Daniella Deutscher

The Stigma of the Basket

Daniella Deutscher burst into the living rooms of millions of teenagers in 1995 without asking permission.

She got there by bouncing a basketball. She played Julie Connor in Hang Time, and her presence challenged the look of teen series of the era. She wasn't the typical high school cheerleader; she was the star of the boys' team.

The NBC series ran for six seasons and ended in 2000.

That period was more than just a job. There she met Jay Hernandez, who played Antonio Lopez, and she later married him. The chemistry between them went beyond the script, but Deutscher wanted more than to be the friendly face of Saturday mornings.

And she only partly succeeded.

Born in Montana in 1975, the actress didn't have to pretend much on set. She was a real athlete who had excelled at basketball during her school years. That authenticity allowed her to film game scenes without stunt doubles, which was unusual for low-budget productions of the 1990s.

But typecasting is a hard wall to climb over. After the series ended, she tried to make the leap into action films with Special Forces in 2003. In the film she played an American journalist captured in a fictional country. It was a sharp, violent change of pace meant to bury her image as the perfect teenager.

The film went straight to home video in many countries.

The Failed Superhero Project

In 2006 she had the chance to break into the world of major franchises. She took part in the pilot of Aquaman for The CW network, playing Atlanna, the mother of the lead character. The project had a multimillion-dollar budget and was directed by Justin Hartley, but the network decided not to move forward after seeing the first cut.

That rejection was a turning point in her public career. She made occasional appearances on the series Las Vegas in 2005, and after that her on-screen credits became scarce. She preferred to keep a low profile and support her husband's career, which was taking off with films like Suicide Squad.

The industry is ruthless.

Deutscher chose to step away from the usual red carpets. There were no big announcements or dramatic farewells from the arts world. She simply stopped accepting scripts that offered nothing new. Her last recorded appearance in a notable production was that superhero pilot that never officially made it to television.

The distribution deal for Hang Time was sold to more than 30 different countries between 1996 and 2002.