Ask American Profile 10/21/2007

Q What is Peter Criss, the drummer for Kiss, up to these days?
—Mark Johnson, Yucca Valley, Calif.

After the metal-and-makeup rock band’s 1996 reunion tour, Criss, 61, took an acting role in the HBO prison drama Oz and recently has been busy recording a trio of new CDs, the first of which, One For All, was released in July. “I’m constantly creating. It’s a great feeling,” he says. “I have my own studio now and there’s no one over me saying, ‘I don’t hear a hit,’ or ‘That’s not commercial enough.’” Criss, who composed and sang Kiss’s biggest hit single, “Beth,” lives in New Jersey with his wife, Gigi.

Q What is Bonnie Somerville doing since NYPD Blue finished its series?
—Art Sheehan, Chico, Pa.

Somerville, 33, is one of the stars of the new ABC-TV series Cashmere Mafia, in which she portrays a successful career woman who’s unlucky in love. “She finally meets someone, but it’s not what you would expect,” she says with a grin. Fondly remembered for her recurring guest role as Mona on Friends, Somerville recently relocated to New York from Los Angeles for the filming of the new series. “That’s where I’m from, so it’ll be nice to be able to have lunch with mom.”

Q The actress who plays Heather on Jericho—is her first name really Sprague, or is that a stage name? And has she been in anything else?
—Alex Nevill, Othello, Wash.

Sprague Graydon’s first name is the one she was given at birth—it’s her mother’s maiden name. The Manchester, Mass., native, 27, made an eyebrow-raising return recently to the CBS hit apocalyptic drama Jericho after viewers were led to speculate that Heather had met an unfortunate end in the previous season. Graydon, who has a bachelor of arts degree in American studies from Columbia University, has been acting since she was a toddler in TV commercials, and her resume also includes TV’s Joan of Arcadia, John Doe, Six Feet Under and Weeds. But she says she doesn’t stay tuned to the show-business radar. “People will ask me, ‘Did you see Britney Spears on the Video Music Awards?’ And I’ll say, ‘No…but I just finished this great book about Rasputin.”

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