THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 9, 1997 TAG: 9702070113
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: 101 lines
I'M LESS masked than a lot of people,'' Fran Drescher brayed as she broke into raucous laughter. ``What can I tell you?
``I think people like me because I'm kinda like Everyperson - ya know? They see me and they think I'm this girl - make that WOMAN, please - who gets into trouble they might get into.''
The high-pitched whine and braying laughter hit a joyous high during the interview to promote Drescher's new movie, ``The Beautician and the Beast,'' which opened this weekend.
The shriek even got a rise out of Chester, the star's tiny Pomeranian dog, which accompanied her to the interview. Chester, clad in a beige body shirt, should be used to the famous Fran whine-laugh. He accompanies her everywhere.
``Chester Drescher,'' she introduced him as she passed him to a helper.
After years of supporting roles and scene-stealing comedy bits, Drescher stars on the hit TV sitcom ``The Nanny,'' which is in its fourth year on CBS. It's brought her fame, an Emmy nomination and the attention of the tabloid press. Now, she's won top billing on the big screen as the prettier half of ``The Beautician and the Beast.''
``Don't you just loooooooove that title?'' she said, grinning. ``I made it up. I mean, ya' know, I WAS a beautician. Back in Queens, I took 1,000 hours at beautician school. But I was always in the school plays. I never got the lead. I was always cast as the `best friend.' ''
Now, she has the lead. She even has Timothy Dalton, the former and most intense of the James Bonds, pursuing her. He's the stern president of an Eastern European principality. He has three children who need to be turned hip for a Westernized world. Mistaken for a teacher, the beautician gets the job and (surprise, surprise) he falls for her brash, All-American, no-nonsense manner.
``I'm going for the big laughs,'' she admits. ``I figure people work hard all day; they go to the movies and they want BIG laughs, not little chuckles. I want them to laugh out loud. I mean, I work hard for the money. I'm a perfectionist. People keep telling me I can't expect others to want to work as hard as I do, but why not? If ya' don't give them a good time, you've cheated them out of their money. It's that plain.''
Some say Drescher is a committed overachiever.
She tells it a different way: ``I was always on the way up - but not too fast. I come from poverty. My father worked two jobs. My mother worked. I worked since I was 13. I knew this girl who was getting into TV commercials. Instead of taking dance classes or something, I talked my mother into letting me put the money into photographs to give to agents. I hit the audition trail in New York as a teen-ager.''
She got a small part in ``Saturday Night Fever,'' starring John Travolta; she claims she ALMOST got the lead. She got a larger part in ``American Hot Wax,'' as Alan Freed's secretary who was romantically involved with his chauffeur, played by Jay Leno.
In 1978, she made the big decision to try Hollywood, accompanied by her high school sweetheart, Peter Marc Jacobson. They were married shortly thereafter and today he is the co-producer of both her TV show and the new movie. The tabloids have been going wild with stories about a rumored breakup.
As for the movie that critics are calling her star breakthrough, she points out: ``I was in pictures with Rosie O'Donnell, Roseanne Arquette, Michelle Pfeiffer. They all became stars. I would tell people, `Do a movie with me and you'll become a star. I'm a good luck charm.' ''
She's one of the few to have actually stolen scenes from Robin Williams, in both ``Cadillac Man'' and ``Jack.''
She said that her choice of ``The Beautician and the Beast'' was a calculated one.
``When you're crossing over from television, you'd better not depart too far from your image,'' she said. ``Henry Winkler tried that. It didn't work. The right way to do it is the way John Travolta did it. The character he played in `Saturday Night Fever' wasn't too far distant from the one he played in `Welcome Back, Kotter.' Michael Fox and Tim Allen did the same thing.
``The public wants a big screen budget - a big movie - but they don't like it if you depart too far from your TV character, not at first.''
In ``The Nanny,'' she plays Fran Fine, a brassy type who wears tight leopard-skin pants and lusts after the wealthy widowed theater producer whose children she cares for.
In ``The Beautician and the Beast,'' she also lusts after the father of the children who are in her charge - but the jokes are broader, the costumes are impressive and there's even a scene involving more than 1,000 extras. ``It's the scene I always wanted to do,'' she brays with her ha-ha-haaaaaaa, broad laugh. ``I stand on the balcony and raise my arms - Evita style.
``It's a cross between `The King and I' and `The Sound of Music.' ''
Chester was licking his chops and making strange, belch-like, noises. She picked him up and placed him in the chair behind her - a bit of staging that produced the disconcerting effect of making the guttural sounds seem as if they are coming from her.
``Chester goes everywhere with me,'' she explained. ``He goes with me to work every day. He waits in the dressing room while I rehearse.''
A belch came from behind her.
``The Nanny'' is already a big hit in South America, France and Germany. It's premiering in England soon. In two years, there will be enough shows to put it into syndication - a situation that will make her a fortune. Meanwhile, she's working on another movie, ``The Ump,'' a baseball comedy.
Someday, she'd like to direct. ``I want to be ready to get behind the camera,'' she explained, ``when I'm no longer cute.''
``Haaaaaaaaa! Ha-Ha-Ha,'' she brayed, in genuine mirth.
Somewhere behind her, Chester belched. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by PARAMOUNT
Fran Drescher stars with Timothy Dalton in ``The Beautician and the
Beast.''
KEYWORDS: INTERVIEW PROFILE BIOGRAPHY