Forever your girl - soap opera digest march 2007

 

Its been four years since Vanessa Marcil left the role of GH's Brenda she originated in 1992, played until 1998, and reprised from 2002-03, picking up a Daytime Emmy along the way. Since then, she’s been lighting up prime-time once a week as sassy Sam on the NBC drama Las Vegas. Marcil checked in w/Digest about her ongoing connection to Port Charles, the possibility of a daytime comeback and even (sorta!) addresses her rumored real-life engagement.

Digest:It seems hard to believe that 4 yrs have gone by since you left GH?
Marcil: It was a magical time for me on GH. I was able to work with who I feel are the best actors around: Steve Burton (Jason), Kimberly McCullogh (Robin), Maurice Benard (Sonny)-I wouldn't be an actress if it wasn't for Maurice Benard, Ingo Rademacher (Jax), Jonathan Jackson (ex-Lucky), and Amber Tamblyn (ex-Emily). To be on that show at a time when Genie Francis (Laura) and Tony Geary (Luke) had just come back...to ever get a chance to work near them was a magical feeling. Such unique talents were all there at one time and you couldn't help but realize how lucky you were to have scenes w/any of them.

Digest: Brenda's memory certainly still looms large for a lot of the fans.
Marcil: I'm in awe always that anyone else, anyone else in the world, still feels the same way about her as I do. I think everyone knows that I have a huge love affair with Brenda and with the show. It really has been the joy of my life to play her. I know I sound corny, but I still feel like I was born to play her. I love her. I think about her. I dream about what she's doing and why she's doing it. She has stayed with me.

Digest: Who from the cast have you stayed in touch with?
Marcil: Everyone. There's no one I haven't kept in touch with, and whenever I talk to any of them, I feel as though no time has passed. I was actually on the set of my show the other night working really late, and everyone wanted to know if anyone dies in the (hostage crisis) that was going on, on GH. They said, "you have to call somebody!"

Digest: Did you?
Marcil: I called Steve Burton. He's so cute; they had been shooting late, too, so he called me back at 1 o'clock in the morning. He was like, "I can't tell anyone what happens!" He was very diplomatic (laughs). But the point is, it's been four years and I can still call Steve at midnight and he'll call me back at 1 to let me know what's happening in Port Charles.

Digest: Do you ever watch the show?
Marcil: Unfortunately, I didn't have the time. And I'll be honest: If it (happens to be) on, sometimes I'll turn (the channel) because I get too nostalgic and sad because I want to be there!

Digest: How do you feel about a possible Brenda recast?
Marcil: I always want what's best for the show because the show is the real star. We're all replaceable; I'm no exception. But if they did recast Brenda and it was success, I would be heartbroken because I would never (be able to) come back.

Digest: You've always said, "never say never," about a daytime return.
Marcil: I've never even said, "Never say never," because I want to (come back)! I would love to. I've only left twice and it was more to make sure that my personal life was put first .It never had anything to do with seeing if there was more out there for me as an actress; I don't think there's anything bigger or better than being as loved as I was with Brenda. It's just a lot of work to be on that show full-time.

Digest: When you left the last time, you said spending time with your son, Kassius, was top priority. Does LAS VEGAS' schedule allow you to do that in a way GH didn't?
Marcil: We have 14-to-18 hour days on the set of Las Vegas, and it gets crazy, but what they've done for me, which is really lovely, is put all of my scenes in 2 or 3 days. So, I'll have 3 brutal 18-hour days and then 4 days off in a row. It's still tough, but I definitely get more days off. It's also easier to spend a lot more time with Kassius because he comes to set with me. When you're shooting a single camera show, they'll shoot one side (of a scene) and then you have a 40 minute break while they turn the cameras around to shoot the other side. On GH, when I would walk up those stairs to the stage, I wouldn't walk back down for sometimes 15 to 20 scenes later, so it was a good 5 or 6 hrs sometimes without even being able to check on him.

Digest: Switching gears for a moment, we have to ask, where do you keep your Emmy?
Marcil: It was in Kassius's room for a while because he was kind of enamored with it. But I got worried about the sharp tips of those wings. So, it went out of his room. Then, the Xbox wouldn't stay up, so it was holding up our Xbox (laughs). Now it's holding down all of my DVDs because they were falling all over the place. I'm so proud of it and it really means so much to me, but I feel like a jerk putting it up in some big special spot for everyone to see when they came in the house.

Digest: You must have been sad about the passing of our former BEVERLY HILLS, 90210 boss, Aaron Spelling( she played skater Gina from 1998-2000) last year.
Marcil: He gave me two experiences that I had never had before. One was for someone to just give me a job. I never read for the man; I had never met the man; and as crazy as it sounds, I had never seen 90210.It was an amazing experience for me that he had that kind of faith in me. The other was that it turned out to become the most important job I've ever had because it's where I met Brian (Green,ex-David), and that's why I had Kassius.

Digest: We hate to sond like a prying in-law, but well, we will. Have you considered giving Kassius a brother or sister?
Marcil:Oh, yeah, definitely. He's been the greatest experience of my life. I'll definitely have more kids.

Digest; So, you must know what question is coming now....
(Marcil chuckles.)

Digest: You made headlines earlier this year when it was reported that you got engaged, but refused to name your fiance'. Speculation is the mystery man is filmmaker Ben Younger, care to comment?
Marcil: I have no comment. As you know, my romantic life has been...portrayed so incorrectly, so I just finally got to the point where I thought, "I'm just not going to talk about it because I either get misquoted or they write something that's not true. "People know me as being pretty frank about everything; the only thing I'm not frank about are things that I just don't consider anybody's business. I've never had a real marriage (Marcil was briefly wed to actor Corey Feldman; the union was annulled), never lived with a man and been his wife. I've been engaged two times (to GH's Tyler Christopher and Brian Austin Green), as you know because I spoke about it when I was. Anytime there's any really big, important relationship in my life. (As for) anything else, the main thing that I say to people who are interested is, if you don't hear something out of someone's mouth, then it's probably not true.

Digest: Fair enough. But you will let us know when you do want to talk about it?
Marcil:You know I will!
 

**thanks to KiPitt for typing up this article