On The Tube

Rena Sofer as Susan on NBC's "Coupling"

Natalia Baron as Carmen Torres
on Fox's "Boston Public"

James Caan as "Big Ed" Deline on NBC's "Las Vegas"

Role Playing

Meet some of the Jewish stars making their mark on the upcoming fall TV season.

GERRI MILLER
Special to the Jewish News

ik

dding this fall to the roster of
Members of the Tribe who
star on returning TV shows
— including Debra Messing
(Will & Grace), Brad Garrett and Doris
Roberts (Everybody Loves Raymond), Lisa
Kudrow and David Schwimmer
(Friends), Camryn Manheim (The
Practice), Jami Gertz (Still Standing),
Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville), Alan
Rosenberg (The Guardian), Josh Malina
and Richard Schiff ( The West Wing),
Victor Garber and Greg Grunberg
(Alias) and Fyvush Finkel (Boston Public)
is newcomer Natalia Baron, who
joins Finkel on the high school-set
•
drama.
There also are several veteran Jewish
actors and a few fresh faces who'll appear
on new shows making their debut this
season. Look for James Caan (Las Vegas),

—

aN

9/12

2003

80

Gerri Miller is a freelance writer based
in Los Angeles.

Ron Silver (Skin), Rena Sofer
(Coupling), Alicia Silverstone (Miss
Match), David Krumholtz (The Lyon's
Den) and Shoshannah Stem (Threat
Matrix) on some of this fall's new series.
Aside from the actors profiled on
these pages, also look for New York
advertising salesman Shawn Colvin, one
of the new castaways on Survivor: Pearl
Islands, which premieres 8 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 18, on CBS; and Jeffrey
Tambor in the comedy Arrested
Development, premiering 9:30 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 2, on Fox.

NATALIA BARON:

BOSTON PUBLIC
Fox, season premiere 9 p.m.
Friday Sept. 19
Last year she was studying at USC
and waiting tables at a West Hollywood
tavern. Now; newcomer Natalia Baron
has joined the cast of the David E.
Kelley drama, playing physics teacher
Carmen Torres.
"She's a strong, feisty Latina woman.

She shakes things up — she definitely
has opinions and isn't afraid to open her
mouth," says Baron, adding, "She's not
the typical. Latina you see on TV."
Baron isn't typical, either: The Florida
native is Cuban on her mother's side and
Russian-Jewish on her father's. "I identi-
fy more with the Latina side because I
grew up in Miami," she says. "But I was
raised more Jewish than anything else.
We did the bat mitzvah tour where you
walk up Masada, but I never learned
Hebrew. I spoke English and Spanish.
"I had the Christmas tree and the
High Holy Days. I have mezuzahs on
my door. I feel lucky like that. I have
lots of guilt and lots of fattening food."
Pointing out that her Cuban mother
is fair-skinned and freckled, Baron says
she takes after her father's family. "There
are all kinds of Latinas," she notes.
The ballerina-turned-actress, who
caught the eye of producer Kelley when
she auditioned for one of his other
shows, The Practice, is slightly over-
whelmed by her beginner's good luck.
"This is my first job," she says. "It's

definitely a dream come true without a
doubt."

JAMES CAAN:

LAS VEGAS
NBC, premieres 10 p.m.
Monday Sept. 22
Known for such classic movies as The
Godfather and Misery and TV's Brian's
Song, James Caan makes his series-star-
ring debut as Las Vegas casino surveil-
lance chief "Big Ed" Deline in the new
drama named for the city.
What attracted Caan to the small
screen? Aside from the lure of working
close to home in order to spend more
time with his family (the show actually
shoots in Los Angeles, with occasional
trips to The Strip), the veteran actor
found humor in the fact that the tough-
as-nails security expert he plays is com-
pletely henpecked by his wife and
daughter.
Caan says he can relate, even though
his four offspring are male. "I've been
married four times," he explains.