TV Tattler: Celebrity Interviews
Tori Spelling Gives Tabloids a Turn on 'Smallville'
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Jan. 10 -- If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
Tori Spelling is taking note of that sage advice
with her upcoming guest star stint on The CW superhero hit, 'Smallville.'
Spelling, a regular featured face in supermarket tabloids, will play Linda Lake -- a gossip columnist who writes a story exposing Lana's reluctance about marrying Lex. It airs Wed., Jan. 11 at 8PM ET on The CW.
And her pregnancy hasn't slowed her down: The '90210' alum is also working on a new reality series for Oxygen, which will follow her and her husband as they find and refurbish a Southern California inn.
Spelling talked to AOL Television editor Geoff Bennett about her latest guest starring role, her plans to revolutionize the bed and breakfast industry and how her pregnancy has made dining out a bit treacherous.
Tori Spelling and 'Smallville' don't seem like the most obvious match. How did you get the gig?
They asked me to do it, and they had this great character in mind. I talked to the producers, and we kind of came up with an idea for the show, and they wrote it for me.
Cool. So it was partly your idea to play a gossip columnist?
No, it was their idea, but I thought it was just the perfect thing because I'm always in the tabloids. I thought how perfect to reverse the fact that I'd be the gossip columnist for once and try to get dirt on people.
My personal experience? (Laughs) Well, I think when you're a character on 'Smallville,' you don't really bring personal experience.
Ahh ... touché.
But I have powers, and I'm a pretty mean character on the show. But what I tried to bring to it was humor because that's what I try to bring to everything I do, and that's what I was really looking for when I took on the roll. So even though she's sort of this hard-as-nails character and kind of a tyrant, I tried to make her kind of funny.
I can turn myself into water. (Laughs)
Huh? How does that come in handy?
Well ... being a gossip columnist, she can turn herself into water and sneak into places and kind of get the scoop that no one else can get.
Switching gears, I read you had a huge yard sale recently.
Yeah, we had an estate sale.
Oh. (Laughs) Sorry I called it a yard sale.
(Laughs) Oh, no. It sort of turned into one.
But did it feel a little strange to watch people walk away with your stuff?
No, I was kind of at the point where, you know, I wanted to clean out the old and bring in the new. And it was the perfect timing with the baby on the way. We wanted to get out the clutter. I didn't know what it would feel like. But it was really cool because I got to interact with fans and talk with people and everyone was really cool and nice and fun.
And you are putting the profits toward the purchase of a bed and breakfast, as part of your reality show on Oxygen?
Yes.
Last summer, my husband [Dean McDermott] and I were filming a TV movie together in Canada, and we both had never stayed in a bed and breakfast. And they put us in one for a couple weeks out in the countryside. We didn't love the experience because we found it to be an antiquated idea. It's kind of a surreal experience to have people hovering over you 24 hours a day, and you live in their house and eat breakfast with them. So we came up with an idea to modernize the B&B and make one for our generation. So we are turning it into a modern-chic B&B.
Are you getting used to having cameras follow you around?
I'm getting used to it, yeah. I thought it would be a piece of cake. Since we're executive producing it and everything, there's a lot more entailed than you would think. You can't just pull out a camera and photograph your day.
How does that compare to doing a fictional reality show like 'So Notorious'?
It's completely different. 'So Notorious' was completely scripted, and it was very much like doing a regular, half-hour comedy show.
Any chance it'll come back?
I don't know. I get that question every day and it's pretty frustrating. (Laughs) It is because I was so proud of that show, we worked really hard on it, and it had a loyal, cult following. Then they [VH1] didn't go forward with it.
You mentioned your pregnancy earlier. Do you want a big family? I read that your husband said he wanted a whole hockey team.
Yeah, that's easy to say before you go through a pregnancy for the first time. And then you get there and it's like, "Hmm ... one healthy one would be nice." But we definitely want more. I don't know how many. I guess that's not up to us. If we're blessed with more, that would be great. But we're just trying to get through the first one now. It's a pretty surreal experience just watching your stomach grow every day and knowing that there's a living being that you created inside of you.
Are you going to take time off from work?
I do better when I'm working, when I have a lot of things on my plate. I've just always been kind of a workhorse. So I don't forsee myself taking too much time off.
How has being pregnant changed you?
Well, I have to watch where I walk because I can't fit through doors and stuff. (Laughs) You forget because, you know, I'll get up from a table at a restaurant -- and restaurants are always so packed with tables and chairs and people -- and I'll think I can walk behind people like I used to. And it's, "Ooops, sorry. Belly in the way." That happens a lot now.
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