Nelson Branco's SOAP OPERA UNCENSORED: Issue 51 Page 2
It is very much two extremes. I enjoy both cities very much. I’m in my element in both places. It works for me. I’m kind of a split personality that way. I love it.
I’m like that, too. What sign are you?
I’m a Scorpio.
Which means you’re good in bed! [Laughs]
Yes, I am! [Laughs]
Do people recognize you in Tennessee?
Oddly enough, they do. Nashville is filled with celebrities, too, but while they are a little blasé about their country music stars, they are excited about TV stars who live here because they aren’t used to that. It’s the exact opposite in L.A., a city where you can go unnoticed for years at a time because TV stars [a dime a dozen].
ABC’s NASHVILLE films there, right?
Yes, it does.
You and Jonathan Jackson should paint the town red with your Emmys!
Yes, we should!
While visiting L.A., you stay with your Y&R co-star Jeanne Cooper — what’s that like? I’m sure it’s a hoot!
[Laughs] It’s a constant sitcom — especially when Jeanne has her sister, Evelyn, there. The two of them are like the odd couple. When they are in a room together, it’s like watching a tennis match! It’s constant back-and-forth. They’re kind of like you and George [Guzman, Y&R’s head hairstylist] on Twitter. The insults fly… but it’s also the best place on earth. It’s fun and loving. Jeanne tells the best stories and she has yet to tell me the same story twice. She’s full of them.
You can only tease the ones you love. But, for the record, I do not love George. I do love listening to Jeanne, though. I adore storytellers. She still has “it.”
Yep, she’s a storyteller. She loves to share her knowledge and experience. She’s there for the asking. She’s wonderful. She’s also very bright — and one of the smartest women I know. She has an ability to see things very clearly on the first night.
You should bring a camera when you visit and produce a reality show: LIFE WITH JEANNE.
Omigod, what a great idea! I should do that!
CBS could put the show up on their website. How did you and Jeanne develop your enduring friendship?
At first, she sort of liked me and, of course, I liked her immediately. She was the axel of the show when I first came on. I understood from day one I could learn a lot from her —and I was prepared to learn even as a young actress, so I watched her. Even before we began working together, I would go down on stage and watch her work. Then, we started working together, and that’s when I realized how much I could actually learn from her. She had no delusions that working as an actor shouldn’t be a fun thing. Acting is important and serious — but she wanted to have fun and laugh, too. Which is what we did: we laughed and laughed. We were kindred spirits right off the bat. When we shared our craft, it was apparent that we had a lot of common. For example, we both like to prepare, and once you’re prepared, you can let go and be free. We worked hard but we also played hard on set.
I’m assuming you read her juicy memoir, NOT YOUNG, STILL RESTLESS.
Oh, yes! I loved it. And it was heartbreaking to read about the couple of incidents in her youth. I loved how determined Jeanne was to stay in her little town but her friends knew better and whisked her away to New York. It’s a great story. And then, her life and career changed. I love the evolution of her career and personal life. She’s heartfelt but with no bullshit. She’s a real girl. I respected the courage she had to write about personal issues in the book. I’m also proud how beautifully she told the truth without trying to hurt anyone’s feelings.
I suggested to Jeanne that her memoir be translated into the big screen, which perfectly segues into you: Are you pissed Nina’s screenplay of Kay’s biography didn’t go anywhere?
I don’t think it’s a done deal. They may revisit it again. I’m not convinced that’s a bad thing — and it’s been mentioned a few times on the show. I think there is a lot of potential there.
Michael Learned could play Kay in the movie! Why did you leave L.A. and Y&R? And, are you surprised you were invited back in this day and age of youth-obsessed soap opera?
After my divorce from Jack, I fell back in love with one of my first loves. But it was apparent he didn’t like LA while we were enjoying our long-distance love. One day, I asked him if he hated L.A., and he said, “Yes, Ma'am, I do!” [Laughs]
At that point, I thought I had been in LA and on Y&R for a long time… I had a wonderful run and, if that was the end of my career, I would have been very happy. I know what I do well and I can still act anywhere. Will I get paid as much? Probably not, but I can still act; I don’t have to live in LA to do it. So, I came to Nashville and did plays here.
My decision wasn’t so much about leaving the soap opera as much as joining my husband in his outlet. We have a cabin in the woods… and it’s very different. You know, I’ve been working since I was 12. It was a nice break of recharging. But then I became itchy to work with professionals again. It’s a little iffy here with amateur theatre — even though I love theatre because I grew up in theatre and I love it — but I really missed working with pros and my friends, quite frankly. And, at the time, Maria was brought on and she invited me back. I’m grateful to her for that. It was perfect timing. There’s a direct flight from Nashville to LA, so it’s all very easy. I like podcasts so I listen to them on the plane and the travel time goes by quickly. I guess I’m lucky: I get to go back to the craziness of it all and then come back home to the quiet.
You left the soap biz before the industry began bleeding out. Did it surprise you when daytime TV, as we knew it, began dying?
[Pauses] I guess I wasn’t shocked. When they started doing unscripted shows like reality TV, I smelled the death of scripted shows because I understood scripted TV couldn’t compare to how inexpensive reality TV shows cost. I say that by stating that scripted shows are no longer as expensive as a result. It saddened me, definitely. Sadden for the death of the ideal of putting on a good show that really mattered to people instead of how much profit you could squeeze out of a daytime show. I suppose all good things…. You can’t cry… You have to find out where they put your cheese and go chase that. They have changed the game so there’s no sense in lamenting about the change in rules. You just need to find your new role and run with that…
Back during the golden days, most — if not all — soap superstars left at the height of the game and paycheques for Hollywood. Today, they’re all back working for peanuts. None of us knew who good we had it because we were the ugly stepchildren. Did you know how good you — and we — had it?
I knew we did! I knew I did! I also understood it was something that couldn’t be replicated. I mean, there was nothing like it in Hollywood. You could make a lot more money working on a movie for just eight weeks, but you would never work as steady as on a daytime soap. When I got on Y&R, I was experienced — not established — so I understood completely it was a miracle situation. I understood that completely. I sincerely wouldn’t have left had I not been— and I still am — head-over-heels in love with my husband and our life. The fact that I get to do both is extraordinary.
In a way, you controlled Nina’s fate because, had you stayed on Y&R, Nina would have been a former shell of herself due to all the contrived, rapid plot-driven storytelling that would no doubt have occurred!
Wow. That really is true, isn’t it? I’ve kind of thought about that before but you’re right: there is nothing adulterated about Nina; whereas some characters have had changes to their personalities. Nina is as tough now as she used to be.
You tore through Y&R like a tornado. I saw it up close and personal from day one. Did you know who Nina was right away? She’s one of our greatest anti-heroines. In fact, she could have reinvented the term!
Um, I wasn’t sure who she was right away, that’s true. [Clears throat] I knew her during the audition. She was a kind of this pathetic pregnant teen
crying and in trouble. She was really on the page. Perhaps, you could say, I just had a feeling for her right off the bat, which worked for Bill Bell. But then, when she became all sneaky and deceptive — I mean, everyone praised that — I wrung my hands of her past. Empathy is a lot harder to evoke than hatred; you know what I mean? It’s a lot easier to be dislikable than likable as a character. Yes, I knew her and I connected with her — and that’s all true — but it’s also very true to say it was almost effortless for me to do so. Because I loved her so much, it was easy for me to play her.
Did it surprise you how the majority of the Y&R audience embraced Nina and became protective of her? I’ve always loved Nina’s authentic catharsis —one of the most organic character journeys in daytime.
I think the people who started out with Nina felt that way. Sometimes I think people did want to shake her and open her eyes, especially with the whole David Kimble fiasco. I mean, hello and wake up! But I also knew it wouldn’t work if they weren’t fed up with her, you know? People got angry with her but it wouldn’t have worked if the audience hadn’t been frustrated with her. I was frustrated with her, too, but you just have to buy it to make it work because things like