Baywatch Bombshell Presses Her Luck

We asked 100 men, "Would you drown yourself if it meant Brande Roderick giving you mouth-to-mouth?" How many said yes?

That Card Sharksian moment is brought to you by CBS' Gameshow Marathon, premiering tonight at 8 pm/ET and pitting such familiar faces as Leslie Nielsen, Kathy Najimy and, yes, Baywatch alum Brande Roderick against each other in contests from your favorite quiz contests. Avoiding the Whammy and bidding on fabulous showcases is but the first of many things on Roderick's plate this summer and fall, as the Starsky & Hutch showstopper revealed in this TVGuide.com Q&A.

TVGuide.com: I understand we're not going to be able to escape you in the coming months.
Brande Roderick: I know! There's lots of good stuff going on!

TVGuide.com: Let's start off with Gameshow Marathon, which appears to be some sort of hodgepodge of every show we grew up knowing and loving?
Roderick: Exactly. It's a throwback to all the old game shows. We did The Price Is Right, Let's Make a Deal, Beat the Clock, Press Your Luck... all the fun ones that people love so much. Each week, we win prizes for people at home that call in.

TVGuide.com: Which game show proved to be your specialty?
Roderick: I don't know if I'm allowed to tell! But I did great on The Price Is Right, Card Sharks, Family Feud....

TVGuide.com: I always liked Card Sharks, if only for its simplicity. Just a matter of saying "higher" or "lower" and, of course, making the corresponding thumb gesture.
Roderick: Yeah, that was a lot of fun. I also like the questions, like, "How many waiters admitted to spitting in somebody's food...?"

TVGuide.com: As a cynical kid, though, I always wondered if they actually polled the 100 people or just guesstimated what the results would be.
Roderick: Well, they say they really ask the people.... And the way I look at it is they ask people, "How many admitted to spitting in somebody's food?" Well, a lot of people would say, "Oh that's [got to be a] high [percent], but really, how many waiters are going to actually admit to it?

TVGuide.com: OK, you just reminded me of the one annoying thing about Card Sharks  the prolonged explanations players gave for their answers.
Roderick: [Laughs] But you have to explain! They make you do it!

TVGuide.com: You also appear on the next celebrity edition of Fear Factor [airing Aug. 29]. What made you think you could handle it? Did you figure, "I endured countless parties while living at the Playboy Mansion. Gimme the best ya got"?
Roderick: [Laughs] I actually was a little freaked out doing Fear Factor, because I'm totally afraid of heights. But I thought, "You know what? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and maybe I can overcome my fears." I did it and I pretty much kicked ass.

TVGuide.com: Did you have to eat anything foul?
Roderick: No, they didn't make us do any of the food-type stuff. To be honest, I would have been completely OK with that. People get totally grossed out but for me, it would have been easier to just plug my nose and swallow something rather than getting up on a 300-foot building.

TVGuide.com: Now I never saw the Starsky & Hutch movie, but I hear that the gist of your role was standing topless while talking to a rather stupefied Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller?
Roderick: Yeah, I played the girlfriend of the bad guy that they're investigating, and they interrogate me in the locker room. It's to appear as if I'm naked, but I'm not. In actuality I'm wearing these really ugly pasties on the front. [Laughs] It probably would have been better to just go topless! The director was teasing me about the fact that in some of the scene, you could see part of the tape, so they had to spend money in postproduction trying to erase that tape on my boobs.

TVGuide.com: Were Owen and Ben perfect gentlemen, paying you proper compliments afterward?
Roderick: Oh, yeah, they were awesome. We had a great time.

TVGuide.com: You recently wrapped a role in The Nanny Diaries, starring a certain Scarlett Johansson....
Roderick: Oh, isn't she great?

TVGuide.com: Great-slash-yummy, yes. What are you doing in that movie?
Roderick: Well, the child that Scarlett nannies for is friends with my child, so they come over for a play date. I am this just crazy, wild, southern-Texas woman married to this old man....

TVGuide.com: Channeling Anna Nicole Smith, are you?
Roderick: [Laughs] Yeah! My character is very drunk and probably on all kinds of meds and whatever, so we just have a great old time. We're all making a cake and the next thing you know we're having food fights and Scarlett gets frosting splattered on her.

TVGuide.com: Allow me a moment with that "frosted Scarlett" image....
Roderick: Yeah, right! And it's in a spot you're going to want to picture it!

TVGuide.com: Tell me about Hood of Horror, the movie you have coming out this year with Snoop Dogg.
Roderick: It's like Tales from the Crypt or Creepshow....

TVGuide.com: "Tales from the Crib," perhaps?
Roderick: You're right! Again, I'm playing a Southern girl married to this wealthy guy.

TVGuide.com: You must do one hell of a Southern accent.
Roderick: [Channeling Scarlett O'Hara] Ah do! It comes from mah family.

TVGuide.com: What, if anything, differentiated your Baywatch lifeguard from the other girls?
Roderick: Well, Leigh Dyer was the head lifeguard, and she was a very serious woman, like the mother hen of the crew. She's wasn't a running-around, T&A type of girl.

TVGuide.com: What was your favorite show this TV season?
Roderick: Desperate Housewives. I have to tell you, that whole Lynette thing [where it looked like Tom was cheating] had me so upset. I was like, "There's no way that's really happening!" I thought there had to be an explanation for it, so I was very happy to hear [Tom merely had a secret daughter].

TVGuide.com: Do you think Mike Delfino is dead?
Roderick: I mean, the way that he hit that car?!

TVGuide.com: It was straight out of My Name Is Earl.
Roderick: There is no way he could still be alive... right?

TVGuide.com: Your website is currently closed down for a revamp. Once it's up, is Net Nanny going to allow folks in?
Roderick: Oh, I've never had anything nude on my site. I do PG movies and stuff, too, so I can't have anything like that!