Bridget Fonda as Ally McBeal?

Actress Bridget Fonda is so dedicated to her film career that she once turned down a chance to play the title character in the hit Fox TV series Ally McBeal.

"I'm not kicking myself for having passed on Ally McBeal, even though it's a huge hit," Fonda tells the Calgary Sun. "I've been acting long enough to know it could have been a complete dud with me in it. It may work as well as it does because of [series star Calista Flockhart]."

Fonda was producer David E. Kelley's first choice to play the love-starved attorney but she says she didn't even read a sample script out of fear she might like it. "I've never wanted to do TV. I love feature films too much."

Apparently there were no hard feelings: Fonda next stars on the big screen in another Kelley project, the horror-comedy film Lake Placid. "Right now I'm doing really well with my film career, but that may change and I'll turn on Ally McBeal one night and start kicking myself."— Rich Brown