Here's an interview with the actresses that play Bianca and Maggie - interview in the latest issue of Soap Opera Digest - transcription copied from the Eden Riegel Board. They sound like they get it - much like Amber did - and know how important they are to people dealing with coming out, etc. I hope AMC goes through with it and there's a good chance if Agnes Nixon is on board - she always wanted this storyline because she had a friend in college who was a lesbian (and that's going way back...)
RIOT GIRLS
By Mara Levinsky
When Eden Riegel and Elizabeth Hendrickson get together, it's a Guaranteed Good Time. But they're not afraid of a little controversy -- and they hope AMC isn't, either.
Will they or won't they? That's the question on on many ALL MY CHILDREN fans' minds as the show takes baby steps toward its first lesbian pairing. Here, real-life pals Elizabeth Hendrickson (Maggie) and Eden Riegel (Bianca) discuss taking their onscreen friendship to the next level.
DIGEST: How did you two make the leap from co-stars to friends?
EDEN RIEGEL: I thought Liz was awesome from the first day she was on the show [as Frankie]. She's really outgoing and fun, and she'S such a sweetheart. We just clicked. She makes me laugh; we laugh and have fun. We like each other! We can't help it.
ELIZABETH HENDRICKSON: There's nothing to not like about the girl. I mean, really. She's extremely bright and sweet and warm. The first time I met her, she came straight up to me -- I was very nervous on my first day, and she was easing the pain, telling me what to expect.
RIEGEL: I never would have known she was nervous. She was cool as a cucumber. She had a lot to do that day, a lot of scenes with Susan [Lucci, Erica], and she would just give it to her, really feisty. There was this energy about her. [To Hendrickson] That first day, I went down to Judy [Blye Wilson, casting director] after you were done.
HENDRICKSON: You did?
RIEGEL: I was like, "Thank you, Judy!!"
HENDRICKSON: Oh, wow.
DIGEST: When Liz left the s how last year, was it hard to say Good-bye?
HENDRICKSON: It was. I was very upset. I just felt... I felt I shouldn't be leaving. I wanted to get something nice for her, so I went to the store and got a couple of fun things.
RIEGEL: I totally didn't expect it. She got me this address book, and in between where you write the addresses are interspersed different movie posters from the genre of the lesbian vixen. I've never seen any of [the films], but the posters are extremely interesting, like, "What happens behind the walls of that all-girl boarding school [laughs]?" But saying good-bye was really hard. She told me early on that she had a short-term contract, but she was so good that I didn't believe it. I thought, "they're going to keep her. they'D be so stupid to let her go." And then, when she got word of the exact day she was leaving, I was devastated.
DIGEST: Did you keep in touch while Liz was gone?
HENDRICKSON: We e-mailed a lot. And I had a housewarming party. At, like, 1 in the morning, my roommate came running over: "Eden's here, Eden'S here!" I got so excited: "She came!" I ran, and she was there, with a bottle of champagne. Oh, it was so great.
RIEGEL: Then she told me over e-mail when she got the call from [Executive Producer] Jean [Dedario Burke] asking her to come back. I was like, "See, they're not stupid. They know when they've got a star."
DIGEST: Do you hang out a lot outside of work?
HENDRICKSON: We mostly hang out at work. It's funny, because as good friends as we are, we are really night and day.
RIEGEL: I think night and day is actually a good way to describe it. I'm a day person and she'S a night person. Liz is helping me with my wilder side.
HENDRICKSON: I'm not that wild! I mean, I'm not out of control by any means.
RIEGEL: And she has so many friends! I went to her birthday party -- how many people were there?
HENDRICKSON: A little over 60.
RIEGEL: Sixty people! I don't know 60 poeple.
HENDRICKSON: But I never had that before, you know? Girls never really liked me.
DIGEST: And now all the girls like you!
HENDRICKSON: The straight ones and the gay ones!
DIGEST: what do you think accounts for your on-screen chemistry?
RIEGEL: Chemistry can't be faked, I think. and when two people like each other, there's an energy between them that's undeniable.
HENDRICKSON: When I started, my friends were telling me what great chemistry we had, and I didn'T notice it. But now that I've worked with probably half the cast, I realize what amazing chemistry we have together. I'll have to work with men and really, I'm heterosexual, but I have more chemistry with her! I'm trying to have romances with boys, but I don't know, I just feel it with her!
RIEGEL: I feel it too, Liz! You'Re not alone.
HENDRICKSON: I called my mother and I said, "Mom, I don't know what I'm going to do! What if I work on another show and I have to be with men? Am I secretly hiding something [laughs]?"
DIGEST: So many fans want a romance between Maggie and Bianca -- and it's not every day that viewers ask to see a gay couple.
RIEGEL: We want it, too. I think Liz will agree that it would be an amazing storyline. It would be an important storyline.
HENDRICKSON: Definitely.
RIEGEL: Every single day, I meet a fan who has been spoken to personally by what they see on the screen. I realize what an incredible opportunity we have to show a real love between two women that really speaks to people and can promote tolerance and respect.
HENDRICKSON: That's one of the reasons that I took the role of Frankie. They didn't necessarily say that Frankie was going to be a lesbian, but they alluded to that fact that she could be. I felt that I could make an impact, and what better way to choose a role? I am more than willing to go that way.
RIEGEL: I would feel so safe playing a scene of intimacy with Liz. Not that we have any say!
HENDRICKSON: If we had any say in it, it would have happened a long time ago.
RIEGEL: But that's not to say that it won't happen, and when it does, I think the show has proven i tself capable of doing the storyline in a very sensitive and positive way. Nobody could do it better than ALL MY CHILDREN.
HENDRICKSON: I met a mother at Super Soap Weekend who came up to me in tears about how her son was gay and because of our storyline, he had come out to her, and it made their relationship so much stronger. That's amazing!
DIGEST: So, we know Bianca's gay, but what about Maggie?
HENDRICKSON: there's a huge question mark hanging over her head, isn't there? But I think that almost any woman at that age [has one]. I think every woman and every man, at some point in their life... It's only natural to think twice about your sexual orientation.
DIGEST: When you took on your roles, did you anticipate at all how much your storyline would affect you personally?
HENDRICKSON: I'll be completely honest. When I signed with my agency, they asked me, "What do you want to do and what do you not want to do?" And I said, "I will not do soaps." I didn't want to be involved in a medium that I didn't feel would challenge me. But after a couple of years of pounding the pavement and not getting a job, I was like, "Okay!" After my very first day, I realized how challenging it would be. You take on a whole new life with your character.
RIEGEL: I did anticipate being affected. But I think it has more so than I expected because of the nature of the storyline and the fans. I meet them, and I am actually making an impact on their lives. I'm just an actress, you know? But there are people listening, people who really care. It means so much when fans come up and talk to us because they care so much. It makes us care so much, too. I mean, this is our lives -- it's not just our job.
END
by xita » Wed Oct 16, 2002 8:41 pm 
at: 10/20/02 3:04:22 pm
Spice 
