How did Rose McGowan, the offbeat 25-year-old actress (Monkeybones, Jawbreaker), wind up replacing the likewise offbeat Shannen Doherty on WB's Wiccan drama Charmed?
"At first I thought it was a completely bizarre idea," McGowan says. "It would be an odd move for most people in my shoes, doing television and taking over for someone. But I've always been something of a wild card. I think it's kind of an amazing opportunity: Within one hour, I get to do drama, I get to do comedy, and I get to kick someone's a--. What more can I ask for?"
McGowan, who just wrapped Vacuums ("It's like West Side Story meets Delicatessen") in Romania, steps in this fall as the previously unknown half-sister of Doherty's Prue Halliwell. Doherty, 30, who clashed with cast and crew as she did on Beverly Hills, 90210, exited the 3-year-old series in May with her character's death.
McGowan says she deliberately avoided seeking comparisons with her predecessor. "I don't know a lot about her, and I want to keep it that way." She was most impressed in a meeting with "spry" Charmed producer Aaron Spelling, whom she sees as "a cultural icon" from her early childhood spent watching Dynasty and The Colbys. "Alexis was my role model," she says.
