Jennifer Gareis (Donna, B&B) reveals her thoughts about Donna’s unlikely romance with Eric and his stubborn refusal to break them up.
Soap Opera Weekly: It’s quite a heartbreaking sacrifice Donna is making on behalf of her family.
Jennifer Gareis: I’m hoping Donna doesn’t have to (laughs). She finally gets everything she wants and now she has to give it up.
Weekly: Well, if nothing else the Logans have certainly proven themselves to be committed to each other as a family.
Gareis: I think they are, and I think with their dad coming home they all finally got a glimpse at what it would be like to be a family. So to tear it all apart would be heartwrenching.
Weekly: It’s sad. The two things Donna always wanted was to have her family reconcile and to find true love. Now she has both within her grasp but she has to sacrifice one for the other.
Gareis: It’s quite a dilemma!
Weekly: This whole “sex addict” thing was quite a story to sell!
Gareis: It’s kind of ridiculous, isn’t it? (laughs). When I first read it I started laughing. I think she went with that because she was desperate to find something that she thought for sure would be a [dealbreaker] for Eric. It sounds like maybe a turn-on at first, but not if it means Donna being with other men all the time.
Weekly: It was a great twist to see the plan “backfire” on Donna.
Gareis: Donna is like, “This can’t be happening.” But I think it ultimately comes down to Eric sees it as, “She trusts me enough to be vulnerable to tell me these terrible dark fears that she has.” So it kind of proves to him just how much she really does love him.
Weekly: It’s become a real test of wills between them. She’s trying to break down his will towards her, and she’s trying to hold on to her commitment to follow through with this plan.
Gareis: I don’t think she was prepared for the reaction she got. Had he reacted in disgust it she maybe would have been able to follow through a little better. But when he tells her he will always love and forgive her no matter what, how would she possibly be able to fight that? It’s every person’s dream situation.
Weekly: It’s kind of ironic. Donna had always been the one leading the charge in her family, telling them how they have to be more like the Forresters and be more supportive of each other. Yet in the end she’s the one who has to make the biggest sacrifice for everybody.
Gareis: Yeah, nobody else is sacrificing anything but her.
Weekly: It’s a lesson on “Be careful what you ask for.”
Gareis: I think so! (laughs). It’s definitely a terrible decision to make. But I hope Donna gets what she wants. When I first started working with John (McCook), I didn’t realize the kind of chemistry we would have. I know he’s a wonderful actor, but I didn’t realize the chemistry we would have would be so sweet. I like watching it myself.
Weekly: What’s the fan reaction been like?
Gareis: At first a lot of them were suspicious that Donna was just using him. But I think that’s turned around now and people are saying how wonderful it is to watch them. You’re always going to have people who love it and who hate it. But as long as they like watching it, it doesn’t matter (laughs).
