In between scenes (up next: the grieving family hires a new hottie pool boy), Shannon gets a makeup-trailer visit from 5-month-old daughter Stella (with her fiance, artist Fritz Chesnut). ''I have changed,'' says Shannon, whose own mother died in a car accident when she was 4. ''I used to feel like I had to go-go-go-go-go, and now I don't feel that way so much.'' As Stella plays with brushes in her mother's lap, Shannon looks over her lines. ''You have to take chances in this business,'' she says. ''It's a crapshoot, but you try knowing sometimes you'll fail.'' The good news is that like Mary Katherine Gallagher, Shannon is irresistible even when falling on her face.

30-Second Bio

-- Born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, in 1965

-- Graduated from NYU with a drama degree, which landed her...a waitressing gig in Los Angeles

-- SNL member 1995 -- 2001

-- Appeared in Superstar ($31 million gross); Never Been Kissed ($55 million); Serendipity ($50 million)


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