betsy and alexandra and kathryn

[loril54]

I think AM and KLS  characters changed.  They were  not as feisty as they used to be. The show kind of turned into the Barnabas Collins show and his problems. They had rolls that became less than what they were.  NB I think was the only actress that got to do some real challenging things.  Maybe these things worked together, AM wanting out and the change in the character.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I didn't get the sense from any comments by the DS actors that Alexandra thought working on DS was "beneath" her.

Well, Lara Parker certainly seemed to think so - and the quote Midnite shared with us said as much in as many words:
"She didn't need to do anything. She was a socialite basically, that was her posture.  She had come from a lot of money. The show was beneath her." Though, of course, that was simply LP's perception of Alexandra's feeling, which may have shared little to absolutely no resemblance whatsoever to how Alexandra herself actually felt. That can be the trouble with stating a perception - it can often be colored by the perceivee's own bias.

because i love the show and am also so fond of alexandra's portrayal of vicki it makes me sad to know that she "hated" being on the show.

And that feeling of sadness is why I've often said that it was probably a blessing that Alexandra was finally allowed to leave. As I've said, by the time she left Vicki had become a mere shadow (pun fully intended) of her former self and was basically a doormat for every villain to torment. Vicki had lost nearly all the spark that had made her so interesting during DS' first year. And let's face it, taking the dissatisfaction with how one's role had degraded and combining it with having to work so closely alongside RD nearly every day could have been enough to make almost any actor want to jump out of their skin.    Almost any remarks Alexandra might have made at the time of her departure would have been perfectly understandable.

The one thing that I do find ironic is that once Betsy Durkin took over Vicki, Vicki suddenly displayed a great deal of the backbone that Vicki had once had and Alexandra had not been given to play for the longest time...

[Nancy]

Well, Lara Parker certainly seemed to think so - and the quote Midnite shared with us said as much in as many words:
"She didn't need to do anything. She was a socialite basically, that was her posture.  She had come from a lot of money. The show was beneath her." Though, of course, that was simply LP's perception of Alexandra's feeling, which may have shared little to absolutely no resemblance whatsoever to how Alexandra herself actually felt. That can be the trouble with stating a perception - it can often be colored by the perceivee's own bias.

Ah, yes, MB. I stand (or sit) corrected.  I'll rephrase it and say that other than LP's comment, I haven't gotten the impression other DS felt that way. If they did, they didn't say. I should also say that LP is the one most likely to make a negative comment about a colleague, apart from RD.  The other performers, I'm happy to say, do not seem inclined to making public negative comments about co-workers.

People who come from can automatically incur the wrath of those who have to struggle.   However, it doesn't make them any less human and they don't lose their right to be dissatisified with a work situation.  I feel it is appropriate, if a pregnancy is difficult, that an actor be allowed out of her contract because that is a health issue.  I don't think it's okay to quit a contract simply because you are unhappy with what you are doing.

Nancy

[michael c]

it's true that for whatever reason the writer's decided that of the three "ingenue" actresses nancy barrett's characters were allowed to be "flawed"...and for a particularly scrumptous period in 1967 carolyn was a royal b*tch!

where as alexandra and kathryn always played the goody-two-shoes.

[Willie Loomis]

it's true that for whatever reason the writer's decided that of the three "ingenue" actresses nancy barrett's characters were allowed to be "flawed"...and for a particularly scrumptous period in 1967 carolyn was a royal b*tch!

where as alexandra and kathryn always played the goody-two-shoes.

i always felt that carolyn's character seemed to have the right to be the bytch she was.  it was part of her dark unhappy character.   it worked well with her spoiled-ness and her sense of entitlement.    carolyn was one of the best charcters in my opinion.   i loved her darkness.  

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I should also say that LP is the one most likely to make a negative comment about a colleague, apart from RD.  The other performers, I'm happy to say, do not seem inclined to making public negative comments about co-workers.

Oh, I don't know that that's actually the case. When it comes to their co-workers, other DS stars may not make negative comments in interviews or on the Fest stage, but they have made them in public in, say, the Fest ballroom - and loud enough to be completely within earshot of fans. When it comes to two other stars who shall remain nameless, I know this for a fact because I've heard their comments with my own ears - and not simply in isolated incidents. Though be that as it may, and as disappointed as I may have been to hear such comments coming from them, it simply proves one thing: the DS stars are only too human, and they sometimes have petty jealousies just like the majority of everyone else (and they're not always as discrete as they probably should be about them).

[Nancy]

And I dont doubt your experience, MB. I was only relating my own experience.

Nancy

Oh, I don't know that that's actually the case. When it comes to their co-workers, other DS stars may not make negative comments in interviews or on the Fest stage, but they have made them in public in, say, the Fest ballroom - and loud enough to be completely within earshot of fans. When it comes to two other stars who shall remain nameless, I know this for a fact because I've heard their comments with my own ears - and not simply in isolated incidents. Though be that as it may, and as disappointed as I may have been to hear such comments coming from them, it simply proves one thing: the DS stars are only too human, and they sometimes have petty jealousies just like the majority of everyone else (and they're not always as discrete as they probably should be about them).

[Patti Feinberg]

mscbryk...I *think* (hmm) that KLS's character was somewhat 'flawed' also; the dysfunctional family....

Also, I would've enjoyed seeing KLS in Nancy Barrett's role in the Leviathan arc. Perhaps not marrying Mr. ChIPs, but at least I can see her going to & helping out at the antique shop.

imho,

Patti

[michael c]

patti,

you're right about maggie...she was indeed "flawed"(especially in 1966 when she was collinsport's town gossip).

but at heart maggie was essentially a "good girl" as was vicki.carolyn got to be downright nasty which they never really did.

[IluvBarnabas]

I like Betsy Durkin's Victoria Winters.  She brought energy to the role.  Mine isn't a useful opinion, though, because I rarely have much use for Moltke's Victoria. 

Of course I didn't like Groves's Victoria; it was too much like Moltke's.

I feel the opposite....while I didn't dislike Betsy Durkin, I thought Carolyn Groves was a better replacement precisely because she was a lot like Alexandra's Vicki.


Anyway, I am glad someone likes Betsy though. From what I've heard she is very nice and gracious in real life. But Alexandra will always be my favorite Vicki, even when she was reduced from the fiesty young girl at the beginning to the show to the clueless, helpless victim she became.

[IluvBarnabas]

Also, I loved the female buddy chemistry between Alexandra and Kathryn. Sorry to say, I didn't see any of it between Kathryn and Betsy when Betsy took over as Vicki.