Late last year, independent film star Rose McGowan was having a hard time coping with the long hours and relentless schedule of the Sunday-night WB series "Charmed," in which she plays Paige, the long-lost half sister of the Halliwell siblings (Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano).

Used to an unpredictable movie life, McGowan drew on innate abilities to manage the situation. "It's very hard for movie actors," she reveals during the network's up-front presentation to advertisers in New York. "It's probably easier to get a sitcom. The thing with movies is, you have a life punctuated by work, and this is like work punctuated by a little personal life. I do like the other side. I love having my lazy days; I think everybody does."

"Being on a 90-hour-a-week schedule is tough. But I'm a trouper. I do whatever I have to do. I'm Irish. I pull up my work straps, just keep going. Irish people, I generally find, have a really strong work ethic. We do what we have to do, get down in the trenches, buckle down. Or you put on a lot of lip gloss and fake it."

Born in Italy as one of six children of an Irish father and a French mother, McGowan moved to the United States when she was nine years old. A chance encounter in Los Angeles led her to be cast in writer-director Gregg Araki's 1995 film "The Doom Generation." After several indie film roles -- including one in "Southie," as the sister of Donnie Wahlberg's character -- McGowan took a chance on television last year and signed on to the fourth season of "Charmed."

The character of Paige -- given up for adoption because she was the result of a forbidden love affair involving the Halliwells' mother -- was created in the wake of the departure of original series star Shannen Doherty, whose character, Prue, was killed off.

Because her father was a White Lighter, a mystical guardian of good witches, Paige has interesting magical abilities, including "orbing," which involves popping instantly from place to place. Thrown into the deep end of the witch world, Paige spent the last year coping with her new sisters and their strange existence, which includes regular battles -- and even occasional romances -- with demons.

Sporting long brunette locks and hip-hugging pants as Paige, McGowan says the most fun of the past season was "wearing cute, sassy clothes. I buy a lot of my own clothes. I like to wear what I like to wear. It's not necessarily what I would wear, but I like very much designing characters. I'm very hands-on."

As to flashing a lot of bare belly, McGowan says, "Well, you know, what are you going to do? Gotta do it. I don't like showing my [breasts] as much, so I think the belly was a safer area."

"Charmed" fans might have a hard time recognizing McGowan in New York. Her dark curls are gone, replaced by a sleek, chin-skimming style in light auburn, which sets off her pale sweater and leather skirt.

"I got really tired of looking like myself," McGowan explains. "I could be blessed with red hair, but I'm not. But I don't think I like natural red hair as much as the choice of red hair."

Although The WB had a panic attack when "Felicity" star Keri Russell chopped her long, curly locks, McGowan's new 'do hit smooth sailing.

"[Producer Brad Kern) loved it. They were all over it. I just tried it out on [WB Entertainment Chief] Jordan Levin. He loved it. He was the only person I was worried about. I'm in."

For a long time, McGowan was romantically linked with shock rocker Marilyn Manson, but these days, she says, "My secret thing is probably the blond, blue-eyed Iowa boy."

In the season opener, Paige had a boyfriend, played by Jordan Bridges, but the Halliwells' perpetual demon danger torpedoed that romance. After that, things became rocky for Paige.

"In the beginning, every week, there was a new dude," McGowan says, "and I complained, 'Come on now!' Then I went to being the total opposite. So if we can find a happy middle. I don't have to be a total slut, but I also don't have to be Miss Nun."

Asked if she has a preference for human or demon, McGowan replies, "Oh, I don't care. As long as they don't have goofy makeup on, I don't care. No horns. Not down with the horns."

However, McGowan doesn't mind if one of Paige's former paramours, Glen Belland (Jesse Woodrow), makes a return appearance. "I'm lobbying for him to come back. Now that I've remembered him and put it in my brain, there'll be a chance. He was a sweetheart."

Although McGowan enjoys her stint on "Charmed," which has moved into its fall slot on Sundays at 8 p.m. ET, she doesn't plan to make television her career. "I was never interested in doing television," she says. "I don't think I still would ever do a show from the pilot, because that would mean you potentially have five years. That's a commitment I can't live with."

"Even if 'Charmed' goes seven years, it will still only be three for me, so it's worth it. I like the get-in, get-out thing, hop on the train while it's moving. My attention span is such that it doesn't last that long."

"He loves her, and she loves him, and they keep trying to find a way, and they will keep trying to find a way. They'll just have to be a different way."

Despite the big wedding episode, don't expect happily ever afters. "You can't stay married to a demon for very long," Kern says. "There will be a parting of the ways. That doesn't mean that they love each other any less, and that's the tragedy."

"As we move toward the end of the season, Phoebe will have tried it every way possible. She will have tried it with him not having [demon] powers, tried it with him having powers, tried it on the good side, and tried it on the dark side. There won't be another way to try it. She's going to have to move on with her life, and that means without Cole."

"Cole's going to have other ideas about that."

As to whether this means supernatural divorce proceedings, Kern says, "Without giving too much away, Cole won't be coming from that place next year, but that's where the surprise will be. He will be coming from a different place, a new place. There's good, there's evil and then there's a third way."

After last year's cliffhanger finale, Kern decided to call on an old friend for a little help in getting through this year's closer. As a former supervising producer on the short-lived FOX cult series "The Adventures of Brisco County Jr." he turned to that show's star -- also the star of the "Evil Dead" feature films -- to play an FBI agent in the May 16 episode.

"I called Bruce Campbell up to guest-star in the episode I wrote and directed. He's great. Bruce rocks. We're going to let him direct an episode next year as well. Alyssa and he did a movie together several years ago, so they knew each other. It was just a riot on the set. We all had a lot of fun."

Regarding next year, Kern says, "With Paige having been fully embraced by her sisters, and with a whole year of being a witch under her belt, and with Cole and Phoebe's relationship being somewhat resolved, [and now that] Piper and Leo have something to look forward to, we look at next year as a rebirth."

"Though there are some looming questions and looming evils, I really wanted to end the season on a positive note. It was time to get back to the light and use that as a springboard for next year."