Catching Up With Brynn Thayer

She's starring on a new series with James Brolin ---
but she'd just love the chance to return to daytime.
Soap Opera Magazine
October 14, 1997

"I couldn't contain myself," explains Brynn Thayer, who acted like a starstruck fan at a recent awards dinner. "I walked up to Maurice Benard's (ex-Sonny, GH) table and, although I wanted to give him his privacy, I said, 'When you did that thing a couple of weeks ago, it was incredible.'" Benard had no idea the beautiful blonde addressing him had for seven years been a fan-favorite Jenny Renaldi on OLTL. "The best all-time fans are soap fans and I'm one of them," she freely confesses.

This upbeat, girl-next-door type never dreamed she would build a successful acting career. After college she taught elementary school for three years in a small town outside of Dallas, where she was raised. When her best friend decided to move to the East Coast, Thayer went along on a lark.

In New York, Thayer discovered she had a natural acting ability and easily found work doing TV commercials. Then she landed her OLTL job when Katherine Glass, who originated the role, became embroiled in a contractual dispute, according to Thayer. "The producers needed to replace her, fast. I was by no meansa seasoned professional, but I knew the soaps and right before my audition, I got my hair cut just like Kathy's (Glass) because I knew the producers would like somebody who looked similar to her so that the audience wouldn't be so shocked. To this day, I'm convinced that's why I got the part.

"I was such a novice while Judith Light (ex-Karen) and Steven Fletcher (ex-Brad) had a great deal of acting experience," she recalls. "They'd come in early in the morning and stay after the show was over and work with me. It was like going to acting class. I'm still very friendly with Judith and we get to talk about once a week. It's really the long, lasting, deep friendships that are important in your life."

But even the strong bonds she formed with castmates couldn't dissuade Thayer from leaving the show after nearly a decade. "I wanted to leave. The show gave me my first real acting job and Jenny was the only real character I had ever played," confesses Thayer.

After Jenny moved to Europe, Thayer also took a trip -- back to her hometown. "I took a year off and spent time with my parents. They're important to me, and I wanted to take trips with them. I was single at the time and when I left the soap I had it on my mind to move to California to see if I could get hired to do other things in acting."

Los Angeles was a smart move. "Right off the bat I got lucky," Thayer remembers. She landed numerous guest-starring roles, including one on the series "Moonlighting". "That gave me credibility with the casting people." Other series appearances included the short-lived "TV 101" and "Island Son", which starred Richard Chamberlain.

Three months after a guest spot as a bad girl-murderess on the long-running TV series "Matlock", Thayer was asked by producers to join the show as a regular, playing yet another of Matlock's daughters, Lee Ann McIntyre. "I spent two years living in North Carolina, where the series was filmed."

This time it was a long-distance romance that prompted Thayer to leave her show. "I had so much fun being there, but I had known the man I'm married to now for quite a while and it was hard on our relationship; he was living in California.

In 1994, as soon as Thayer's case was closed with "Matlock", she wed David Steinberg, an entertainment manager and producer. "I left the show because I wanted to to put our relationship first," she adds.

Marriage didn't put a hold on her career, though. Currently, Thayer is working on "Pensacola: Wings of Gold", a nationally syndicated series in which she co-stars with James Brolin, who is doing double-duty by sitting in the director's chair, as well. The series, which premiered in September, is about the Marine Corps and is shot in San Diego. "Making it was fascinating, as is working with James Brolin who is a wonderful actor, and an incredible director -- so easygoing, and not bad to look at, either, Thayer says. I signed on for a certain number of episodes and then we'll see how it goes."

No matter what, Thayer says if she has her way, fans from her soap opera days will one day see her return to daytime. "I definitely want to go back to a soap. I'd love to visit Llanview again."

AMY H. BERGER
Soap Opera Magazine
October 14, 1997

Return To
Truly Madly Deeply:
Memories of Jenny and David Renaldi