KEY POINTS:
The racy new TV drama Californication is as much a mystery to its teenage co-star Madeleine Martin as it is the show's audiences - she's not allowed to watch it.
Martin, 14, plays former X-Files star Hank Moody's (David Duchovny) daughter in the show, which featured three partially
naked female bodies in the first episode.
Moody moves to Los Angeles after his book is optioned for a film, but it turns into a sappy romantic comedy from which he would rather distance himself. He gets writer's block, but compensates via plenty of action with the ladies.
His 12-year-old daughter Becca (Martin) lives with her mother and Moody's ex-girlfriend Karen (Natascha McElhone).
Wise beyond her years, having been through her parents' messy break-up, she's still dealing with the usual adolescent issues of boys and parties.
Needless to say, visits to her superficial dad's place don't set a great example for Becca.
But regardless of Mood's debauchery, Martin says her real-life parents have taken measures to ensure she is shielded from anything too lurid.
"My story isn't really involved with that side of things, so it's okay, as long as I listen to my iPod during the table reads," Martin says.
Her parents have also cut together a highlights reel for Madeleine and her friends "without the bits we aren't supposed to see".
Despite being sheltered by responsible parents, in show-business terms this teenager is approaching veteran status.
She has performed on Broadway with Billy Crudup and Jeff Goldblum in The Pillowman aged 12.
"The first celebrity I worked with was Richard Chamberlain in The Sound of Music when I was seven," she says, requiring some prodding to name drop.
Martin played young Gretl Von Trapp in the Broadway National Tour of the classic.
At age 10, she received rave reviews for her performance in the title role of A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg.
She was then invited, in 2003, to be the youngest presenter in the history of the Tony Awards.
Success continued as the voice of the title character in the Disney claymation series Jojo's Circus, and appearances in Law & Order, Hope And Faith and Saturday Night Live.
With home schooling by her parents - both university professors - Martin has regular contact with kids her own age through the New York Ballet School and on the Los Angeles set of Californication, where her character has a rock band.
"They're an actual band so it's fun," she says.
After learning to play guitar for the role, Martin wants to perfect the instrument. She says she can play "all the chords and about four songs".
The first outward sign of her real age is when she giggles off the suggestion that her next role could be as a rock guitar-playing ballerina.
It sounds like leather jackets and devil's horns (the trademark rock salute) are around the corner when she describes her musical weapon of choice.
"They've given me this guitar, it's bright blue and called The Goddess," she says.
"It's not in stores yet," she boasts, making like an obsessed axe-wielder.
Despite early success, Martin is unsure about her long-term future.
"I like to pretend, so if you want to pretend, acting is a good place to be," she says.
"But I also like dance ... and the theatre."
LOWDOWN
What: Californication
Where & when: TV3, 9.30pm Thursdays
- AAP
