Kathy Brier: I’m Not a Mother, but I Play One on TV
ONE LIFE TO LIFE’s Kathy Brier has been playing Marcie-on-the-run for the past several months. Exhausting? You bet, but she’s loving every minute of it.
Soap Opera Weekly: Do you think Marcie ever takes a breath and says to herself, “Boy, did this get out of hand…”
Kathy Brier: No. She’s not thinking logically. She’s thinking emotionally. She’s thinking very much as if she’s a mother lion protecting her cub. Everything goes out the window in terms of what’s right and what’s wrong. Everything she does is right in her mind because it’s all to protect Tommy. She recognizes what her losses have been — she lost her husband, she lost her job. But she doesn’t recognize how it’s affected everyone else around her and how it potentially could affect Tommy.
Weekly: What kind of response are you getting from viewers?
Brier: When I was at Super Soap I met a woman who had adopted a baby and had the child taken away because the [birth] parents came back and won custody. This woman was lucky enough to have more children, but she said she thought had she not, she probably would have done something very similar. I’m not a mom, but working with these kids you do become their protector. They ask me for food. The other day. I ordered some food. The minute I opened it Luke [one of the twins who plays Tommy] made a beeline for me with this big face. He didn’t say anything but he was asking me for the food. He gave me this look. I looked at his father, who said, “Go ahead.” When they are on the set, I am their “mom.” They depend on me. I can understand in Marcie’s mind that Tommy depends on her and that she, in a way, depends on him.
Weekly: Your scenes have been so intense. Do they wipe you out?
Brier: Yes! I’m so exhausted from them, frankly. And what was tough about them was that we filmed a majority of them over three days — and most of the days were 12-16 hours long. I wished it was more spread out. It was exhausting. When I came in on Dec. 14 I was so spent. The day was taxing, but I went with it. Chris (Stack, nuMichael) said, “I think it’s the way Marcie is supposed to feel. Just go with it,” and that’s what I tried to do. [The crew] know you have really hard material, they won’t rush you. They know it’s important.
Weekly: It has been so compelling.
Brier: It’s been an amazing storyline. It’s been a gift. I can’t remember the last day I went to working thinking, “I don’t like this.” It’s so well-written.
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