The women of Santa Barbara
By Jeffrey Pearlstein, Soap Opera Update, 1990	Home   Cette page en Français

They are the creme de la creme of Santa Barbara's high society – a breed of rare and passionate women who live life to the fullest, reaping the rewards of all their wants and desires. They're vibrant, intense, passionate, determined, alluring, seductive, flamboyant, mysterious, charming, witty and tempestuous. Just who are these multi-faceted women ? They're the women of Santa Barbara, and they make the town come alive with their glamour and appeal. And now the actresses who play these exciting women share their thoughts and feelings about the characters that they portray !

Karen Moncrieff (Cassandra Benedict)

The shrinking violet that blossoms :

"Cassandra starts off trying to convince everyone that she's just the girl next door – that kind of sweet, innocent, no hidden agenda kind of woman – but of course that's not true. It's kind of fun to play all these colors – the sweetness of an ingenue and also the vampy bitch !"

Haunted by her past :

"I guess she's a woman who is haunted by her past and uses her innate intelligence to maybe settle the score and manipulate the people around her into doing the things she wants them to do !"

Karen's hope for Cassandra's future :

"I'm just hoping they continue to explore Cassandra's background and don't make her into a bitch without a cause. So far she's had motivation for everything that she's done, and I hope that continues. I don‘t want her to be just a superficial kind of villain !"

What there is to admire and despise about Cassandra :

"There's probably a lot more to despise in her than to admire. What intrigues me about her is the way she goes after what she wants. I suppose that kind of perseverance is an admirable quality if she would just direct it in a positive manner. The most despicable thing is that she's unwilling to forgive the things that have happened in the past !"

Jack of all trades :

"One of the interesting things about Cassandra is that she's chameleon-like. She changes to suit the situation or the person she's talking to or the need of the day. If Mason needs a secretary, suddenly she becomes very adept at secretarial skills, or if Kelly needs a confidante, then suddenly she's everyone's best friend, or if Craig needs somebody to whip him into shape, then she does that. People who haven't really had a niche or security in their childhood make themselves indispensable and are good at assessing a situation and adjusting to it !"

Judith McConnell (Sophia Capwell)

The object of her desire :

"If Lionel, C.C. and Stephen were still vying for Sophia, it would be great ! She likes dangerous men and exciting men. Her passion is always C.C.. She loves him. And her passion is also Lionel, but she fights that all the time !"

Wise beyond her years :

"Sophia has wisdom and insight and she has very strong emotions – a great capacity for love and great anger ! She will do anything and everything for her children and to protect them !"

The allure of C.C. :

"Well she keeps talking about her independence from C.C. and then she leaves him for usually pretty good reasons, but she can't stay away from him.  Her goal is to have her independence from C.C. and not be lied to or manipulated by him anymore. But she loves him. They can't live with each other or without each other !"

What Judith admires and despises about Sophia :

"l admire her passions and her strength. I think that's great. I don't know if there's anything I really hate about her. This is an admirable woman. She's not a goody-two shoes and she's not a bitch, but she's strong. That's what I like about her !"

Marcy Walker (Eden Capwell Castillo)

On playing Eden :

"She's a strong person, but she's just a regular person. It can be very challenging at times because it's not very easy to play someone who's very middle of the road because their opinions are so diversified !"

Nancy Lee Grahn (Julia Wainwright Capwell)

How Nancy changed Julia :

"When I started playing Julia, I tried to color her as much as possible. At first she was so strong and independent, it seemed like she was a super-woman and I was concerned about that. I wanted to make her funny and compassionate and very multi-dimensional !"

Enjoying Julia :

"I love the character ! I think she's a really good character. I think anything is possible with her, but I would like to see her get into a little trouble !"

Louise Sorel (Augusta Lockridge)

Augusta's view of the world :

"Life's a banquet and most poor bastards are starving to death !"

Her passions :

"She's very emotional because she has a tremendous amount of passion for her family. She sometimes goes about it in the wrong way, but there's a tremendous amount of caring in her !"

How Augusta has changed :

"Augusta is an outrageous character and a free spirit who knows no rules or boundaries. She started out as this mysterious, controlling woman, but that sort of got lost in the shuffle somewhere. She was a classical bitch, but then was transformed into a woman with pain. John Conboy told me that he would like to see more darkness to Augusta... without losing the humor, of course !"

Louise's feelings about Augusta :

"I love her ! Whatever plotline she's in, there's always something quite delicious about the way she deals with it !"

The pairing of Lionel and Augusta :

"They're unpredictable characters who are wonderfully eccentric. I'm objective enough to be able to look at us and say we are really wonderful together. We are so powerful - with this incredible combination of actors and style and everything that we have going, it leaves me breathless !"

Shell Danielson (Laken Lockridge)

A misfit among the family :

"The Lockridges are looney toons, but she's sort of the straight-laced one who never really knows what's going on !"

Amado or Stephen :

"They both have this wonderful appeal, but they're both different. I know she cares about Amado, but they haven't really specified if she's in love with him. I think she might be, but she doesn't realize it. She's just so overwhelmed by this other man, Stephen, who is an authority figure, and in her eyes, he's very much like her father !"

What Laken wants :

"She really wants her parents to be back together. She wants that anchor. She's very close to her dad and just idolizes him. She's always been at odds with her mother, but she does love her. She also wants to become an actress !"

Robin Mattson (Gina Timmons)

A description of Gina :

"I would describe her as very resourceful. There really isn't one word that would describe Gina. She's a combination of things, as we all are, and she's a combination of extremes. She's manipulative, a liar and cunning, but on the other hand, she's a good mother, she cares about her family, and she certainly has a soft spot in her heart for certain men !"

The basic goal :

"It's probably to find some happiness and to live comfortably. However, she goes about obtaining these goals further than most people would in trying to reach them. She's very intent to get her hands on a great deal of money. Gina is also very ambitious and money-grubbing, but it never made any sense to her to try and earn a dollar through hard work or a profession. It's just who she can swindle out of it !"

How Robin would like to change Gina :

"I dislike the way she so dishonestly goes about doing things. I think she'd get a lot further if she just tried to approach things in a reasonable, honest manner. It would get her further ahead quicker than all the schemes, which are constantly blowing up in her face and making her look like an idiot. I wish they'd do something because I haven't been given material as meaty as I would like to be given. I would like to go in some extreme direction at this time - something to shake everybody up - and if I'm going to be bad, I'd rather be worse !"

The admirable side :

"I admire Gina's tenacity, her diligence and the warmth and affection she shows her son !"

Stella Stevens (Phyllis Blake)

She's sooo outrageous :

"She seems to have unlimited eccentricities and she's just terrible - a hustler and a liar. Phyllis is thought of as more of a comedic character, but all of that is camouflage to make you think that she's not quite so deadly dangerous as she truly is. All of this dinginess and dinginess and all of her eccentricities in the way she looks and dresses, is just to throw you off to make you think she can't be that bad, but she really is !"

The transformation of Phyllis :

"Phyllis has gone through a little bit of a transformation and she's not quite as flamboyant. The bad part about Phyllis is that she's such an uneducated woman, that if she were to get a whole lot of money, she'd probably blow it on gambling or something. She has no idea of how to get by in life on a level where she has money ! Phyllis needs to get a little better educated so she can actually fit in and become one of these grand matrons of Santa Barbara !"

Her humble beginnings :

"She's from the streets - a show girl and a gambler from Atlantic City. She only knows cards and dice and guys that talk that lingo, and has never been exposed to high society till now !"

What Stella admires about Phyllis :

"The quality that I admire about Phyllis is still her optimism. She's fiercely motherly towards her family, which I think is good. She's also trying to make up for anything she's done in the past that was bad."