Amazing Mazar

SPOTLIGHT

'Make it tough and edgy and interesting," commands Debi Mazar in a voice that drives men to beat each other up, "instead of a little glamour blurb that you always read about everybody else." Tough, edgy, and interesting? The 29-yearold actress might as well be describing herself.

She is best known for her work on the now defunct television show Civil Wars, a character so popular that the producers of LA. Law made history by inviting her to jump networks and continue the role on their program this fall. But since her big break, as Ray Liotta's coked-up girlfriend in GoodFellas, Mazar (as in "laser") has put a salsa pulse into the soft clay of a range of supporting movie roles and proved that no television in the world can do justice to those husky eyes. Currently co-starring with John Cusack in Disney's Money for Nothing, she should make a splash at Christmastime as the villainess in Beethoven's 2nd, a sequel to last year's family hit. "I modeled her after Cruella De Vi I," she says, making every / count. This fall she also begins shooting on Woody Allen's next project—a dream come true. "I'm a neurotic New Yorker as well," she says with a laugh.

A few words about glamour, though she deserves more. Mazer's passion for acting developed during her years as a makeup designer in New York, where she worked with everyone from Madonna to members of the New York City Opera. "Just being able to paint and watch people transform into these divas... I just knew that eventually it was going to be my turn?" No diva, Debi, but an artist, swinging toward stardom.

KIRK J. RUDELL