In Open House, a TV movie airing Feb. 16 on CBS, Christine Lahti stars as Samantha Morrow, a housewife forced to take in boarders after her attorney husband walks out during a midlife crisis, leaving her in financial straits. "I would never allow myself to be dependent on a man as Samantha was," says Lahti. "it was a real learning experience to get inside that kind of powerlessness." On the contrary, Lahti, a veteran of films (Running on Empty) and TV (Chicago Hope), says, "I have a partnership with my husband," West Wing director Thomas Schlamme. Even when they go skiing with their three children, the L.A.-based couple, both 52, "are evenly matched," she says. But Lahti refuses to compete with son Wilson, 14, an avid surfer. "I don't think I'll ever get on a board," she says, "unless I have rubber suction cups on my feet." Ulrica Wihlborg
Your Reaction
