Lauren Graham is tired of people comparing her role on NBC's new sitcom Conrad Bloom — as the platonic pal/ex-girlfriend of Mark Feuerstein's title character — to Seinfeld's Elaine. ''That's the only TV couple people can think of who didn't end up together,'' says Graham. ''Except, of course, for Mulder and Scully. So I'd like people to start asking why I'm different from Scully.''
Okay, Ms. Smarty-pants, why are you different from Scully? ''Well, I'm not a doctor,'' she ad-libs. ''And I'm not currently investigating anything.''
We did a little investigating of Graham, 31, and here's what we turned up: The Honolulu-born, Northern Virginia-bred actress moved to L.A. in 1995 after earning an English degree from Barnard and a master's in acting from SMU (we told you she was smart). Thus began a whirlwind three years, which found her doing Must See NBC guest shots on 3rd Rock From the Sun (as a midlife-crisis-inducing crush of John Lithgow's), Caroline in the City (as Malcolm Gets' preternaturally giddy girlfriend), Seinfeld (as the woman who put Jerry at No. 1 on her speed dial), NewsRadio (as the pyromaniacal efficiency expert), and Law & Order (her sexy studio exec seduced cop Benjamin Bratt — or Mr. Superhottie, as Graham calls him). She also had regular roles on CBS' short-lived ad-agency sitcom, Good Company, and ABC's dud Townies, opposite Molly Ringwald and Jenna Elfman. ''They were nice people,'' she says of her ex-costars, ''but I wasn't sad to see it go.''
Graham can currently be seen on the big screen alongside one of her idols, Meryl Streep, in One True Thing. ''I never said to her, 'Miss Streep, your career has meant so much to me,' but she knows,'' says Graham, who plays Renee Zellweger's best friend. ''You don't want to be working with someone and be a crazed fan at the same time.''
Why has Graham worked so much in such a short period of time? ''Beautiful and funny is very rare,'' says Marco Pennette, exec producer of Conrad and Caroline. ''Lauren walked in and knocked us all out with the way she looked, and I said, 'Okay, she's not going to be able to speak.' And she just nailed every joke.'' Graham has a humbler explanation: ''I'm nice,'' she says. ''And I show up on time.''
Add your comment
The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. An asterisk * indicates a required field.