Witchful Thinking Charmed Magazine - October/November 2006

From full-time witch to full-time mum, Holly Marie Combs is planning to take life a little more easily now that Halliwell Manor has closed its doors for the final time, as she tells David Waldon...

She's an actor and a producer; she's a wife, a motherand a daughter. Yes, Holly Marie Combs wears a lot of hats in her daily existence, and we haven't even gone into her role as the manager of a menagerie of animals at her Southern California ranch. And on this particular day in March, the week before Combs goes to work on the final episode of Charmed, another title can be added to her résumé - straight woman. During a conversation Combs is having between takes on Charmed set, the talk is briefly interrupted by none other than her co-star and longtime partner-in-crime, Rose McGowan, who regales all with her off-beat imitation of Combs singing: „I love Rose, Rose loves me!“ McGowan's impromptu act sends Combs into a fit of laughter - and prompts a mischievous confession from her.
"She keeps telling me how much I'm going to miss her," says Combs of McGowan, "and because she hates our wicker furniture on the set, I keep threatening to send her the 'Wicker of the Month Club', and there's going to be a piece of furniture in her yard every month for years to come."
"Well," responds McGowan, "I'm traveling the country, and I'm going to sign you up for all these bowling leagues and have them call you up in the morning."
"I', going to mis that," says Combs with a quiet sigh, and you believe her. After all, Charmed has been part of the 32-year-old San DIego native's existence for the past eight years. It's the show that established as a top TV star, after her previous role on the quirky drama Picket Fences had introduced her to a natiounal viewing audience. Charmed is where she grew as bothan on-screen and behind-the-scenes player. It's the job that allowed her to put her mother, who raised her as a single parent, through college. And the show's set is where Combs met her husband, key grip David Donoho. Their two-year-old son Finley has become a regular fixture on the Charmed soundstage.
And now, it's over. For Combs, it's a time for reflection on the past and speculation about the future - though at least one thing is set in stone for her, as it was announced soon after this interview that she and her husband were expecting a new sibling for Finley to pal around with. Just about everyting but that was covered in a wide-ranging discussion with the then soon-to-be-unemployed actor that began with the inevitable - the end of the show...

Charmed Mgazine: You're just days away from starting the last episode, the end of eight years of your life. Has it hit you yet?

No, no. I mean, to agree it has, but mostly I'm just in total denial. I think, obviously, when we start the first day of the last episode, and then the drive home on the last day, it's going to be quite revealing. But no, we've been here so long, and it's been such a huge part of our lives, that it's hard to grasp the concept that one day you'll wake up and it all will be over.

Compare that feeling to what it was like for you last year, when the show's existence was in limbo and you didn't know wether you'd be back for season eight or not...

Last year, I just had a feeling that we were going to be back. I don't know why. [Laughs] It could have been a little bit of denial. But I really wasn't worried. I wasn't worried at all. Now, I'm just kind of like, "Oh - it's kind of more definite this time." [Laughs]

When it was announced by The WB that Charmed had been canceled, itwasn't news to you guys. The writing had been on the wall since the beginning of this season or even earlier...

Well, I was a little bit more on the fence, but the girls - all of our contracts were up, and the girls were pretty much ready to move on to other things. I was still kind of, "Well, if they ask me to stay..." but I was ready to go home and be a proper mom to my son and do stuff like that, too. So it was kind of suprising that the announcement wasthat we were canceled because there really wasn't an option to cancel us. It's funny, because Will & Grace has been on pretty much as long as we have, and that's "coming to an end". And the terms they use on these other shows - 7th Heaven is "coming to an end," or the end of their run. But somehow we were canceled. But, you know, we were always the black sheep of The WB, and The WB probably had no idea that our contracts were up, because that's how little attention they paid to us. So they do think they canceled us! [Laughs]

When The WB announced that it was merging with UPN to form The CW, was that when you knew that Charmed was really gone?

We know that our show is a big ball of wax. It's a big undertaking. And I don't know if the new regime would want a deal with such a big undertaking whaen they have a whole new network. I mean, we're a stable ratings winner, and so in that respect it would have been a safe bet for them. But I underestand them wanting to do new things. They took the best of both networks.

How do you think Piper has evolved over the years?

[Smiles] Oh my god. She's just had an amazing evolution, because she was such a nervous worrywart when we started. And she was the peacemaker, and she was juggling all the time. You know, kind of by design, when she became the oldest sister, I kind of knew that I needed her to become more like Prue [played by Shannen Doherty], just because as you evolve or you lose a family member, you do take on some parts of their personality, and so I kind of meshed Piper's personality and Prue's personality together to kind of come up with a happy medium. And I think that's how she ended up. I'm not sure, but I think that's how she ended up. [Laughs] Because she has the strength and the resolve and the steeliness of Prue, but then she still has the heart and the emotions of Piper.

How important was that shift to your continuing to play Piper with enthusiasm? I would assume that it can get a little tiresome to play the same role after a few years.

Oh, yeah. You get in a rut, and that's creatively on of the things you have to always fight against, is being in that rut, or getting lazy because you're so tired. And it's easy, because we're so encapsulated in this environment, sometimes you forget that these things are actually going to be shown on television, because we're just so used to doing our thing, our routine, and then you're actually, like, "Oh my God!" Rose is doing a movie with Quentin Tarantino right now, and she got back last night, and she said to me, "Quentin said that he had never cried so much as when Leo [played by Brian Krause] got frozen." And you forget that people are actually watching this... There are real people out there who are, like, "Oh, yeah." We're like the rain that keeps going - you forget that there are people out there who actually see it and respond to it. It's very flattering, though.

But isn't not remembering that there is an audience out there freeing to some extent, because you don't want to worry about what they think of the show?

You don't. It's great, and for me, after all this time, I'm not nervous anymore, and I feel pretty confident knowing how to do this character on this show. But, you know, that changes every time you go to a new project. It's like going to a new school when you get all nervous again. So that's going to be a weird experience for me, because I've just been here so long, longer that most TV shows have been on. And to walk onto a whole new set with a new crew is just scary. Thankfully, I've been in the business long enough where hopefully I'll know someone there. [Laughs] You'll always have the first-day jitters.

What has it been like to work with Alyssa and Rose over the years?

It's funny, because with Shannen and Alyssa, we had an organic chemistry. And so there was a worry that when Rose came, we wouldn't be able to duplicate it. But she brought in a whole new element. She's such an individual and ulike anyone. She brought in a whole other dynamic that still worked, which is pretty impressive, because it's not like lightning strikes twice.

And then there's you and Brian...

We actually knew each other before the show started, casually. I knew his wife. So it's weird, but it's comfortable. And, obviously, I'm fa more at ease playing a romantic scene with him than I am with anyone elsejust because we've been doing it for so long.

Was it weird for you not having him on the set for such a long time?

Yeah, it is. He's kind of like my right hand. I'm always used to doing storylines with him, with him being a part of it. And to suddenly have everything that Piper has to deal with, for her to be alone, was weird for me, because I'm used to looking to him for an answer. So that was weird.

As a co-producer of the show, did you have any input with Brad about how things would shake out in the end?

For the last two episodes, Alyssa and Rose and I had big meetings with Brad. It was as important to him as it was to us that everybody kind of be working as a team, and that everybody be satisfied with their storyline and the way that we wrapped it up, which was actually a great benefit to do that. A lot of shows get canceled and have no opportunity to wrap it up. So, we're able to wrap it up, that's satisfying to us and, hopefully, satisfying for the fans, and that's good. That's a luxury.

What will be the legacy of Charmed?

It's just been such a quiet run, nobody's really realized the impact that we've had because we've just been kind of under the radar. So I don't think the legacy that we leave will be realized for years to come because nobody's quite noticed that we're still here! [Laughs]
Holly Marie Combs is currently taking a break to spend time with her family.

Magical Memories (page 30)
Holly on what she's taking from the Charmed set...

"I thought about that yesterday. Last year, because we weren't sure, I took a set of tea cups that were Grams' that werevery much, like, the Manor and very antique and kind of English. And this year - I don't know. Brad says he has something in mind for me, so we'll see what it is."

Future Fantastic (page 31)
Holly on her future...

"It's funny, because I've had some meetings recently, and I was asked, 'What do you want to do?' Well, whatever. I'm not terribly picky. And I don't think the half-hour comedy is necessarily what I'm the best at, but you can't beat the schedule, so it's kind of hard to say no to. But what I like to do, where my heart is and where I think I do my best work, is in the dramas."

Image captions:

Piper and Phoebe play bridesmaid to Paige in 'Engaged and Confused.' (page 28)
Holly with Brian Krause and Alyssa Milano. (page 31)

"Piper's had an amazing evolution, because she was such a nervous worrywart when we started. Now, I think she has the strength and the resolve and the steeliness of Prue, but she also still has the heart and the emotions of Piper."