Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 13, 1995 TAG: 9508110052
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: HARRIET WINSLOW THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``Every time I hear a news broadcast, I just laugh myself into a frenzy. He was just unlucky enough to get caught,'' she said, in an English accent far from her character's cockney one.
``After all, he is an artist, and they are all a bit mad - although I get out my madness in other ways.''
Grant's transgression occurred in the place Leeves now calls home - Los Angeles. She moved there 11 years ago from Sussex, England, outside London. Her parents and two siblings live there, and she said she does miss it.
``I do get back a fair amount now. I find as I get older, I'm longing for the rolling hills and the pretty gardens,'' she said.
Her parents, when visiting from England, also can see another daughter, Katie, in Los Angeles.
``My sister came over here to visit me and fell in love, so it was great for me.'' That was seven or eight years ago, she said. Katie married an American; they have one son.
Leeves landed the role of Daphne Moon when ``Frasier'' executive producer Christopher Lloyd (not to be confused with the offbeat actor) noticed two small but splashy roles she did last year. She played John Kennedy's chaste date on ``Seinfeld,'' as well as Miles Silverberg's girlfriend Audrey on ``Murphy Brown.''
As one of two female leads on ``Frasier'' (Peri Gilpin's Roz Doyle is the other), Daphne, with her cosmic observations, embodies traits that drive the overeducated Frasier crazy, explained Lloyd, but fans know she is irresistible.
Leeves said she grew up determined to dance for the ballet.
``That was the every-little-girl dream, to be a ballerina. I went to a vocational school and pursued it until I hurt my ankle, which meant I would never play a lead.'' Next steps: modeling, then acting.
Leeves cut her comic teeth working for British comic legend Benny Hill.
``I was very young, just out of school. He was looking for an actress to do sketches with, and I was green at the time and willing to try anything. He sort of hired me on the spot. I'd never done anything on camera before.'' This was in 1983.
``The part I was involved in didn't involve an audience. It was doing sketches. He was so nice and encouraging that I ought to pursue this.''
Leeves also worked for another British comedy machine, the Monty Python crew. She was one of the dancers in ``The Meaning of Life.''
Gone are the no-line parts. Now she has lots of lines on ``Frasier.''
``It's a great calling card to be on a show that's so critically accepted, as well as Joe Public loving it too. We've been lucky enough to have both sides of the coin. It means 11 years of really hard work have paid off.''
Leeves said she has been striving for parts as good as those on ``Frasier'' since she moved to the United States.
``I basically arrived here with a suitcase and $1,000. If I'd known what I was in for, I probably wouldn't have done it. Ignorance sees you through when you're young, though. You think, well, I can do anything.''
However, her success has meant that finding other acting work up to the caliber of ``Frasier'' is difficult.
``It does leave you sort of out there a bit. The best thing I've found is doing theater and radio and that sort of thing.'' So during ``Frasier's'' hiatus this summer, she made the animated feature film ``James and the Giant Peach.'' Leeves voices the ladybug, which thrills her.
``It's great, because I have nieces and nephews who don't give a hill of beans about `Frasier,' but now I'm going to be somebody in their eyes.''
by CNB