Stage Vs. TV and Film Isn’t the Only Comparison Facing Dedee Pfeiffer

Yes, Michelle Pfeiffer is her big sister. No, they’re not competitive.

“I couldn’t ask for a better sister or mentor,” says Dedee Pfeiffer, who’s appearing in M.L. Kessler’s “The Strains of Affection” at the Court Theatre. “We’re best friends--and incredibly supportive of each other.” The downsides of having a famous sibling, she adds, “are the constant comparisons and expectations. You have to keep proving yourself: make your own path and plow through it.”

Pfeiffer has been acting for 10 years--upcoming films include “Bad to the Bone” and “Falling Down”--but this is just her second time onstage. “I love having the people right there, that immediate energy,” she says. “In films and TV, moments can be organic, but not as organic. It’s cut and paste--a beautiful product, but a lot of people put it together. In theater, the lights go up and you’re alone. “

In “Strains,” Pfeiffer plays a Boston librarian who gets involved with her roommate’s date. “It comments on relationships, love, magic, commitment and priorities,” says the Orange County native, who co-stars with Tom Astor and Camelia Kath (the former wife of Kiefer Sutherland). “These people are confronting what life could be and what it should be--stuff we’re all dealing with in the ‘90s: how to date again, how to be intimate.”

Keeping Pfeiffer company in her Hollywood apartment are a variety of pets, including a Rottweiler, cats and several undesignated tropical fish. Says the actress, “I stopped giving them names after so many of them died.”