Harsh medicine

Southern belle KaDee Strickland is having the time of her life playing the feisty "super bitch" Dr Charlotte King on the Grey's Anatomy spin-off, Private Practice.

"I'm having such a blast on this show. When I signed up I had no idea what was coming. I never saw the role-playing and the love affair with Cooper [Paul Adelstein]. And there are still questions about Charlotte that aren't answered," says Strickland, 31. "We all know people like her and that's what's so wild. She is so driven and gets in her own way so much. And yet, she has this innate sensibility of just saying what's on her mind, no-holds-barred and not thinking first."

In person, Strickland couldn't be more different from her tightly wound character, now a rival practitioner to Addison (Kate Walsh) and company. It's her day off on this warm Los Angeles afternoon and Strickland is wearing trackpants, a loose T-shirt and no makeup. Despite her character's no-nonsense demeanour - epitomised by her decision to propose marriage to an old lover on tonight's episode of the TV2 show - there is another side to her somewhat abrasive personality. "There is a pulse in there somewhere. But when you get referred to as a 'skank' and the 'anti-Christ', a sense of humour is required," she laughs.

Hailing from Georgia, Strickland's accent is endearingly heavy. "I think that's the only thing in common I have with Charlotte. There's something in the breeding of young women my age from the South. You go one way or the other. You tend to be extremely proper and catering or you run in the other direction.

"But I understand what it is to be focused. I understand what it is to bury yourself in your work. I have a very different heartbeat and a very different disposition, which is why it's so wonderful to play her. It's also hard because you really want to do that behaviour justice. You don't want to just play the conventional 'biatch', because I think people that are that tough tend to be a little more complicated than just being rotten."

Strickland lives in Hollywood and is married to Jason Behr (TV's Roswell), whom she met while on the production of horror flick, The Grudge. She recently appeared opposite Russell Crowe in American Gangster, and has also featured in several movies including The Flock with Richard Gere, Fever Pitch with Drew Barrymore, and Something's Gotta Give. She was also a regular on TV's Law and Order: Criminal Intent.

The voracious sexual side of Charlotte has been different for Strickland and she's enjoying every minute of it. "This is Shondaland," she says, referring to the show's Golden Globe-winning writer-creator, Shonda Rimes, who is also responsible for Grey's Anatomy. "Honey, when you sign on to play a hospital chief of staff you have no idea this is going to be in her back pocket. But when it's a show created by Shonda, you should anticipate anything is possible."

So, what does a girl from the South do when she's not working? "I'm pretty boring, sadly. I cook a lot, I hang out with my husband, we walk our dogs, we go to movies, we grill.

"We're terrible. I think everyone at the checkout at the three grocery stores that we vacillate in knows us by name. Not because of the show, but because we love food," she says. "But we also go to museums and try to take trips as often as we can. And because we're in California, we go on hikes regularly."

Yes, Strickland enjoys her wild onscreen persona, worlds away from her stable married life. "I say, `Bring it on!' It gets hilarious, it gets really wrong and it gets really right."

* Private Practice plays tonight on TV2 at 9.30pm.