A Thorpe In Here Side ...

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GL'S Maureen Garrett (Holly):
A Thorpe In Her Side, But The Pain Is Worth It

An Inside Look By Joanna Coons
Soap Opera NOW!, September 5, 1994.

If you're an avid soap opera fan, then relationships are your thing, and nowhere in the history of daytime has there ever been a story more fascinating and complex than the ongoing saga of Guiding Light's Holly and Roger. Soap opera romances come and go. Even the great love affairs don't last. But somehow, Holly and Roger have not merely withstood the test of time, they've prevailed in spite of it. Certainly, theirs was no idyllic love story. On the contrary, they were drawn together by a magnetic force over which they had no control. Like it or not, they have been a part of each other's history.

It began when Holly fell in love with womanizing Roger Thorpe who worked for her father. Roger led Holly on, even though he had the hots for her sister-in-law. She ended up marrying Ed Bauer but then had an affair with Roger which produced a child, Christina Blake Thorpe. Though she tried to make a go of her marriage to Ed, she was obsessed with Roger. After Ed divorced her, Holly finally married Thorpe, but the union was a nightmare from day one. He raped her and she pressed charges. Then at Roger's trial, she shot him and believed him to be dead. He returned to Springfield to see his baby daughter, hoping to kidnap her. But he ended up abducting Ed's new wife Rita instead. Ed tracked him down and struggled with Roger, who fell off a cliff, presumably to his death. Holly promptly left town with her child, hoping that would be the end of it. But years later, they both found themselves back in Springfield and were once again drawn to each other. She became involved with an emotionally unstable doctor who tried to kill her. Roger saved Holly in the nick of time, and once again the bond between them was reinforced. And so and on, seemingly ad infinitum.

No matter how badly Roger behaves, Holly is always there to pick up the pieces--eventually. Maureen Garrett, the exquisite actress whose chameleon-like performances have allowed us rare glimpses into the character, explains the Roger/Holly attachment this way: "Joyce Carol Oates said there's no love stronger than love-hate. I think that has bonded Holly to Roger from way back. It was just such a passion. A passion which has matured in other ways. I think he's the only guy who really knows her, challenges her. She clicks in with him the way she never has with anyone else. He makes her feel more alive and from that she learns more about loyalty and about betrayal. It hits her so deeply that I think she learns about all the major lessons in life from this relationship with him and I think that's part of the clue as to why it works as an ongoing story."

The other part is the sheer brilliance of Garrett and co-star Michael Zaslow, ensemble. Together, they make daytime viewing a riveting and unforgettable experience. 'I adore playing with him,' exudes the auburn-haired beauty. "We're such old friends and it's so remarkable as an actress to have such a relationship with an actor where all we have to do is look into each other's eyes. We have such a mutual respect and long-term good feelings for each other. "There's just nothing like it. I can just look into those baby browns and I'm right there. Whatever the scene is, Michael will just pull something out of me. It's very sweet."

No doubt that's one of the major reasons Maureen has never felt the urge to spread her wings and fly away from her GL family permanently. After a four-year stint, she left the show in 1980 and returned nine years later when her character was brought back. "I never had a fierce ambition to go to Hollywood," remarks the North Carolina native. Indeed, when she left the show, the actress plunged into theatre, which she admits she misses, and in 1983, ran an art and architectural furniture business on Long Island. Eventually, the call to act pulled her back to the stage and finally to daytime. "I really enjoy this little niche. Acting has always been so much fun for me and this [the show] has been a great playground for that."

Growing up Holly has been particularly fun for the vibrant star. "I especially adore when she goes through changes like she is now. When she goes on the bend, that's when it becomes interesting again. What's wonderful about playing a character on a soap is that inevitably you change. The talent of it is to find this line so you can maintain some kind of consistency but still allow the character to go through changes. In a way, the fact that she is sometimes described as neurotic helps because she doesn't always have to make terribly much sense. She can become a bit unhinged but then she always finds her way." Maureen says that after playing Holly for so long, she now understands why she would go along with Roger in his present plotting against Spaulding. "It came out of love. The woman has not had love in her life in so long, except for this deeply buried thing with Roger. She's able to experience first hand an on-going relationship and through that love, to put him first in the face of everybody else. So now she's the woman beside the man. Suddenly she's getting all geared up. She's excited by it, she likes the challenge. Does Holly turn bad? Well, yes, in a way."

Down the line if things with Roger go bust again, Maureen says Holly will get by. In fact her resiliency is the thing the actress most admires about her character. It is a trait they both share. "She lands on her feet. Through all the things that happened to her, through all the defeats. She's stumbled so many times but she's managed to crawl up slowly and duck her head from the next thing that was coming at her and get back up the basement stairs. That's something we have in common."

The urge to get to the bottom of things and speak out is something else Holly and Maureen have in common. In real life, the actress is currently involved in an inter-industry video project which was born out of her and fellow performers' dissatisfaction with the format of the Daytime Emmy telecast. "We're seeking to reform the Emmy program. We all felt the last show was the final straw. It trivialized us. It made us look like our shows are just about sex and that's very misleading, especially when you're trying to bring in a new audience. If you look at the subject matter more deeply, it's not just about hunks taking their shirts off. There's so much more to explore and make an entertaining evening about and that's what we want to do."

To that end, Maureen took her camera and began putting her colleagues' feelings on tape to get their input and suggestions. "I went around with a camera to actors on all the different shows. I also talked to producers and other people working in the industry to get their comments. Now we're editing it together and will then distribute it to the network heads. Pat Fili-Krushel, who is head of ABC where last year's prime-time Emmy show was produced, is very open to the project. We've gotten a lot of support. I think it just becomes time for the actors to speak up for themselves so they'll be heard. No one wants to get rid of the glamour or the sex appeal, but we'd like to expand people's view a little. Soaps deal with social realities, issues, and the histories of these families who live in the towns. All we're saying is, let's look at daytime a little more deeply. Give us a little more respect. I think people tune into the Emmys to see their favorite stars win. It's the same reason we watch the Academy Awards. I spoke to people who wanted to see more interesting clips, not just compilations of us kissing."

Maureen hopes that once the video is edited, viewers will get to see excerpts, either on the news or in some other time slot. "If there's enough of a response, we'll probably give it to one of the network news affiliates and then they can get it out for everyone to see."

Standing up for causes she believes in is nothing new to the actress, who was recently involved in a project on Long Island, where Maureen spends much of her free time. "I got involved with an environmental group," she explains. "We became so concerned with all the four wheel drive vehicles driving on the beach that it got so you couldn't go out and have a nice, quiet walk. There were all these big vehicles bearing down on you that you couldn't hear the wind or the waves. Many of us were so disheartened by it that we tried to fight it. So I went around interviewing people. It was more than just a video--it was a project to educate people about what was happening to the beaches. But we were so soundly defeated in the election that it kind of knocked the wind out of me. I really admire the people who get involved in the environmental movement. It's so important and it's also hard and it's frustrating. It's very difficult to change people's minds about things."

So for the moment, Maureen says she's taking a break from crusading. But it probably won't last long. Because like Holly, Maureen Garrett is too bright and too filled with life to remain passive about anything. In her work, in her quiet moments, what appears to drive her is a passion for living. In fact, she and Michael Zaslow are talking about teaming up to do a play. But not just any play. Tennessee Williams's Night of the Iguana--a tale of tormented souls brought together one steamy night to explore and dissect the depths of their emotions.

Sounds a little like Holly and Roger, doesn't it? Maureen Garrett smiles knowingly. What can she say? She's got a real Thorpe in her side! And she wouldn't have it any other way.

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