Source: TV Guide Online
Author: Jonathan Reiner
Date: March 14, 2000
The writers of South Pacific tell us that there is nothing like a dame,
and I'm here to tell you that there is no one like Catherine Hickland. A
truly divine human being, she personifies the word girlfriend. There is
nothing phony about this actress, who is part Dr. Laura (she gives great
advice for the lovelorn — trust me!), part Linda Dano (she's got style
to spare) and part Ethel Merman (she can sell a song like nobody's
business). Did I mention that she's burning up the small screen as
tragic vixen Lindsay Rappaport on OLTL? If you love great drama (and who
doesn't?), you owe it to yourself to watch La Diva Hickland on OLTL! —
Jonathan Reiner
You looked great in that wedding dress during Lindsay's fantasy before Christmas.
Oh, that was my real wedding dress! It was the actual dress that I got married in when Michael [Knight] and I got married. I wanted to wear it as a little inside joke. I didn’t announce it or tell the magazines that I was doing it.
That’s wild!
And you know what? It was really interesting because I had my dress, as many women do after they get married, professionally cleaned and put in a special box that preserves it. And when I got this thing out of the closet and saw it for the first time in seven years on the hanger, it really made me feel so nostalgic. And then I tried it on. Of course, a breast reduction later — and after all it was 1992 and the shoulders were huge — and it was hysterical. We really had to do some serious alterations on the top part of that dress!
Was it weird being back in it, though?
Not weird bad... it was weird in a cool sense, you know? It was great.
That was such a hilarious scene, and the whole relationship between Lindsay, Bo, Nora and Sam has really developed roots.
I feel really privileged to work with Hillary [B. Smith] and Bob [Woods, who play Nora and Bo] and it’s really been great for us. I would watch the other shows and see these great tangled-up stories that go on for years and I’ve never been a part of one until now. And I love it, love it, love it.
And the characters continue to develop. Lindsay has changed since she first came to town.
You think?
She’s not half as needy.
I agree. I think that’s a good thing.
Do you think she’s changed?
Of course, falling in love and getting a man like Bo Buchanan to fall in love with her has helped her change. That’s the tragedy of this story for me — just when she’s secure that someone loves her with all her flaws, and then to have it all blow up... it's great because it can refuel her fury.
She's a great character because she's flawed.
Hi, who isn’t?
And we’ve seen her try to redeem herself, so by now we've invested emotion in Lindsay. And I think one of the reasons why the character works so well is because you put so much work into her.
Thanks. I appreciate that.
The scenes I'm thinking about right now are the toy factory scenes where even though Bo and Nora insisted there was nothing going on....
Oh, the hissy fit!
Those could have come across as stereotypical bitch scenes, but you really brought them to life.
I have to thank [executive producer] Jill Farren Phelps for that. I was having a hard time with that. Sometimes when there’s going to be a certain kind of behavior exhibited that’s so different from my own, I have a hard time justifying it because I think, "Who acts like this?" — and one of Jill’s many strengths is that she can talk you into a performance and make it make sense in your head. She can really talk me into making an absolute fool out of myself as a character and commit to it and believe in it so that I don’t have to go sit on the front steps with a bottle of Jack Daniels after work that night.
Have you done that in the past?
No, I’m just saying that when you play a neurotic character and you work five days a week and you’re in a heavy, emotional storyline, it wears on you. It does. You know, men... I just read this interview with Eric Braeden (Victor, Y&R) — I don’t know what magazine it was in but it was just basically saying how he doesn’t understand people who take their characters home with them. Well, I understand that he can say that because men never have to play these types of scenes. Actors don’t — they punch walls! It’s only actresses that have to emote that way. And it’s not some switch you flip on and off; it’s inside of you and it wears you out.
Is that something you and the other actresses talk about, how the actors have it easy?
No. I don’t really sit around with people having "actor talk." I hate that. I’m just trying to make what I said make sense to you. I just really think — and I’m not putting Eric Braeden down by any means — that you have to understand [it's hard] when you have to stay in a highly emotional storyline for days and days and days, and you really have to commit to the material. And it’s because of Jill that I was able to get through those scenes. You've got to admit, it makes your... you know....
It made you want to hate the character.
Yeah, it made you tense to watch it!
I think it’s great how your storyline is front burner at the same time the kids' storyline is. The over-40 crowd has taken a backseat on a lot of soaps.
Lately I haven’t had much of a chance to watch other shows as I really like to do, so I wasn’t aware of that. It's all because Jill wants to play all the age groups, so that’s good that you noticed that on our show.
Once Lindsay’s story quiets down, as I’m sure it eventually will, any other singing projects on the back burner?
I'm trying to plan a really big show for May or June. I just haven’t done it yet because of a lack of time. My friend Drew, who lives in London, is doing some new vocal arrangements of some new songs. I’m going to start working on a lot of new music mix on Wednesday.
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