Jennifer Bassey, who played the iconic role of Marian Colby on AMC, chatted with Soap Cities‘ Chris Chagaris about her new role, AMC and much more!
New Role with Fellow Soap Vets!
Daytime Emmy nominee Jennifer Bassey is, of course, known to legions of AMC fans as the dynamic and larger-than-life character Marian Colby. The versatile actress recently appeared as high-powered publishing executive Quinn Danvers on GH. Now, Bassey is set to make her debut as Beverly Newman in the powerful, Daytime Emmy winning YouTube soap, Anacostia, now ending its fifth season and soon beginning its sixth. Bassey’s role will figure in to the conclusion of this season and prominently into the next. The sudser, set in the eponymously-named section of Washington, D.C., is centered around a brew of themes ranging from intrigue, to love, to murder, and lots in between.
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Beverly promises to be an intriguing character who, in the words of Anacostia’s Co-Executive Producer, Benjamin Bryant, is a “firecracker ready to shake up- and light up- the canvas.” The soap also stars daytime notables Elizabeth Hubbard (ex-Lucinda, ATWT) and Martha Byrne (ex-Lily/Rose, ATWT), who is also a co-producer of the show.
So, without further ado, here is Part 1 of our interview with the engaging Bassey!
CC: What attracted you to the role of Beverly, and what do you like most about the character?
JB: Well, my friend Robin Strasser (ex-Dorian, OLTL) was originally approached for the role. She called me up and told them that she recommended me, thinking I’d be just right for it! Now, what I like most about Beverly – you know, that’s a complicated question. She is looking to bring on revenge, in a nutshell. What Anthony (Anderson, the show’s creator, head writer and Anacostia’s Sean) does brilliantly is he’ll ask you as an actor what you’d like to do on the show. I told him, revenge! (laughs) He researched my previous work and really tailored the role to me. He does this with great love. The role of Beverly is giving me what I love to do as an actor in a part, and that’s get even. (laughs again) Working on Anacostia has been a joy. It’s a wonderful group of people.
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CC: You’ve had an illustrious and storied daytime career, among your many acting credits, ranging from classic soaps such as Love of Life, Somerset, Edge of Night to, of course, your signature role as Marian on AMC to, recently, Quinn on GH. Now that there are only four soaps on network TV, and Web soaps like Anacostia are breathing new life into the genre, what are your thoughts about these new digital platforms for soaps?
JB: Well, I really think that the Web is the way of the future. I think TV is moving to the Internet, and traditional network TV is losing it’s audience, unfortunately. There’s so much good stuff on cable, and so much to stream, and why watch commercials? There definitely is still room for soaps. It’s just that now, as opposed to years ago when more women were home and watching, the soap audience has changed because more women are in the workforce.
CC: Would you ever return to AMC if it were revived, say, on Netflix?
JB: It would be wonderful, but there but there’s a huge hole because David Canary (AMC’s Adam/Stuart, who was Bassey’s onscreen husband) is no longer with us. (Canary passed away in 2015.) I don’t know how they’d do it without him, as he really was the linchpin with my storyline.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of our chat with the dynamic Ms. Bassey!
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