Ask Alexandra – October 2012

1) What was your favorite movie role and why?
Steve Scalici

Hi Steve,

Gosh, there are alot of contenders! I am lucky to have had fantastic experiences on 99% of the 100+ projects I have worked on. I loved playing Stephanie Holden on Baywatch – it was great to work with the cast and go to the beach every day. I adored working with my Baywatch costar, David Chokachi on two movies, 12 Bucks and Murder.com. I loved filming Death Train and Night Watch (also known as Detonator and Detonator 2) with Pierce Brosnan – not only was it an experience to film in Yugoslavia during their civil war, but I loved the role of Sabrina. In both roles, I get to save people, which is always fun :).

On American Flyers (see the third question, below), I met some of my closest friends.

More recently, I have really enjoyed all the Lifetime movies I have shot (15 to date). They are usually challenging emotional roles.

Thank you for your question. Brought back great memories!

Alexandra

2) hi Alexandra,
My question is is your dad still alive & is your sister Caroline & Wendy married & dose your brother & wife have any kids.
Kelly Bailey

Dear Kelly,

My father, Mark Albert Paul, passed away on February 15, 2004 at the age of 78. He was a very loving father and I miss him every day still. He gave me my siblings and I our love of animals, among other things.

Caroline and Wendy are not married because it is currently illegal in the state of California, where they live. They are, however, domestic partners. I hope they and all other homosexuals can get married one day soon. I love Wendy and I would love to have her as my sister in law formally! In our family, we say “sister in love” instead of “in law”, as Love is more important, but there are many rights that Caroline and Wendy do not get that Ian and I have because we are married in the eyes of the state.

Jonathan and his wife Tami do not have kids together, as Jonathan had a vasectomy at 21 (he shares my strong overpopulation views). Tami, however, has a lovely daughter Nicole, who works in the fashion industry in New York. She is in her 30s and is married to a great guy.

My mom, Sarah, is very active and healthy and lives in Oregon. She volunteers alot and exercises every day, including 30 mile bike rides with her friends. She is my inspiration!

Thank you for writing,

Alexandra

3) Ms. Paul:

One of my favorite motion pictures of all time is American Flyers. As a former competitive cyclist, one thing about that film that I always thought was cool was how authentic the actors riding looked. They rode like trained, coached pros. I noted in the credits that John Garber (“Belov”) was also credited as some kind of cycling consultant for the film. Do you happen to know if he had any racing background? I figure it had to be the same guy because there are only like 181 people in this country with that name, and as Below, Mr. Garber rides like a real cyclist. Also always wished I had Ms. Chong around to change wheels -she does it on film faster than about anybody I’ve seen. In closing, I hope you’re proud of the work you did on that film, becuase your craft really shined in it, as far as I am concerned.

Jerrold Shelton

Hi Jerrold,

Rae Dawn does a fantastic wheel change! As I have mentioned in other Ask Alexandra answers given over the years, she and I had to have a contest on who change a wheel faster to see who was going to do it in the movie. She was a natural and beat me by several seconds, but I was secretly relieved it was her since it was alot of pressure to perform the maneuver flawlessly for the camera. As I recall, she did that on her first take.

I do not know much about John Garber, but his resume shows that he worked on four other movies with the director John Badham, so they must be good friends. John Garber was a former cyclist, and he trained the actors in cycling and got them fit (David Marshall Grant was 25 lbs heavier and a smoker when he was cast). I cannot recall if he was a pro cyclist, but I think he was. He was from Mill Valley and he might have worked for Specialized, the bike company that contributed the bikes in American Flyers. None of the actors had prior cycling experience, but they worked really hard and got really good!

Especially since you were a serious cyclist, it is wonderful you thought American Flyers was a good movie. Thank you for writing.

Alexandra