Rose McGowan talks about her role in Charmed.

How have you settled into the show?

“I’m enjoying the show a lot. Working on one-hour television is like a sprint, a dead-on run. This has kind of been an endurance race. It’s an attitude adjustment.”

What do you like best about Paige?

“Paige is incredibly good-hearted but without being a goody-two-shoes. She’s also fairly irreverent, and would be the first one to roll her eyes if some said, ‘Oh, witches, they do good’. She would say, ‘Oh, for Christ’s sake’. In that way, we are similar. She has that kind of healthy, eye-rolling quality, so it makes her not so incredibly serious.”

Were you apprehensive about the cast history?

“For me, it’s kind of easy to be the new person because I moved so much growing up, I was always the new person. It’s a role I’m used to, so, I didn’t think about anything weird. If anybody ever tries to bring up the past, I shut it down because I don’t want to know: it’s not my business; I wasn’t there. I’m having a really great time with all these cool people that I get to meet. I love the crew so much and I’m having a blast with them.”

Are you happy with Paige’s powers?

“I do get jealous that Alyssa gets to fly around. Come on, it’s like Peter Pan, like Mary Martin: she gets to fly around in a harness – that kicks ass. I don’t get to do that. That is upsetting.”

How much research did you do for the role?

“None, really. I’m fascinated by what other people believe in, cult-wise, but I don’t have time to read my own books, let alone study anything else. I’m getting a crash course in everything.”

Which movies inspired you as a child?

“I grew up in Italy and I didn’t see that many films. But in the one I remember seeing there was this woman that had a terrible love affair with some doctor in a hospital. She went crazy and smeared red lipstick all over her face. That is my first memory of a film, and I thought it was great. I loved her red lipstick. I love that she had black hair and white skin and she was thoroughly dramatic.”

When you were growing up in Tuscany, did you think about a career in showbusiness or as an actor?

“I played a lot of make-believe in my mind. I read from the age of three, constantly. I would act all the time. I changed my accents. One week I would be a princess, the next week, I was a serf in another castle so if I had any acting training, it was completely from books and the ability to disappear into them. Other than that, I wasn’t really saturated with media until I came to the US and grew to love Joan Collins and Dynasty.”

What has the response of Charmed fans been to your joining the show?

“I’ve received a really great response from fans: from people I meet in the grocery store to people that come up to me on the street. A lot of them were fans of the show for a long time and they all seem to like me. It’s really weird, though, it’s not the typical fans that you would think. I get women coming up to me saying, ‘my 65-year-old husband loves you on the show’. That’s what is so interesting about television.”

How has your life changed since taking the role?

“I have a lot less of a personal life and much more of a professional one. I work about 70 to 80 hours a week, so my time off with friends has diminished – but I’m having a ball, so it’s good. I go to bed at 9.30 and I get up at 5.00. That’s kind of my life right now. It’s sad that it’s not more exciting!”