Charmed newcomer Rose McGowen and her cast mates, Alyssa Milano, 28, and Holly Marie Combs, 27, are not (repeat, not) best friends -- yet. One of eight children, Rose, 26, who's perhaps most widely known for dating shock-rocker Marilyn Manson, reserves that superlative for her four sisters and three brothers. "They are amazing people," says porcelain-skinned Rose, who's fighting off the flu after her first two round-the-clock work-weeks. "My siblings couldn't be less impressed with me. I say 'Hey, I'm on a TV show now,' and they're like, 'You know what I'm doing tomorrow night?'"

In all fairness, Rose has nothing but praise for her co-stars. "I genuinely like them, but I think it's unrealistic that we would become best friends after just three weeks," she says. Holly, who weathered the loss of her TV sis when Shannen Doherty, 30, left the series last May after three seasons, thinks it's best that her relationship with Rose remain professional. "That was part of the problem [with Shannen]: We worked long hours, then we'd go out. I don't have siblings, but we were like sisters. Sometimes, sisters fight, and it's too bad," says Holly.

Shannen's character, Prue, was killed off on May's season finale, and the remaining witches hope that the show's fans will embrace Rose as their long lost fourth sister, Paige. The atmosphere on the set -- where Seventeen has been invited for a grand tour that includes a walk through the Halliwell home and a peek at the Book Of Shadows -- seems eerily calm. "I feel a lot more relaxed now," says Alyssa, who spent the summer learning to golf. During a rare break in filming, the girls discuss the past and -- more importantly -- their future.

ALYSSA

"This girl came up to me in the grocery store the other day," begins Alyssa Milano. "She was so sweet. She said, 'I named my poodle Sam, after your Who's the Boss? character. It's really cute and very smart." She was afraid I'd be offended, but I thought it was great."

Seated at the bar on the Charmed set, Alyssa, who was cast as Phoebe on Charmed after playing a vixen on Melrose Place, has a great attitude about having blossomed before America's eyes during her eight-year stint as Samantha Micelli on Who's the Boss?. "The '80s were a bad time to grow up on TV. I was all big hair and pimples. It was horrible -- I wore retainers, headgear, it's amazing that I'm still standing," she says, laughing.

Alyssa is a survivor. And if she's bitter about any of the events of last season -- including the rumors of fights between her and Shannen -- the actress isn't letting on. While Shannen made a point of expressing her frustration about the situation to the press, Alyssa chooses to take the high road: "It was always civil between us," she says, diplomatically. "That's what was so bizarre. First of all, I'm terrified of confrontation. I'm good at dealing with my feelings, but on my own time. We always came to work and got the job done. It's just unfortunate that Shannen was so hurtful to so many people who are involved with the show."

Fortunately, the travails of last season were mitigated by Alyssa's new romance with Charmed costar Brian Krause. "We met seven years ago. I always thought Brian was cute, but totally off-limits; he was married. But he and his wife separated last November," she says. Alyssa thinks the fact that she and Brian were friends first bodes well. "My mom and dad were best friends, and they've been married for 33 years. I know it's their friendship that has kept them together for so long."

Alyssa is enjoying the new season thus far -- especially with Rose on board. "She's very intelligent and very quirky." How? "Rose loves Shirley Temple and has seen all of her movies," says Alyssa. "Her energy in infectious." It's a good thing, too, since Alyssa has no plans to stop fighting warlocks or demons anytime soon. Though she wants to study Chinese medicine and travel the world when the time is right, for now she'll let destiny remain her boss. "I'm no stranger to being somewhere for a very long time. I'll be here until the end," she says. And we believe her.

ROSE

Two months before starting her new gig on Charmed, Rose McGowan had no idea that she was headed for television. The actress (Scream, Jawbreaker) was filming the indie Vacuums with costars Chevy Chase and Kip Pardue (whom she dated for a spell) in Romania. She first got word that she was in the running for the Charmed role from a friend back in the States. "She e-mailed to let me know. I just laughed -- I hadn't heard anything about it," Rose says. Without auditioning or even meeting her future costars, Rose was offered the role of Paige, a self-described groovy chick who works in a social services office for abused children. "It really intrigued me," says Rose of her decision to hit the small screen. "I like doing things that scare me, and television was such an alien notion."

It helped that she'd seen a few episodes of the show and liked that it was "more about sisters who happened to be witches than witches who happened to be sisters." But Rose adds that she has chosen not to watch all of the previous episodes. "Paige wouldn't know about the past three years in their lives, so I figure, I shouldn't either," she says. Rose also laughs at the idea that her two-year engagement to Marilyn Manson (they broke it off in January 2001) made her the perfect candidate to join the spooky series. "I would be very surprised if Aaron Spelling even knows who Marilyn is," she says.

Joining the cast of Charmed isn't something that Rose was nervous about. "I'm perennially the new girl," she says. Rose moved often during her school years (She's lived in Italy, Oregon, Washington and California) her first day of shooting, however, tested the limits of speedy adjustment. "At 6 AM, I had to dance in front of hundreds of extras in a nightclub and then make out with some guy. I guess they wanted to break me in early," she says. Still, Rose loves that the show's costume designers had picked out a cool outfit for her to wear that day. "For me, the worst thing about going back to school was deciding what to wear: Was everyone going to make fun of me for what I had on?" she says. "But here I thought, they can't make fun of me. This is what they told me to wear."

Rose loves Paige's wardrobe. "Her clothes are really rad and I have a lot of input into my costumes. I sent the wardrobe people to the store where I like to buy stuff," she says. Rose is also getting a kick out of researching the witchy aspects of her role. "I like the history -- the Salem witch trials and that sort of thing. It's interesting to see how rebellious women were treated throughout the ages...they didn't fare very well."

Rose is hoping to fare better with the show's loyal viewers, but she admits that she's still adjusting to the grueling schedule. "I wake up when I would normally go to bed," she says. "I get up at 4 am and get home at 9 pm." That doesn't leave much time for two of her favorite hobbies -- knitting and baking. "I was actually exhausted my first day here because I stayed up the night before baking 50 cupcakes for my friend's birthday." (As long as she took some along for the cast and crew, they probably didn't mind!)

HOLLY

Her newly decorated trailer reflects this actress's greatest passion: animals. The walls are plastered with pictures of her pets. "I have rabbits, lizards, fish, a bird, three horses, five dogs and two cats," says Holly. "It takes me an hour every night to feed them and clean everything." Although she has always been an animal lover, Holly admits that she's reached maximum capacity at the home she shares with her boyfriend. "It's like a petting zoo. I couldn't even take on one more bird."

On the set, Holly is glad to take newcomer Rose under her wing. "I was frightened that the producers were going to get a 90210 girl to replace Shannen." Holly considers Rose, who's a far cry from the kids of the infamous zip code, to be a welcome alternative. "She's very individualistic and she has flair," says Holly.

Like her character, Piper (who's the middle child and often mediates for her sibs), Holly got caught between unhappy costars. When last year's mud-slinging comes up, she is quick to point out that all three actresses were very close friends for a long time before any problems arose. She and Shannen were even bridesmaids at Alyssa's 1999 wedding to rock singer Cinjun Tate. (the marriage ended later that year) According to Holly, the trio's intense friendship, coupled with long workdays, was part of the problem: "When you put people together in a high-stress situation for 14 hours at a time, nine months a year, someone's going to rub somebody the wrong way."

Was Holly at all spooked when her Charmed character died along with Prue on last season's cliffhanger? Not really. "The plan was to bring both Shannen and me back, but it didn't work out that way," she says. While the writers are vague as to just how Piper comes alive again, Holly is sure it will happen with a bang. "I'm the clumsy one on the show," she admits. "If there's any wire around, I'll trip on it and fall." She has already endured one hospital visit, after she stumbled on an air ventilator and landed on some concrete. Fortunately, her swollen elbow wasn't broken. "You've seen our stage," she confides to Seventeen. "It's not a very high-heel-friendly place." It does, however -- well, at this moment -- seem like a pretty friendly place to be. And all three of Charmed costars hope it will stay that way.