That Girl
Though she’s older and wiser, it’s evident that Rebecca Budig, recent returnee from the West Coast to New York City and to daytime as ALL MY CHILDREN’s Greenlee Smythe, remains her exuberant and irrepressible self. Edgy or jaded she’s not.Dressed-down in sweats and sneakers and striding into her neighborhood Starbucks and greeting an acquaintance with a huge smile, Budig’s boundless energy fills the room and negates the need for coffee. It’s not that the Kentucky native has avoided speed bumps on the road of life and projects a Pollayannaish attitude, it’s more that her positive frame of mind and inner resolve fuel her upbeat manner and keep her focused on the big picture.In 1998, after several years on GUIDING LIGHT, Budig decided to leave the role of Michelle Bauer to take her chances in Los Angeles. It was not unfamiliar territory, as she had spent nearly three years there after leaving Miami University of Ohio at age 20, where she was studying her craft and building her resume with the likes of BATMAN FOREVER (she kissed Chris O’ Donnell‘s Robin) before GL summoned her to New York.After three years of playing a teen-ager, she had departed Springfield on amicable terms. “There wasn’t really any question for me about leaving,” she recalls. “The part just wasn’t very interesting for me anymore. I loved GUIDING LIGHT and the people I worked with, but I had to go out to Los Angeles and give it my best shot. Now that I’ve done it, I don’t want to be there. I’d only go back if I book a job and it takes me back there.” She did win a part in the pilot for a one-hour cop drama set in and called 1968, which she says was “very cool.” Nevertheless, she ached to be back in New York. “My soul was not happy in Los Angeles.”On the personal front, Budig struggled through the dissolution of her engagement to an actor, a period of her life she is reluctant to discuss. In a resigned tone of voice, all she will say is, “It just didn’t work out. We’re friends, and he’s a wonderful human being. I was too young and not ready to get married. That’s really about it.” Asked about Roddy, a former Australian steady, Budig’s countenance brightens considerably and she laughs loudly. “Good old Roddy,” she says with an Aussie twang. “He just opened his own hair salon in midtown Manhattan. We’re friends. I also met a drummer when I was in California. Boy, do I have stories. I don’t really date right now. I’m seeing someone, but it’s not like marriage or anything.” Budig admits it was nice to be away from the daytime grind for a while, although, “I think I was terrified at first that I would never work again. I decided I would just go out to L.A. and kick ass and book something, and I did. But I just love to work, and there’s no other part of the business where you can work year-round, five days a week.”So when the call came from AMC and Budig sent the show her video reel — “This was a recurring role and I didn’t have to go in and test” — the process proceeded swiftly. “Judy [Blye Wilson, AMC casting director] told me that Greenlee was a bad girl who comes to Pine Valley and causes trouble. It was the summer; I figured there wasn’t going to be anything going on in L.A. — why not go back to New York? Plus, I never get to play the bad girl and delve into the dark side. I’m always playing the good girl. It’s been exciting because the role has really come to fruition these past three months. Her dad’s a drunk, her mother pays no attention to her, she lives with her grandmother — she’s pathetically desperate, kind of like me. I’m kidding. I love her name; it’s so debutante. I think she’s going to continue to be a spoiler.” It sure looks that way, as Budig recently underwent a change in status from recurring to contract player — a commitment she unhesitatingly and gladly grasped. “Where I am in my life right now, I’m just happy at ALL MY CHILDREN,” she says. “I don’t even know how to describe it; it’s just been a really nice experience for me. I’m friendly with everyone. I have to tell you, I am in love with with Judy Blye Wilson and Jean Dadario Burke [AMC’s executive producer]. Jean is like my mother, and Judy is like my best friend. It’s been really nice to be around people like that. I love Jennifer Bassey (Marian). She’s taken me under her wing a little bit. She’s teaching me all sorts of things. I just look at the people on the show and I’m so amazed. There are so many people to learn from there.”From Wilson’s perspective, bringing in Budig for the role of Greenlee was a no-brainer. In fact, says Wilson, “I had been trying to get this girl over here for several years. She went on to GUIDING LIGHT about two weeks before I was going to bring her in to read for the part. Since then I’d spoken to her several times and tried to encourage her to come here, and this time we got lucky. I think she’s a terrific young lady and a wonderful actress, and I’m really happy that we have her here at ABC.”According to the well-regarded casting maven, Budig brings a special mix of qualities to the table. “She has this unique way of playing the bad girl, if you will, but making her very likable. She also shows a little bit of vulnerability. You love to watch this bad girl, and that’s not an easy thing to make people do. As a person, Rebecca has this wonderful kind of spunky, upbeat quality that is endearing. I’ve always like this girl, and enjoyed spending time with her. She’s just a lot of fun.”
Conversation
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