Entertainment Weekly 4/4/1999 Bellissima

She may not bust up alien conspiracies or stamp out vampires, but CATHERINE BELL still slays us as JAG's gung ho Marine lawyer BUFFY, BUFFY, BUFFY. Catherine Bell--star of the CBS stealth hit JAG--is every hit as babelicious as Sarah Michelle Gellar, her show stomps a certain Vampire Slayer in the ratings (attracting more than twice the viewers in the same Tuesday slot), and she can even bust a few kickboxing moves. Yet all you ever hear is Buffy, Buffy, Buffy. "Bring her on!" says Bell, craving a piece of the teenage demon killer. "Let's do a crossover show." Bell, 30, has never been one to shrink frm a challenge. After landing a tiny role during JAG's first season on NBC, she wrote a letter to exec producer Don Bellisario asking to play the new female lead when CBS picked up the Peacock castoff the following season. "The part was perfect," says Bell. "She was tough and feisty and a lawyer and an action hero all rolled in one." Bellisario was impressed: "When she said '1 want that part,' she jumped to the front of the line." Bell worked like a charm: After winning the role of Maj. Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie--a Marine attorney who's like a less-skeptical Scully to costar David James Elliott's Mulder--JAG began steadily climbing the Nielsens (it currently ranks No. 18 for the season). "Catherine brought a real glow to the role " raves Elliott. Adds Bellisario: "She can be beautiful arid sexy, hut she doesn't need a guy to protect her." Or promote her. As one of CBS' few certifiable hotties, Bell has been actively courting the young male viewers that her newly NFL-enriched network so desires. She's guested on Late Show With David Letterman, appeared on specials, and costarred in a highly rated TV movie (Cab to Canada), all to bolster her show's once-invisible media profile. "She'll go to gas-station openings if it helps," says Bellisario. Born in London, Bell moved with her Iranian mom (now her personal assistant--"she even makes my bed," says Bell) to California when she was 2. As a child, she did TV ads before enrolling at UCLA to study biology. Bell soon dropped out to pursue modeling in Japan bLtt couldn't, um, stomach the lifestyle. "'[hey always said 'You've got to lose 1 0 pounds,"' she recalls. "All my friends were like, 'Look, here's how you throw up.' I tried that once--it wasn't for me. Fortunately, acting was. Bell earned her SAG card doing a Mexican commercial for AmEx, then took a job as Isabella Rosselhini's nude body double in 1992's Death Becomes Her. Frame grabs from the film have become a staple on several unofficial Bell websites. "It doesn't bother me," she claims of her Net exposure. "There's actually worse stuff out there, but nobody's found it yet." Hear that, cyherpervs? "It's not that bad," says Bell, backtracking. "There are no pomos in my past." The Death gig had another unexpected upside: On the set, Bell met her future husband, actor AdamBeason, who was working- as director Robert Zemeckis' assistant. (The couple live with their Italian greyhounds, Zoe and Leo, in a house overlooking L.A.) Life after [)eath included guest roles on Dream On (as one of Brian Benben's many girl friends) and Hercules: 'Tlie Legendary Journeys (as an evil temptress). Most memorable was a spot on Friends as head turner who causes Matthew Perry and Malt LeBlanc to leave a baby on the bus. Bell can still prove distracting--especially when she emerges from .JAG's wardrobe department. She reports: "I get letters from people in the military saying 'Your skirt's a little short."' Yet all you ever hear is Ally, Ally, Ally...