The English Rose

Jane Leeves on gardening, ugly feet and Niles’ odd obsession

Jane Leeves, the svelte, auburn-haired Frasier star is browsing through the gardening section of a Los Angeles bookstore and bemoaning her ongoing battle to grow perfect white roses. (Roses for Dummies rests on her night table.) “I almost bought the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Gardening, but it seemed to complicated for me,” Leeves says. Pressure from her green-thumbed English mother has this 35-year-old Brit clipping, planting, and reorganizing her San Fernando Valley garden during the summer television hiatus. “She’ll be so disappointed in me if I don’t like up to my gardening heritage. I have to send her Polaroids occasionally to show that I am able. So I try to buy things that are really easy to grow and that grow very fast.”

Everything else in Leeves’ life seems to be coming up roses. This fall she’ll begin her fourth Frasier season as Daphne Moon, the sassy but supportive physical therapist of Frasier Crane’s dad, Martin, and the un-required love interest of Niles, Frasier’s brother, played by David Hyde Pierce. And off the tube, Leeves’ love life couldn’t be better.

Last December, after a whirlwind, year-long courtship, she married Marshall Coben, a Paramount Studios television executive, in a story-book wedding in England. “I always wanted to be swept off my feet. It took longer than expected, but it happened,” says Leeves, now seven months into wedding bliss.

Growing up second in a family of four kids just south of London, she recalls dreaming incessantly about leading an impassioned life. “When I was 9 or 10, I saw Lawrence of Arabia on the television, and I thought it was the most startling, amazing story. I was influenced by knowing it was true – that it was actually somebody’s life! I adored movies like hat. Those people had such sweeping, romantic lives and I wanted that.”

The pre-teen Leeves, who studied ballet since an early age, enrolled in a private boarding school which specialized In producing ballerinas. Dance was her entry into performing until the bawdy British comedian Benny Hill hired her at age 18 to do a week’s worth of sketches on his show. Other comedic work on the BBC soon followed. Encouraged by Hill and other performers who told her she had “a flair for comedy work,” she got up the nerve at age 21 to move to Los Angeles to pursue her dream. She had $1,000 to her name.

Her most notorious, pre-Frasier role was as Marla, the virgin who JFK Jr. deflowered in Seinfeld’s famous 1993 masturbation episode. Feature film work followed – To Live and Die in L.A., the remake of Miracle on 34th Street, The Hunger and Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life – as well as a stint on Murphy Brown as Miles Silverberg’s girlfriend. All paved the way to stardom on Frasier.

As we wander down the aisles perusing summer reading material, Leeves tells enchanting tales from her personal and professional life.

How were your first days in Los Angeles?
Horrendous. I walked around with a big lump in my throat, and I was just so dreadfully homesick. I thought, “What have I done? What am I doing here? I haven’t a clue about Los Angeles and I know even less about acting.” I drove straight into an acting class and began to have such a blast in the class that I realized this really was what I was supposed to do. But my instincts were a little off at first. There were a lot of inspiring comedians in class, and Jim Carrey was one of them, and I kept thinking, “He’s got that great Jimmy Stewart look. He should concentrate on drama!”

 What was your worst job you had before acting?
The worst was working in this nail gem factory, packing up little gold studs that some people put on their fingernails. it used to drive me nuts. It was just me and another girl, and I eventually got fired for talking. They didn’t think I could work and talk at the same time.

And the best job? 
I babysat plenty. I love children and get along well with kids, so that was something that was sort of nice to do and very easy.

Let’s go to the kiddie section!
(Leeves moves toward the childrens’ section to find a book for her 6-year-old nephew, Colin, the son of her younger sister Katie, who lives and works in Los Angeles as Jane’s business manager.)
Colin is the great love of my life. I recently read a story to his class at school. I was sooo nervous. It was a strange book – I think it was called The Parents are in the Pigpen: the Pigs are in the Tub. It’s about farm animals moving into a house. And you know, kids are the best and worst audience because they won’t let you get away with anything. They were asking, “Why are the animals talking?” “Why, Why, Why?” When Colin and I left, I asked him, “Was that OK? I mean better than what your teacher would’ve done?” He said, “Oh, it was good because you did all the different voices.” But I kept obsessing and finally he said, “It was fine. Please be quiet!”

Speaking of obsessing, let’s talk about Niles attraction to Daphne on Frasier. Why do you think he’s so attracted to her?
Because she’s the antithesis of Maris [Niles’ soon-to-be ex-wife]. Daphne is earthy, she’s grounded. She can fix the plumbing. There’s sort of a motherly quality to her as well that, I think, is lacking in Niles’ life.

What do you see happening between the two of them next season?
It’s got to get a little more complicated. Either she has to find out about Niles’ feelings for her, which I really think she already knows, or she has to acknowledge she has an enormous crush on Niles as well.

Do you and the other Frasier cast-members joke around behind the scenes?
Regularly. I remember once there was a scene that John Mahoney (Martin on the show) and I were working out, and I told wardrobe to get a little Speedo outfit, little trunks and put it in his dressing room and say they decided the character of Martin should be more body-conscious. At first, he didn’t want to upset the wardrobe people so he was like, “Uh-hh…OK.” Then, of course, I started laughing and he knew it was all a farce.

When John and I aren’t working, we leave terrible, crank messages on Peri (Gilpin) and David (Hyde Piece’s) dressing room answering machines. Just filth. And then Peri tried to get us back, but she actually called from her phone in her dressing room, and those phones always have an identifying message to start, like “This is from Peri Gipin” or whomever. So we hear that and this horribly foul message. I called her and said “Peri, if you want to play a prank call, you can’t do it from your dressing room!”

Are you enjoying the celebrity status Frasier has brought you?
Yes, it’s kind of scary though, when all your dreams come true. You have to keep a perspective on things to be able to have longevity in this business. We get treated so well that actors can become so spoiled, but I have lost that sense of wonder of it at all.

In fact, David and I were in the back of a limousine after an affiliates press junket in Arizona, and we’d received these huge gift baskets. David started saying, “I just don’t know what I’m going to do, we keep getting all these gift baskets, where am I going to put all these baskets?” We just looked at each other and cracked up. We both thought, “We’re sitting in a limo on the way to some fabulous part and we’re complaining about how many gift baskets we got!”

I never take it for granted. Everybody on Frasier is so appreciated of their success. We pinch ourselves all the time. Successful actors who complain about having to deal with fame are the kind of people who basically wouldn’t be happy no matter what.  And my husband and I say to each other multiple times a week, “Aren’t we incredibly lucky?”

You met your husband at the Paramount Christmas party in 1995. What do you remember about the meeting?
When I saw him, I was smitten immediately. He just had the most fabulous smile, and I just hoped that he was indeed that fabulous.

When did you get a chance to find out?
He didn’t ask me out that night because he was nervous. So he came down to the set on the next Tuesday when we were shooting  and asked if I’d like to have a drink sometime. I said, “Yes but I’m leaving for England tomorrow for a two-week Christmas vacation.” So he suggested getting together that evening after work. I didn’t hesitate to say yes. We went to Pinot Hollywood, which is close to Paramount, so we were surrounded by people from work. We tried to get in a little corner, but my co-workers kept poking their heads in and making faces. Even under those circumstances, it was just so easy. From the start, we had an instant rapport. He’s such a kind, sweet, funny…he’s just wonderful. Would you like to see his photo?
(She pulls our her wallet and shows me a picture of a handsome, dark-haired man with a killer smile.)

The two of you make a striking couple. Describe your wedding day.
My mother hired vintage cars to take everyone to the wedding and reception. It was very Four Weddings and a Funeral. We got married in a small village church on top of a hill. I knew that I wanted my dad to walk me down the aisle, and he got to do that. It was a very small gathering, about 35 people, a couple of people from work came.

Just recently they started a service in England where a real chimney sweep will come to your wedding and say a little poem and wish you luck. It’s like in the Mary Poppins song when they say, “Good luck will rub off when I shake hands with you.” So we had a chimney sweep show up and he brought his 4-year-old son, who had a black cat on his shoulder. it was very cute. They were hiding around the corner as everyone came out of the church. They came around, sang us a little song and gave us sweep charms.

How is the romantic part of your personality revealed in your everyday life?
Oh, I get into my lounging mode where I put on some sappy music, and I just young there with my glass of wine and cigarette. To calm myself, I listen to a Mozart clarinet concerto. I love classical and opera music…I’d love to learn to play the piano.

I tend to go overboard buying new creams, bath salts – pampering things to make myself feel special. I have every face cream on the planet in my drawer. I always have a stash of candles.

I’ve realized I have to live around mountains – to just be able to see that grand panorama is inspiring.

Which of the following romantic/thoughtful gestures would you most appreciate your husband doing – serving you breakfast in bed, giving you a foot massage, doing the grocery shopping, or brushing your hair?
Oh, I’d love breakfast in bed. In fact, my husband has done that. He brings me coffee every morning, which I appreciate so, so much. And he gets my water at night. I don’t want that to go away.

A foot massage is not up there because I’m sort of self-conscious about my feet. Since I was a dancer, I have gnarly old toes. I think [a masseuse would] be going “Where did she get these callouses? These are the ugliest feet I’ve ever seen.”

We actually love grocery shopping together. It’s such a chore and so boring usually. We try to make it fun by treating ourselves. We find things we wouldn’t normally buy or eat. We’ll find specialty pasta sauces or we’ll go to the fish counter and see if anything looks extraordinary.

Brushing my hair? Gosh, he’s never done that. Hmmm. That would be lovely. There’s something slightly erotic about it and caring and sweet. I can’t wait to get home and get the brush out!

One more question: Since this is America’s birthday month, tell us about the most exciting and patriotic American event you’ve experienced.
A few Christmases ago, the entire Frasier cast was invited to Washington, D.C., to go to the White House and participate in a Christmas-in-Washington TV Special. We got a private tour of the White House with the social secretary. Then, we were walking through the Rose Garden, and we saw a silhouette of Clinton in the Oval Office talking on the phone. It was like a picture you’ve seen a million times, only you never think you’re going to see it in person. It was surreal. Then they said to us, “The President is about to do a radio broadcast. Would you like to go in and watch?” Before we went in, they had us sit in the Cabinet Room. There we were, the Frasier folk, sitting in the room where extremely important decisions are made for America. The founding fathers would have been appalled!