Seven Silly Questions for Samantha Mathis
Who's
Samantha Mathis? She's a 34-year-old Hollywood cutie who's dated dudes like
Christian Slater,
River Phoenix and
Noah Wyle. Onscreen, the actress has also played sexy wives and girlfriends in movies from 1990's
Pump Up the Volume to this summer's
The Punisher. But before TNT's vampire miniseries
Salem's Lot (June 20 and 21 at 8 pm/ET), she'd never sucked blood —
or sucked face with
Rob Lowe! In honor of this unique career milestone, Mathis sinks her teeth into seven of the silliest questions we could think of.
TV Guide Online: Just curious... Are you related to singer Johnny Mathis?
Samantha Mathis: I usually just say no, but occasionally, I go, "Yeah, I'm his daughter" or "I'm his ex-wife." Sadly, there's no relation.
TVGO: Wouldn't it add oomph to your career if you were related?
Mathis: I don't know! Do you think that trend of famous fathers and daughters would help me get my own reality show? Maybe.
TVGO: Hmm... How about Walter Matthau?
Mathis: Am I related to Walter Matthau? Like a Matthau-Mathis connection? No, but that would be wonderful.
TVGO: Walter's daughter Juliet played a vampiress on Buffy. No wait, she's actually Martin Landau's kid. Anyhoo, speaking of vamps, how'd you like doing coffin duty in Salem's Lot?
Mathis: I didn't really enjoy being in a coffin. I guess there are people who get off on that, but I'm not one of them! It was also awkward because the set was full of water, and I needed to be in the coffin, yet not wet. It was really inconvenient for me to get in and out, so I had to hang out in there. It was like being in my own little island surrounded by a moat.
TVGO: Is that hard if you need to take a potty break?
Mathis: Fortunately, it didn't last long. All you need to do is lie still, don't open your eyes and don't move. Yet everyone around you is having major drama — screaming and crying! An actor's instinct is to be engaged, so it's at those moments where you're convinced you're going to blurt something out. You're praying you don't screw up the take. Hopefully, you can't see that I'm breathing. Of course, I'm not dead, I'm undead!
TVGO: Was it hot or icky to make out with Rob Lowe? We're guessin' it could go either way.
Mathis: We got one kiss. It was on the second day of shooting. I thought, "Gosh, this is weird. I was such a fan of The Outsiders and St. Elmo's Fire." We're also mutual friends through Christian Slater. But when I was 13, did I ever imagine I'd have a kissing scene with Rob Lowe? No! How lucky am I?
TVGO: Bet Rob appreciated your telling him that! The "when I was 13" part, I mean.
Mathis: Rob's a pretty spiffy gentleman. He looks better than he ever did, so I don't think he would be threatened by that at all.
