Ask Alexandra – September 2002


Question #1:

Alexandra,

My friend and I recently rented Death Train and thought it wasawesome! How was it working with Pierce Brosnan and Patrick Stewart?And did you really speak Italian in the film? You were really cool inthe movie. I will have to go out and rent the sequel!

Doug

Dear Doug,

I loved making both Death Train and Nightwatch (in video stores as “Detonator I and Detonator II). We shot Death Train in Yugoslaviaright after the war in Slovenia and Croatia, just when the war in Bosnia was heating up. Some of our crew left to go fight, actually. DeathTrain was the last movie shot there for years, and Nightwatch was the first one in again after the war was over. It was weird to be playing aUN soldier when there were real UN soldiers staying in our hotel too.

I loved working with both Patrick Stewart and Pierce Brosnan. Patrick is very friendly and generous (I later went to visit him on theStar Trek set with my brother Jonathan, who loves Star Trek, and Patrick gave us a great tour and introduced us to everyone), a wonderfuldancer, and of course an excellent actor. Patrick’s son played a Russian soldier in Death Train, and he is also very nice (and he spokeRussian in the film beautifully).

It was a hard film for Pierce to shoot, as it was the first job he took after the death of his beloved wife of 14 years. Cassandra had diedof ovarian cancer just 3 months before, after a long illness. But it was also helpful to Pierce to work, and he brought their youngest son,Sean, who was about 10 years old, to Yugoslavia with him. Pierce is a wonderful man, and I was fortunate to be able to shoot Nightwatchwith him a couple years later, but by then he was the new James Bond, so the third movie with our same characters never happened,although there was a script written.

I still am lucky to run into both Pierce and Patrick at environmental events. They are both happily remarried.

As for my Italian in the film, I remember that there was alot of argument on the set on what was the correct way to say “you are a pig”,or whatever I said, and finally one of the extras who spoke some Italian gave me guidance on my accent. I speak French and someSpanish, but not Italian!

Bon Giourno! ( did I spell that right?!)
Alexandra

Question #2:

Dear Alexandra,

With the tabloid magazines always posting false articles on yourfellow Baywatch cast members, were there ever any false rumors aboutyou? If so, how do you deal with these kinds of things? I find itrepulsive that magazines could print such things. And with theEnquirer slamming David Hasselhoff about his alcohol problems, it’snot wonder stars want privacy.

Thank you for being such a positive role model for young kids. Keep upthe awesome work! Looking forward to seeing you in the BaywatchReunion movie.

Sarah Makely

Dear Sarah,

I have been fortunate that the tabloids have not paid much attention to me. I am not really tabloid fodder anyway – my life is too clean-cut! There once was a story about me going to Gold’s Gym in Venice at 4:30am in the morning (true – I worked out before my set call at6am) and obsessively working out (I rode the stationary bike for an hour, is that obsessive?), and looking at myself in the mirror all the time hilariously untrue, as there were no mirrors around the bikes; who wants to look at themselves at the crack of dawn anyway; I was always in a rush to get in and out; and, as I have always been intimidated by all the bodybuilders there, I would keep my eyes down and not linger anywhere, least of all in front of a mirror!).

There once was a spread in one of the tabloids saying that Jaason Simmons (“Logan” on Baywatch) and I were having an affair, even though he was married. Jaason is my closest friend on the show, and I adore him, but he is like a younger brother to me, and I also am very friendly with his wife Romi, so it was a ridiculous story.

Tabloids are one of the prices we pay for fame.

Thank you for writing!
Alexandra

Question #3:

Dear Alexandra,

Please tell me more about your environmental talk show. I live in South Carolina, and I remember you saying that it only airs in L.A. Is there anyway we can get it outside of L.A.? I’ve always admired your activism, as I try my best to better the earth. I happened to catch Jam Packed on PBS a few years back. You should produce more!

All the best,
Steven King

Dear Steven,

EarthTalk Today is a half hour talk show with guests that discuss environmental issues. My co-host, Peter Kreitler, is a longtime environmentalist who founded the show Kaleidoscope 5 years and 108 episodes ago. He asked me to be his co-host in May, 2001, and since then it has gone through big changes in format, style, and of course, the name change to EarthTalk Today. We have one guest per show, an expert on the environmental topic we are discussing. This month we discussed Global warming, and our second show was about how the way our economy is set up destroys the environment and community. Recent shows have been on our vanishing coral reefs, vegetarianism, and human overpopulation. Next month our first guest will talk about the disappearing rainforests and what we can do to save them.

EarthTalk Today is currently just on government access stations that belong to the Comet Network, which is mainly in California and Nevada. We hope to go nationwide, but that means getting funding, which is what we are currently looking for. Now we are operating on a shoestring budget!

Your question reminds me that I shall have to put some of EarthTalk Today on this site! I will get that rolling, so you can see more of what the show is about.

I wish you could watch our show, and I am hoping that one day you will be able to on your local station!

Best,
Alexandra

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