Like Father . . . Like Daughter

It took Cecilia Peck a long time to find her niche. Along the way she’s dabbled as a writer, a story analyst, a dancer and a theater director. She even managed a New York rock band called the Groceries. And now the youngest offspring of Gregory Peck has opted to follow in the footsteps of her Oscar-winning father and older brother, Anthony.

“I was juggling a lot of things, but you have to determine what you are really skilled at and what you want to pursue,” explains the Princeton University graduate.

Peck seems to have made a wise career decision. She’s been getting star-making notices for her first major film role, in the romantic tragedy “Torn Apart,” as a beautiful Arab schoolteacher who falls in love with a childhood friend--an Israeli soldier.

The actress originally auditioned for the film four years ago, but it took over two years for the producers to raise the $2-million budget. “I would have done anything to play that role,” she recalls. “I still feel lucky to have played her. The choices she’s faced between her family and her heart are the hardest to make. I wanted to make her realistic, authentic and identifiable to audiences.”

“Torn Apart” was produced in Israel and used both Arab and Israeli crews. “Everybody pulled together to make it,” says Peck. “After it was made, it was screened for all the studios. Executives would come out crying, but no one wanted to touch it. It was not commercial. Finally, one distributor believed in it.”

Three weeks before filming began, Peck ventured into the Arab sectors with a NBC News

team. “The producers told me not to go,” she admits. Despite their warnings, Peck lived with Arab families in northern Israel.

“I tape-recorded their voices for hours and hours to get their accent,” she says. “I talked to them about their children and marriages and hopes for the future. The fathers would say (a love affair between an Israeli and an Arab) could never happen. I couldn’t get them to say any more. In any case, it would be an unthinkable dishonor to the Arab family.”