New Martha Byrne Interview

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New Martha Byrne Interview
Tweet Topic Started: Sep 24 2008, 02:02 PM (642 Views)
RogerNewcomb	Sep 24 2008, 02:02 PM Post #1
Administrator Posts: 20,208 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 30, 2008	http://tvguide.sympatico.msn.ca/Soaps/Feat...martha_byrne_NB Byrne After Reading By Nelson Branco 2008-09-24 Douglas Marland�s muse Martha Byrne�s fiery �As the World Turns� exit still has people talking � and fuming. Find out why the two-time Emmy winner really walked, what she thinks of her replacement Noelle Beck, who she idolizes, which soap she wants a job on, and when she plans on announcing her next project. TVGuide.ca: How are you? Are you enjoying your big new role as stay-at-home mom after headlining As The World Turns for over two decades? Martha Byrne: I�m good. And yes, I am. It�s been nice to spend quality time with my three children [Michael, 10, Maxwell, 6, and Annemarie, 2]. For the first time in my life I�m heavily involved in the school process, from serving lunches at school to helping out with homework and the curriculum. We had a great summer. I�ve always loved being a mom, but to be able to parent full time has been really important to me. And I love it. TVG: I bet the Byrne-McMahon brood love having the Emmy-winning �diva� home full time. MB: Oh, yes! My youngest daughter is two years old, so I�m grateful to spend these formative years with her. You know, being a mom is the hardest job in the world. Working in the soap industry always felt like a hobby to me, because I loved the medium so much. My kids, however, were always my first priority. My daughter was very ill when she was born; in fact, it was touch-and-go there for a while. Also, my husband has suffered a lot of loss in his life due to his job as an officer in the NYPD. Everything else is just, well, drama. TVG: And you had quite the dramatic year. MB: Yeah, I did. You know leaving World Turns the way I did hurt me � and it still hurts, but it doesn�t even compare to the losses our family has had to deal with over the years. Life is about family � pure and simple. TVG: Let�s talk about your professional family. Do you still watch World Turns? MB: Yes, I do watch. I need to find out who fell in a hole this week! [Laughs] TVG: Or who�s bursting into song in the middle of an open field. World Turns is the most frustrating show on the planet to watch. It�s either really good, or really bad. Sometimes I wonder if head writer Jean Passanante has a split personality or someone else is writing the other half of the show. MB: Storytelling moves way too fast these days. Soap fans prefer their pacing slower. Using the Carly and Holden situation as an example � because I know the origin of the story � their affair could have taken a year to tell. Audiences like to build their investment in a story before the payoff. It also allows the executives to see if a story is working or not, but if you tell a plot too quickly, it�s too late to gauge the fan reaction and too late to switch gears. TVG: What are your thoughts on World Turns creatively right now? MB: [Sighs] To be honest, it�s really hard to watch it simply because I have so much history and had invested so much in the show. Listen, I always have opinions, but at this point, what does it matter? It�s not going to change anything. That ship has sailed. That being said, I�m taking my 30-year experience in show business and moving forward instead of complaining about the current state of soaps. Developing new shows is my goal. Instead of complaining about it, my new goal is to give the fans what they want. What they really want. TVG: That�s crazy talk, Martha! Give the fans what they want? Why would you do that? That kind of sacrilege philosophy will get you killed! MB: It�s all about the fans, honey. Our audiences have invested thousands of hours watching us over the years and that kind of loyalty must be rewarded and nurtured. I�m a soap fan, too. I love daytime TV, so I get it and I know what I want to see. So I�m going to deliver on that promise. Luckily, I have the abilities and talent to. I�m writing and producing now. I�m going to use everything I�ve learned over the years and turn it into something positive. I hear our fans� joy and cries. I owe my fans a big thank you. Every project I take from now on is for them. I consider my career to be a successful one, and I wouldn�t be here without them. Fans don�t know what really goes on during rehearsals. If you only knew how many times an actor remarks during a rehearsal: �But the fans will figure it out right away,� or, �The fans won�t like this!� On World Turns, our cast always has the fan in mind. Our cast really cares. TVG: That sounds like a great reality TV show: As The Rehearsals Unwind! MB: Well, we all think there are cameras in rehearsal and the room is bugged! But that�s another story [laughs]. It would explain a lot of things. Trust me there�s a reality-TV show behind the scenes, that�s for sure! TVG: World Turns� late, great Douglas Marland is by far my favourite soap scribe. In my eyes, William Bell was the most universally talented artist in our business from production to casting to writing, but Marland�s character-driven storylines really touched me. Watching the plot-driven realities of soaps today is really depressing. A writer can tell any story he or she wants as long as the audience understands why. These days, the audience doesn�t understand anything. MB: Daytime is all about character, which is why it�s always been successful. The problem is when you try to infuse plot into a character�s life without explaining why, well, the viewers tune out. Fans need to know why someone is acting the way they do � and we need to see the consequences of those actions. Because I�m writing a lot now, I have Marland�s bible and rules near my desk � which is all about one thing: character, character, character! The stories will take off themselves, and like you said, flow organically if the character comes first. If you focus on plot, then it�s also very difficult for the actor because the character�s growth and trajectory is [thickly veiled]. It�s no secret Douglas respected the fans. I kept a New York Times article in which he was quoted: �The audience is always two steps ahead of me; I got to find a way to stay three steps ahead of them. So my goal is to be unpredictable.� That�s what an audience wants to see � period. In any genre. TVG: It�s funny you mention that. I recently interviewed One Life to Live�s former head writer, Emmy winner Michael Malone and he remarked how prime-time TV is doing soaps better than daytime. At a recent dinner party he was amazed over the fact that as his friends all dished about their favourite shows, no one mentioned plot once � it was all about the characters! Character is missing in daytime, both behind the scenes and in front. MB: Exactly. Without character you have nothing to play. As a writer, it�s been an invaluable lesson to speak through the characters. It�s not easy but once you figure it out then an entire new world opens up to you. TVG: Next time I see you I�m going to tear out a strand of your hair so I can clone you. You get it, Blanche, you really get it. I have no doubt Mr. Marland is smiling down on you. MB: It�s funny I do feel like Douglas is driving me now. If I learned anything from him, I learned you need to care. You have to watch the shows, and you must take responsibility for your characters. I grew up with that philosophy. Lucinda is a larger-than-life character, but she was still real, you know? Where is the downside in having witnessed the legacy penned by a master that is World Turns unfold? There is no downside. TVG: Let�s talk about the Idiots in Charge. It�s so easy to produce an entertaining show. Yet, P&G can�t grasp the write-it-and-they-will-come concept. I�ve read fan fiction that is far superior than anything I�ve been forced to bear witness to on screen. And yet, they arrogantly expect and sometimes demand viewers waste their valuable time on this plot-driven and often offensive mess. It�d be one thing if their ratings increased, but their numbers are in the toilet. In film, they�d all be fired and in some circles, tarred and feathered. To me, insanity means doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I seriously question their mental faculties. Unless, of course, they are killing the industry on purpose. It�s either/or. MB: [Sighs] I have thought long and hard about this, Nelson, because it hurts me personally. This industry has been a huge part of my life, so to put a period at the end of this sentence is� hard to do. Like I said before, you have a choice. You can either pound your fists on your desk or you can ask why is this happening. Why is there a disregard and disdain for this legacy we have all been so lucky to inherit? I can�t answer this question, but it�s a good one. TVG: So why did you really leave World Turns? MB: I don�t take it personally because I do feel it was a business decision. Where those business decisions originated and occurred, I was not a part of. Why that decision was made is beyond me. What I can say is: look at the writing on the wall, and this is where the business is headed. You have to move on. I would like to be on the other side of the camera and make a difference, because I know I can. I can now, but I�m going to do it on my own. I don�t think my ideas were a part of the plan. They hadn�t been for a very long time. And I had a lot of ideas for the show. From bringing viewers back to World Turns from a business perspective to how to promote the show. And only because I loved it. And Lily wasn�t even necessarily a part of the equation. I just wanted viewers to return to the screen. Our screen. That�s all I�m about. Heck, if we can get viewers interested in our show because of our cameraman, makeup person, or an extra, let�s do it. TVG: Long before you left, I always wondered why you weren�t working behind the scenes. Heck, you should be running the network for that matter. MB: But you see � that door has to open. And it was always closed. Ultimately, I had to walk out that door. In the end, that spoke volumes. Unfortunately, you can�t convince someone you love to keep working on a show. It�s like being in a bad relationship. Sometimes, they�re just not that into you, you know? At some point, you have to say: �I get it.� And I really tried to help. That�s what I did and still do. I would bleed for this show. And once again, I did. I loved this show. Love it. So I knew that wasn�t the reason. So I took the message and processed it and decided, �OK, I gotta go.� When that happened, a lot of people called to say, �Well, why didn�t you call the higher-ups and plead your case?� My response was: �Everyone has a contact sheet, and no one called me. If they were interested in keeping me, my phone would have rung.� That was the reality. And I�m certainly not going to call people to plead my case so they can keep me employed in a profession I�ve been working in since I was 15. They didn�t want me there � and I heard the message loud and clear. TVG: When you decided to bolt from World Turns, I was the first to break the big news. My sources cited money and story as the primary reasons why you left. My critics questioned my sources despite the fact that I broke the story less than 12 hours of you notifying the soap you would not re-sign. People assumed you were asking for more money, which is not what I reported. Episode commitment � which you later admitted as one of the reasons for your unfortunate exit � is still a financial issue. You asked for a certain set financial commitment on the soap�s part in order for it to be worth for you to come in each day to work, which I found to be extremely fair. And they refused. Within 24 hours, executive producer Christopher Goutman ran to TV Guide�s Michael Logan insisting money wasn�t a factor in your contract negotiations, when in fact it was. And although you weren�t asking for story approval in your contract, story input was an issue at least on their end � not yours, my sources explained to me at the time. It was no secret around the set you and Jon Hensley [Holden] were eager to take a mini Holden and Lily break through a proposed divorce storyline. The soap concurred, but then the writers� strike happened. Instead, interim head writer Chris Goutman decided to play it safe and chose to reunite Holden and Lily to appease the fans during that turbulent, uncertain time. Is that correct? MB: That�s pretty much right. I asked one of our actors on World Turns who had been there for over 40 years: �Had any producer ever gone to the press to discuss people�s contracts?� They said, �Never.� I never wanted my negotiations to be in the press. I don�t know how that all went down. I don�t know if P&G approached Logan, or the other way around. TVG: P&G states it�s not in their policy to comment on neither contract status nor negotiations, yet once again they proved they had no code of ethics. MB: I�m not aware of the logistics of all of that. It was an odd time, for sure. I just had to let the chips fall where they fell, you know? Listen, I�ve been doing this my whole life. My reputation is everything to me and I had to defend my reputation. I certainly didn�t want my fans to think I walked off the set for no reason because that wasn�t the case. That was very important to me. Unfortunately, I could only tell part of the truth because the rest is unnecessary for the fans. I don�t want to burden them with how [ugly] this industry can be at times. I had faith in the fans to know the difference between spin and the truth. Other than that, you can�t control it. I didn�t want to respond because I knew what was going on. I�m a student of the school of thought that teaches, �let�s tell good stories and let�s embrace people. And let�s all love each other.� TVG: My reliable sources also maintained story was an issue � at least on the P&G side. As you stated, maybe your passion to save this show may have been one of the primary reasons they pushed you out. You said in an online chat, and I quote: �No one gets story approval.� But Eileen Fulton [Lisa] certainly relished in that luxury for years with her now-famous �granny clause.� Let�s face it: like Brad Bell, a master trained you. In your mind, do you think that ultimately scared P&G? MB: I don�t know. Jon Hensley [Holden] and I love each other. He�s my other husband. Our conversations about story were always over lunch. It was very casual. We never went into Chris or Jean and asked for a break. It just doesn�t happen. It�s not how it functions out there. I had not suggested story in years. Look, once I came back after having Annemarie, I left the writing to the writers. Yes, I have suggested story ideas, but more as a cheerleader. Like: �Hey, Paolo Seganti�s [Damian] free, let�s get him back for a short-term gig.� Or income ideas. Or promotion ideas. TVG: Let me say: I think most of us understood that to be the case. MB: I had nothing to do with story. I never denied giving story input. TVG: Let�s face it: if you were indeed suggesting story ideas, the show would be much better! Part of me is happy you are no longer working in that toxic environment; yet the other part of me wishes you still were because the industry needs artists like you at the helm. When I returned to soaps, one of my goals was to record who is actually responsible for killing this industry. It wasn�t OJ. It wasn�t reality TV or cable either. Alas, the press has protected this medium for selfish reasons; well, until the Internet came along. MB: Listen, I�m not a finger-pointer. I don�t believe in blame. However, let�s take OJ, cable, and reality TV off the table for a second. Let�s just focus on the ratings two years ago. Look at the difference in numbers. Where did these viewers go? Where did they go? OJ, cable, and reality happened [eons] ago. Where are they? Viewers are only loyal to a point. Where do they go? Yes, there are more outlets to watch, but our population is larger as well. So, they are out there. And I know, because I run into them. Fans are everywhere. You must listen to what they have to say, because if you don�t they will turn off the television. It�s that simple. TVG: You don�t need a degree to understand that! A fetus gets that logic! MB: It�s not complicated. Don�t overthink it. Write it! TVG: And they will come. MB: Douglas always said that. Great story � that�s all you need. And if you are lucky to cast great actors � omigod, there�s nothing better. What more do you need? You don�t need to blow anything up! TVG: P&G claims they did everything to keep you, yet they recast the role immediately! You�re Martha Freakin� Byrne � I�m sorry but you don�t recast the biggest star of the show. Yes, they did recast you before because it was your choice to leave and didn�t want to return. This time, you wanted to stay� Were you shocked when they replaced you with Noelle Beck? MB: Not really. No. The casting breakdown came out while I was in negotiations. Listen, even if that casting notice came out only as a negotiation plot or a game, I knew Chris would recast. It didn�t scare me. I don�t know why they decided to go in that direction. I can�t get into their heads. And they�ve done it before. Sometimes that ploy works and eventually the actors caved in the end. I didn�t. The recast gag has been used forever, however, I knew Chris would recast me, because he�s done it to other people. Hello � my friends were going in to audition for Lily while we were still in negotiations! TVG: Incredible! Heck � even I was asked to audition for Lily! MB: They all called me! I know everyone in the business. And that was probably the point. I can only speculate, because I don�t really know. What told me Chris was serious was the fact that he was meeting with the heavy hitters of daytime. At the very least, Goutman was putting a plan in place. TVG: If the industry is indeed dying and no one can save it, then why not go out with some class at least. Wouldn�t you rather say, �Yes, my show was cancelled but it was good.� How can you put your name on this offensive product and cash your paycheque with a straight face. At the end of the day, no talented person could fathom selling out for a rating point. MB: If you nurture something you love, it will grow. Cultivate it! That is true about anything. TVG: Since you were closest to Douglas, what would he think of the industry if he was still alive? And if he was still here, do you think the business would be in these dire straits? MB: I think his value for what he did for a living� [pauses]� I think Douglas would be thrilled to be able to tell more advance story like the Luke and Noah love story. He would have been so happy to tell that story. He would have embraced the times in his own unique way. It was funny � he would bring in these day players like Susan Marie Snyder and slowly burn them into the canvas. And then their story would come organically and furiously. He would still be able to do that today. He would never change the essence of who he was. You can�t. No one can change what�s in your blood. I suffer from the same fate: I just can�t punch a time clock. I care too much. So much. I can�t turn the other cheek and say, �it�s just the industry and it�s just a paycheque.� This job has never been about the paycheque for me. It�s so much more than that. I just couldn�t be a part of that [dumbing down of things]. You can�t change who you are. I can�t go backwards. I can�t put my head in the sand. My children, my mother, and my husband couldn�t see me creatively unsatisfied and unhappy another minute. My husband has been so supportive and wonderful during this whole process. It�s why I am still here today. [Gets emotional] If anyone can save this business, it�s the Bells. It�s in their blood. I have one project I�m working on, one of many, that I can tell you I�m simply giddy about. Just wait. It�s going to be for the fans. [Voice breaks] It makes me happy, and hopefully the fans will feel the same way. TVG: Can you elaborate which medium this project will inhabit? MB: It�s television. I hope it takes off. I think and hope it will. You know when you write from the heart, and it�s true, it resonates. That�s success. TVG: Photographer Steven Bergman recently snapped the picture of the year during a recent New York City breast cancer event starring you and Noelle Beck. MB: It was great seeing her again. We�re two actresses � we get it. I have such respect for her. We�ve known each other for years. She worked on Loving back in the day. I give her a lot of credit for jumping into a huge challenge � and succeeding. That�s a testament to her ability and talent and strength. It�s not an easy job. I certainly wouldn�t want to step into the role of Marty on One Life to Live. Noelle and I respect each other. It�s not personal, because we both get it. She took a job. And they�re blessed to have her. I�m a fan. TVG: I�ve always adored Noelle, and last year even suggested her in this column as a Meg Snyder recast. I have accepted her not as Lily, but as nuLily. In my eyes, Lily is a new character. Talk about gilding the lily! Maybe Rose and Lily had a triplet out there Hogan Sheffer was waiting to introduce. You will always be Lily in my eyes. And that�s a fact, as Days of our Lives� John Black would say. I only want you on one show, and one show only and that, my friend, is The Young and the Restless. Though I�m not sure if you�re familiar with their four-time Emmy winning co-head writer, Hogan Sheffer [laughs]. MB: Yes, I think I�ve heard of him. In fact, I�m a fan! [Laughs] Listen, my family is very adventurous. Maybe we�ll consider a move to L.A. as long as it makes sense to all of us. If it�s fun, we may do it. My ego needs stroking. [Laughs] Who knows? We�re all about the experience. My husband has been in the trenches, so we can handle anything thrown our way. In that way, we�re very similar. I have lots of friends in L.A. I�m open to anything. Having said that, I haven�t pursued anything yet. Heck, I don�t even have an agent. One of my best soap pals is Lauralee Bell [ex-Christine, Y&R] and of course, I adore Brad Bell. In fact, I have a great Bold and the Beautiful idea that could work � and I don�t even have to act it out. But you�re right: I am the hugest Y&R fan out there. I have watched it for over 20 years. I love everything about that show. And give me Victor Newman every day. But you see, Y&R has wisely kept those faces on the front burner through the years. I want to see Kim Zimmer on Guiding Light. I can�t watch Guiding Light without Zimmer. She�s the nucleus of the show. She�s a magician. She�s simply amazing. I love her on and off camera. She is that show. She is Guiding Light. Do whatever you have to do to keep her on that show, people! TVG: You know Martha � you are the Kim Zimmer of World Turns� MB: Maura West [Carly] is one of those people, too. TVG: I�m an Emmy freak, so I have to warn you: if you don�t submit yourself for consideration just out of principle I�m going to hunt you down in New Jersey and force you to watch Guiding Light. Once again, P&G managed to surprise me on your last day. I was pleasantly disappointed to see they wrote you out with a strong, emotional script. Your last scenes were bittersweet and breathtaking to watch. The subtext was off the charts! In fact, it could net you another Emmy win � if you�re nominated. It was also one of the best written shows this year. MB: And it was all written and performed at the last minute. The whole Dusty reference was a nice choice, yes. However, I don�t know if anyone would ever vote for me. TVG: Let�s talk about something fun. World Turns always saddled you with the ugliest of leading men, huh? [Laughs] MB: I know, right! [Laughs] I�ve been blessed to star opposite the most beautiful leading men from Brian Bloom, Jon, Paolo and Grayson McCouch � and they�re beautiful on the inside, too. They�re all still my friends. I�ve always been a guy deep inside, so we�ve all had [bromances] on the set. They�re my buddies. And I speak to them on a weekly basis. And we laughed. Oh, we laughed, Nelson. [Breaks up] But there hasn�t been a lot of laughing on the set for a long time. Pulling your hair out, yes. [Sighs] When you leave your family for almost the entire day and commute for three hours, it has to be fulfilling. I just couldn�t do it anymore. I knew too much. I felt too much. My creative and personal heart has been broken. But it�s healing slowly. There are other ways of being happy and creatively fulfilled than being on World Turns, a show you�ve dedicated your whole life to. I have found other avenues. I have spent more hours than I count dancing around my house with my daughter in our pajamas feeling and loving life. I�m so glad I haven�t missed those moments. Everything else is gravy. I have a beautiful and healthy family and life. I am filled with peace and joy � what else can I ask for? I�m really blessed. It makes me very emotional to tell you how lucky I am and how aware of how abundant my spirit is. My resolve is to never allow my spirit to be compromised in any manner. I�ve always come from that, my parents have embraced me in ways I can only hope to pass on to my children. You know what? My mother said to me after leaving the show: �I have seen you sad for so long that I couldn�t force myself to watch you suffer like that anymore.� For a mother to say that to a child � wow! This hasn�t been an easy year, but it�s been more rewarding in ways I never expected. I had to say no. I will not be treated like that ever again. I owe both my families more than that. TVG: Wow. Let�s talk about my dream husband � one of the most beautiful and sexy men on the planet, Mr. Jon Hensley. I have written ad nauseum how amazing this actor is. In fact, he�s in my top three actors in daytime almost every week. TV Guide.ca named him last year�s best actor, in fact. MB: You have great taste, my friend. You know what I love about him? He�s centred. Nothing throws him. At all. As a human being, he�s so� [begins to cry] he�s so strong. He�s an incredibly loving and supporting person. I have known this man for my whole life! How many people do you know and adore since you were 15? When I was negotiating, I couldn�t not confide in him because this affected his life, too. And he never once judged me. He got it. We have a genuine love for each other. And I miss him. And we keep in touch. All of us. From Maura, Michael Park to Jon � we�re all friends for life. I will say I don�t think I could have lasted on World Turns without Jon. We were partners in every sense of the world. TVG: He�s a real man. Jon�s scenes with Van Hansis [Luke] are breathtaking. Yes, Holden has misogynistic issues, but if he was perfect he wouldn�t be so dreamy. MB: Jon sometimes questions his abilities, but once he�s on screen he hits it out of the ball park. But you now, he�s a humble man. And you�re right � he�s a real man in every sense of the word. TVG: The Holden and Carly affair is a hit. What are you thoughts on the story? MB: Once again, I am very familiar with the origins of the story. I�m well-versed in where it started. I was there when those initial discussions started. It�s a difficult story to tell, and if anyone can sell it they can. And they have. They�re amazing. TVG: They made it work. Do you think the story would have worked if you were still playing Lily? MB: The answer to that question is� [pauses] it�s hard to say. Lily is a supporting character in this story. If I was there � because it was told too fast � I would have been pulling my hair to make it work because that�s what I do. I don�t know� I�m honest ,I�ll tell you the truth, I just don�t know. Once again, I know the origins of the story, and it changed a lot. I guess things evolved. TVG: Wouldn�t it be great if Rose was stripping in Genoa City? MB: That�d be great! I would love that! That would be hilarious. TVG: Rose and Lily were probably the last great dual roles this business created. MB: Wow � thank you. It�s too expensive, though there are ways around that. It was sad because Rose was just hitting her stride when she was killed off. Why not send her off to Hoboken? TVG: Speaking of unglamorous suburbs, what do you think of GL�s new production module? MB: I embrace change. I believe in evolving. But for a show that�s been on for 70 years, as a fan, I don�t care if you�re shooting outside in a pond. I care about what they characters are feeling, and I want everyone to look beautiful because they can. Soaps are not reality TV. It�s escapism. Just shoot the story. Y&R is the No. 1 show for a reason. The audience is precious. And so are you! And in more ways than P&G can ever begin to comprehend.



aetmauro	Sep 24 2008, 08:08 PM Post #2
Advanced Member Posts: 4,468 Group: Members Member #46 Joined: September 2, 2008	Thanks for posting this, Roger I'd love to see what she's working on, and I think she does understand what most fans are looking for. It also sounds like she's enjoying being with her family so much that she's making what had been a bad thing actually turn into a series of blessings. I've mentioned before that I've grown up watching her on the show, I'm not that much older than her. The circumstances why she left really bothers me and colors my view of the show (not the actors, though).
	--- Anni ----


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