THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 16, 1996 TAG: 9602160060
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY BONKO, TELEVISION COLUMNIST
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
WHAT IN THE world is happening to that nice, bright 13-year-old Claudia on ``Party of Five''?
She's smoking in the girl's room, stuffing her bra, sneaking sips of hard liquor under the bar in her family's restaurant, cutting classes, and worst of all, she gave up the violin - stowed it in a dusty basement. Wow!
``Claudia is going through a stage of rebellion that all young people go through at one time or another. It's really hard for Claudia because she doesn't have parents to help get her through it,'' said the actress, Lacey Chabert, who plays Claudia Salinger on the drama, which recently won a Golden Globe award.
Over lunch in Pasadena, Calif., where members of the cast schmoozed with the nation's TV critics recently, Chabert told me that her parents work really, really hard to make sure that she does not evolve into a spoiled rotten biz brat.
Her weekly allowance: $7.
She earns thousands.
``I'm not spoiled. I do chores. I take out the garbage, clean my room and make my bed. I'm a normal 100 percent kid,'' she said.
With not-so-normal schooling.
Chabert's role as the No. 4 child in a TV family left without parents after a car accident requires that she be on the set five days a week. She is schooled in a trailer a few paces away from the sets used in ``Party of Five,'' which has been renewed for a full season. (It airs Wednesday nights at 9 on Fox).
``Party of Five'' is darn good television but a little too sexy of late for what is perceived as a family drama by many viewers.
Chabert puts in three hours of school on the set Monday through Friday. She has to have 20 minutes' notice when it's time for her to go before the cameras.
Her character, Claudia, lives in a zippered-up tent in the parlor of the family's San Francisco house. Cool.
When not working, Chabert is home-schooled. ``I don't think I'm missing anything,'' she said. ``Acting is very, very important to me. Other kids study ballet and violin when they're not studying. I act in a television show.''
She had her first on-screen kiss a few months ago. It was her first real-life kiss, too.
Chabert practiced.
``I kissed my hand. My pillow,'' she said.
The result?
``Chapped lips.''
And the kiss wasn't as romantic as she thought it would be. ``How could it be with so many people standing around watching us?''
It has been a season of ups and downs for Claudia. She broke her wrist while ice skating. She saw big brother Charlie end his romance with the kids' former nanny, whom Claudia likes a lot. And there's the patch of trouble she ran into with bad bud Jody.
Worst of all, she turned her back on the violin. Claudia is practically a child prodigy.
Don't despair, music lovers.
``Claudia is not giving up the violin for good,'' said Chabert. ``She goes back to the violin when she realizes that it is her only connection to her dead mother.''
Other good news for Claudia: Her long lost grandfather, in the person of Carroll O'Connor, has come back to rejoin the family.
This young actress is so sharp that the editors of Sixteen magazine have asked her to do an advice column. ``I expect lots of questions about peer pressure,'' she said.
Chabert's from Louisiana, which is where most of her friends live. In Southern California, her best friend is her dog, Abu, a miniature Doberman. While she's not spoiled - her mom validated that fact - Lacey does like to do the malls, which are plentiful and spectacular in size and scope in Southern California.
``One of my favorite things to do is to go shoe shopping,'' she said. She showed up at the luncheon in bib overalls, pullover and metallic gold and silver Doc Martens.
Most of what she earns goes into a savings account. When Chabert is old enough to drive, she wants her parents to buy her a shiny new silver Mazda Miata. Sorry, Lacey. The new ones only come in red, black, white and Montego Bay blue. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Lacey Chambert, 13, plays the currently rebellious Claudia on Fox's
``Party of Five.''
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