Doody came to acting "quite by accident," she said. She had planned to go to art school to become a fashion designer. Modeling assignments helped pay tuition, and soon an acting agent in London led to film roles.
Doody comes from a non-theatrical family (her father is in real estate) and most of her acting training has been on the job. She would like eventually to do stage to sharpen her craft.
"When my agent told me I'd be reading for the part and that I'd need an Austrian accent," Doody said, "I called a German actor friend, bought a tape recorder and started listening to his voice constantly."
After three audition scenes and some improvisations, Spielberg asked her how she felt about rats.
"I said I loved them," she said. "I would have said anything at that moment to get the role. But it's true, I love all animals. There's nothing wrong with rats. I think they just get a lot of bad press."
Doody is grateful that Spielberg didn't make her perform with snakes or spiders, a favorite creep-out creature from the previous films. "That would have been a different story," she said. "I don't take much to spiders. They always look the same. You can never tell whether they're happy or mad."
The shoot that took Doody and the rest of the "Indiana Jones" cast and crew on location to Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany and the American Southwest left the Irish actress with her share of bruises and at least one scar--from dripping wax while carrying torches through the catacombs.
As for the lasting marks the film will make on her career, Doody is optimistic, despite the track records of Indy's two previous co-stars.
"I hope it will open doors for me," Doody said. "I hope I'm not just operating under an illusion. But I know it's not going to do everything for me. It's up to me to produce the goods. I'll have to choose my next project wisely and the project after that."
After "Raiders of the Lost Ark," Allen did impress as Albert Finney's mistress in "Shoot the Moon," but by 1985 was publicly grousing that she wished to shake her identity with "Raiders." She is currently in Australia filming "Confidence," starring Bryan Brown and directed by Taylor Hackford.
As for Capshaw, she was most recently seen in the CBS miniseries "Internal Affair," with Richard Crenna, and has completed the film "Black Rain," starring Michael Douglas and directed by Ridley Scott.
Doody isn't too concerned with being typecast and wouldn't turn down another action-adventure film--as long as it wasn't a James Bond movie. "I wouldn't want to do another one of those right away," she said. "But one doesn't want to be too choosy when they're first starting out. You can't turn everything down."
