Photograph by Art Streiber
Sarah Clarke is used to getting recognized—then cussed out—by strangers. “I get the ‘I think I know you. You seem familiar.’ Then I get the ‘Oh my God, I hated you, you were such a bitch,’” says the St. Louis native, known for playing heartless double agent Nina Myers on the hit show 24.
Her latest role, as wife to Eric McCormack’s character on the new TNT ad-agency drama Trust Me, is considerably less infuriating. “I’m playing something near and dear to my heart: a Midwestern housewife with two kids who lives in the suburbs,” she says. “I feel like I’ve come home in some ways.”
Clarke quickly went from John Burroughs to 24 in 2001. So is it surreal to go from the Lou to making a home in La-La Land? “It can be,” she says, “but other times it feels so normal. What’s interesting to me is how many people I grew up with who ended up in the business,” including Mad Men’s Jon Hamm and several screenwriters.
As in Trust Me, Clarke played a mother in November’s vampire flick Twilight. “I don’t know what happened,” says Clarke, “but I went from terrorist [in 24] to mom really fast.”
And while she doesn’t face vampires or terrorists off set, being a mom in real life is drama enough. “On TV, my wardrobe is fantastic, my hair is brushed and I always have just the right amount of lipstick on,” she says. “In real life, being the mom of a 2-year-old means half the time you’re covered in food.”
