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Health Monitor: Lani (Sal Stowers) and Abe (James Reynolds) were by Paulina’s (Jackée Harry) side during her health crisis.
What were your thoughts when you first heard about Paulina’s health crisis and near-death storyline? “I thought I was being fired [laughs]. But there’s dead on soap operas, and then there’s dead dead. I figured [my character] wouldn’t be dead dead.”
Did you question the powers-that-be about it? “Yes. I asked, ‘What the heck is going on?’ But it was during the strike, so I kind of knew it was something they had written for that period of time. I wasn’t too frightened. but I definitely asked. That’s the first thing I said. And I was immediately [reassured].”
Once you learned Paulina would survive, what were your thoughts on playing out the story? “I wanted to see how Paulina and Abe interacted with this new scare and with all the other characters that came on when Paulina was dying. And Abe had amnesia. So it was like, ‘Maybe I’m going to cheat on him or something.’ I was thinking of different ways. He’s lost his memory, and she gets sick and has one last fling with one of the male nurses at the hospital [laughs]. And after a while I just wanted to get Abe back to Paulina. That was my main concern, and that I didn’t have some disease that was incurable.”
You tend to play a lot of comedy. Did you welcome the chance to tackle some heavy drama? “Oh, yeah. I started out in the business doing drama. I was going to get an Oscar,I just knew it! I was like, ‘I’m going to be a great movie star.’ Then I got 227, and I got typecast. I didn’t like it for a while, but then I said, ‘Let me just commit to it and make it the best.’ I happened to be good at comedy. I didn’t start out for it, but who knew? It lengthened up my career, though. If I had done straight drama, who knows. With comedy, you last longer. You can turn into an old golden girl. It still works. I didn’t plan it that way, but it’s worked out just fine.”
Were you happy to have Sal Stowers (Lani) and Lamon Archey (Eli) back to take part in the story? “I love them. I love Sal so much. She’s beautiful. Of course, he is too. They were the roots [on the show]. Every time they come back, it’s just natural. They fit right back in when they return with the grandbabies. It’s like a family. It really works.”
What has been the most challenging part of portraying Paulina’s health issues? “That it’s based on a truth, like thyroid [problems]. A lot of women have it, and they have to get [their thyroid] removed. It can turn into cancer. It can turn into something that’s a lifelong issue, which I did not know. So I didn’t want to make light of it. I wanted to try and bear it for what it is, but [relaying] that you can survive. Having this kind of illness breeds anxiety in a lot of people. I thought about that and wanted to make sure it was treated right and delicately.”
What about the heart transplant situation that Paulina has been facing? How did that hit you? “Well, there is heart disease, especially in a lot of African-American families. It’s genetics. I can trace it all the way back to my family and my grandmother who lived to be 106. She had a condition, but it wasn’t a heart disease so much. She had what they call a heart murmur, which is controllable. But anything dealing with the heart, I try to be serious about. I know these are real situations that people have.”
