The next stage

Cohen considers 2010 Games, pursues future in acting

By Clay Latimer, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published February 13, 2008 at 12:45 a.m.

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Photo by Kevin Winter / Getty Images For Frosted Pink/2007

Figure skater Sasha Cohen, who will perform at the Pepsi Center tonight, attended an acting academy at Harvard last summer. "It was an amazing experience," she said. "Acting looks easy, but it's extremely difficult. You find out a lot about yourself."

Photo by Vladimir Rys / Bongarts/Getty Images/2006

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Sasha Cohen was wired.

Waiting in the wings, the raven- haired Olympic figure skater was about to launch into a performance in Boston that would test all her talent and training, a worrisome moment that might undermine her future at a tender point in her career.

Minutes later, on cue, she began to crumple emotionally, overcome with tears that came from some place deep inside.

Another troubling meltdown?

Actually, it was another step up for Cohen, the aspiring actress.

With her competitive career on hold, the Southern California native, 23, moved into a Harvard dorm for six weeks last summer, participating in an actor's workshop that culminated with a performance from Anton Chekhov, a fitting role for a woman who speaks some Russian and whose mother is Ukraine-born.

"It was an amazing experience," Cohen said. "Acting looks easy, but it's extremely difficult. You find out a lot about yourself."

Two years after a sprawling fall cost her a gold medal at the 2006 Olympics, Cohen has recast herself for Hollywood, finding work in Moondance Alexander, a teen flick, and Blades of Glory, a comedy starring Will Ferrell; and in TV shows such as CSI: NY, Las Vegas and Project Glory.

She's also the star of Smucker's Stars on Ice, the North American skating show that lands in Denver tonight at the Pepsi Center.

Eyes on 2010

But the role of a lifetime for Cohen could come at the 2010 Vancouver Games, her last chance to salvage a career marred by high-profile crackups.

"I'm having an amazing time on the tour, but I'm still hoping to compete in the Olympics. I'd like to shoot for it again if I'm able," said Cohen, who won't decide until the tour ends in the spring. "I like performing in front of an audience, pushing your mind and body to a place you didn't think was possible."

When Cohen announced in December 2006 that she wouldn't defend her U.S. Nationals title, U.S. Figure Skating executive director David Raith said: "When she returns, she will be a major part of U.S. Figure Skating's push for medals and success heading toward the 2010 Olympics."

When it comes to charisma on the big stage, Cohen takes the gold.

She glided into international prominence at 15, finishing runner-up to Michelle Kwan at the 2000 U.S. Championships. She was subtle and elegant with magnificent jumps and hypnotic charm, seemingly destined to become the best skater of her generation.

The only place where anyone could find fault with Cohen was in her technical training, which cost her in the marquee events.

Known as the Silver Belle, she finished second four times at national championships, twice at world championships and twice at the Olympics.

Two days after what probably was the greatest short performance in history, Cohen fell in warm-ups at the 2006 Games. Twenty seconds into her finals routine, she fell out of a triple lutz combination. On her next jump, a three-flip combo, she stumbled and put her hands on the ice.

"I don't think it's ever something you get over," she said.

Yet Cohen steadied herself, managing a silver medal despite the nightmarish start. It was her final performance before joining Stars on Ice.

"I don't know how I (finished)," she said. "I don't know if I could ever do it again. But I was able to do it there and I'm definitely proud of it. I haven't watched it since I stopped competing. I'd like to, but I really took a break. Since I have quite a bit of downtime now, I try to read a lot and go out with friends. I try to keep up on the stock market. I'm open to just about everything. I think variety is important.

"There are so many things I'm interested in: travel, fashion, acting."

Passion for acting

In fact, not since Sonja Henie, the Norwegian gold medalist and movie star of the 1930s, has a skater seemed so driven to succeed in Hollywood. At the American Repertory Theatre's Moscow Art Summer Academy in Boston, Cohen studied five days a week.

"I never had a college experience," she said. "My life was very narrow and focused on what I'd done my whole life - training, working out and travel. To have a break from that last summer was really good for me.

"I'd like to act so much."

Cohen's role from Chekhov's Three Sisters hardly was beginner's material, but her professors found encouraging signs.

"The technical aspects of her training aren't there yet," Alla Pokrovskaya told The Boston Globe. "But as far as her soul, her heart, she is definitely capable of bringing that passion to the stage."

latimerc@RockyMountainNews.com

Sasha to Sacha

With just a few film roles to her credit, aspiring actress Sasha Cohen already is well connected in Hollywood.

Sasha Cohen provided an air of authenticity with a cameo in the 2007 figure skating comedy Blades of Glory starring Will Ferrell (with costar Jon Heder).

Sacha Baron Cohen (of Borat fame) battled it out on the NASCAR track with rival racer Ferrell in the 2006 comedy Talladega Nights: The legend of Ricky Bobby.

If you go * What: Stars on Ice: Live and in Color.

* When: 7 tonight.

* Where: Pepsi Center.

* Tickets: $21 to $106 for adults, $8.50 to $18.50 for children younger than 12 and $16 to $61 for seniors older than 65. Available at the Pepsi Center box office, at Ticketmaster.com or by phone at 303-830-TIXS (8497).

* Cast: Includes world champions Todd Eldredge and Yuka Sato, and world championship pairs team of Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao. Special guests include Olympic gold medalist Ilia Kulik and 2008 U.S. pair champions Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker.

From the rink to Hollywood Since the 1930s, Olympic figure skaters have made the leap to Hollywood.

* Sonja Henie

It's A Pleasure (1945)

Wintertime (1943)

Iceland (1942)

Sun Valley Serenade (1941)

Everything Happens at Night (1939)

Second Fiddle (1939)

Happy Landing (1938)

My Lucky Star (1938)

Thin Ice (1937)

One in a Million (1936)

* Carol Heiss

Snow White and the Three Stooges (1961)

* Dorothy Hamill

Blades of Glory (2007)

Cinderella: Frozen in Time (1993)

* Katarina Witt

Ronin (1998)

Jerry Maguire (1996)

The Ice Princess (1995)

* Sasha Cohen

Blades of Glory (2007)

Bratz (2007)

Moondance Alexander (2007)

New wave

A group of precocious teens is filling the women's figure skating void created by Michelle Kwan's retirement, Sasha Cohen's decision to join Stars on Ice and Kimmie Meissner's recent struggles.

Mirai Nagasu, Rachael Flatt, Ashley Wagner and Caroline Zhang finished first, second, third and fourth at the U.S. Championships in St. Paul, Minn., last month.

So young are Flatt, Nagasu and Zhang that they don't meet the minimum-age requirement - they must have turned 15 by July 1 - for the senior world championships in March.

* Rachael Flatt Age: 15. Residence: Colorado Springs. At a glance: Gifted athlete and strong jumper. Finished fifth in her first senior U.S. Championship last year; says the four rivals are good friends.

* Mirai Nagasu Age: 14. Residence: Arcadia, Calif. At a glance: A graceful, balletic performer. A high school freshman, she is the second-youngest female to win a national title.

* Ashley Wagner Age: 16. Residence: Alexandria, Va. At a glance: Moved around as daughter of a retired Army lieutenant colonel, developing assertiveness and confidence reflected in her bold, strong jumps. More athletic than balletic. * Caroline Zhang Age: 14 Residence: Brea, Calif. At a glance: Before Nagasu stole the show at the U.S. Nationals, she was the star of the group. Unusual flexibility, spinning skill and endurance but lacked pizzazz at nationals.

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