"Entertainment Tonight"

Bob Goen: Catherine Bell is now known as the beautiful co-star on JAG. But before stardom came hard work on the fashion runways and the shocking extremes that women sometimes go through to stay thin.

Catherine Bell: I was probably 10 to 15 lbs. thinner than I am now and I was always being told I had to lose another 10 lbs. And all the models there were rail-thin. You weren't to eat anything!

BG: Nine years before she joined David James Elliott as JAG's sexy Sarah MacKenzie, Catherine Bell was an aspiring model who was given the chance to work the catwalks of Japan. But she soon experienced the dark side of the modelling world when she was constantly asked to lose weight.

CB: I had a model over there show me how to throw up and I tried it once and it was the worse experience. I never did that again, thank God!

BG: Catherine gave up modelling and turned her attention to acting. One of her first jobs was as a nude body double for Isabella Rossellini in Robert Zemeckis' 1992 hit, Death Becomes Her.

CB: I went in and one of the AD's took a Polaroid of my behind, and I guess the director liked it. [laughs]. And it was a great opportunity to meet some wonderful people and I met my husband on that film.

BG: He was the AD taking the picture of you?

CB: No, but he was Zemeckis' assistant.

BG: It's a sure way of getting men, by the way.
She's been married to her husband, actor Adam Beason, for 5 years now and they recently invited me to visit their home in Los Angeles. While their family is limited to two Italian greyhound dogs, Catherine has big plans for her future.

CB: Probably right at the end of JAG, I would love to have a child or two. I ultimately want to have two kids.

More Interviews