Why Anita’s Secret on Beyond the Gates Brought Tamara Tunie To Tears
Ever since Beyond the Gates premiered in February of this year, matriarch Anita Dupree — played by Tamara Tunie — has been holding onto a huge secret. And in the June 3 episode of the soap, the truth finally came to light: The Articulettes, the all-girl group that Anita was a part of before embarking on her solo career, was actually founded by a fourth member, who took her own life after being forced out.
Secrets Exposed
“It was a surprise to me,” Tunie admitted to TV Insider of the plot twist that introduced Anita’s guilt over the death of her groupmate, Barbara. “I was at the same time really excited and found it incredibly daunting, the path we were going to go down. I think it’s something never seen in daytime television.”
Tunie, who previously played lawyer Jessica Griffin on As The World Turns, added that she’s “thrilled” her alter ego’s dark past has finally caught up with her. “When I read the script, I cried,” Tunie said of the emotional reveal, “and then I didn’t look at it until the night before we were shooting it, so that any emotion that might bubble up would be saved for the filming.”
For decades, Anita has been consumed by the guilt that her actions in leaving The Articulettes led to Barbara’s death. “She kind of put that secret away in a place in her soul and spirit that she just would not go to,” explained Tunie. “She was selfish, and she was ambitious, and she wanted her dreams to come true at whatever cost. If there was collateral damage, so be it. And she really regrets that.”
Let The Healing Begin
While Anita can’t change the past, she’s hopeful for a better future with her former friends. “Of course, with age comes wisdom, and looking back, she could have done things differently, knowing how she pretty much abandoned Tracy and Sharon,” shared the actress. “She’s trying to reconnect and reunite and heal their friendship in order to not be haunted by what she did, and what her choices led to as far as Barbara was concerned.”
Sharing her secret with her husband, Vernon, was an “unburdening” for Anita, according to her portrayer. “I think she feels a weight lifted,” noted Tunie. “If this opens up the opportunity for Sharon and Tracy, and for them to be reunited, then that’s a very exciting prospect.
“But, at the same time,” Tunie conceded, “she knows it’s not going to be easy.”
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