There’s Nothing Like A Dame
Soap Opera Digest: How would you sum up Rose?
Darlene Conley: She was a professional criminal and made no bones about it. There was no conscience. She said, “I have a business to run here.” In all the years I played Rose, I never heard her apologize for anything, unless it was to gain a point.Digest: Neither she nor Sally were afraid to use their sexuality.
Conley: The one good thing about both Rose and Sally is that they loved the opposite sex, in any shape or form. That was fun. Rose was a really interesting villain, and you couldn’t even really call her that. She was not perverted, she was ambitious to a fault. Just don’t get in her way.Digest: Sally has made mistakes because of affairs of the heart. Did Rose ever let her appetite for men get in her way?
Conley: I remember the time she took her clothes off but got tied to the bedpost, and she was so pissed because she hadn’t seen it coming.
Digest: And Rose is still on the loose. She fled after the black-market baby thing went down.
Conley: She had to leave the country. She went out with her terrible companion, Vince, who was just so inept. But for some reason, she could never shake him. And I love the way she left, driving and singing, “Oh, Rio, fly ’em down to Rio, Rio by the sea-o….” God knows she’s somewhere in South America, probably causing a revolution.Digest: What can you say about the character you played on GH?
Conley: Trixie was a good broad. The name says it all. She was an old, very loyal friend of Ruby’s. Trixie had none of the guile or the intellect of Rose. Trixie could come in and take care of your family, wash your dishes, scrub the floor and ask for nothing.Digest: Was that frustrating to play?
Conley: No, not at all. She was a hooker. She was one of Ruby’s girls way back when. Trixie never made any apologies about that, either. In her mind, she was trying to raise her family and pay the rent, so what do you want her to do? Go on relief? Cost the government money? No. She took care of herself. Digest: You always put a lot of yourself into your characters.
Conley: The ladies I played were basically old movie characters from the ’30s. They’re usually played by someone like Glenda Farrell. Underdogs and fighters. They’re tough-talking dames, but not evil. The only one who was evil was Rose, but not to her way of thinking. She felt a woman didn’t stand a chance unless she took care of herself. That was her justification for everything she did. Digest: What happened to Trixie?
Conley: I don’t know what happened. She left town. She was on the road again. Probably in Mexico, hooking and cooking. No great mysteries with that one.Digest: Now talk about Sally.
Conley: She was supposed to be a short run, but she was such a juicy character that she caught on immediately. She encapsulated everything we’ve just talked about: Do what needs to be done and let the chips fall where they may, as long as they don’t fall in her lap. A lot of self-preservation that wasn’t in Trixie. She didn’t have that. She was basically a woman who was getting by. She wasn’t making things happen.
Digest: Which one of these roles was the easiest for you to play?
Conley: Sally because it’s been the longest and the best-written. It covers all the angles. Sally’s romantic life is in it, everything she cares about is in there, so it’s much broader. That role was built for the long haul. All of the others were not.Digest: What’s been Sally’s best relationship?
Conley: Her love/hate thing with Stephanie. That’s always been good. They always had a grudging respect for each other and they are very different women. Each is very strong in her own way, but they are very different in their needs. The way they function is quite different, so I’m looking forward to doing some more work with her. Hopefully, they’ll go there with it because that’s an easy card and the audience loves it. They have always loved Stephanie and Sally.
Conversation
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