Arizona Daily Star from Tucson, Arizona • Page 213

April 28 May 4, 1996 On the cover Page 41 Benchley's 'The Beast' to air on NBC ft si Co A QiJ (. Li" Larry Drake, Karen Sillas and William Petersen battle a giant sea creature that is terrorizing a coastal village in "The Beast," Sunday at 8 p.m. on NBC. By Jay Bobbin Tribune Media Services The opening is familiar unsuspecting people on the sea at night, and something lurking beneath the surface, ready to strike. Devotees of "Jaws" will recognize that scenario, and the same factors launched another best-seller by author Peter Benchley.

"The Beast" becomes an NBC mini-series Sunday and Monday, casting William Petersen (of the current movie as a fisherman who sets out to destroy a giant squid or Architeuthis dux, by specific name that is decimating the population of a seaside town. Karen Sil-las plays a Coast Guard lieutenant involved in the hunt, and "L.A. Law" alumnus Larry Drake appears as a heavy-drinking poacher who's an eyewitness to several of the monster's attacks. Though it might seem the Drake character has killed the beast at the end of Sunday's installment, rest assured that more chills are reserved for Monday, since its even-bigger mother comes calling. Directed by Jeff Bleckner in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer the saga also features Charles Martin Smith Sterling Macer Jr.

and Adrienne-Joi Johnson the plentiful visual effects were supervised by Oscar-winner Gene Warren Jr. 2: Judgment and Benchley is one of the executive producers. Sillas concedes her "Beast" character is career-driven, but she adds, "It was very important that I found the vulnerability and the softness in this woman, too. She's the only one in her profession here, so that's somewhat similar to Rose Phillips, but I really wanted to make sure that I gave her a human touch." Sillas hadn't read "The Beast" before filming began, but she acknowledges "those water things" that clearly hold an attraction for Benchley, who also wrote The Deep." She reasons, "There's a formula there." In translating that formula from printed page to film, production at sea is an integral element, but also a potentially troublesome one. "We did half of this, or maybe slightly more than that, on the water in Australia," Sillas reports.

"It's hard, but that's the nature of it. You don't have control over the weather, but I think that adds to the overall feci of the project, when the clouds start moving and the setting becomes ominous. You just have to flow with it. Besides, I don't want to see just pretty blue sky all the time." Sillas allows that she had "some very definite issues" to resolve before she agreed to participate in the mini-series. "Via fax.

I was involved in some rewriting, then we did a lot of rehearsal. I had my own ideas, and the director and I worked very closely to make sure she came across as a woman as well as someone in authority. She has a love interest, and Billy Petersen is wonderful to act with, just fantastic." Actually, Sillas claims the entire cast and crew of "The Beast" became an extremely cohesive unit. "When you're all the way across the world, the relationships are very different. We bonded differently than if we did this at home." That also pertained to author Benchley, according to Sillas, for as much time as he was present during filming: "He came to Australia for about a week, and he was very intrigued by everything.

He told us all his underwater stories, and there were a lot of them, since he's a marine biologist and he scuba-dives like crazy." "What Happened Was the independent movie about a couple's first date that earned Sillas the attention of CBS and Warner Bros. Television for "Under Suspicion," was released on home video earlier this month. She hopes her new fame ill gain it a wider audience, though she acknowledges, "It's not a movie for the masses, and we knew that going in." However, it may appeal to ardent fans of "Under Suspicion" still disappointed by the show's cancellation especially since that left the fate of Sillas' character, who had been seriously wounded in a cliffhanger finale, hanging forever. "My fan mail has been crazy with that, and it's still going," the actress marvels. The last time I went to the chiropractor, he asked me, 'So are you dead or It makes me feel good that people 'ere tnat interested, but I learned quickly from doing a series that there are some things you can control like doing good work and being disciplined and with other things, you just don't know.

You have to let it go, and that's why I'm happy I also had the opportunity to do The Beast'.