Issue date: Nov 7, 1999

Interview
Actress Jane Leeves: Don't get her started

EST KNOWN as Daphne, the kooky home health aide on NBC's Frasier (Thursdays, 9 p.m. ET), British actress Jane Leeves, 37, also shares the big screen with Meryl Streep in the new Music of the Heart. Leeves describes her off-camera self as a "housewife who works part time on a TV show."

You've been criticized by the media as being too thin.
"I've been thin my whole life. I do now find myself in a restaurant eating more than I want to because I'm afraid that somebody's watching me, which is ridiculous."

Have women in Hollywood gotten dangerously thin?
"It's a scary thing, but I think [the media] are glamorizing it by making an issue out of it. Jennifer Aniston and Calista Flockhart are on the front of every magazine. At the same time [the magazines are] saying they're too thin, that's who they're giving attention to."

What's the worst thing about America?
"The violence and the guns. I think of America as going through its adolescence. It's like a 15-year-old boy, where sex is all, [tittering] 'Woo-hoo-hoo!' but violence is, 'Oh, that's OK! Cool!' "

How intimidating is it to work with Meryl Streep?
"I thought I'd open my mouth and she'd say, 'Get her out of here!' It was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. There are great actresses -- and there's Meryl Streep."

We hear there are fake nude pictures of you on the Internet.
"I showed them around at work and we were laughing hysterically. What can you do? It's not worth getting upset about."

Are you scared about the millennium?
"My whole family is flying out for Christmas and staying well into the new year. So if there are any problems, we'll all be together."