Brooke is contending with the news that Eric is terminally ill. What was it like to shoot the scenes where she found out? “Well, that’s sad, of course, you know, and all the characters have had been, have been crying lots of tears. It’s been really sad. Definitely getting a lot of fans asking me what’s happening, what’s happening, you know? But it’s crazy just to think that: ‘Wow, what is going to happen to Eric? Is he going to be here?’ It’s sad for the family, you know, the Forresters and of course, the Logans and everybody that loves him because he’s loved by everybody! And Brooke has two children with him. They’ve always had a very good friendship and he’s always been on her side. No matter what Brooke does, it’s okay [in Eric’s eyes]. He’s always supported her and been there for her and forgiven her and just loved her. So he’s very important in Brooke’s life.”
So many years of B&B story were driven by Stephanie disapproving of Brooke, and disapproving of Brooke and Ridge’s relationship. There’s sort of a parallel now, with Brooke disapproving of Hope pursuing a possible future with Thomas. What is your take on where Brooke is coming from there, and what is fueling her to make her feelings so clear on the matter? “I mean, she’s concerned, because, you know, he was stalking my daughter! Thomas was stalking her and he did all that crazy stuff with the baby. He just hasn’t been good for her, you know, especially when he was totally obsessed with her. So, Brooke doesn’t believe that that’s completely gone, that there’s still got to be some of that in Thomas somewhere and she’s worried about her daughter. So, of course, she would kind of say, ‘This is not good. This is just not a good situation. With all the men in the sea, why, why do you [pick Thomas]?”
That’s probably what Brook’s thinking about Deacon’s choice of partner as well! “Of all the fish in the sea….” “Right! Same thing.”
Obviously, Brooke is protective of Hope and as you noted, she’s concerned that Thomas is bad news. Do you think she is observing a change or shift in Hope that is raising any red flags for her? “She seems to have changed a bit. She’s not the sweet little Hope that she once was and Brooke is starting to be like, ‘Uh-oh! She’s taking after me!’ ”
Brooke thinks Thomas is a questionable choice of partner, but it seems like his portrayer, Matthew Atkinson, is a great choice of partner. In real life, you recently attended his wedding in Lake Tahoe, CA, and from the snippets we saw on social media, it looked like you had a fabulous time. “It was amazing. It was so beautiful. We just made it [in time] for the wedding, and then we saw the beautiful ceremony. The sun was going down, the location was spectacular — the view of the lake, the mountains, the sunset, just the nature, you know? It’s like God’s nature! It is perfect for them. It was just gorgeous. It was a very nice group of people, a lot of the families and some close friends. It was just very sweet. They got married out there on the bluffs and then we all went upstairs to the house and we had dinner and it was lots of speeches and dancing and singing and it was a beautiful night. Very, very special, and their vows were so sweet. It was very romantic, very sweet — it was perfect! Like, nothing went wrong anywhere. It was just flawless.”
Courtesy of KatherineKellyLang/Instagram
Love Is In The Air: Lang and beau Dominique Zoila at Matthew Atkinson’s (Thomas) wedding to wife Brytnee.
