“Past Life” debuts Tuesday night with a special preview before moving to its regular time slot at
To research the role, 29-year-old
“It was like having a stenographer for your dreams.
And I found out I was a fruit picker in the old South. And then I was
an Alaskan boy,” Giddish says.
She didn’t believe in past lives until after the
reading. Now she has more of an open mind. She sees similarities
between an actor’s career and a person who believes that past lives
help define who he or she is today.
“All of these roles become a part of you even if you
can’t remember the name of the character you played. They all add a
texture to you as a person,” Giddish says. “It is the same as someone
knowing they had past lives because the more past lives you go through
the more powerful you get.”
Giddish’s work includes TV and film projects such as “All My Children,” “Damages,” “Death in Love” and “Life on Mars.”
Working in theater and daytime television have been
huge contributors to defining Giddish as an actor. Both taught her to
be prepared, to trust her acting instincts and to not be afraid of hard
work.
The role of Dr. McGinn fits into the Fox trend of
having smart women as the central characters in offbeat dramas, as seen
in “Bones,” “Fringe” and “Dollhouse.”
Giddish thinks the trend reflects how women —
especially Southern women — have “different ways of getting people to
open up” and can be strong while maintaining a sensitive side.
—
(c) 2010, The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.).
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