Dana Delany Rocks
Emmy-award winning actress Dana Delany is getting ready to shake, rattle - and scheme in a new CBS miniseries, Shake, Rattle & Roll. And she talks on The Early Show about the role she portrays.
Shake, Rattle & Roll follows the history of rock 'n' roll and revolves around one fictitious up and coming band trying to make it big.
Delany, best known for her role in China Beach as Army nurse Colleen McMurphy, portrays the wife of a big record executive who helps the band and herself in her own special way.
"She's a woman who has to do what she has to do. She's a record executive - but deceitful, which may be redundant," says Delany, laughing.
"There were no women executives then. She grooms this band, brings them up, uses them and discards them," she adds.
Her role highlights the shadier side of the rock 'n' roll industry. Though she is married, her character seduces Brad Hawkins, who plays the young stud Tyler Hart.
Playing the villain is a lot of fun, she reports.
"A lot more colors to play: Is she bad? Is she good? I like to tread that line; you're never quite sure," she says.
Delany wanted to be in the miniseries to have the chance to work with James Coburn portraying his wife.
Shake, Rattle & Roll is about the birth and evolution of rock 'n' roll. And according to Delany, Joe Smith, a legend in the record business, filled her in on how the business was done then.
Carole King, Bob Dylan, Graham Nash and other musicians contributed to the miniseries and there is a related CD.
As a performer Delaney had no concerns that the music would outshine the story, she says. "I think they work hand in hand," she adds.
Delany is also starring with Rebecca Demornay in the independent feature The Right Temptation.