Brian Damage
09-29-2009, 11:08 PM
Is there such a thing as too much Crystal Chappell? Not possible! Thanks to her fast and awesome leap from Guiding Light to Days of Our Lives, the unending fuss over “Otalia” and the breathless anticipation for her upcoming Web series "Venice," this Emmy-winning actress has been everywhere lately—from The New York Times to Vanity Fair to CNN International. And there’s a feature on Chappell in the October 12 issue of TV Guide Magazine! Here are some tidbits and outtakes from the piece—along with some hope for “Otalia” fans!
You’re suddenly all the rage at a time when most actresses your age are faced with diminishing options.
[Laughs] Are you saying I’m old?
I’m saying you’re breaking all the rules.
I don’t think about age that way.
You never worry about it?
Well, sure I do. [Laughs] There have been those days when the makeup lady at work has to lift up my sagging lids to get the eye shadow in there. I don’t plan on staying here forever. I’ll stay as long as I’m welcome, and when I’m not welcome anymore I’ll move on to something else. I’m not married to this life. I’ll just keep doing things I feel passionate about and have fun. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to be doing here, having fun? Peter Reckell [Bo on Days] wanted to look at all the old footage to remember what happened when our characters were involved with each other. He said to me, “Did you go back and watch that stuff?” And I’m, like, “Uh…no thanks.” Who needs to look at yourself 18 years ago? Just gimme that really blurry soft-lens stuff.
Back to breaking all the rules…
I think it’s the soaps that broke the rules when they started making everything about the young. They went after the 12-to-17 crowd and it didn’t work. “Otalia” proves there’s an audience dying for something fresh and mature. With everything going wrong in the world today it’s nice to see people falling in love—gay, straight or otherwise. It’s comforting. It’s fascinating. People miss that multi-generational aspect of soaps. I know I do. Even as a 16 -year-old, I cared about the older characters and their romantic lives. I loved Viki and Clint on One Life to Live and wanted to be their daughter.
It’s easy to see why “Otalia” would strike a chord with lesbians but a lot of straight women also connected with that story in a big way. They loved it. Many felt liberated by it. What does that say about the modern soap audience?
It says that people recognize a good love story. We had GL viewers who said, ‘I never thought I’d approve of two women falling in love, but I’m on board with this!” I think that’s a great achievement! I’d get letters that made me weep from people so affected by “Otalia” that they wanted to share their own stories. A lot of them were lesbian. A lot of them were straight. Everybody’s looking for connection. That’s why things like Twitter and Facebook are so popular. It’s the new watercooler, where people go and hang out and talk about what’s important to them. The “Otalia” story has brought people together and now they’ve formed a community. They’ve become friends. They’ve become family. They have meetings. They have barbecues. And I’m so impressed by that!
I take it you’ve seen the fan-created Hilter video—the one where the Fuhrer has a hissy fit because Olivia and Natalia won’t kiss?
It’s hilarious! I have that one on my Facebook page. And the frickin’ Twitter song! I love it all. It’s amazing what the fans come up with which is why we’re making “Venice” truly interactive. People are contributing art and music, they’re even offering to subtitle the show into foreign languages. Our splash page for “Venice” right now is in 85 countries and we haven’t even put up any content yet.
You know “Venice” has to be pretty damn astounding, right? The expectation factor is huge.
It is what it is. It will be what it will be. Like it or not, it’s what we’re doing.
So you’re feeling no pressure?
I don’t live like that.
Just how lesbian is “Venice”?
It’s an old-fashioned soap opera about family and community that just happens to have lesbian characters. It will be real. There will be physical intimacy, though nothing gratuitous. There will be enough to make people happy and content, but we won’t be strapping anything on.
Damn.
It won’t be lesbians-gone wild. [Laughs] Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’ve been at a couple of those parties, that’s all I’m sayin.’
There was some disappointment from the “Otalia” groupies when you announced in our last interview that you and Jessica Leccia will be playing ex-lovers on “Venice.” Can’t you give ’em some hope? Say something encouraging!
We wanted to do something different than we did on GL. It’s more interesting for the audience and for us as actors. But my character, Gina, and Jessica’s character, Ani, do have a wonderful connection and they love each other very much. However, because of Gina’s emotional limitations she can’t have a relationship right now.
So yet more longing and yearning and waiting with you two? Well, it’s worked for you so far.
At the top of the first episode, Gina and Ani have just spent the night together. They’ve reconnected after not seeing each other for a year, so you will see a kiss, but you soon realize that Gina has incredible intimacy issues, and you’re left to wonder what’s going to happen to them during the series. Will they get back together? Can they get back together? Will other people come into their lives? Like I said, it’s a good ol’ soap!
http://www.tvguidemagazine.com/soaps/theres-no-stopping-crystal-chappell--2595.html#
You’re suddenly all the rage at a time when most actresses your age are faced with diminishing options.
[Laughs] Are you saying I’m old?
I’m saying you’re breaking all the rules.
I don’t think about age that way.
You never worry about it?
Well, sure I do. [Laughs] There have been those days when the makeup lady at work has to lift up my sagging lids to get the eye shadow in there. I don’t plan on staying here forever. I’ll stay as long as I’m welcome, and when I’m not welcome anymore I’ll move on to something else. I’m not married to this life. I’ll just keep doing things I feel passionate about and have fun. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to be doing here, having fun? Peter Reckell [Bo on Days] wanted to look at all the old footage to remember what happened when our characters were involved with each other. He said to me, “Did you go back and watch that stuff?” And I’m, like, “Uh…no thanks.” Who needs to look at yourself 18 years ago? Just gimme that really blurry soft-lens stuff.
Back to breaking all the rules…
I think it’s the soaps that broke the rules when they started making everything about the young. They went after the 12-to-17 crowd and it didn’t work. “Otalia” proves there’s an audience dying for something fresh and mature. With everything going wrong in the world today it’s nice to see people falling in love—gay, straight or otherwise. It’s comforting. It’s fascinating. People miss that multi-generational aspect of soaps. I know I do. Even as a 16 -year-old, I cared about the older characters and their romantic lives. I loved Viki and Clint on One Life to Live and wanted to be their daughter.
It’s easy to see why “Otalia” would strike a chord with lesbians but a lot of straight women also connected with that story in a big way. They loved it. Many felt liberated by it. What does that say about the modern soap audience?
It says that people recognize a good love story. We had GL viewers who said, ‘I never thought I’d approve of two women falling in love, but I’m on board with this!” I think that’s a great achievement! I’d get letters that made me weep from people so affected by “Otalia” that they wanted to share their own stories. A lot of them were lesbian. A lot of them were straight. Everybody’s looking for connection. That’s why things like Twitter and Facebook are so popular. It’s the new watercooler, where people go and hang out and talk about what’s important to them. The “Otalia” story has brought people together and now they’ve formed a community. They’ve become friends. They’ve become family. They have meetings. They have barbecues. And I’m so impressed by that!
I take it you’ve seen the fan-created Hilter video—the one where the Fuhrer has a hissy fit because Olivia and Natalia won’t kiss?
It’s hilarious! I have that one on my Facebook page. And the frickin’ Twitter song! I love it all. It’s amazing what the fans come up with which is why we’re making “Venice” truly interactive. People are contributing art and music, they’re even offering to subtitle the show into foreign languages. Our splash page for “Venice” right now is in 85 countries and we haven’t even put up any content yet.
You know “Venice” has to be pretty damn astounding, right? The expectation factor is huge.
It is what it is. It will be what it will be. Like it or not, it’s what we’re doing.
So you’re feeling no pressure?
I don’t live like that.
Just how lesbian is “Venice”?
It’s an old-fashioned soap opera about family and community that just happens to have lesbian characters. It will be real. There will be physical intimacy, though nothing gratuitous. There will be enough to make people happy and content, but we won’t be strapping anything on.
Damn.
It won’t be lesbians-gone wild. [Laughs] Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’ve been at a couple of those parties, that’s all I’m sayin.’
There was some disappointment from the “Otalia” groupies when you announced in our last interview that you and Jessica Leccia will be playing ex-lovers on “Venice.” Can’t you give ’em some hope? Say something encouraging!
We wanted to do something different than we did on GL. It’s more interesting for the audience and for us as actors. But my character, Gina, and Jessica’s character, Ani, do have a wonderful connection and they love each other very much. However, because of Gina’s emotional limitations she can’t have a relationship right now.
So yet more longing and yearning and waiting with you two? Well, it’s worked for you so far.
At the top of the first episode, Gina and Ani have just spent the night together. They’ve reconnected after not seeing each other for a year, so you will see a kiss, but you soon realize that Gina has incredible intimacy issues, and you’re left to wonder what’s going to happen to them during the series. Will they get back together? Can they get back together? Will other people come into their lives? Like I said, it’s a good ol’ soap!
http://www.tvguidemagazine.com/soaps/theres-no-stopping-crystal-chappell--2595.html#