Poppy Montgomery to Without a Trace writers: ''Write me like I'm a guy.''
Women can be heroes and icons, too. On H&I, we have a few, including Wonder Woman, Star Trek's Uhura, NCIS Special Agent Kate Todd, and now, FBI Special Agent Samantha Spade, played by Poppy Montgomery on Without a Trace.
When the show first premiered in 2002, Montgomery's character was described as "an agent who doesn't let her good looks get in the way of being tough." The actress couldn't believe that out of all the ways to define Samantha Spade, her looks had to be mentioned.
"I can't believe they put that in there. All it does is draw attention to looks," she told The Times Leader in 2003. It's interesting to note that the descriptions of the main male characters didn't include their appearances. "Isn't Eric gorgeous? But Enrique's pretty damn gorgeous, too. And Tony, sexy guy."
Eric Close played Martin Fitzgerald, Enrique Murciano played Danny Taylor, and Tony (short for Anthony) LaPaglia portrayed Jack Malone. These guys were tough, and that was the sole focus, not their looks. Despite that description, Montgomery said she was grateful that Samantha wasn't portrayed any differently than her male cohorts.
"Thank God," she added. "Basically, what intrigues me about the show is that the characters are really subject to interpretation, because it's more about the procedural side of things. I said to the writers, 'Write me like I'm a guy, and I'll take care of the girl part. I can do the girl part.'"