WEDNESDAY CELEBS
Q: I’m still obsessed with “The Vampire Diaries” and watch it whenever I just want to chill at home. The actress who plays the mayor looks so familiar. Can you tell me where else I might have seen her?
– Hillary W., Fort Myers, Florida A: Susan Walters portrayed Mayor Carol Lockwood on the cult-hit vampire drama. She came into the public eye in a big way when she starred as Priscilla Presley in the TV miniseries “Elvis and Me” back in 1988, and her acting resume has since filled with dozens of stints on major TV shows and in movies.
I spoke with her recently about her new Lifetime movie “Murdered at 17” (which premieres July 8 at 8/7c), and we had a lively conversation about many of the highs of her career so far. For instance, did you know she played Jerry Seinfeld’s girlfriend in that infamous episode where he couldn’t remember her name and knew only that it rhymed with a female body part (her name was Dolores, by the way)?
With “The Vampire Diaries,” Susan and her daughter would watch and text each other about it. “I totally loved watching the longing and the romance. I mean, I loved it. Even though I was there, I bought it all hook, line and sinker! So, obviously I was a little bummed when my character was killed off.”
While working on “Murdered at 17,” one of the things Susan most enjoyed was the comradery with the rest of the cast and crew. She also loves that she gets to expand on the kinds of roles she plays as she gets older. “I will always love being an actor. But I think when I was younger, I was more worried about how I looked and a thousand other things.ÊThere is one good thing about gettingÊolder: You don’t have the pressure of being that pretty girl anymore. Now I get to be the young, pretty girl’s mom. And that’s so much fun.”
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