Princeton University Athletics
Tough Act
April 10, 2001 | General
April 10, 2001
Abbey Fox will graduate this spring from Princeton with a degree in psychology. What she does with it is still up in the air.
Eventually she would like to return to earn a master's degree and then practice clinical psychology. But before that happens, Fox has her heart set on trying something completely different.
She wants to work in Hollywood.
"I would love to act or get into production," she says. "Once you see, you get a real appreciation for what goes on behind the scenes. I had a great experience."
Fox had that chance to see firsthand during the past two summers when she worked as a production assistant at David E. Kelley Productions, the production company that bears the name of the 1979 Princeton graduate. He currently produces such popular television shows as Ally McBeal, The Practice and his latest, Boston Public.
"I was fascinated with production and every aspect of it," Fox says. "Acting and producing, I would love to get into it. It's a big business and a small circle. But I have the opportunity to go back after graduation as a corporate assistant."
She made the connection with Kelley through mutual friends from perhaps an unlikely source, hockey. Fox, the third-leading scorer on the Tiger women's hockey team this season, casually mentioned her Hollywood interest to Bo Torrey, a 1978 Princeton graduate who coaches high school hockey with Fox's father Bill back home in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.
Torrey played alongside Kelley, the captain of the 1978-79 Tigers, and offered to contact his former teammate about her Hollywood interest. Fox got an interview and eventually the job, giving her a spot in the small circle. It won't be easy, she readily admits, but Fox will try to work her way up after graduation.
"I wouldn't want to work for anyone beside David Kelley," she says. "He has such a good perspective. I'll probably just go out there and ride the wave. That's how you have to be.
"You start at the bottom of the totem pole. Being out there the last couple summers, it's been a great experience. I think no matter what, though, I'll be a little overwhelmed when I'm there for good."
Fox has always had big ambitions that seemed hard to overcome, but she's been successful. Hollywood is just her latest challenge. As a five-years-old she became the only girl in Grosse Pointe to play hockey. Playing with boys made her stronger, faster and tougher.
"Abbey's really feisty," says Princeton coach Jeff Kampersal. "She's probably the most competitive one out there. She always tries to have the last laugh. She's not dirty, but she'll get her retribution with a goal or an assist.
"Skill-wise, I think for years she's been one of the most underrated players in our league. She handles the puck well, she skates well and can score, and she has toughness."
Fox has the kind of toughness on ice that made it hard for Kampersal to believe it was the same young woman he saw on stage two years ago in a small on-campus production.
"I couldn't believe she could be so aggressive on the ice and so different off," he says.
Her first impression can be deceiving. When Fox went out to Los Angeles for her internship, she found a hockey league in which some of the production crew played. When she came to play, everyone just saw the attractive, well-mannered person that Fox is off the ice.
"I was the only girl there," she remembers. "They put me on the last line, and they didn't expect much. But I played the whole time pretty well. I don't think they were expecting girls to play that way.
"Hockey is calming for me. It's one of the things I love. It's something I committed to do when I came to this school. I'm sure it would have helped me more if I had done more with theater. But I'll just have to go out there and start on the bottom."
Fox had an early interest in acting and production. She was in several children's theater productions, appeared in middle school plays and even took voice lessons. By the time she was in high school, however, her time was occupied by an all-state soccer career, some volleyball, and of course, hockey.
At Princeton, other than a few minor productions for classes and some theater classes, her spare time is ruled by hockey. It's taken away from her immediate job plans, but it's not something she regrets. She knows she has time to get back into production and acting.
"I've kind of gotten away from it," Fox admits. "But it's something I'd like to explore. Why wouldn't someone want to do this?"
It's a question into which psychologists can look. Maybe someday it will be Fox's to pursue. But psychology will be on hold until her Hollywood days are over, and it may take a while since Abbey Fox admits to getting off to a bit of a head start.
"I've already got a good screen name, they say. Hopefully it helps."
by Justin Feil