Cosmo Girl! Magazine 1999

CosmoGirl! Loves Barry Watson
By Jeanne Fay

Here's the story of the last Hollywood party Barry Watson will ever get turned away from: Writer-director Kevin Williamson (Dawson's Creek, Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer) invited Barry to an A-list Oscar bash, Barry showed up-only to get completely dissed. "I can't let you in," the bouncer said, not recognizing him. Then the bouncer yelled to the parking attendants: "This guy's turning around! He's a no!"

Barry won't be a no for long, though. This summer, the 25-year-old stars with Katie Holmes in Teaching Mrs. Tingle, Williamson's next sure-to-be-a-hit flick. Soon, bouncers will be calling him "Mr. Watson" and ushering him through the door. Not that Barry cares much. "You have to be able to handle rejection in this business," he says, laughing.

As if you didn't already know, Barry plays low-key sweetheart Matt Camden, oldest of seven kids, on 7th Heaven. The drama about a minister's family has a cult following: It's the most popular show on the WB network, beating out even Dawson's Creek and Buffy. Barry gets fan mail from children, college students, and even prisoners! Why the mass appeal? "The show's about what people wish their families were like," explains Barry. "As hokey as it can be sometimes, it's a fantasy."

Michael Barrett Watson grew up in Michigan and Texas. (His southern roots could explain the enormous gold "B" buckle on the belt he's wearing. "It's so cheesy!" he says. "That's why I wear it!") He was never very into school. "There were things I was more interested in, like acting and sports," he says. Plus, his family life was not particularly 7th Heavenly So when Barry was 15, he picked up and moved to California all by himself.

Right away, Barry landed a gig on Days Of Our Lives (but kept studying-teenage actors have to stay in school or hire a tutor in order to work). After that ended, he waited tables, worked as a cashier for a crafts shop that sold "artsy fake flowers," even parked cars. "I did a little bit of everything to survive," he says. "It took me a few years to figure out the way the business worked." Once he found his footing, he scored appearances on The Nanny, Malibu Shores (with Keri Russell) and Baywatch --where he had the bizarre distinction of being one of the first characters to actually drown (it was Yasmine Bleeth's fault).

Luckily, that Baywatch scene wasn't a sign of things to come. Two years later, Barry surfaced in a big way on 7th Heaven. "It's weird because so many people who see your work think you're just like your character," he says. "But I'm very different from Matt." For instance, Barry sports two tattoos-evidence that he's a little more daring than his straight-edged TV alter ego. His right bicep boasts a cowgirl ("I have this fascination with World War II pinup girls and cowgirls," he explains), and he has an anchor on his left forearm-but he won't say why. "It's kind of a private thing with someone else," he says, in that brooding way that makes hearts melt. Someone like, maybe, a girlfriend? "That's a bad question right now," Barry says. "If it were a little while ago it would be great. Maybe if it were a month from now, it would be great, too. But right now….it's bad."

His love life is the only thing in Barry's world that's bad just now. He's living it up as he awaits the August release of Tingle, his first feature film. "My character's the reason the whole movie happens, because he's such a dumb-a**," he says. During the filming, Barry went on a strict chicken-and-broccoli diet so he could "get ripped" for a love scene. Now, he's ready to bare all-and we're ready to see! Barry - er, Mr. Watson-you can show up at our party anytime.