Charlie O'Connell Chat at AOL on January 14, 1999

OnlineHost:  AOL's Entertainment Asylum and YM Magazine welcome Charlie O'Connell, who portrays Colin Mallory on "Sliders," to AOL LIVE. Charlie was recently chosen by YM Magazine as one of the "50 Most Beautiful Guys Ever."
He is also brother to actor Jerry O'Connell. Welcome, Charlie O'Connell!

Charlie O'Connell:  Hi, thank you for having me.

OnlineHost:  How do you feel being one of the 50 most beautiful guys?

Charlie O'Connell:  I'll tell you, it was not a bad feeling to be called one of the 50 most. My brother is also one of the 50 most beautiful guys, according to YM.

Question:  Is it tough being famous?

Charlie O'Connell:  I don't think so. I don't really look at myself as being famous. I'm a working actor and I do get recognized. It gets to be more so as you go along, but I still have my mom and my dad and my dog.

Question:  How old were you when you started acting?

Charlie O'Connell:  I would say at age 4, I was a munchkin in "The Wizard of  Oz" at summer camp, and then I was Burt from "Mary Poppins." When I started seriously acting was when I went to NYU for drama. It was there that I
realized that acting can be a full-time job, so I started taking it seriously.

Question:  How can we get information or autographs? Do you have an official fan club?

Charlie O'Connell:  I do not have an official fan club. You can call into "Sliders" and get autographs from there.

OnlineHost:  What upcoming projects will you be working on?

Charlie O'Connell:  I just did some guest spots on other TV shows, after I finished up "Sliders." I did an episode of "VIP" with Pamela Anderson. It was great. It was on the beach for 3 days. I also did a thing called "Zoe," and they just changed it, Zoe something, four names.

Question:  What's the real story behind the O'Connells' departure from "Sliders"? Amicable or hostile?

Charlie O'Connell:  It definitely wasn't hostile at all. It was just a whole bunch of different stuff.  My brother was doing it for four years, and now he's doing a whole bunch of other stuff. I loved doing "Sliders." Everyone on it was great. But, it was a whole big Hollywood kind of thing. It just seemed like it was time to move on.

Question:  Is it true that you are dating Sarah Michelle Gellar?

Charlie O'Connell:  No, I think it was my brother who said he was dating Sarah Michelle Gellar, so you'll have to ask him.

Question:  What's your favorite band?

Charlie O'Connell:  I'd say my favorite band would be Obujuwu Bonton, a reggae player that I got to see while on vacation.

Question:  How does it feel to be one of the sexiest 50?

Charlie O'Connell:  It was a shock when I first got it. But, how can you say it felt awful? LOL! I loved it a lot. I was taken aback from it definitely. I don't think it can hurt. Old girlfriends are calling back from high school. They're all calling and trying to make up. The ones that dumped me. It's definite girl revenge. LOL!

Question:  Do you have a love interest, girlfriend?

Charlie O'Connell:  No, I don't have a girlfriend right now. I guess I'm just playing the field at the moment, and hopefully will find another one soon.

Question:  What is the perfect Valentine's Day to you?

Charlie O'Connell:  I had that last year, and it was renting a ski lodge. A bunch of friends and girlfriends skied all day, and after that, hit the Jacuzzi and then have dinner. That was my best Valentine's yet. The same thing will be this year, but I just have to find the Valentine!

Question:  Were you a nerd in school?

Charlie O'Connell:  I played sports, but I was kind of nerdy. I was definitely good in math. Math was my subject. History killed me. My nickname in school, which is funny now because I'm 6'4", was "midget." I was born premature, and I was the smallest kid in my class, and just my senior year I grew a lot.

Question:  If you weren't acting, what would you be doing?

Charlie O'Connell:  If I wasn't acting, I'd probably be going around the world skiing, surfing, hanging out with my buddies. On the other hand, I saw myself being an accountant at one point.

Question:  Where on the top 50 do you think you placed?

Charlie O'Connell:  I was looking at the magazine and I have to say, I think I have one of the biggest pictures. So based on that, I hope I'm placed in the top 15. Even if I was 50, I'd still be pretty happy.

Question:  Is there any competition between you and your brother?

Charlie O'Connell:  My brother and I live and work together, so we definitely have a thing with doubles, tennis, basketball. Every sport you can name, there's a friendly competition there. You gotta have it!

OnlineHost:  What is it like to live with your brother? What is a typical day?

Charlie O'Connell:  As stereotypes go, my brother is definitely more of a neat freak than I am. We wear the same size, so clothes are completely shared down the middle. As far as laundry goes, it's like who can not do it the longest. Dishes are the same way. Who breaks first? I have to say I rarely break. We both surf, and I enjoy going to the racetrack, and football. Go to the beach, come home, go out at night. That's a typical day for me.

OnlineHost:  Is that why you don't have Valentine's Day at the house?

Charlie O'Connell:  I'm sure my brother will take care of the laundry and dishes before Valentine's Day!

Question:  How is it working with your brother, and which episode was the most intriguing for you to do?

Charlie O'Connell:  Working with my brother was great. My brother was also directing some of them, and wrote one of them. When we were acting, it was hilarious. We were always joking around.

Question:  Would you ever go out with a fan?

Charlie O'Connell:  I would hope my girlfriend was a fan. It'd be a lot harder if she thought I stunk or something, and I hope I was a fan of her. I don't know if I'd go on a blind date with one, but if YM did a competition, I'd be more than happy to go on a blind date.

Question:  When you go surfing, do you ever wear a thong?

Charlie O'Connell:  My brother and I actually just got back from Cabo where we had a family trip as Christmas vacation, and as a joke, we brought back thongs.

Question:  Did you ever trade places with your brother when dating?

Charlie O'Connell:  No. We didn't. We usually stick to who we're supposed to go out with. But when you go out with two girls at once, you figure out during the date who you're supposed to be with. We dated two sisters once.

Question:  Do you like dogs? Do you have any animals?

Charlie O'Connell:  I have a dog that's 13 now. He's back in New York. My brother found him abandoned in New York, and we've had him ever since. Black Lab. Good dog. I had goldfish for a while. But they gave out on me. Like the sea monkeys. I was always good with my sea monkeys and it carried on to my dog.

Question:  Do you have any plans for a movie in the near future?

Charlie O'Connell:  I have a cameo on "Cruel Intentions," which is a movie coming out with Sarah Michelle Gellar, but it's just a cameo. TV is just so much more of a moving pace -- 14-hour days. Movies can be 14-hour days, but maybe you're not in every shot, or you're only working 2 out of the 5 days. If I had a favorite, it would probably be TV.

Question:  Who do find is the sexiest woman in the world?

Charlie O'Connell:  I guess I've always had a crush on Elle McPherson.

Question:  What kind of fan mail makes you want to write back personally?

Charlie O'Connell:  I'll always send a picture, and a signed autograph, when I get it. I'm really into the whole fan game thing. Every time I get a fan letter, I get blown away. I just got one from Australia, and it was longer than any college paper I ever wrote. It made points on my character and I was blown away at how much she knew. She knew almost as much as my mother.
Yeah, I always send back a fan letter because I'm so flattered that someone's writing.

Question:  What's your favorite movie?

Charlie O'Connell:  I like "Caddyshack." The most recent movie is "Something About Mary." That's my new favorite. I love comedies. I love laughing-out-loud comedies. That was the last one I saw, where I was laughing out loud.

Online Host: Thank you for joining us.

Charlie O'Connell:  It was my pleasure, thank you.

(c) 1999, Entertainment Asylum & America Online, Inc. All rights reserved.

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