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Kathy Brier: Marcie, Marcie, Marcie!

Soap Opera Weekly: Marcie and Al (or MARCAL, as your online fans call you) have really taken off. Why do you think they work as a couple?

Kathy Brier: They’ve both let their guards down and they’ve seen each other at their best and their worst. Well, she’s seen him at his best and worst (laughs). And I think when people share that kind of experience, it bonds them. They feel safe with each other, that is their most common bond. He knows that she is a kind and caring woman, and she knows he is (kind and caring), too.


Weekly: So what is going to keep them apart?

Brier: I don’t know! I’ve been trying to figure it out! Maybe, possibly, if I had to speculate, it’s Jen? Jen could always factor in.Weekly: Do you get a lot of fan mail?

Brier: I get a couple of pieces a week. Not an overwhelming amount, but I answer everything. If they take the time to write, I’m definitely going to write them back.


Weekly: Do you feel like a soap star?

Brier: No (laughs). It’s just something that I do. It doesn’t hit me until people stop me and ask for an autograph. They get so excited when they see you, which is really cool.Weekly: Have you done any personal appearances yet?

Brier: No, but I’m going to do Super Soap Weekend.


Weekly: You will definitely feel like a soap star afterward.

Brier: I’m such a low-key kind of girl. If I never had to wear makeup, I never would. If I never had to get dressed up, I never would.


Weekly: Were you ever a soap fan?

Brier: I used to watch All My Children; that was my mom’s favorite soap, so I watched it in high school and college.Weekly: Is it strange to be on a soap?

Brier: Very strange! The one thing I never thought I’d do in my career was a soap opera. Because I’m not your typical soap character. I’m not an ingenue; I’m a young character woman and I’m very lucky to be working at my age, because most people who are my type don’t work until they’re older. Never thought I’d do it, in a million years! I’m enjoying it, though. I’m enjoying it a lot more than I thought I was going to. I come from a strong theater background. This was my first TV/film audition and job.


Weekly: Did you start performing in high school?

Brier: I did. I was on the forensics team, and we did drama and all kinds of oral interpretation. [As far as theater] I started doing dramas mostly, not singing. Eventually, when they found out I could sing, they made me start doing musicals.Weekly: During Al’s detox scenes, Marcie revealed something about her family: Her mother died when she was young, she has a strained relationship with her father, two brothers are blue-collar workers, one is gay and in the military. Was that what you had pictured?

Brier: No, I hadn’t at all. I pictured that my father was the president of a university and my mother was a stay-at-home mom who always had to be presentable. And I felt like my brothers or sisters and I always had to look a certain way, or act a certain way, or were always put away. These are things I made up in my head.


Weekly: How did you feel when you heard that they were going to be addressing Marcie’s issues with her weight and food?

Brier: Frank (Valentini, executive producer) actually came to me and asked me if it was OK with me. And I said, “Sure.” Because I’ve been a size 6 and I’ve been a size 16. Right now I’m in the middle, but I know what it’s like to be on both ends of the coin. I, personally, have no issues with my weight. I’m comfortable in my body. Yeah, sure I’d like to be thin, wouldn’t we all? And yeah, sure, I could work on it if I wanted to. But when I was a size 6, I had to work really hard to stay that size. And like all women, we’d always like to work on ourselves more and take care of ourselves, but we aren’t all made that way. So since I’m comfortable in my skin and I’ve been on both sides of the spectrum, I thought I had a lot to bring to the storyline.

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