Yes, there is life after Santa Barbara
By R.R., Soap Opera Weekly, 1993	Home   Cette page en Français

When Santa Barbara goes off the air this week, nearly 30 actors will be out of work. Here are some reactions to that unfortunate situation, and some of their early plans for the future.

Krista Tesreau, who had a "wonderful six month" on Santa Barbara as the evil Andi, found out about the show's cancellation in a most unusual way ! "I was one of the last to hear" Tesreau recalls. "One evening my masseuse, who is also a friend of Kim Zimmer's (Jodie), came over to give me a massage. She said "Oh, honey, I'm really sorry about the show." Clueless, I asked, "What about the show ?" to which she screamed, "Oh, my god, you don't know !" Then she told me about the cancellation. I was glad I found out before the massage, not after it, because after hearing that news I really needed one. I'm sad, and If I'm sad, I can't imagine what Judith McConnell (Sophia) and Jed Allan (C.C.) are going through. I think everybody's regretful, but they disguise it pretty well. I will keep in touch with many of my newfound Santa Barbara friends, as I do with my past Guiding Light cast mates." (She played Mindy from 1983 to 1989.)

To prepare for the show's finale, Tesreau went on hunting trip in Scottsdale, Ariz., where her boyfriend, Larry, taught her how to use a rifle. "I practiced with a 20-gauge shotgun and, more interestingly, an M-16 fully automatic rifle. It was a Rambo gun. It threw me back five feet when I shot it. It had me dancing with each shot" Tesreau loved her role in the final episode. "When I was standing on the balcony with the rifle, overlooking the wedding festivities, I thought, "If I was given the choice to play any one of these wonderful characters, I'd choose Andi." It's the first time I've played a killer. I loved going out there and causing the trouble, because that's what the audience loves to see. The way I look at it is, if you have to go off the air you might as well go out with a bang - literally !"

Tesreau plans to stay on the West Coast. "It's a better way of life for me here," she says. After finishing her Santa Barbara stint, Tesreau went to San Diego to tape an episode of the syndicated series Silk Stalkings. "I play a federal agent undercover as a gemologist, and I hope I'll be brought back for future episodes."

Thaao Penghlis (Micah) was less enthusiastic about his time on Santa Barbara. "All the promises made to me by the show were not fulfilled. I regret we never went to Italy to launch the Jodie / Micah love story", he says. "Kim was so wonderful to work with, it was interesting to have a family built around me, but we had nowhere to go." Following a holyday trip in London, where Penghlis spent his first "Dickens Christmas with relatives" he began production on an international miniseries, 1592. Penghlis explains, "1592 is the number of someone in prison (played by Penghlis). It is a wonderful love story, which we'll be shooting in Turkey, Cyprus and Athens. It is the first opportunity I will have to speak my mother language (Greek) as an actor. I may have to brush up a bit. It looks like they will be dubbing the series for release in the U.S.."

Bridgette Wilson's (Lisa) first motion picture, The Last Action Hero in which she co-stars with Arnold Schwarzenegger, will be released in June. When she reported for work on what supposed to be her last day at Santa Barbara, she discovered a revised shooting schedule taped to her dressing room that required her to be in the last four days of taping. Already heavy into filming the movie, Wilson reworked both schedules. On alternate days, she taped scenes for Santa Barbara in which Lisa is beaten up by Rich (Lonnie Quinn) and scenes for the film in which she battles villains. "I enjoyed the intensity of it all, but my body didn't. I'm bruised from neck to shin," she laughs. "I have to see a masseuse three times a wee. But that's acting !" Wilson was satisfied with Lisa's final moments on Santa Barbara. "My final scene in church with Giovanni (Enrico Mutti) is quaint, although I wish we'd had a chance to develop the long-term story between us. Originally, Lisa was going to transform into a gentler woman. The two would fall in love, causing Giovanni to leave the priesthood to be with her."

Forry Smith (Reese) is also set for a film, as the Green Hornet in the Universal release Dragon, the life story of Bruce Lee. Smith says Hornet was "one of Bruce's best friends, and starred with the marital artist in the 1967 TV program of the same name. In the movie, Bruce's son Jason plays his father, Lauren Holly (ex-Julie Chandler, All My Children) plays his wife, Linda, and Robert Wagner has a key role." Smith, who is romantically linked offscreen with General Hospital's Cheryl Richardson (Jenny) may even wind up on that show. Insiders report that General Hospital producers have "scrutinized Smith's work on Santa Barbara, and are very interested should the right role come along for him." As for the final days at Santa Barbara, Smith says, "I think it as important that the show end on such an upbeat note, especially after all the Walker family had been through."

Zimmer, matriarch of that family, has turned down a play in Florida to prepare for pilot season in Los Angeles. Eric Close (Sawyer) has embarked on a commercial career; a spot he did for the American Dairy Association is currently running. Sydney Penny (B.J.) is waiting to see what lies ahead for her. "As for a break before my next project, I hope it's just a little one. I don't like to sit around. I'm ready to roll, and I hope to land something as meaty as B.J.."

Sources confirm that Gordon Thomson (Mason) is looking for East Cost soap work. Contrary to industry rumors, Eileen Davidson (Kelly), Nina Arvesen (Angela) and Christina Brascia (Aurora) were not in New York to test for the role of One Life to Live's Gabrielle Medina Holden. "I've heard a lot of talk," says Davidson, "but I know nothing about any of this. I've also heard I was in town to audition for Frannie Hughes on As the World Turns. True, I was in New York on business and pleasure, but it was never to talk about joining any soap there."

Three Santa Barbara alumni have turned their attentions to behind-the-scenes activities. A deal has been put in motion at Paramount Pictures for Jack Wagner (Warren) to develop projects for that studio, which has a "first look, first refusal" right on anything he creates. This means Paramount gets to hear his ideas before anyone else, and then can choose to develop or pass on them. Robert Fontaine (Rafe) is in pre-production at Universal on a screenplay he wrote eight years ago called The Early Rebels. He will also produce the action feature, which is set in the 1950s, and star as the auto-mechanic leader of a gang of boys trying to get out of a small town.

Janis Paige (Minx) has no immediate plans to return to the New York stage, where she was a legend. She is, however, researching the possibility of mounting a production of Love Letters in Los Angeles, in which she would star with Santa Barbara son Nicolas Coster (Lionel). "I'm in L.A. to stay," says Paige, who will continue to oversee her late husband's (Oscar Winning composer Ray Gilbert) music publishing companies. The companies publish Brazilian music, including sambas and the classic The Girl From Ipanema. "I've been running them for the last 15 years. Without Santa Barbara, I will have more energy to pour into them," she says. Paige was on the phone to Japan "talking music" at 3 a.m. on the day of Santa Barbara's final taping. "I didn't think I would like being a business woman, but I love it now," she admits. "It's fascinating. It's not easy, but I enjoy the challenges. We need to be challenged in our lives, and we need to take risks."