Gladiator Marisa Paré

Don't let the lush curls and tempting curves fool you. Marisa Paré is no soft touch. She plays Lace—one of the warrior cast that kicks contestants' butts on the hit TV show American Gladiators. After she gunned down yet another foe in the Assault event, in which the Gladiators fire an air cannon at hapless victims, host Mike Adamle asked Marisa how she kept track of her wins. She batted her eyelashes and said, "I make notches on my lipstick case." This is not a woman to take lightly. Think of Lace as the latest in a long line of pop hellcats: Alexis Carrington with blazing speed, Breathless Mahoney with biceps. And think of Marisa Paré as something more—an actress with the physical skills to play Lace to the hilt, plus the wit to enjoy herself while using Gladiators as a springboard to more challenging roles. "The show is a great way to blow off steam," she says. "It's fun, zany theatrics, but the physical stuff is real." She has the bruises to prove it. In a year of gladiating, she has torn ligaments in her right hand, strained a rotator cuff and suffered two concussions. Calling the show "an interesting interpretation of physical power," Marisa says she likes running and gunning as Lace but wants to show off her subtler talents. Her voice and potent presence have talent scouts hoping she'll resume her work as a singer and actress. Her nascent careers on screen and in music—she has guest-starred on Mike Hammer and fronted an L.A. band, Ivy League and the Climbers—were derailed by a 1986 marriage to actor Michael Paré, who didn't want another careerist in the house. "His ideas were really archaic," says Marisa of her ex, who gained film fame as Eddie in Eddie and the Cruisers. "He wanted a piece of flesh who stayed home." Marisa worked as an interior designer—she did Bruce Willis' Malibu home in "neo-Santa Fe" style—until she and Michael divorced last year. Now Gladiators has brought a slew of new offers. A Los Angeles music executive wants her to record a few songs. She has done a few broadcasting gigs on TV—more may be in the offing. "I've been lucky," says Marisa. "Gladiators has opened a lot of doors for me." You'll be hearing more from her as she races through one of those doors—if she can avoid another Gladiatorial concussion.