Catching Up With Renee Goldsberry
Soap Opera Digest: We hear you’re doing a film. Did you leave OLTL to pursue opportunities outside of daytime?
Renee Goldsberry: No, it wasn’t just to do other things because [the show] was really wonderful and I got a chance to do other things, like a lot of theater and some other different things in New York while I was on ONE LIFE TO LIVE.Digest: So you’re shooting a film, Marker, starring Steven Seagal, correct?
Goldsberry: Yes, we’re shooting in Connecticut and I was out there until about 3:30 in the morning. Every once in a while, but very rarely, a soap opera will go on location somewhere and I always wished I could I go on location, so now I have all the location I could have ever dreamed of, which basically means you’re sitting in a trailer for hours [laughs]. But it’s a lot of fun. The exciting thing about it is I’m playing a secret agent. It’s the reason why I did the movie — all the fight-scene sequence stuff. And I always thought that women should do it more because women really want to see other women kicking butt, and they also want to see women as heroines and not just being saved. And so I’m really excited about getting to do that in this film.Digest: Marty recently got to fend off attackers with some serious self-defense moves on OLTL.
Goldsberry: Fantastic! Now that is exactly what daytime needs. Good for her and good for ONE LIFE TO LIVE. They should do that more often. I always knew that would be wonderfully successful. [Evangeline] was attacked by a racist years ago and Michael McBain showed up to save the day and Evangeline got to fight a little bit first, but it was really important that Michael came in to save her. I remember being like, ‘Please, let me kick butt some more.’ So it’s really great that they did that because I know as a woman I would love to see it.Digest: The last time we spoke, we talked about the Emmys and you said if you won Outstanding Supporting Actress, you’d thank ABC for investing in your character as an African-American woman. Now that you’re no longer playing Evangeline, how do you feel about the state of Llanview’s African-American presence? Would you like to see OLTL make an investment in newer characters like Layla, Vincent and Shaun?
Goldsberry: Oh, definitely, and I know that they will. I know that investment [in Evangeline] was very important to them, too, or they would have never done it. I don’t take credit for the fact that they did all those things. It was me being there, and it was also the fans’ appreciation of it, but it was very much also [OLTL] and that was very important to them. And I think they did a very good job with that investment and there’s a reason why [I wasn’t] the only African-American person on that show. There’s a reason why they went out of their way to have Layla there and Vincent there and Shaun there and I know that they will continue to invest in those characters.Digest: Speaking of your fans, you’ve had a tremendous amount of fan support, including a campaign that’s sent more than 4,000 postcards to ABC executives asking them to work out an agreement with you. How do you respond to that?
Goldsberry: I was trying to come up with words to describe how I felt about the fan campaign and it’s normally not hard for me to describe how I feel — I mean, I’m a songwriter, so it’s pretty easy for me to come up with imagery to describe how I feel — and I had a really hard time coming up with words to describe it. It was that profound a feeling. I was so touched. You just can’t imagine.Digest: So will you miss playing this character that you originated four years ago?
Goldsberry: Oh, it’s hard. It’s really hard ’cause I love it. There’s so much I miss about it. I think what you miss first is just your friends that you see every day. And then I miss the character’s development and being there for the fans to kind of be along for that ride. I miss them in that way, the fans. Digest: So aside from the film, do you have any plans to return to Broadway anytime soon?
Goldsberry: I definitely still get those calls, and what’s ironic is it’s harder to work out with the things I’m doing now than it was to work out with ONE LIFE TO LIVE. I would have been doing another Broadway show right now if I hadn’t gotten this film. We’ll see. To keep up with Goldsberry, check out her Web site at www.reneeelisegoldsberry.com. Fans in the L.A. area can also see Goldsberry in concert with OLTL’s Kassie DePaiva (Blair) and Kathy Brier (Marcie) at The Derby on June 14. Visit www.clubderby.com for more information.
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