Ask Alexandra – November 2014

1) Hello Alexandra,
Could you tell me exactly where on will rogers state beach the baywatch lifeguard headquarter was located? I want to visit this place and go exactly to where the headquarter was. When I come from temescal down to the beach do i have to go right or left and how far? How can I find the exact place?
Thank you
Tom

Hi Tom,
Will Rogers State Beach has an entrance at Temescal Canyon Road and Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). The exact address is 14800 Pacific Coast Hwy, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272, if you want to put it into a GPS. The beach is pretty much the same as when I shot there 20 years ago. There are new bathrooms next to Headquarters.

After you pay at the toll booth ($9 I think), turn left and go way down to the south part of the parking lot. The last building, which is still a lifeguard station but now only for real lifeguards, was Baywatch headquarters. Go to the front and look at it with your back to the ocean: our set was built on the left side, on the roof, right next to where the real lifeguards sat (and still do) to watch the water. They could see out, but the cameras could not see in, so all the time we were shooting they were working too! That roof was the porch we shot a lot of scenes on, and the Baywatch office was built just behind it. They took down the stairway that was on the left side of the building (if you are looking at it from the beach) that we used a lot.

We filmed on a lot of other beaches too, of course, but Will Rogers State Beach was our main set. We filmed at Malibu beaches when we needed rocks or surf, and took out a boat from Long Beach Harbour when we needed to film sequences in the open water.

I hope you enjoy Los Angeles when you visit!

Thank you for writing.
Alexandra

2) Hi Alexandra, more than a question, this is my chance to thank you. I am from Spain, and the first time I went to the States was when I was 18 years old. I stayed in Vermont with an American family and I had to chance to go to Canada, to Montreal, for a long weekend. And there´s where I met you. You were shooting a film there with the great William Katt, and I was part of the crazy Spanish kids that followed you to a camera shop so we could take a picture with you.I was a huge Baywatch fan (still am). So having the chance to talk to you and have the pic taken is a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life. Thanks for being so nice and so sweet back then. And thanks for all your efforts along the years to support the gay rights. Amazing woman and amazing actress. You are the best.
Jaime

Hi Jaime,

Well hello again! I love Montreal, and I have a vague recollection of the incident of which you speak. It was fun shooting The Paperboy there with William Katt. I ended up filming another movie with him, Piranha, in LA a few years later, and I saw him recently when I did an autograph signing for Christine. He starred in another beloved Stephen King horror film, Carrie. I also worked with his mother, Barbara Hale, on 3 Perry Mason TV movies.

It is a small world and here you are writing to me twenty years later too! How fun!

As for supporting gay rights, it is my pleasure. My identical twin sister, Caroline, is gay so it runs in my veins! I have always been impressed that all of Spain legalized same sex marriage well before we in the United States have.

Gracias por la escritura y los mejores deseos para usted (thank you Google Translate).
Alexandra