Nick Lachey enjoys being ‘Charmed’

By: Kate O’Hare, Knight Ridder Newspaper
Posted In: Entertainment

After two seasons as star-with wife Jessica Simpson-of the MTV reality show “Newlyweds,” singer Nick Lachey of the band 98 Degrees is trying his hand at acting.

Although he’s now spent a lot of time in front of cameras as himself, it didn’t turn out to be much help when it came to playing a role on The WB’s Sunday-night hit “Charmed.”

“Everything from hitting marks and finding your light to the process of rehearsal,” Lachey says, “just that is probably what I’ve learned the most. I’m used to being on stage, where everything is bigger. The

lesson to learn is that subtlety is pretty important on television. It’s all these things, trying to pick up on them, learn from them and apply them to what you’re doing.”

On this particular day at Paramount Studios, Lachey is at work on the fifth of his six episodes on “Charmed” (he began in the Sept. 12 season premiere and continues through Oct. 17). He plays Leslie St. Claire, who’s been hired to take over from newspaper advice columnist (and good witch) Phoebe Halliwell (Alyssa Milano) when she decides she needs a break.

“I was told it was a `Moonlighting’ type of relationship,” Lachey says. “That’s one of my favorite shows, so that appealed to me. I didn’t want to play a demon. I just wanted to be a regular schmo without supernatural powers. I liked what they came up with.”

In the current scene, Leslie arrives at the Halliwell house to meet Phoebe, only to have her slam the door in his face, since she and her witch sisters Piper and Paige (Holly Marie Combs, Rose McGowan) are having another of their innumerable magical crises. Although he has no lines, Lachey’s wordlessly befuddled reaction gets funnier over several takes.

He attributes a lot of his new acting skills to working with Milano, a TV veteran who first found stardom during a long stint in the 1980s sitcom “Who’s the Boss,” starting at age 10.

“It’s good for me,” Lachey says, “especially working with Alyssa, who’s such a pro, she does it in her sleep. For guys of my generation, she was it. She was the poster girl. It’s a little weird (working with her).

“That’s what I told her, `I want to be up front about this, I used to have your picture in my locker. I had a big crush on you. You’re going to hear about it later, so let me tell you now.’

“It is weird, but we’ve been pretty cool with it from the beginning.”

Right at the beginning, in the season premiere, Lachey and Milano wound up in a liplock.

“You always hear about that being the most awkward thing,” Lachey says. “But you know what, there are certain people you’re just cool with, and she and I are cool, at least from my perspective. We get along really well; it’s comfortable.

“It never really was awkward. We got right into it in the first episode. They cut right to the chase. The only weird thing is I’m married, and there’s another woman I’m kissing at work, but at times that’s what the business calls for. It’s a sacrifice we have to make.”

At press time, Lachey is still contracted for only six episodes, but he wouldn’t mind if that was extended.

“It’d be flattering for sure,” he says. “Obviously, coming into it, I didn’t know if I was going to do a good job or a bad job. If they decide they want to keep me, I’d certainly take that as a compliment. “I’m having a great time, so on that level, I think it’d be fun to do more.”

As for “Newlyweds,” in which cameras follow Lachey and Simpson through their daily lives, Lachey says, “We’re doing one last season. That’s the word on the street. I’m cool with it.

“If it were to end, I can’t say I’d cry about it. It’s definitely been a challenge at times to do it, because it’s such an intrusion into your life, but it would also be fun to do one last one.”