Lacey Chabert

'Lost in Space' role begins new chapter for TV star

by Betsy Pickle

LOS ANGELES — There's no danger Penny Robinson will be confused with Claudia Salinger.
"I'd been trying to find something that's different from Claudia, which people see me doing every Wednesday night," says Lacey Chabert, who plays Claudia on the Fox hit "Party of Five" and Penny in the new film "Lost in Space."
"This came along, and I loved the character."
Lacey, 15, was overjoyed to play someone unlike Claudia, the paragon of maturity and talent.
"It's much more interesting to play a character who doesn't exactly have it all together than someone who does," she says.
"Lost in Space," which knocked "Titanic" out of the No. 1 spot at the box office last weekend, has Penny traveling with her family across the galaxy. They're supposed to begin colonizing a planet, but an act of terrorism causes the Robinsons, their pilot, Maj. Don West (Matt LeBlanc), and the saboteur to enter uncharted space.
The film is based on the 1960s television show, but it's more serious and realistic—and far less campy—than the series. When Lacey plays Penny, her gothic-style makeup, accessories and tresses make the petite, dark-haired actress look more like her "Party of Five" co-star Neve Campbell than herself. She enjoyed helping create her new look.
The challenge was "OK, what would this rebellious style be like in 50 years? Yet you sort of had to have a touch of something that people could relate to today and that didn't look totally alien," she says, meeting reporters at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills.
"I loved it. I got to get this different haircut, and these clothes were kind off of the wall. It was fun to do. Every day going to the set it was: How far are we gonna take it?"
Lacey has come a long way from her hometown of Purvis, Miss. She caught her first break when she was 8, winning three times singing on "Star Search."
During a family vacation to New York, she did some auditions, including one for the Broadway production of "Les Miserables." She won the role of the young Cosette, whom she played for 2½ years. During that time, she also played Binaca on "All My Children."
Just when her parents were about to move her back home, she got the job on "Party of Five," which turned into a surprise hit.
"We thought we were going to get canceled after the third show," says Lacey. "It didn't do that great at first. It would never pick up an audience, though critics were saying great things about it. I think Fox gave it time, and it finally clicked on somehow."
Lacey, who's committed to two more seasons—and a possible two sequels to "Lost in Space"—believes viewers relate to "Party" because it's "fresh and real."
"It's problems that people have to deal with in real life," she says.
Lacey's family has relocated to Los Angeles to accommodate her work, and that helps her stay grounded. But reel life can be disconcerting.
The hardest thing was "probably the first kiss. It was three years ago, and it was my first kiss—totally embarrassing."
But acting has its rewards, not the least of which was co-starring with "Friends" hunk LeBlanc.
"Matt was a sweetie," says Lacey. "Very cute. Had to have a crush on him in the film. Wasn't that hard. We called each other Sunflower. I wrote analogies, for studying my script, and one was for Penny being crippled and then running through a field of sunflowers, which is what I thought about that scene.
"And he got a hold of my script, and he wrote 'with Don West'—'running through a field of sunflowers with Don West.' So embarrassed. On the day that we wrapped, he gave me, like, this huge, beautiful sunflower."