Collins finds 7th heaven in his varied career path

By Patricia Sheridan, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Published July 10, 2008 at 7 p.m.

Text size  

• 0 Comments
• Email
• Print

Best known as the Rev. Eric Camden on the TV series 7th Heaven (1996-2007), actor Stephen Collins is also a novelist, director and musician. He has been married to actress Faye Grant for 23 years, and they have a teenage daughter, Kate.

Collins, who spoke recently with Patricia Sheridan of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, plays a broken-down rodeo champ who pins his hopes on his daughter in the Hallmark Channel movie Every Second Counts.

Stephen, just how comfortable are you on a horse?

I'm pretty comfortable on a horse. I did a movie ... that no one saw called Choke Canyon, and I had to do a ton of riding to get ready for that.

Is it like riding a bike, in that you never forget?

I had to find my seat all over again. It took me getting slammed around a bit to have that stuff come back.

What kind of father are you ?

I'm a loving, challenged and perplexed father, as I think any father who is honest with himself probably is. My daughter is 18. She's about to go off to college. It's very, very hard work, and it's also the most wonderful and rewarding job there is.

Because both her parents are actors, does your daughter want to go into the family business?

I don't think she feels even the slightest bit of pressure. She was a very, very serious ballet dancer until about three years ago, when she had an injury and had to give it up. To be an actor you sort of have to feel there is nothing else for you to do, and then you will stumble through it because there is no way to become an actor really.

Do you think your classic good looks limited your acting career?

I think ... it's our choices that limit our careers. Sure, you get typed according to how you look to a certain extent, but it's also up to us to say yes or no to a project.

I remember running into Chevy Chase after about the first month of Saturday Night Live, and I had worked with Chevy on the National Lampoon Radio Hour, and he said to me, "You know, we thought about calling you for Saturday Night Live to do the news. You would have been perfect, but you know you are out here and you were doing serious movies." Once you do something like 7th Heaven for 11 years, that's just kind of who you are in people's minds, and it's not a bad thing.

How has your career lived up to your expectations, if it has?

The one thing I'm pleased and proud of ... is that I always wanted to work in all three media (stage, screen and TV), and I have been able to do that.

So, were you happy when 7th Heaven ended?

Yeah. You know, I loved doing it. The last year in retrospect wasn't as much fun as the years before. There was the network change and they changed our time slot, which I think was a terrible mistake. Soon into the last year I thought, "They should have let this go."

On TV

* What: Every Second Counts, a TV movie about a faded rodeo champ

* When and where: 7 p.m. Saturday, Hallmark Channel (repeats at 7 p.m. Wednesday)

Featured

• Denver turns 150

  

  Read about the city's history, look at old photos and see a list of influential Denverites.

• Mount Crushmore

  

  Which four Broncos greats should be immortalized on Mount Crushmore? Vote here.

• Winter Escapes

  

  Your insider’s guide to the copious joys of the coolest season.

• Rocky Multimedia

  

  The news comes alive in our videos and slide shows. Catch up on what's happening today.

• Weekend plans?

  

  Figure out things to do this weekend with the help of our entertainment calendar.

• Bronco Dean's rant

  

  Listen to Bronco Dean's pregame rant on the Raiders.

• Season To Share

  

  The Post-News Season To Share campaign provides grants to area nonprofits.

• The Rocky @ 150 Years

  

  The Rocky was there when Colorado became a state in 1876. Read our coverage.

• A Dozen on Denver

  

  And the winner is... Robert Ziegler! See the whole fiction series by clicking here.