Weekly goes to the Chappell to get the scoop on the hot new story (hello, new daughter!) that stems from the painful past of GUIDING LIGHT’s Olivia.
Soap Opera Weekly: Are you enjoying exploring Olivia’s backstory?
Crystal Chappell: Yes. Certainly this is what made Olivia who she is. There were a lot of things that happened to her. She was an innocent girl with an attitude who came from a middle-class family who had dreams of living in a palace. She went there one night drinking punch, and some guy took advantage of her. She was raped and then her mother wouldn’t believe her. And then her mother had a stroke in front of her. All this stuff happened and it shaped who she is.
Weekly: It’s enough to mess anybody up.
Chappell: Especially at that age. She’s somebody who doesn’t trust and who strikes first.
Weekly: What would you think of GL bringing back Emma’s father, Phillip?
Chappell: I think the show would really thrive with that character back. It would be great, [but] I have no control over any of that stuff. Grant [Aleksander, ex-Phillip] is obviously a good actor. He played the character well, and GL could do a lot with a character like that.
Weekly: Do you keep in touch with Grant?
Chappell: Only through co-workers. He lives in New Jersey, and no, I don’t get to speak to him much.
Weekly: Do you think discovering her long-lost daughter, Ava, will soften Olivia?
Chappell: I don’t know. I don’t think she’s mean. [She’s] somebody who has no ability to trust anyone. She’s got really big walls around her. But I think she has an enormous capacity to love her child and that she’s capable of loving the people who have been loyal to her. But she’s one of those women who’s been taken advantage of from childhood all the way through adulthood. I see her softness. I see her frailty. Will GL show more of that? I don’t know.
Weekly: How do you like working with Kathryn Hall, the child actress who plays Emma?
Chappell: She’s a sweet girl. She’s just a normal kid and very chatty. I’ve worked with her for such a long time.
Weekly: What about the man in Olivia’s life? It seems that she and Buzz have hit a rough patch.
Chappell: I think that Olivia has a really soft spot for Buzz. She loves him. She’s almost childlike with him. I don’t know what they’re going to do, but for me this story is the beginning of seeing what makes Olivia tick and tearing down some of those walls.
