectly fine for them. I, on the other hand, I enjoy what I do, don’t care what ‘they’ think."

Down has a distinctly different opinion of daytime fans, however. "They’re just amazing, especially Sunset’s fans," she says. Last year, Down visited England, where she was thrilled to discover that the Brits not only loved Sunset – they actually get it. "They just appreciate it and take it for getting caught up in it." So caught up, in fact, that a British comedian (and obvious Sunset buff) sends up the show in a voice-over that runs during the show’s closing credits. "It’s really quite genius," Down says with a laugh. "Caitlin is referred to as ‘Bimby’, Cole is ‘Rubber Lips,’ Olivia is ‘Livid.’ They also run polls for favorite character, most stupid character … it’s really turned into quite a cult phenomenon." She also is quick to point out that the viewers’ reaction here in the States, especially at the Sunset fan-club events, has been just as positive.

Besides her career as an actress, Down also dabbles in screenwriting under the name W.F. Steinberg. Her last project under that pseudonym, called The Devil’s Breath, has yet to make it to film. Recently, she’s been so busy dividing her time between Sunset and her family, she hasn’t had time to read a book, let alone write anything.

Picking up a good book may be much easier now that Sunset’s future has been determined. "I will miss Sunset dearly," she says, "but at least I will finally get to take a vacation!"