The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 172

To EDO tis Mm fiGtici Carteris graduates to talk host 'V it By JAMES RYAN Entertainment News Wire ctors enjoy a good stretch, ibut it wasn't always easy aft er the age of 30 to The actress, who regularly spoke out on a variety of teen issues, including alcoholism, teen pregnancy, date rape, eating disorders, and AIDS while a member of the "90210" cast, says her own talk show seemed a natural extension of her activism. -V. portray a high school student, admits "Beverly Hills 90210" alumna Gabrielle Carteris. Much to her relief her first television movie has the 34-year-old actress and talk show host playing someone her own age. "The things the characters talk about are much closer to the issues I go through in my life and my friends are going through," says Carteris, who recently portrayed a woman whose marriage unravels when she has difficulty getting pregnant in "Danielle Steel's TVIixed Blessings." The two-hour movie, which aired Dec.

11, was based on Steel's bestseller about three couples trying to become parents. Carteris, of course, has done plenty of talking about issues lately as the host of her own syndicated talk show, "Gabrielle," which debuted this fall and airs 11 a.m. weekdays on Fox Channel 5. The actress, who regularly spoke out on a variety of teen issues, including alcoholism, teen pregnancy, date rape, eating disorders, and AIDS while a member of the "90210" cast, says her own talk show seemed a natural extension of her activism. She had what she calls a "dress rehearsal" for the talk show with 10 hour-long after-school specials starting in the spring of 1994 and ending last winter that explored controversial issues.

The genre-defying specials began with a 30-minute docudrama and ended with an in-studio discussion involving experts and members of the audience. She had earlier served as host and co-producer of a special on race relations called "Face the Hate." The Phoenix native says her talk show is trying to distinguish itself from the glut of competitors by sticking to serious issues. "We're not sensationalistic, not a trend show," she says. The show has done interactive remotes from such locales as a county morgue to send home a message to teenagers about drunken driving. She has also attempted in some cases to track the progress of guests from previous episodes.

"We're trying to do more than what the hour is," she says. A longtime fan of Phil Donahue and such other talk-show hosts as Oprah Winfrey and Montel Williams, Carteris insists she didn't picture a talk-show future for herself but adds that many of her 3 Gabrielle Carteris is acting her over-30 age as host of a talk show after leaving the hit series "9021 0," right. theater and then moved to New York, landing a regular role on NBC's soap opera "Another World." She admits to lying about her age in 1989 when, approaching 30, she auditioned for a new Aaron Spelling series about high school students in Beverly Hills. The show rapidly became, much to her surprise, an international hit. When her five-year contract ran out last year, Carteris, who is married to a stockbroker, chose to leave the series and her character Andrea, rather than ride out the final two years.

"Andrea had just had a baby and it seemed like the perfect time to leave," she says. "I didn't want to be looking for a job in two years." "I know there are too many shows out there, and it's going to take time to shine," she says. friends remember her discussing it A twin her brother owns clothing stores Carteris was raised in San Francisco by her mother, a businesswoman. Her parents divorced when she was 6 months old. Her mother taught her to be strong and independent "She's really the person who said you can be and do anything you want in this world," she says.

That's a big thing you can instill in a child." By the age of 16, Carteris was touring Europe with a pantomime troupe. She then went on to Sarah Lawrence College, where she majored in theater and psychology. She spent terms at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Carteris performed in regional December 17, 1995 4 TELEVISION CABLE.