CLARE KRAMER - FHM, JUNE 2001

Temptress

TV demons are usually slavered in tons of elaborate make-up.  Thankfully, Buffy simply opted for Clare Kramer.

Place any small, wet-nosed puppy in the hands of a lady and their maternal instincts will immediately kick-in - the floppy-eared scamp will be hugged to their bosom, stroked with their hairbrush, made to wear an enormous pink bow and whispered to in ridiculous "baby talk."  However, not all of God's creatures are subjected to such affection by the fairer sex - if you drop a stag beetle, scorpion or tarantula into their lap they're more likely to wet their delicate underwear than whittle up a nice insect-arium out of a shoe box.

So it was a relief on FHM's shoot with actress Clare Kramer - who plays Glory in Buffy The Vampire Slayer - that she didn't run a mile when a 12ft long, albino python snake was produced and suggested that it be wrapped around her shoulders like a rather jazzy scarf.  "Once I got used to touching it I was fine, I let it slither all round me," says the 22-year-old from Ohio.  "The woman who owned the snake was like, 'It's OK, we fed him two days ago, so he shouldn't be hungry yet.'  To be honest, I'd much prefer to hold a snake than a hamster.  I don't dig little rodents."

This wasn't Clare's first experience with a snake, for the past six months she's been filming episode of the cult vampire slayer TV series, and one required her character to conjure up an enormous snake-like creature from the depths of Hades.

"They had made a mock reptile house with different snakes in," says Clare.  "But a 22ft python escaped into the wall of the set.  So Sarah (Michelle Gellar) and I were standing on our chairs while they deconstructed parts of the walls to get the thing back."

Clare's initial glimpse of movie life was when she had a small role in the comedy In & Out in 1997 alongside Kevin Kline, Tom Selleck and Matt Dillon.  "I had some lines in that, but they got cut through the course of filming."  Then last year she landed a part in the high school cheerleading comedy Bring It On, starring her now good friends, Kirsten Dunst and Eliza Dushku, and meant three weeks of intensive back-flipping and pom-pom shaking at a cheerleader boot camp.

"We went and were integrated with the professional cheerleaders who made up the rest of the squad," she says.  "We learnt everything from the basic cheers to stunning - which is where you're tossed in the air."

FHM caught up with Clare at the chilled out surroundings of The Mondrian Hotel on Sunset Boulevard, which transpires to be the scenes of one of the aspiring actress's wildest nights out.

"The little group of girls I run with, who all did Bring It On - Eliza (Dushku), Bianca (Kajilich) and Nicky (Bilderback), tend to get into trouble when we go out together," she says.  "When the movie opened we decided to celebrate.  Firstly, Nicky and Bianca came over to my apartment to help me clean it because they said it looked like a homeless person's apartment.  We did cleaning all day then had a few drinks and went for dinner.  We ended up coming here - still dressed in sweats from cleaning.  We were shouting, 'Bring It On number one movie!' and being so rude and obnoxious.  A couple of people landed in the pool so the manager threw us out."

Were you one of the crazy party-goers taking a dip?

I was holding onto a heat lamp which was at a 45 degree angle with me on the end of it, and two guys trying to pull it back upright.  It was a close one.

Have you lived in Los Angeles long?

I was flown out here for an audition and I thought I was only going to be here for three days.  I haven't been back to New York since, although I still have my apartment there.  I didn't get the part I auditioned for but then I thought, "Well, I'll stay a week and see what happens."  I ended up getting work offers and I was like, "Hmm, maybe LA is not so bad, let me shack up with my friends for a few weeks."  My sister is slowly shipping out my stuff from my home in New York.

Were you a fan of Buffy before joining the show?

I'd never seen it, I had no idea what it was.  I knew my friend Eliza (who played vampire slayer Faith) was on it for two seasons, but I didn't know what to expect.

You get to have fight scenes with Buffy, Sarah Michelle Gellar, have you ever lamped her in the face by accident?

I once clocked Sarah's stunt double right between the eyes - she had a big knot on her forehead and two black eyes.  The crew called her "Unicorn".  I felt to terrible.  When I first went on the show I told the stunt co-ordinator that I wanted to do as much as possible.  I do as much as I legally can do.  But I box three times a week, so that comes in handy because I know how to throw a punch that looks real.

The cheerleading boot camp doesn't sound like much fun, did you try and escape by tunnelling under the barbed wire fences?

No, it was hard work and we were all in much better shape than when we originally turned up for the movie.  I dislocated my shoulder, which was not even a big deal.  The coach just pulled it and popped it back in its socket.  I think my shoulder must have been loose, I wasn't doing anything aggressive with it.  I had to sit down with a back of peas on my arm for a bit, but it wasn't a big deal.

Did you ever get the cheers completely wrong?

There were a lot of takes where we were falling down so we had to re-shoot them.  We wanted it to look good, we didn't want professional cheerleaders to watch it and go, "Oh my God, that's so lame."

Were you a cheerleader when you were at school?

I was.  But I didn't mesh too well with the squad.  I had a small group of friends I hung out with, we were sort of the nerds of the school - we were in the recycling club and ran the newspaper.  My junior prom was a nightmare because I found out my first boyfriend had slept with this other girl, and despite breaking up we were still going to the prom together because he'd already booked the limo.  Not a lot of people liked me and wanted to hang out with me.  In my senior year I got a boyfriend, who was more involved socially so I came out of my shell.  But looking back, I'm just glad it's over.

Apart from hamsters, what are you afraid of?

I don't like the dark.  I've gotten over my fear a bit over the past few months and I'm now sleeping with only a little night light.  But I used to have to sleep with the closet light, the hall light and the bedroom light on.

What was your first taste of the bright lights and greasepaint?

My first acting job in Ohio was doing live appearances as the Wendy's girl from the burger chain.  The real girl who played her was called Melissa but she got pregnant, so I tried out and got the gig.  I had to wear this blue gingham frock, knickers that matched and the full-on blonde braids with large freckles.  When I was in parades, I'd be given toys to throw out to the children and if I was in a bad mood I'd aim at particular people and try to peg them with the toys.

Was that the worst job you've had?

No, I worked at TCBY - The Country's Best Yoghurt - when I was in college.  I was making $4.60 an hour.  I'd be sitting there serving yoghurt on a Friday and Saturday night watching people going out for the evening.  It didn't close until 1am and then you had to spend an hour mopping the floor.  I was like, "Someone please rescue me."  I can't eat yoghurt to this day.

If FHM were to take you off for a perfect weekend, where would we head off to?

We'd go hiking.  I used to enjoy cross country running so I like being out in the open.  One time I went hiking in Malibu and I saw this sign which said, "Beware of mountain lions" so I was like, "Oh my God!"  I found myself a big stick and made as much noise as possible as I walked so I didn't sneak up on a sleeping lion. BACK TO THE TOP