Tall, slender, and lovely Kate Jackson of The Rookies is a straight forward young woman who doesn't mind words.

"Next season Ill probably be the highest paid TV actress - per on the air word.  I mean the producers were very generous in the raise they gave me. But I wouldn't do it just for money. I am doing what I enjoy and if I don't enjoy something, I don't do it. I wouldn't want to be miserable for any amount of money." she says.

Kate has been signed for her fourth season on ABCs The Rookies, in the role of Jill Danko, which was written especially for her right from the beginning. Some young actresses became bored after playing the same part for so long. But not Kate.

:Time really has flown and it doesn't seem as the three years have passed. During the first two seasons, I watched the show every week. But this year, I decided to take a vacation from myself and i haven't watched a single episode" Kate admits.

Since there is hardly a trace of Southern accent in her voice, you would never guess that Kate was born in Alabama and went to school there. After her high school graduation she announced to her parents that she was going to New York and eventually to Hollywood.

"They didn't have any objections - perhaps because I had originally wanted to leave home when I was 15, but of course they wouldn't let me do that. My parents always have supported me and are pleased that I have been able to make my own way. They get a kick oit of seeing me on the TV screen every week and they tell me its a great way to keep in touch with me" she says.

Though Kate always has wanted to be an actress, acting is not the only thing in her life. She loves sports and walking on the beach. And during most of her spare time, she's out taking pictures.

"Photography gives me great artistic satisfaction. Its nice to have something tangible to look at as opposed to being on television for an hour. When that segment is finished, its gone forever" she says.

Kate had been interested in photography for quite a while and she finally bought herself a camera, which she soon discovered she didn't know how to use.  Then she became friends with a photographer who lived across the street and soon he was taking her along on jobs whenever Kate could get away from her Rookies shooting schedule.

"We went up to San Francisco one day and for the first time, I really went out on my own. I spent almost the entire day taking pictures of little kids in Chinatown. I love photographing children but I don't like posed shots. So I go to Disneyland and to the beach and just click away like mad. I guess photography is therapy in a way but mostly, its great fun," she says.

Kate is also studying French at Berhtz and hopes to go to France during her series hiatus. But not to Paris or the Riviera.

" I am going to take a barge tour on the rivers and canals of France. I read about it in National Geographic and it sounds wonderful. Ill take my cameras with me because I always have more fun if I feel I am doing something with a purpose."

Then Kate will return to Hollywood for her fourth - and probably final  - season with The Rookies. The series producers already have told her they would like to find the right vehicle to star Kate in her own series the following year.

"But it will have to be something I really like, or I wont do it. Thats  just the way I am" she says.

And when you think about it, thats not a bad way to be.

By Vera Servi