Amber Tamblyn Talks To God

Former daytime star Amber Tamblyn moves to prime time Friday night, as the star of the new CBS drama series "Joan Of Arcadia." She plays Joan Girardi, a teenager, who finds herself constantly visited and talked to by God, who appears to her in human form.

"Joan Of Arcadia" premieres Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

The show stars Tony Award-winning actor Joe Mantegna as her father, Will, and Academy Award-winning actress Mary Steenburgen as her mother, Helen. Rounding out the cast is Joan's 15-year-old science-geek brother, Luke (Michael Welch), and her older brother, Kevin (Jason Ritter), a former high-school sports star who is in a wheelchair as a result of an automobile accident.

It is the accident that brings the family to a time of spiritual crisis, Tamblyn explains. "At the same time, Joan, who is an average teenage girl, starts having God speak to her and show up in the form of different people, so she never knows who it's going to be."

In the premiere episode, Joan tries to make sense of her first unsolicited face-to-face encounters with God, who urges her to get a part-time job at a bookstore. Meanwhile, Will Girardi (Mantegna) becomes passionately involved in overseeing a case involving a serial murderer who is on the loose and targeting teenage girls.

And at the year-and-a-half mark of Kevin's accident, the lovingly strict Helen begins to pressure Kevin to resume his life -- responsibilities and all.

Tamblyn tells The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm, "The show is beautifully written. It has many, many underlining metaphors and philosophical references. It's beautiful."

It is also blatant in some ways. In one scene, Helen (Steenburgen) encounters a priest on the sidewalk and asks him, "Why does God make people suffer?" And the priest has no answer.

Tamblyn notes, "The show sort of mirrors real life and how we deal with each other as human beings, I think. Everybody in the family, all of the characters, are very well-written and very well-rounded. They are sort of in their own place of spiritual crisis because of what's going on with the family, and Joan looks crazy. They don't know what is going on."

Is prime-time television the place for discussion of God?

She notes, "I think it's not a coincidence that there are so many shows that have been coming out and people talking about spirituality." People have compared "Joan of Arcadia" to "Touched by an Angel"

Tamblyn continues, "One thing that attracted me to the show was there was no definition for it. When I read it, I said, 'There's no way I can explain the show to somebody.' They're going to have to watch it and get their own meaning out of it."

Tamblyn is best known for her portrayal of Emily Quartermaine on the daytime drama "General Hospital." The role, which she originated in 1995, was set for only a few months but it turned into a seven-year stint as she won viewers' hearts, critical acclaim and two consecutive Hollywood Reporter Young Star Awards as Best Young Actress in a Daytime Series.

Now that she is in primetime, she says the experience she acquired working for the soap is paying off.

She says, "Soap operas are sort of a condensed version of a prime-time show, because you do 37 scenes a day, 60 pages of dialogue, a different show every day year-round. You come to primetime, you do like eight pages max, four scenes a day, so it's a piece of cake. You're really well-oiled and prepared. Seven-year run has prepared me."

Her prime-time television credits include guest-starring roles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "The New Twilight Zone," and "Boston Public," as well as "CSI: Miami" and "Without a Trace," on CBS. She also appeared in the short Showtime film "Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet."

Her most recent film credit is the thriller "The Ring."

Her father is veteran actor Russ Tamblyn, best known for his roles in "West Side Story," "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers," and "Father Of The Bride."