David Krumholtz as Jeff Fineman on NBC's
"The Lyon's Den"
Alicia Silverstone as Kate Fox on NBC's "Miss Match"
Growing up in New York, Caan was-
n't brought up in an observant home but
did become bar mitzvah.
"My father was more or less agnostic
and my mom, when I was young, got
religious twice a year — you know what
I mean," he says.
While he has been cast most often as
Italians and Irishmen, Caan has played
Jewish characters — among them Billy
Rose in Funny Lady. But he doesn't play
a Jew in his current TV role.
Caan's film career continues to thrive.
He'll be seen in Lars Von Trier's Dogville
with Nicole Kidman and will appear as
Will Ferrell's father in the comedy Elf,
due in November.
RENA SOPS,:
COUPLING
NBC, premieres 9:30 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 25
After a gypsy-like television career that
has seen her join shows late or briefly
(Melrose Place, Ea Just Shoot Me), Rena
Sofer has joked that she's a "wandering
Jew — I'm looking for a home."
She has found it at Coupling, a hor-
monally charged sitcom based on the
British comedy of the same name.
But what does her father, a retired
Orthodox rabbi, think of it and her
rather uninhibited (though Jewish) char-
acter, Susan?
"He's a huge fan of this show," Sofer
insists. "My father thinks it's funny and
smart. We tape Friday nights so he can't
go to the tapings, but I bring [a copy]
home as soon as I can. My father has
always been the most supportive person
in my life."
Sofer, who was born in Arcadia, Calif.,
and raised in Pennsylvania and New
Jersey, began acting as a teenager on the
soap Loving and later won an Emmy for
another daytime drama, General
Hospital
Her credits also include guest appear-
ances on Seinfela Spin Ci t y, Friends,
Ellen and CSI— though not many
Jewish characters. She has played Jewish
women in the films Keeping the Faith
and A Stranger Among Us.
Sofer now lives in Los Angeles with
her daughter, Rosabel; her father; and
her new husband, Sanford Bookstaver, a
director-producer.
"My father married us," she smiles.
ALICI& SILVERSTONID
MISS MATCH
NBC, premieres 8 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 26
If Yenta the Matchmaker lived today,
you might find her plying her trade at a
divorce law firm, fixing up the newly
single. That's the circumstance of Alicia
Silverstone's charming Kate Fox, who
discovers her people-matching talents as
a sidelight to her work for her attorney
father (Ryan O'Neal).
Ron Silver as Larry Goldman on Fox's "Skin"
"Everybody wants to be with some-
one, right?" asks Silverstone, noting the
popularity of reality dating shows on
TV.
Though not in the market for a series,
the girl who first made a splash in The
Crush and three Aerosmith videos,
charmed audiences in Clueless, played
Batgirl and starred on Broadway in The
Graduate loved the Miss Match concept,
script and chance "to stay with a role for
a while and discover things about her all
the time."
While a character's religion isn't an
issue for her in choosing parts (Kate's
affiliation is, so far, unstated), Silverstone
identifies strongly with her Jewish her-
itage.
"I absolutely love that I'm Jewish and
have these amazing traditions. I really
love what I've gotten from my Jewish
upbringing in terms of going to Hebrew
school and being bat mitzvah," she says,
adding that it's equally important to her
to live her life in a spiritual, environ-
mentally conscious, compassionate way.
She's a longtime vegetarian who
actively supports human and animal
rights causes.
As for her own romantic life,
Silverstone, who has a steady boyfriend,
claims no experience in matchmaking.
"I haven't made any matches and I
haven't been set up," she says. "I have a
few friends who want me to help them
and I don't know what to do."
DAVE ERUNDIOLITTA
THE LYON'S DEN
NBC, premieres 10 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 28
Having spent much of his career
that began the year of his bar mitzvah
playing Jewish characters in movies
like Liberty Heights and Slums of
Beverly Hills and TV series like Freaks
and Geeks, David Krumholtz is con-
tinuing that tradition on the new
Rob Lowe legal drama The Lyon's
Den.
"[Jeff] Fineman doesn't necessarily
want to be a lawyer," Krumholtz says
of his character, a paralegal at the law
firm. "He's a struggling novelist. He
doesn't respect the law or the profes-
sion. He's unpredictable and that's
what attracted me to the show."
So far, no major issue has been
made of Fineman's being Jewish,
which is fine with Krumholtz.
"But I'm proud to be a Jew," says
the native New Yorker. "I wasn't
raised religious, but I'm a Jew
through and through."
While he admits to some past frus-
tration with being cast by type, "Now
I'm embracing it because I'm slowly
possibly becoming — maybe with
this show — a voice for the young
Jewish generation, and I'm very
happy to do it."
Krumholtz also will play Jewish
ROLE PLAYING on page 82
A
k
9/12
2003
81