City of Angel Kristy and City of Angel have kindly given permission for me to put their interview with Eisabeth up on this site. I am eternally grateful- many, many thanks Kristy and COA! Remember: you must ask Kristy and COA's permission if you'd like to post this article somewhere. (And no, ironically, this is not where I got the title for this site!) 'Rohm With A View' -an introspective of the woman, the actress, and the heart by Kristy In a collection of rare books of mine, there is a first edition of Shelley's 'Essays & Letters' published in 1840. The famed poet of the early 1800's, during a six week tour through parts of Europe, Percy Shelley wrote while in Germany, "At one of the inns here we saw the pretty woman we met with in the course of our travels. She is what I would conceive to be a truly German beauty; green eyes, slightly tinged with brown, and expressive of uncommon sweetness and frankness. This added to her countenance, by adorning it with an appearance of extreme delicacy." He may as well have been recalling this encounter with Elisabeth Rohm. This vivacious 27 year old with striking features, stands 5'-8" tall. Born in Dusseldorf, she still holds a duel citizenship with the beloved country of her birth. Talking with her I discovered a mind and heart full of excitement for life and an understanding of where her perspective on the world in general comes from. She sees things in a totally different light, I think, speckled with perhaps an analytical view but from a philosophical angle and a poetic outlook. Already boasting quite an array of acting experiences including a starring role in the BBC mini-series Eureka Street shot in Ireland, Elisabeth's first break came when she starred opposite Kyle MacLachlan (best known for his roles in Dune and Twin Peeks) in Dick Wolf's Fox pilot The Invisible Man. Following this, she landed a supporting role in the recent NBC's mini-series, The '60s. But there is more to this woman than a commanding resume. As we delve into the woman who is Elisabeth Rohm you will find a creative force that will take her far in this world we all struggle to conquer in our own style. As for Liz, she's well on her way! INSPIRATIONS & THE COLLEGE LIFE With her family spread as far away from her as possible, Liz finds she can now visit more often thanks to the rewards of a successful career. When she was younger she didn't get to visit all that often. "My dad and my mom lived (in Germany) for two years and then had me and about a year later moved back to the states," she begins. "I've tried to go back there at least once very two years and at best I’ve gone back twice or three times a year. But that's been more recently when I've had the time and the independence myself. As a kid you don't really have the money to go to Europe all the time." What is unique about her career is that while she attended Sarah Lawrence College, acting wasn't on the front burner of her career goals. Nor was it on the back burner, in fact, it wasn't even on the stove at all. Her true interests resided in History and it was just a fluke that she found herself on stage and acting . . . and loving it. "Well, I actually went to college not to act," Liz confirms, "It totally happened as a surprise to me personally because I was very - I wasn't shy but I definitely wasn't a performer in my opinion. So I went to college to write and I was always into history. I've always loved mystery. Probably why I love doing Angel because I love the mystery of it. I love Alexis' (Denisof) character who's always got his nose in the books. I've always loved to research and get to the bottom of it. I love the unknown and knowledge. What happened in 1562? I was always that kind of person and I went to school because I thought I was going to be a novelist and then I ended up doing a play just completely, completely by accident." She goes on to tell us how that exactly came about. "I wanted to get to know a group of girls in my Freshman year. They were Seniors and they were like all in the theatre world. So they asked me if I wanted to audition and I almost choked on my pizza. I gulped and I said, 'yeah sure, I'll audition for it!' I was a nervous wreck and I got four little parts in this play and then I just continued." The play was David Henry Huang’s Bondage (Madame Butterfly). "At first I was just intrigued by acting. Well, what was it to take on these different characters and make it you? And then I just really grew to love it. I really love acting." Growing up so close to New York City, you would think this new interest in performance would start Liz craving the Broadway stage. "I was actually," Liz confides, "being in college, for the most part, I just did plays. I actually did do a little theatre in New York but at just one theatre. Then I immediately got on a soap." As you'll discover in the course of this interview, Elisabeth has quite a grasp on life and the ideals that she surrounds herself with. For someone so young you have to believe she's passed this way before and perhaps just knows something more about the world that we wish we did. "Life is what you make of it but life is also what happens to you when you're making plans. What's that great quote?" she asks herself, " 'If you want to see God laugh, make a plan.' I don't know, I guess life came in and put me in front of the camera before I could really make a decision about what I (wanted) but I think I probably would have gravitated to film." Camera work versus theatre work she clarifies. A lot of actors view the stage as the ideal platform where they can build upon their craft. You're exposed to many different facets to developing your character over a course of time. Liz muses about this idea, "I guess in a way you do if you're like David Boreanaz who's been doing a character for how many years. If you're not taking advantage of that opportunity of having a character where you can really get deeper and deeper, then you're not as profound an artist as I would think. I think if you're doing theatre or doing TV where you're doing something over and over and over you've got to take advantage of that opportunity and get deeper and deeper into the character. Just like you and I are stuck with our bodies and our souls for however many years, it'd be a shame if we didn’t have the courage or the interest to get deeper and deeper into ourselves." Perhaps she should been a Philosophy major! "I think I was," she confesses. "You know, I mean in a way, just by being into history." So if the acting thing didn’t work out? I tease as she laughs in response, "Everybody always tells me, 'you should have been a Psychiatrist Liz.' I don't know, I find that's basically what acting is ultimately. You try to be an expert on the human heart. I find the human heart interesting. The heart that's shaped like a heart not the one that's beating. That essence that we are, I find that interesting." And not surprisingly she also writes! With a poetic nature so close to the surface of this imaginative young woman, a novel is in the works but that’s a separate story and one we'll touch on later. THE SOAP Elisabeth quickly found herself in a short run on the daytime soap opera, 'One Life to Live'. Certainly an opportunistic place to start but also what one would consider the ultimate crash course in Acting 101. "Definitely," Liz agrees. Most actors will attest that it's a great training ground due to the demands that are placed upon you with learning directing techniques in hitting your mark and script memorization, etc. "Oh my God, yeah, it just made me a pro. If you're screwing around you're gonna fall so fast. And it kind of just gave me P's and Q's more than anything. It taught me how to be prepared and professional." Seeing what the exposure, although short, has led to, it was probably to Liz's benefit that she got in and out of the soap world so fast. "Yeah definitely," she agrees and admits, "It's funny because a friend of mine, who I've been friends with for two years used to love to watch One Life to Live. Before we met she had seen me on the show and thought I did good work. Then I left really quickly, she was like, 'I wonder what that girl's gonna go do. I hope she goes and does something bigger.' And then we became friends because we met on a meeting for some other project. It's funny, she was like, 'I thought in the moment when I watched you on the soap', she goes, 'it's a good thing that girl got in and out', because you can get really trapped there. It's a nice life, doing a soap. You get money and constant work. You still get a lot of the accolade too because soap fans are so dedicated," she concludes. THE 'ANGEL' Scenario: You're sitting at home and your agent calls you and says she has this great new part for you! 'It's a great female role about a strong, independent police detective with a vulnerable side. You'll be involved with mystery, suspense, a chance for humor but the catch is that your ally and foe, well, is a vampire!' And you say . . . "No, I'm not going." That's right! Liz turned it down and not just once. "I said no, that's teenage stuff, I'm not going. I want to do serious drama. She said, 'you're being a snob,' she's like, 'you're going.' So I went to the audition. They offered me the job and I said no, and then they offered it again and I said no." Now don't start to think that she was totally crazy, there was a valid defense as to why Liz didn't think the part was exactly right for her. "Then they offered it again and I said, 'can I speak to Joss Whedon,' because there was no script on Angel. I mean, I said no for a reason, because I didn't know what it was about. I had two, three scenes, something like that." Making an impression so strong that she was still offered the part is quite a compliment for Liz. "Yeah, I don't know. I guess I created somebody, they're like, 'Oh that's her!' So I had this incredible talk with Joss who I never see (now) and never talk to because he's always at Buffy, but who I really respect and really admire. I just think he's a genius. I think he's so smart and so ahead of everybody. I just trusted him in the conversation and I said, 'you know what, I want to jump on your bandwagon.' " If you think that's an odd turn around you can imagine what it was like for her never having watched a single episode of Buffy either. "Never!" she exclaims rather humorously. So you didn't even know who Angel was? "No, I thought Angel was some guy, that he was going to be cast like me, like somebody currently that they'd found for the part. Even when I drove up in the van by the stage and Glenn and David were standing outside, I didn't know which one was Angel. I was like, 'oh is it the cute Irish one there?' " she remembers saying as she laughs telling the tale. "It was good for our relationship because I really had no idea and I could really approach him just as a person." Walking in cold, not having a script or an outline as to what the show is about, or who your character is would have been daunting for some actors but Liz took the approach like everything she does. It's happening for a reason so let's just go for it and see where the ride will take me. Angel writer and producer, Tim Minear had said that Kate's original character was much darker than what we finally saw when the series started. She was to play a cop with an addiction to drugs who actually crosses the line in her undercover work as a prostitute. I wondered if that deep destructive profile was something that intrigued her by the role. "Well actually, now that you're saying it, I remember that," she recalls. "I guess there was a little bit that you would have learned in those three scenes that one of them was that she was addicted. So she was definitely much more of a loose cannon and then Joss and I started developing her on the phone more when we talked because it was going to be changing. It was more about her loneliness and her little girl lost then anything else." And also her relationship with her father which ended rather dramatically towards the climax of last season. I wondered if Liz would have liked to have seen that dynamic of Kate's relationship with her father develop further. "Either way it was fine because it was a great, great story for me. They gave me a really dramatic, really painful experience," she confesses with a laugh. "That was great for me as an actor, I mean, my God. I literally, after we shot that scene where he died and I run in. The next day, I woke up and my neck hurt. I didn't know why and then I thought, 'oh my God, I cried so hard that I strained the muscles in my neck.' I was sobbing so hard. I don't think I've ever cried that hard in my life." Liz felt that scene so much that when John Mahon, who portrayed Trevor Lockley on Angel recently came onto Bull to do a guest spot they had an emotional reunion. "I ran up to him and hugged him," she recalls. "He was like, 'It's just acting Liz.' He didn't say that but, I mean it was such a really powerful story line for me." Powerful indeed and really convincing, very tough scene to watch. "Thank you." But not everything was of the high emotional draw last season, Kate got to kick butt and show a few slayer moves of her own! Liz laughs, "That's fun, I liked them. You really hurt the next day but, you know what I mean." So you have a lot of fun with that? "Oh yeah," laughing again, "I told David Greenwalt a couple of weeks ago, 'Come on, I wanna go kick some ass!' He was like, 'I don't know, we'll see.' It's funny." There's a lot to Kate's character that a lot of fans still don't understand. She has an entirely different perspective on Angel at the moment but their agendas are still the same and this year they are going to have to come to terms. "Well, that's why I think she's falling more now. Because when you've set yourself up to think that the world is one way and you learn that it's not . . . Kate really believed that the world was essentially worth saving. She still feels that way but she just had the biggest betrayal of all. A man that she trusted lied to her and he was the catalyst for her dad dying. She's really not pleased with existence right now, in general. She just feels like nobody gets what's happening here. That there is this other worldly stuff and nobody gets it. She's convinced of the fact that she's surrounded with people who don't see the real picture, but that's only because, I think personally, that she's having to adjust to realizing that she can't control everything she sees. That's growing up, you know, like letting go. She's freaking out right now," states Liz laughing at the fact that this about a girl dealing with the reality of demons. "I'm actually referring to the last episode. In that moment, when she confronts (Angel) she feels she's trying to control the situation and she can't and it's terrifying." THE 'BULL' Congratulations are in order for the reason that Elisabeth's new series on TNT Bull has gotten picked up for another nine episodes completing their run for their first season. And what a great feather in her cap for Liz to have two successful characters gracing the screen each week! "Yeah, totally. I'm really psyched that everybody's going to cooperate and let me do Angel as well because I really love being there." Did you have a separate contract with Bull then? "Well, they're just being nice," she states. "I think it's also because Angel was around first and it was my first break. People can generally be very good and they know that I really care about this character and I love everybody there. I'll go over to Angel when I'm not working and hang out. I really get alone with people there and my producer on Bull just said, 'you want to do it and I want you to be happy. And you're the one who's exhausting yourself, so you tell me when you want to say mercy,' " she recalls laughing. "He's awesome, my producer. Both of them, David Greenwalt and Michael Chernachin, they're awesome!" Bull, the new one hour drama, follows the path of six ambitious investment bankers and traders who break away from an established financial firm and risk everything to start their own company. Also among the cast ensemble is Elizabeth Anne Allen, better known to Buffy fans as Amy 'the Rat' Madison. Bull airs on Tuesday nights at 10:00pm EST on TNT. Did you know anything about stock trading before you landed the part of Alison Jeffers? "No, not at all," confesses Liz. "Before we shot I did some research for a week down on Wall Street, but prior to getting cast I had no idea. My family is very business oriented and they know a lot about stocks and investments. My father's a lawyer and my step-mother's an entrepreneur and my mom is a writer. My mom is like the spiritual, creative side of me and my father and my step mother are more of the entrepreneurial business side of me." Liz goes on to tell about her encounter down on the trading floor and if you've never experienced it, it isn't something you're likely to forget. "I went down on Wall Street and I was like blown away by how cool it is! It is unreal, I mean you feel so involved in the world being on a trading floor. Because you're witnessing a global situation. You're witnessing the money and commodities and stocks and all aspects of commerce globally. You're seeing people make and lose money right in front of your eyes. Your finger is on the pulse of life. It's bizarre and I walked out of there shaking. I had so much anxiety after the first day, I was so nervous I needed a drink. And I'm not that person at all. I was like, 'I need a drink, I gotta relax,' " she says laughing. Liz portrays Alison Jeffers and although she has a few similarities to Kate Lockley the two are very different as we'll see but first Liz gives us a little insight in Alison's character. "Basically I have a father that refused to acknowledge my existence. My mother was a secretary and had gotten pregnant to this very, very big person and she said 'I'm pregnant' and he said, 'Go fuck yourself.' So growing up with a very famous father that wouldn't even acknowledge my presence kind of begins to come out about my story line. I think basically, that's a big part of Alison. I mean, this girl has been so betrayed and has been so abandoned. She doesn't trust anyone. It's exactly why she ends up falling in love with Hunter Lasky (Stanley Tucci) because she gets into a situation where it's not about love and vulnerability. It's about messing with each other, manipulating each other. I mean, in a real loving relationship, which I hope to have one day, I believe that love is about safety and trust and you've got to be vulnerable for that and she's not vulnerable. She's completely controlling the situation with him and everybody else. She doesn't let anybody in, she's very protected. But the thing is at the bottom of that type of personality is somebody who's very much broken. But she's very strong too, she's a survivor. I mean, she is what she is. She's very protected and cautious but she's one heck of a strong woman." A great opportunity for Liz, as an actress, is getting the chance to grow and develop and stretch with the character. "It's really great because she's got two sides," Liz agrees. "There's the side of her that's very tough and like, 'you will not mess with me.' And there's the part of her that's very raw because she's been through a lot. So she can be very loving." Yet, at the same time does Liz worry about getting stereotyped into these strong, independent yet vulnerable female roles? "I definitely feel I'm being given woman that are strong but damaged. Damaged is good, damaged is very interesting to play. But at the same time you want to be able to play everything. I don't think that Kate and Alison are alike. I think this year you're going to see a big change in Kate. And I think you were seeing it towards the end of last year. Kate went from being very vulnerable and very loving and wanting to love to being very protected and Alison's going from being very protected to wanting to be loved. So they're doing the opposite. Alison is more of a woman and Kate's still more of a girl. And everything in life is about love and fear. Whatever motivates me in a moment could be the love of something or the fear of something. That's just the human condition. I definitely think I'm getting stereotyped in the sense that I'm being put in woman roles that are darker, which you've got to really fight against. The best thing would be to do some romantic comedy, right now just as a career move." THE ACCOLADES, THE FUTURE ET AL One of the unique rewards of being an Angel and/or Buffy fan is that there is opportunity to express how much you really enjoy the show. As is often mentioned in our features, the internet Bronze Posting Board offers a rare connection to the actors as well as the writers, producers and composers of the shows. Another chance to gather with other fans is the annual Posting Board Party held in Los Angeles every February. Fans from all over the country and the world for that matter get a night to meet each other as well as most of the cast and crew. This year's PBP exceptions and Liz was right in the mix of it. We reached one admirer who goes by the board name TaraAnyaKate4ever and expressed her thoughts on both Liz and Kate. "I have always been a fan of Buffy and now Angel," she says, "I have many favorite characters. Rarely do I find a character that I LOVE. Then, I was introduced to Kate Lockley. Her wit, her beauty, her strong female leadership inspired me. Elisabeth Rohm puts forth so much girl power on the screen that men should be shaking. If there was ever a role model on television, it is and should be Elisabeth and Kate. Both women are an asset to the world. Elisabeth, please keep inspiring us young women. We need a strong role model like you." Along with accolades like those comes exposure from the oddest places. Some of which Elisabeth wasn't even aware of, such as the Angel Comic Book line from Dark Horse. In this month's issue #11 Kate Lockley graces its cover, and if you're a collector of the new Angel Trading Cards by Inkworks then you'll find extensive coverage of Kate within the episode cards along with a feature profile in the subset, the Woman of Angel. But no better attention can one achieved than by the dreaded blooper! We were privy to viewing the post production party gag reel while we were down in Atlanta earlier this summer. "Of what?" Liz eagerly asks with embarrassed laughter. Nothing too damaging I assure you but we asked her if she wouldn't give us another funny moment that happened on the set. "David Boreanaz is filled with funny moments," she admits without missing a beat. "He's hysterical." "For me personally," she recalls, "we were doing that scene where I first ever see Angel as a vampire (Somnambulist). They didn't get enough footage to make the entire scene long enough so we had to shoot some more of it. Basically, me crawling on the floor and seeing him and being scared. David was already onto the next episode as everybody else was so they had to paint on another stage, literally maybe 5 feet by 5 feet, gray paint on the floor, a gray stone wall on two sides and I had to sit there and pretend. He wasn't even there because their schedule was so busy that I had to have all that terror and fear to nothing. I mean, if somebody had been filming us it would have been the funniest thing because I don't say anything. You're seeing this guy on a camera, watching this girl on a 5 by 5 just gray square, freaking out with like a 5 foot high ceiling on two sides. It would have been a very funny Hollywood picture. You know, because there was no reality at all," she finishes laughing. But when it comes to all the funny stuff? "Funny stuff is always David, David's funnier than I am." Though she admits, "He and I are funny together." There aren't many people that can boast the schedule that Elisabeth is juggling in her life at the moment. With two television series, finding time to travel or squeezing in a ride on her own horse, we might even expect a film in the not too distant future along with her interests in writing. "I'm always open to meeting people about anything, because I would really love to do films. Right now, I have written a book and that's kind of taking up a lot of my free time. I mean, free time being time. I might do it on a web sire or pursue publishing it but either way it'll be around. It's a novel, it took place in 1911 in Scotland and it's this young girl's journal. But I'm also working on producing a film and acting in it. So I have a lot of interests. But right now my plate is happily filled with Bull and Angel." So we'll be seeing a lot more of Kate this season? "I hope so! I really personally hope so but they've got to write it and the fact is I'm busy so it's hard for them to count on me. So they'll bring me in when they can and I'll be there with bells on. With guns on!" she laughs correcting herself. We wish Liz much success that all of her endeavors will allow and look forward to seeing her in the future as well as every Tuesday night! "You too. God bless, thank you!" This interview and all it contains are the property of Kristy and COA. I once again thank them for their kindness in allowing me to post it here! It's the best interview I've ever read- concise, intellectual and thought-provoking. Bravo, Kristy! And thank you from all us Lis fans, for sharing such a wonderful interview! :: 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.