THE ‘SCHMOOTZ

CRYSTAL CHAPPELL

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Crystal Chappell, Carly Manning on Days of Our Lives, Gina on Venice

I thought it was a terrificopportunity to bring that issueinto the light.

SCHMOOTZ:

As you receivedyour scripts week after week,you realized there would belittle intimacy. Were you toldthe reasons why or was it justa sad realization on your part?

CRYSTAL:

The reasons why?No, nothing specific. I got asense of it as we went alongthat there wasn’t going to bemuch. And I could ask why but Iwas never really given ananswer. Somebody just made adecision.It certainly wasn’t within GuidingLight. I know that Ellen and Jillwere very much ready to moveforward. Ellen wanted to takethe story very slowly andI think she was rightabout that and hadgood reasons. Butcertainly she wouldhave ended itdifferently if she couldhave.

SCHMOOTZ:

Why doyou think a network invests so much timeand therefore, money,in a same-sex story-lineonly to stop short of acomplete,three dimensionalrelationship?

CRY STAL:

I don’t know. But it’salsoowned by Proctor & Gamble, so there’s anothercompany involved working withthe network. There are a lot of people making decisions, so Ican’t tell you where this decisioncame from because I don’tknow.

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SCHMOOTZ:

Does it surprise youthat there have been only four on-screen female pairings in the past25 years since All My Childrenintroduced Dr. Lynn Carson?

CRYSTAL:

Well, yes. It wasn’tsomething I was aware of before Idid this story-line. It is prettyshocking that it’s so limited, but Ihave a feeling that the tides areturning. It’s going be interesting tosee what’s going to happen.

SCHMOOTZ:

All of these pairingshad their own ground breaks -their own firsts. What do you seewere Otalia’s firsts?

CRYSTAL:

I think it wasinteresting that these women hadonly been in heterosexualrelationships. I thought that wasan interesting journey for them totake.To watchtheir relationship go fromextremelyantagonistic, in fact,fighting over a man, to theirevolving f riendship and finally totheirlovestory. As far I know, Ithink thatstory is pretty unusualon daytime.I thought Natalia’s struggle withher faith was a very honest part of the story - how to integrate herfeelings for this woman and herlove for God.But, it boggles my mind. It seemsonly natural to have moved itforward, especially considering thefact that As the World Turns,which is broadcast by CBS andowned by Proctor & Gamble - theyhave a male (gay) story-line goingon.So, I’ve asked myself thosequestions. I’ve asked other peoplethose questions and there havebeen no reasonable answers. Notonly them, but from my owninvestigation of trying to figure outwhy. And to be perfectly honest withyou,I got to a point where Irealized Ihave no control overwhatother people decide and Icertainlyneed to respect otherpeople’s decisions, whether I likethemor not.It’swhat inspired me to create aweb-series. So that there wouldbe some truth and authenticityandultimately, the ease to moveforward with telling a story.

SCHMOOTZ:

Do you think it ispossible for a soap to show athree dimensional pairing andsustain it? What I mean is,historically, in daytime, no pairinglasts forever. It’s a soap.

“Somebody just made adecision. It certainly wasn’t within Guiding Light. I know that Ellen and Jill were very much ready to move forward. Ellen wanted to take the story very slowly and I think shewas right about that and had good reasons. But certainly she would have ended it differently if she could have. ” - Crystal Chappell

SCHMOOTZ:

Whenspeaking with MichaelFairman, he and Iagreed that Doriswould have made awonderful spoiler.

CRYSTAL:

Doris wouldhave been a great thirdperson and would havemade sense. Doris wasa fantastic vehicle/toolin getting Olivia andNatalia together. She was the voiceof reason in many respects.

SCHMOOTZ:

I know you won’tspeculate about who held the key tothe Otalia “intimacy handcuffs”, butdo you think fan reaction in thefuture will have any influence inloosening the restraints on daytimein regard to same-sex story-lines?

CRYSTAL:

Well, absolutely. I haveno doubt that they’ve already takennotice of this.Once the Otalia phenomenonhappened and people werespeaking out, all of a sudden therewasa gaystory on One Life, therewasa gaystory on Y&R - they wereall men, but all of a sudden therewas this little trend that washappening. So that’s definitely astepforward.

SCHMOOTZ (cont’d):

Would thefan-base ever accept, for instance,Olivia being seduced away fromNatalia by a man? I would think everyone’s head would spin off their necks!

CRYSTAL:

I don’t know if anaudience would have acceptedthat. But it’s a soap opera so itwould’ve had to take its twists andturns. That’s why I didn’t mind whenNatalia’s pregnancy was written in.It just created other obstacles forthem and that’s what you want ina soap opera story.Theycould break up but you wouldultimatelywant them to get back together and I certainly think thatOliviaandNatalia would end uptogether regardless of the trialsand tribulations of a daytimestorytelling.But that’sa problem for anypopular soap couple. And it’s adilemma f or the writers. Soultimatelyyou want a fan base thatis flexible with their imaginationsand ultimately knowing that thiscouple is the end-game - that I amstill going to root for them and Iam just going to go along for the journey, the ride.

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But I don’t quite understand whywomen aren’t represented more. Idon’t quite understand all of that just yet. I think this story helpspeople open their minds a littlebit. I’ve certainly got a lot of feedback not only from the gaycommunity but also from thestraight community talking abouthow they never really understoodhow a same-sex couple could loveeach other, that it was just notsomething they were familiar with.But after watching this story, theyunderstood how two people of thesame sex could fall in love andwant to spend their lives together. And I thought that was amazing. At the end of it all that made mefeel really good having been apart of it.

SCHMOOTZ:

f the show hadcontinued, do you think thehandcuffs would have come off -or perhaps they would haveprovided you with a padded pair?

CRYSTAL:

To be honest with you,I don’t think they would have. Andso there was a part of me, as sadas itwas to walk away from thischaracter,because I loved playingher and I loved this story-line, Iwas concerned that if it continued,thatwe would be in some place