THE CAST HOLLY MARIE COMBS as Piper Halliwell

Holly Marie Combs is one of only a handful of members of the production from the original Charmed pilot to still be with the show in its fifth season. Although it’s certainly typical for a series to change as it goes from its original premise through five years of development, it does say a lot for the staying power of the actress who started working in commercials and print ads when she was only ten years old.

After small film roles and work on soap operas in her teens, Holly’s breakthrough role came when she was cast as Kimberly Brock on David E. Kelley’s Emmy Award-winning series Picket Fences. In many ways Kimberly and Piper are similar characters as they have both been the calm, levelheaded members of their respective families and the ones their younger siblings look to for advice.

Following Picket Fences Holly starred in several movies made for TV, but she was never far from series television. Holly was already in the process of auditioning for the role of Phoebe when she saw a copy of the script for Charmed in the backseat of a friend’s car. That friend happened to be Shannen Doherty. Although Shannen hadn’t managed to read the script yet, Holly convinced her friend it was worth a look and Shannen instantly connected with the character Prue. Shannen then went in to talk with Aaron Spelling about the part, never forgetting where the original idea came from. After securing the role of Prue she convinced Aaron to hire Holly to play the part of Piper.

In the beginning of the series Piper was the typical middle sister, striving to maintain balance between by-the-book Prue and playful Phoebe. She fell in love with the handyman/Whitelighter and suffered through a bit of a love triangle with the guy next door. Throughout the five seasons of Charmed Piper has grown from a slightly put-upon head chef to a mature woman with her own business.

“Piper’s key developments definitely are when she started owning and managing P3,” Holly says, “which has given her the ability to make more decisions.” Those decision-making skills really come in handy in the life-and-death world her character faces every day battling demons. “Of course, becoming the oldest sister and assuming the position of the head of the family and keeping things together has given me the real-life stuff to play in the midst of all this fantasy,” she is quick to assert. “My character is definitely going through the life stages by marrying Leo, and becoming a first-time mom to their son Wyatt.”

It is that struggle with the real world that makes Piper’s life so interesting. She is the only one of the sisters to have a successful long-lasting relationship, although her time with Leo has certainly hit a few bumps in the road. Now she is the mother to a child that is part-witch and part-Whitelighter with unexplored powers all his own. The caregiver part of Piper is something that Holly can easily understand. Although she doesn’t have any children of her own, Holly’s home almost resembles an animal sanctuary with more than a dozen pets that she tends to, including dogs, cats, rabbits, and fish. She also keeps horses at the same stables as her castmate Alyssa Milano.

On the show, baby Wyatt exemplifies the perfect blend of the real-life drama and fantasy element in Piper’s life, and Holly loves playing both sides of the equation. “We try to base our show more on fantasy, and it has no bounds, so we can do pretty much anything – like go into the future or into the 1920s and get to wear great wigs and clothes. But the show also tries to focus on sisterhood, family and real problems, which a lot of people can relate to.”

And a lot of people are relating. Charmed has a following that reaches from children to adults. But it’s one particular segment of the fan base that Holly is most protective of. “We have a lot of teenage girls as fans,” she notes. “So we attempt to put moral, value, or family messages in the show. I think female empowerment is important, especially during those teenage years.” Holly takes that concern for children a step further and is an active spokesperson for the charity Thursday’s Child, which helps at-risk teens.

But even within those important messages for the audience, Holly never forgets that the show has its fair share of fun elements. “There’s nothing typical about a day on the set,” she admits. “At a recent shoot, I was running around with my pregnant belly, in a robe and with curlers, and the next scene I’m in Rambo gear. In the morning we can do a family scene and I’m crying, and in the afternoon I can be on wires doing karate kicks.”

Piper may have the strongest offensive power of the three sisters with her ability to blow up demons, but Holly is still called on to do her fair share of stunt work. “I thought the action on this show was going to be a lot easier than it is,” she admits. In almost every episode she and the rest of the cast are called on for fight sequences, or to be flung across a room, or stand next to an explosion. Although she has a stunt double for the more dangerous tasks, Holly is right in there along with her costars getting good and dirty in some very physical scenes.

Holly’s commitment to her work may mirror Piper’s commitment to her own responsibilities, but that’s just one of the areas where the two are alike. Both the actress and the character have a calm, nurturing presence, as several people on the set have commented about Holly’s on personality.

Although Holly believes that the character of Piper is funnier than the actress portraying her, many of the crew would disagree. Behind the scenes, there is a definite extension of the onscreen family. The cast and crew often mingle in playful ways. “The atmosphere on set is crazy,” Holly admits. “What we do is fun stuff, so it’s impossible not to have fun with it.”

When pressed on how crazy things get, the actress shows that she does have a mischievous side. “I started Friday night grape fights early on with some plastic grapes,” she admits. “I just started throwing them at the crew one Friday night while we were working late.”

Games like that take place to break up the rigors of production work. While on our set visit, we watched as a clothespin was secretly clipped to one person after another as it went around the set. After each victim found that he or she had been tagged, it would discreetly be moved to another. This kind of behavior is typical of this show. Holly and the rest of the cast know that they’re all part of the same family and Holly gladly plays along.

Being on Charmed has also opened up other opportunities or Holly beyond acting on television. She added a producer credit to her name when she took on that title in the third season of the series. She has also seen her movie work take an interesting turn with an uncredited cameo in the hit film Ocean’s Eleven in which she gave a tongue-in-cheek portrayal of herself as one of the young, hip Hollywood set.

Source: The Book of Three (Volume 1) by Diana G. Gallagher and Paul Ruditis, published on May 4th, 2004