'Beverly Hills Cop' by Mike Stokes Buffy The Vampire Slayer Magazine- UK Edition April 2001 A Woman We Love: Elisabeth Rohm Angel's Elisabeth Rohm isn't really a police officer, she just plays one on TV - funny thing is, she never intended to do either. Prior to landing the role of detective Kate Lockley on Angel, getting pinched for speeding was the closest connection Elisabeth Rohm ever had to the police. The extent of her television experience wasn't much more involved. Sure, she had the occasional brush with a mini-series, and she did some time on a soap opera, but Rohm managed to avoid serving any serous sentences on the box. Her sights were set on the stage and film, where she could inhabit many different characters over the course of her career rather than playing the same character week in and week out on television. That's why she became an actress in the first place. All it took was a quick meeting with Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt, however, to realise that working with the guys responsible for giving Angel its wings was an opportunity she couldn't let pass. "They are both just really down to earth guys, which is rare for this town," says Rohm. "It sounds so wholesome, but I just thought they were really nice, and I was impressed by that." Rohm is echoing the sentiments of seemingly anyone and everyone who has worked with Whedon. The executive producer of Buffy and Angel has a knack for making people want to be a part of his world. Some cite his easy-going personality, while others are hooked by his talent and extended vision for the characters he creates. It took less than an hour for Rohm to decide to accept the part. "When they offered the role to me, I had a conversation with Joss Whedon about the character and about Buffy and about art and about childhood-- a really brilliant, profound conversation, and I thought, 'You know what? I wan tto work for this person.' He's wise, he's good at what he does, he's young and he's cool." All great qualities for a cop, clergyman or karate instructor, but it also didn't hurt that Whedon is widely ragarded as having one of hte most creative minds in Hollywood. Being a wiz with dialogue and a master storyteller, more than any of his personal qualities it was the multi-dimensional detective he and Greenwalt scripted which drew Rohm's interest. Envisioning Kate as confident but conflicted, capable in her career but also insecure in many other aspects of her life, Rohm knew Kate Lockley was more than the average badge waver. In addition to carrying a gun, she carries a lot of emotional baggage- a difficulty in trusting people, the tragic loss of her father, and attempting to come to terms with the fact that the one person she thought she could trust is actually a vampire. Professionally, she's at the top of her game. Personally, she's kind of a mess. Rohm loved her immediately. "I thought Kate was this incredibly powerful young woman who is fantastic at what she does, but at the same time, just a girl," says Rohm. "There's a great line in Notting Hill when Julia Roberts says, 'I'm just a girl wanting a boy to love me.' I think that's a part of Kate and a part of everyone who's really great at what they do. They're actually just the girl or just the boy who's real and has the same problems as everyone else. She's this tough, smart cookie, but she just wants to be loved and doesn't know how to do it. She's such a complicated character." In many ways, the words Rohm uses to describe Kate could just as easily be applied to herself. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College in New York, she spent a year working in a talent agency before landing the role of Dorothy Hayes on One Life to Live in 1997. Careful never to settle into any one part for too long, she left the soap after six months. Television show guest spots soon followed, eventually leading to a part in the British mini-series Eureka Street, which she was filming when Angel came calling. Born in Dusseldorf, Germany to an attorney father and writer mother, Rohm seems to have inherited that rare combination of a passionately artistic side balanced by an equally savvy analytical side. The fact that her paretns are also the unlikely union of a young man from Germany and a young woman from Memphis seemingly drawn together by fate when they met as flower children in early '70s New York might also account for their daughter's romantic side. Of course, that's a trait which may spell trouble for her character should Kate ever find herself falling for her vampire friend's irresistible brooding ways. I don't think it'd be that depressing a day at work," Rohm says with a laugh when posed with the possibility of smooching scenes with co-star David Boreanaz. "I think that Angel and Kate are kind of meant for each other, but in a way, you can see them just being best friends. You know how that is when a man and a woman become best friends and everyone around them is saying, 'Why don't they just get together?' " For the time being, Rohm is more intent on seeing how her character continues to unfold on a week by week basis, which largely centers around her job on the police force. And while she makes the part more her own with each script, Rohm says that her initial inspiration for how to approach the character came from Jodie Foster's performance as FBI agent Clarice Starling in 1991's Silence of the Lambs. "First of all, Jodie Foster is incredible, and I thought her performance was brilliant, because you empathise with this emotional and textured person who had fears and insecurities and a past, and yet she kicked ass," enthuses Rohm. "There was an essence that she had that rang true for me. She was strong and vulnerable at the same time. I think that's what Joss and all of the writers wanted this to be- a character that was really strong and good at what she did, but at the same time very real and vulnerable." Rohm tries to understand the perpective of her character as a woman working her way to the top of a male-dominated profession, but she also understands the importance of Kate Lockley's human side. It's a pretty meaty role with a lot of potential for drama, action and humor. It's hard to believe she very nearly dismissed it, but in doing so, learned a valuable lesson. "You never know what's going to come along and surprise you. When I auditioned for this, I wasn't quite sure I wanted to do TV, and now I couldn't be happier. I love my job, I love David Boreanaz, I love my producers, and truly, in life, you never know what's going to come around the corner and make you happy," she says. "Whetherr it's your work, your love or your self-opinion, just keep your options open, because we think we know what's going to make us happy and we think we know how life should turn out in our dreams, but sometimes it comes around the corner and surprises you. If you're closed to it, nothing new will happen to enrich your life in a way you didn't expect. This article is the intellectual property of BTVS UK Magazine and its author. It is transcribed simply for fan purposes. No copyright infringement is intended. :: Back up ::       2008 Rohm with a View. Rohm with a View (lis-rohm.net) is an independent publication and is not endorsed by Elisabeth Rohm, her management or any related companies. Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of Elisabeth Rohm or her management.