Soap Opera Uncensored: Issue 15

by Nelson Branco

coast, right?

  Yeah. I really dread the idea of going back out to LA. Doing the whole California thing before, I got the feeling that there was not a lot out there for me, you know? The theatre thing… there’s a lot more in New York. I love doing theatre. Doing theatre also attracts a lot of student actors because it’s making me think I could start teaching.

  Actually, that was one of my questions: Would you consider teaching?

  There’s a lot out there that’s tempting. Going back to school is kind of tempting. It also has to do with the fact that I’m lazy and I haven’t lost the forty pounds I have to lose to be competitive in the world of what’s left of daytime. [Laughs]

  Reva Shayne teaching acting? I’d enroll. It’d be hot! You, in a red dress, in front of chalk board…

  [Laughs] I still find, especially up here in Connecticut, that there’s much interest in what people, like myself, have experienced in the world of TV. Especially with the kids. Yes, they like to do theatre, but at their age, TV is enticing for them because it’s the ultimate destination/future.

  Tell me about the play.

  I play Mrs. Hayes. She’s been caring for her 30-year-old son, who was diagnosed with HIV ten years ago. She’s worked really hard to keep him alive, but she’s also sheltered him his entire life. In the play, he’s in his final journey of surviving AIDS when he develops lesions on his brain. He also has graphomania, a compulsion to write everything down. Because of that, he falls into a fantasy world, which parallels Odysseus’s journey in Greek Mythology.

  Wow. That sounds amazing. I need to watch this. It sounds like a meaty part. I bet you are killing this role. It has Kim Zimmer written all over it.

  It is compelling. There’s a lot of jumping between fantasy and reality. Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of lighting and visual effects….

  [Joking] What? Is Ellen Wheeler producing this?

  [Laughs] It’s a tough piece to work on, but these kids are good, but there are three professional actors in it. You’re not going to believe this — the playwright, Stephen Svoboda, was in the writers’ development program at GL in the 80s! It’s odd our paths have crossed all these years later. He’s living life with HIV, and one would think, initially, that he’s too close to the material to write and produce, but he’s doing such a fantastic job with this particular material. It’s been very helpful. It adds insight, insight I’ve experienced in different chunks of my life with HIV/AIDS. I remember encountering a friend with AIDS in 1979.

  Wow. That’s the earliest I’ve ever heard a friend of mine encounter HIV/AIDS.

  Yep! But it’s not a maudlin play. It’ll be visually wonderful, too. It’s a combination of the drama and comedy masks.

  Because they are one in the same.

  Yes. It’s totally up my alley. It’s been great. These are the pieces I like to work on. I mean, I still like to do my musicals, which are always fun, too. It’s nice to dig my teeth into this kind of material again.

  OK: ONE LIFE… Where the heck was Echo during the end days? We didn’t get an end story!

  Can you fucking believe that?! [Laughs]

  No! They did mention Echo was shooting an assignment in Paris or Mendorra!

  Did they? Really? I asked avid fans and even John-Paul Lavoisier if they had explained where I was and no one could remember.

  See, this is how big of a Kim Zimmer fan I am: I stood up when they mentioned that and took a mental note because I was surprised, even though I knew you weren’t returning.

  They were going to explore a story where Roxy and Echo fought for Rex’s affections. But I went off to do SUNSET BLVD. in Michigan, but when I got back, they had written me out and focused on Roxy. Which is fine, because I love Ilene Kristen. She had been struggling for airtime on that show for many years. To get some sort of validation on that show, was such fun to watch. I never really felt like Echo fit on ONE LIFE, this time around, anyway… I was more of a sight gag.

  No! I felt like you did resonate this time around— and delivered some powerful acting moments opposite Erika Slezak and Austin Williams. Most importantly, I knew, out of all the superstars out there, that you’d be the one to separate yourself in a different role from your iconic part and reinvent yourself. And you did. I never saw Reva in Echo.

  Even though they were writing Echo like Reva. Echo lived in Europe most of her life… she was refined… but then, they had Reva living in Atlantic City as a washed-up drunken gambler. They were trying to capture a Reva audience with Echo. I’m not saying that was right or wrong, because I was happy to have the job, but it wasn’t how Echo was original conceived. Having said that, I loved working with Robin Strasser, Brian Kerwin, Erika Slezak…. It was also very raw for me after leaving Reva behind because I was so emotionally raw at the time, so it could’ve been my fault, too, why Echo never clicked. I removed myself from ONE LIFE. I did my job and left. Heck, I didn’t even decorate my dressing room! Get in, get out…

  That’s what he said. At least you had a dressing room this time! [Laughs]

  Yeah, I did, until the day I showed up and they moved me in with Terri Conn without any notice! I guess Tuc Watkins needed a bigger dressing room… [Laughs]

  Personally, for me, as a friend/fan, I have to say, what I loved most about your ONE LIFE comeback is that it proved that you are not an egotistical diva bitch who has to be the star of the show. You proved that you can be a supporting actor, which I think is the hardest and most fulfilling part of show business. Also, I think Echo was on the backburner because Ron wasn’t as inspired by Echo….

  Exactly. And that’s what it was. Again, I don’t fault him, because he tried to fit Echo into so many scenarios. And, I think, that was at Frank Valentini’s urging. I adore Frank. He really kept reminding Ron to keep working me in. Frank really was responsible for keeping me on air. But having said that, if I had another job coming up, I took it because I was recurring. They used to say to me, “Omigod, we have a story for you but you’re gone for eight weeks!” I responded, “Well, put me on contract and you won’t have to worry about it!” That, my friend, is the nuts and bolts of the business.

  Also, Ron had such a plethora of actresses in your age range and caliber: Robin Strasser, Ilene Kristen, Erika Slezak, Hillary B. Smith….

  Right….

  Are you putting yourself up for the Emmys this year? You have the material!

  No, I’m not submitting. That’s another thing: When Robin Strasser left, she left with my story, too! [Laughs] Life happened to my character on that show.

  No pun intended! I thought they would use you more when Robin left, not less! I immediately thought, “Kimmie will pick up the slack.”

  But then they brought in Wendy Moniz. It just wasn’t going to happen. Like you said, there were so many [Kim Zimmers] there already. ONE LIFE had a plethora of strong, independent women there.

  And that’s a good thing. ONE LIFE proved you were a team player. And you always have been. You just demanded good story on GL.

  Right. I actively chose to do that in respect to Erika Slezak. Not that I could have or I would’ve even tried…. That’s not what I was there to do. Actors just want to act. I did what I was hired to do. I got to have my fun at GL… it was a lifetime of thrills… and that was worth it all. Now I’m just another actor! I’m just trying to continue employment….

  GL just celebrated its 75the anniversary. You put that chapter to bed, right?

  Yeah. Everyone was celebrating 75 years of GL, but the show’s not on air anymore. I didn’t get it….

  Right.

  [Laughs] It’s really not the 75th anniversary. We had our last anniversary when the show was on the air its last year. In my mind, I have to accept that GL is over, and I have to reinvent myself as an actor, who has to work. I hate the fact that GL went off the air. I hate the fact that all these soaps are dying, and I don’t understand it, because nighttime TV is soap opera, but I guess they just want to cheapen daytime TV.

  And they’
re doing a fab job at that!

  [Laughs]

  Does your GL experience seem real or is it just a dream at this point?

  No, it seems real! I’m in Connecticut in this mall and I kept sensing I was being stalked. [Laughs] I finally turned around to these three women, who were obviously following me around, and I just said to them, “Can we just introduce ourselves, say hello, and go about our business.” This happens to me every day. I meet my fans every day. And they talk about how they miss their family on GL.

  That was me in the mall; sorry!

  [Laughs] Exactly. There are fans from ONE LIFE, too, who have never seen GL, too, who approach me. But they never know my real name!

  Is there still a little bit of Reva living in Kim Zimmer?

  Oh shit, yeah! [Laughs] I remember sitting in Brad Bell’s office at B&B when I was trying to push myself on him, and he asked me, “Would you be interested in bringing Reva Shayne to B&B?” It was too raw for me. It was two or three months after GL went off the air, and I wanted to cleanse her from me. I wanted to play a new character. Now, I’m like, “Shit, I should have brought Reva Shayne to B&B!”

  Your memoir is my fave from a soap actress. What was the feedback?

  I thought, out of all of it, that I would have gotten in trouble with how I opened