Daphne Zuniga exclusively told Us Weekly 25 things about herself — including her time on Melrose Place, meeting her husband and why she doesn’t cook. Read on to learn the One Tree Hill alum’s fun facts!
1. I eat popcorn, cereal or vegan ice cream for dinner when my husband, David Mleczko, who I married in June, is away.
2. I worked on Melrose Place for four years, but I don’t think I ever went in the pool!
3. I directed my first film last year: Deadly Assistant. I’m currently working on my next, an indie feature called The Waiting Room.
4. I was college roommates with Darren Star, who created Melrose Place. He told me Courtney Thorne-Smith’s role, Alison Parker, was based on me.
5. I had a crush on Barry Manilow when I was in high school. Of course it was a secret.
6. I love using Instagram at this point, but I’m so thankful it didn’t exist when I was beginning my acting career! Too much pressure!
7. I’ve gone on several nine-day silent-meditation retreats.
8. I attended 10 different schools between first and 12th grades.
9. I lived on a houseboat with my mom and sister for a year.
10. I went to a lot of antiwar and free speech marches when I was little. I thought they were picnics the whole city was going to.
11. I love children but never wanted [to have] them. I used to tutor kids, and I did children’s theater.
12. I became vegan after watching Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret three years ago.
13. In 10th grade, I created the theater department in my school.
14. I started a singing and dancing group when I was 11. We were called The Rainbows.
15. One of my favorite movies is Ordinary People.
16. My first job was working in a general store in Vermont.
17. I love road trips [with] lots of diet soda, audiobooks and Willie Nelson.
18. My mom, sister and I drove across the U.S. in a rental truck when we moved to New England in the ’70s.
19. I met my husband on a blind date.
20. My favorite book is Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness by Sharon Salzberg. She just officiated my wedding!
21. I think cooking is stressful. I don’t have the patience for reading a recipe or waiting for food to simmer.
22. When I was filming in Peru, I befriended some kids who were selling gum and shoeshines. They’d wait for me to come home to the hotel. I bought them sneakers and took them to dinner.
23. I’ll never ask a woman when her baby is due. You only have to be wrong once. I was!
24. The last theater show I saw was Tootsie on Broadway. It was fantastic!
25. I think a child’s smile is literally gold.
Zuniga stars in Lifetime’s Gates of Paradise, premiering August 17 at 8 p.m. ET.
