La Rue, who was born in Long Beach and grew up in Norco, Calif., first ventured into showbiz during her childhood. She started out by doing print work and commercials until she was about "8 or 9 years old." She was also a teenage beauty queen, winning the Miss California Empire title in 1984. After taking a break to be with "the kids," she started doing commercials again in her teens, so she could have some "gas money" for the car.
"For a long time, I thought I was going to be a ballerina," she says. "I really thought that I was going to be a dancer. I didn't think I was going to be an actress."
Her first real break was being cast in the short-lived NBC series "Santa Barbara" in 1988. That led to appearances on such series as "Charles in Charge," and "Perfect Strangers." She then went to work as a co-host with Dom DeLuise on the new "Candid Camera" in 1991, before starting her long run on "All My Children" in 1994.
Like every star in Hollywood, La Rue can sit back now and laugh at the skeletons in her professional closet.
"Oh my God, I was flipping through the channels with my daughter the other day and I came across, I can't even believe they still play this — I was like 18 when I did it — it was called 'Freddy's Nightmares' and I was a guest star," says La Rue, laughing. "I did one episode where I was a babysitter with an eating disorder. By the end of the episode, I had eaten the children and then turned into this massive pig monster. It was hysterical, and I was so bad in it and so green, but at the time I remember thinking, 'Gosh, I'm kind of good in this!' I was watching and my daughter was laughing her butt off."
"I think my best screen credit to date is rock video slut No. 3, and that was on 'Married with Children.' That's one of those things that I had to keep on my resume, because it's just awesome, awesome credit — not only that, but there's IMDB and they flippin' out you!"
La Rue, a two-time Daytime Emmy-nominated actress, was previously married to John Callahan (following a divorce from John O'Hurley), who portrayed her on-screen husband on "All My Children." She says the day the couple welcomed daughter Kaya together is her fondest memory.
"The interesting thing about being a mom, especially in this business, is that your life is spent being completely self-centered and selfish and vain, and you're basically worried about your looks, and everybody else's looks," she explains. "You're constantly comparing yourself, simply because other people are comparing you, because it's such a competitive business that you have to be on top of your game.
"You're so ambitious at such a young age, I don't know if it's really good psychologically. It certainly is shocking when you have a child and you're like, 'Oh my God, it's so not about me anymore.' And it's fantastic because it's not about you anymore. Suddenly your life gets balance and your life gets meaning and your life has substance.
"It becomes so much more all because this little person entered your life, and you can't imagine beforehand even wanting that little person in your life because you're like, 'Oh kids, I don't know, I guess I'll eventually have them.' It's not first and foremost on the front of your mind in your 20s in this business. Suddenly, you have this wonderful little person in your life and you don't really care that you've gained an extra 10 pounds and haven't really lost it. It's just a better healthier, emotional, psychological place to be."
- Comment
