SOAP OPERA: UNCENSORED
Volume 01, Issue 10
BY NELSON BRANCO
Copyright 2011 Nelson Branco
INSIDE — 2011 Yearbook: The Worthy and the Worthless! Best and Worst Performances of the Year! Biggest News Headlines! Exclusive Interview: Maura West Speaks Out On Being Wasted on Y&R! Plus: Working With Michael Muhney, Where World Turns’s Jack and Carly Are Now, and The Future of Daytime TV! Also: Will West Join GH? Soap Satire: How To Wreck A Show in Thirteen Steps! Last week’s Soap Reviews; Next Week’s Preview Cheat Sheet! And every week: Unbelievable Blind Items!
UNCENSORED MASTHEAD:
FOUNDER/EDITOR: Nelson Branco
EDITOR AT LARGE: Denette Wilford
Follow Soap Opera Uncensored at: @nelliebranco or @SoapUncensored
NOTE FROM EDITOR/FOUNDER:
You asked — and it’s happening. For more information on subscribing to daytime’s first weekly e-zine Soap Opera Uncensored, email
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UNCENSORED QUOTES OF THE WEEK:
“For the ardent John and Marlena and Patch and Kayla fans, great you can still see them at their luncheons. That was then, this is now.”
—DAYS executive producer Ken Corday on Deidre Hall and Drake Hogestyn’s absence from Salem in 2010
Translation: That was now; this is then.
“Many fans have noted [venerable producer Paul] Rauch, who has worked as a producer on nearly every soap on the air, including a recent stint on Y&R, does not seem to give meaty storylines to minority characters.”
—Sara Bibel on Ellen Holly’s latest claims of racism
Translation: It’s easier to blame the P-R-O-D-U-C-E-R than the head writer.
“Between Erica Kane and Tad Martin, I grew up with [All My Children]. There were my two favourite actors. When I was in college, I watched AMC religiously.”
—NBA great Charles Barkley on Conan O’Brien
Translation: I’m coming for you, Brian Frons!
“If anyone needs an aging slut…”
—One Life’s Kassie DePaiva on Rob Shuter’s web show, Naughty But Nice
Translation: Don’t call a Kardashian! Hire the real thing: Blair Cramer Manning!
COVER STORY:
SOAP OPERA HORROR STORY
Watch your back, Jessica Lange: Maura West, one of the genre’s best actors ever, is still haunting audiences despite her abrupt Y&R exit!
Irna Phillips and Douglas Marland would have loved Maura West. The late, great soap legends would no doubt have sold their collective souls for a skilled, nuanced and visceral performer with the wild acting chops of West’s to bring their words to life each day. You know, the kind of rare artist who not only boasts a spine of steel but who can also gracefully express vulnerability when the situation arises.
Yes, it’s not easy for a newcomer to command center stage especially when joining an iconic show with colourful talent like As The World Turns and The Young and the Restless; but somehow West always manages to steal the show with her era-defying beauty, and mixture of intoxicating Southern-like comfort and limitless venom as the haunted Carly Tenney Snyder and Diane Jenkins, respectively.
Like Blanche Dubois, West’s characters have always depended on the kindness of strangers, but the actress needs no help when it comes to realizing a character and transcending the medium. Screw Phillips and Marland, Tennessee Williams would have coveted the talents and beauty of La West.
Believe it or not, I have never interviewed the lovely, sexy and fiercely talented acting Goddess. But we rectified that yesterday. In the Mountain Woman’s (transplanted West and family are living up in the California mountains) first major interview since being shamefully let go from Y&R just as she was beginning to breakout in the ill-conceived role, the two-time Emmy winner finally spoke out about what went wrong with Genoa City, the future of soaps, the World Turns’ DVDs, what Jack and Carly are up to these days; and if she’d ever return to soaps. Enjoy!
You jumped from World Turns immediately to Y&R. Now that you’ve been off Y&R for a while, have you finally grieved the loss of Oakdale? Have you decompressed? Put everything that has happened over the past two years in perspective?
Yes, I have definitely decompressed. I’ve really been enjoying the time with my kids. I spent all my years on World Turns having babies, then going back to work right away and working a lot. To have this time with my kids now has been really wonderful. I get to pick them up from school, make their lunches… all those seemingly mundane, maternal things have been a real treat for me. My baby, Birdie, has spent more time with me as a one-year-old baby than any of my other children have. I’m really, really enjoying it.
You were daytime’s pregnancy machine there for a while. Are you done having kids?
Yes, I am definitely done! [Laughs] I’m in my late thirties, so it’s safe to say I’m done.
In hindsight, do you think you rushed into the role of Diane? You were cast to play a 60-year-old character!
[Pauses] That’s such a big question, really. Frankly, I did jump in rather quickly because I didn’t want to be the last person to have a seat in this [casting] game of musical chairs. So, I took the first seat available. Yeah, when [my husband] Scott [De Freitas], my agent and I speak in retrospect, we all agree I should have waited for something else. Originally, I didn’t realize Diane was a recast of an existing character. After I found out, I expressed concern about the age discrepancy, but was told the [de-SORASing] was an intentional age change. And that’s cool! For God’s sake, it’s a soap opera. It happens — and it’s not unusual to play with characters’ ages. But I would have asked more questions, for sure. I mean, Diane’s my mother’s age! That should have raised some red flags. But I was excited with the prospect of working with a group of extremely talented people on Y&R. I also wanted a change. [Moreover], I was excited about moving to LA. There were a lot of positive reasons why I took the job, but there were also some reasons why I shouldn’t have taken the job.
The age factor wasn’t a deal breaker for me. I blame the writing. Listen, I would’ve taken the role, too, just so I could erase the memory of freezing my balls off in Peapack, NJ! What was the transition like going from a bare bones production model like World Turns to the big leagues like Y&R?
Well, there were already a lot of budget cuts when I got to Y&R. The only difference on Y&R budget-wise, from what I could tell, was what they paid the actors. Also, their wardrobe department has a lot more money. But their sets need some repairing. They’ve been up for a long time and they are visibly wearing and tearing. Y&R still has the capability to tape big events like parties, storms, and fires. World Turns had to stop those big sweeps events a few years back, but I think those events are overrated anyway. I prefer simpler storylines with characters loving or hating each other. Car crashes aren’t riveting; it’s the relationships that are riveting. So, I didn’t really see that much of a difference. There’s more staff, for sure, especially in the hair and makeup department and the overall crew, but I didn’t feel a huge difference otherwise.
Say what you want about Diane, but she was my favourite dressed character this past year. Those gorgeous wrap dresses you wore really captured my attention, especially the turquoise wrap dress you wore for like a month on the show and the print dress Diane wore when she was murdered. Did you feel more glam in this role than you did as Carly?
Yes, I did. You cannot underestimate the importance of a costume for an actor. They call it wardrobe department but I call it a costume department. It really makes a difference on how you carry yourself. With the wrap dress you?
??re talking about, I wasn’t even Maura anymore because I don’t dress like that or spend money on clothes. It made a huge difference. Those duds were pricey. I mean, Carly was wearing Gap jeans! Diane [adorned] Diane von Furstenberg wraps!
Movement never lies, and you moved differently as Diane. I never once saw Carly in your Y&R incarnation, confirming my belief that you’re a true character actor. Taking on a new role, and a recast at that, was the looming ghost of Carly Snyder daunting? I mean, Carly was an iconic character much like Guiding Light’s Reva.
I was a little worried. Most of the World Turns audience watch Y&R, so I don’t think anyone wanted to see Carly transplanted in Genoa City. And I certainly didn’t want to do that. However, it’s still me — it’s still my face, body and voice. I didn’t want to fall into that trap of being self