Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 20, 1995 TAG: 9505240004
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB THOMAS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
She got it. O'Grady stars as Navy Lt. Paula Coughlin in ABC's Monday night movie ``She Stood Alone: The Tailhook Scandal,'' based on the notorious 1991 convention of Navy fliers in Las Vegas and also starring Hal Holbrook, Rip Torn, Robert Urich and Bess Armstrong.
Coughlin, whose ambition was to become a Navy fighter pilot, found herself the victim of ribald conventioneers who forced women to run the ``gauntlet'' in a hotel corridor while the men molested them sexually. After Navy brass stalled in acting on her complaints, she went public with her story.
O'Grady remembers being appalled by news reports of the Vegas bacchanal, but thought no more about it until ABC proposed she star in ``Tailhook.''
The problem: What to do about ``NYPD Blue,'' in which she appears in every episode?
The solution: O'Grady got to miss three episodes, with a story line explaining Donna needed a rest, as well as to escape from her persistent suitor, the overbearing Detective Medavoy (Gordon Clapp).
The Tailhook affair was prime material for a TV docudrama, and naturally the gauntlet is depicted in closeup detail. A tough scene to play?
``Actually it was,'' O'Grady said. ``Probably one of the toughest scenes I've ever had to shoot. I wasn't expecting that. The producers and the director kept asking me, `What can we do to make this easier?'
``I was thinking to myself, `I'm an actor, and this is just another scene.' When we were shooting the actual scene, it ...'' - she paused to keep her composure. ``I can't even explain the sensations and feelings that arose from that.
``The actors had sensitivity-training classes. There were about a hundred extras in that scene. A lot of times in fight scenes on a set, they just get carried away. [The filmmakers] wanted them to be aware and to be sensitive to what was going on, and to remember that we're just acting here.
``It got a little out of hand. But we had a great director who tried to keep things as calm as possible. He had to yell `Cut!' through the bullhorn a couple of times because things did get a little bit carried away.''
Born in Detroit, Gail O'Grady lived in several Midwest towns before becoming a model and actress in commercials. She decided to concentrate on acting and came to Los Angeles in 1986.
``I was very fortunate when I first moved to California,'' she recalled. ``Within a week, I got my first job. That doesn't mean that you're not out there going on hundreds of auditions.''
Didn't she suffer from the repeated rejection?
``It's hard. As much as people say, `You get used to it,' you never get used to rejection. It hurts.
``The closer you get to a part - when they get down to you and one or two other actors - the more it hurts. Then, you're inside the park, and it hurts more.''
She was able to find roles in features films such as ``Three Amigos'' and ``Nobody's Perfect'' and cable TV's ``The Josephine Baker Story,'' and also landed guest parts in a number of series, including ``In the Heat of the Night,'' ``Matlock,'' ``Designing Women'' and ``Cheers.''
O'Grady clinched the ``NYPD Blue'' role the usual way: ``I came in and auditioned, along with 100 or 200 actresses in this town.
``I'm really grateful to [series creator] Steven Bochco and everyone else on the show, because it has changed my life,'' she said. ``It was fantastic. I'd been trying to work for Steven Bochco for years.''
In the early shows, Donna Abandando seemed to be a semimysterious figure, observing the comings and goings in the squad room with knowing eyes. This season, she has played a larger role, particularly in regard to her romantic dilemma between the doltish Medavoy and a former boyfriend, a handsome bar owner and one-time hockey star.
``The producers give you kind of an outline, and they will allow you to fill it in,'' she said. ``That gives you a big opportunity to give it dimension. They write a one-dimensional character, and it's up to the actor to make it three-dimensional. That gives the writers more to write.''
O'Grady believes that Donna has a past.
``I'm hoping the writers will work on that storyline,'' she said.
``She Stood Alone: The Tailhook Scandal'' airs Monday night at 9 on WSET-Channel 13.
by CNB