Interviews: ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Wayne’s World,’ ‘Growing Pains,’ ‘Three’s Company’ at Hollywood Celebrities Show

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CHICAGO – At the recent Hollywood Celebrities Show in Rosemont, Illinois, Jonathan Frakes of “Star Trek,” Tia Carrere of “Wayne’s World,” Julie McCullough of “Growing Pains” and Jenilee Harrison of “Three’s Company” were attendees.

HollywoodChicago.com was there and scored interviews with all of these popular TV and film stars, as well as putting them through the lens of Starstuck Foto’s Joe Arce.

Throughout this holiday week, we will be posting the interviews and pictures from the October 17th Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show, starting with today’s overview of these candid celebs.

Jonathan Frakes, “Star Trek: The Next Generation”

Jonathan Frakes starred as the intrepid Commander William T. Riker in the first TV spin-off of the Star Trek universe from 1987-1994. He also directed a couple of the film versions, “Star Trek: First Contact” and “Star Trek: Insurrection.”

Number One: Jonathan Frakes at the Hollywood Celebrities Show, October 17th, 2009 Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com: What is the most surreal element of being part of the Star Trek universe?

Jonathan Frakes: The fact that there are little action figures that look like me floating in people’s bathtubs.

HC: As a director, what characteristic do you think you possess that best makes a set comfortable and makes the production work?

JF: A sense of humor, hopefully. I want to maintain a set where people are allowed to make mistakes, and everyone is allowed to sing.

HC: What advantages and disadvantages do you have as an actor who is 6 foot, 4-inches tall?

JF: Patrick Stewart has to stand on a box to be in the same shot as me (laughs).

Tia Carrere of “Wayne’s World’ and “Relic Hunter”

The veteran actress and film star Tia Carrere may be best remembered as Cassandra in both Wayne’s World’s films, but she has also starred in “True Lies,” “Rising Sun” and Disney’s “Lilo and Stitch.” She also portrayed Sydney Fox on TV’s Relic Hunter, which ran three seasons.

That’s What She Said: Tia Carrere at the Hollywood Celebrities Show, October 17th, 2009 Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HC: When you first started out, what was one of the most nerve-racking experiences regarding appearing before a camera?

Tia Carrere: The most difficult thing I had to do was on my first film, when I had to cry on cue. I’d never had done any acting before, so someone said just think of something really sad and make pretend. And that’s what I did. I cried. It was fun but kind of scary because I’d never done it before.

Tia Carerre and Patrick McDonald, October 17, 2009 Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HC: What is the most enjoyable thing, and what is a bummer, about being a sex symbol?

TC: The great thing is that the beauty, youth and sex symbol aspect gets you in the door, but if you come through it at a certain age, they can judge you against that for years to come. They will look at you in pictures, and say ‘she doesn’t look like that anymore!’

HC: What is more enjoyable for you, comedy or drama?

TC: I like playing villains, so that’s drama I guess (laughs). There is that old adage, ‘dying is easy, comedy is hard’ and that’s true.

HC: How does your Filipino heritage influence your life and work?

TC: I am the descendent of people who came to the United States to work in the plantations of Hawaii. I have a good strong work ethic, a good sense of self and I’m very thankful of where I am today because of that.

Julie McCullough of “Growing Pains,” AKA “The Funny Bunny”

Julie McCullough is known for a couple roles that actually helped defined her notoriety. After becoming February’s Playmate of the Month in 1986, she worked her way up the TV ladder in bit parts before landing a regular spot on TV’s “Growing Pains” (as Julie Costello). In what became a big controversy, she was fired from the show after actor-turned-Christian-evangelist Kirk Cameron found out about her Playboy past.

Since that incident, she continued to act and model, but recently she has expanded her repertoire to include stand-up comedy, billing herself as “The Funny Bunny” and going to Afghanistan to entertain the troops.

The Funny Bunny: Julie McCullough, October 17th, 2009 Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HC: When you were first starting out, what was the gig that made you say. ‘wow, I’ve really made it’?

Julie McCullough: I got to be on ‘Star Search,’ that was one of my first television experiences. I went on as a Playboy Bunny, they hired me as a model, in the spokesmodel category. Then I got an episode of ‘Who’s the Boss?’ and that was my sitcom debut.

HC: You were on ‘Growing Pains,’ who or what helped you to get through the way you left that show?

JM: My friends helped me. I was heart broken. I was written off the show very abruptly because I had posed in Playboy and I was very upset about it. But I had no backbone at the time, I wouldn’t talk about it publicly or to anyone in the press. I just cried to my friends about it. I have good friends and good family.

HC: Tell me about your stand-up comedy role right now.

Patrick McDonald and Julie McCullough, October 17, 2009 Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

JM: I do stand-up now as ‘The Funny Bunny,’ which is basically schtick about being an ‘older’ bunny (laughs). I defrock myself on stage and talk about the Playboy Mansion.

HC: How is stand-up the ultimate vulnerability for a performer?

JM: The vulnerability is that you make yourself vulnerable, you have to expose yourself. I think my comedy comes out of the realness of being an aging pin-up gal (laughs). But the most exciting thing I got to do was go to Afghanistan and entertain the troops. I don’t know if they loved me, but I loved doing it. I was the first Playboy Bunny there because I was a stand-up comedian.

I went to Kandahar, Kabul, Baghian, and Jalalabad. It was fantastic. It made me realize and think this was the best thing I had ever done in my career. I don’t think I can accomplish anything better than that. There is no better high than making people laugh who really need it.

Jenilee Harrison of “Three’s Company”

Jenilee Harrison is also no stranger to TV history controversy. After one of the most vociferous contract disputes ever to hit a top rated show, Suzanne Somers (as Chrissy Snow) left Three’s Company at its peak after feeling she was not getting the perks she deserved. Harrison was hired to step into the role as the “blonde” on the famous series, playing Chrissy’s presumed cousin, Cindy. The similarity between Chrissy and Cindy characters allowed the show to move forward after the Somer’s incident.

C’mon Knock at My Door: Jenilee Harrison, October 17th, 2009 Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HC: During the transition when you replaced Suzanne Somers on Three’s Company, who on the production helped you the most during this phase?

Jenilee Harrison: They embraced me with open arms, which was really nice. I think because of the issues they had experienced, they were very glad to have me there. I also felt John Ritter in particular really put his arm around me, because I was like the kid sister that showed up on the set. I have wonderful memories.

HC: I noted too in the research that John Ritter said that he was able to play off you well because of your comedic style.

JH: That’s what he said, and that really made it nice. He sure made it easy. He was one to just lead us in swinging ourselves around and falling down, to do the slapstick that was the signature of the show. Of course I thought John was the best modern day slapstick artist, a TV version of Charlie Chaplin. He was a gift.

Jenilee Harrison and Patrick McDonald, October 17, 2009 Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HC: What was the early days like as an NFL cheerleader for the Los Angeles Rams in 1978-1982? Weren’t the Rams one of the first, along with the Dallas Cowboys, to do the cheerleading squads as we know them today?

JH: I was an ‘Embraceable Ewe.’ You’re making fun of it, aren’t you? (laughs)

HC: (Laughter) I am not. I am looking at it from an historical perspective.

JH: I was the youngest girl on the squad, I was 17 years old, and I was a professional cheerleader. I actually cheered in a Super Bowl [XIV] at the Rose Bowl and I loved it. I’m a sports fanatic, I was a Junior Olympic swimmer when I was younger and a horseback rider.

HC: Have you ever been on the stage? Does any off-screen role in particular come to mind?

JH: I did a wonderful play called “Shear Madness.” I starred in it with Richard Klein, and is the longest running non-musical in theater history. The show is fairly difficult, and the reason it that the script runs 80 pages, and the show’s ending runs another 40 pages. There were three different endings, depending on how the audience votes, so we had to learn the original 80 pages, and then 40 more three times. We had two and a half weeks to prepare for the run I did in Winnepeg, Canada, for four months.

There were a couple times in my life where I went home and thought, ‘how did I do that?’ Shear Madness was one of them. In comedy, you have to be word perfect, because the verbiage tends to be shorter and you have to be very precise. It’s like musical notes, because the comedy is keyed by even a specific word in a sentence as to whether is will be funny or not.

By PATRICK McDONALD Senior Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com [email protected]