I Can See Clearly Now

For you as an actress, has this been a more difficult role
to play? It seems like Reese is the outsider in Pine Valley,
whom no one accepts. She never got a fair shake.

It's been difficult in the sense that she's never had a clear
point of view. One minute I think I am playing a story line
that is going one way, and then there is a detour. So I have to
make it clear in my head. Yes, it's not fun playing the
outsider who has nobody, and no strong leg to stand on. Reese
has been under a microscope since she came to town and
doesn't have any family to support her. There is no one
around who knows the essence of who she really is. In some
respects, it's not the story I was coming to play ... in
others, it was.

In what sense was it the story you thought you were coming
to play?

We were getting married, which is why I wanted to do the role.
I thought that we were going to show what it's like to be a
same-sex couple in a loving, committed relationship dealing
with what life throws at them and the outside world and how
they are treated. There are a lot of story points and ideas I
thought we were going to hit upon, but they decided to take it
another route.

In the LGBT community some fans have felt very disgruntled
with the "Rianca" story and felt that Reese would not
even have kissed Zach. In a conversation with Advocate.com,
All My Children

executive producer Julie Hanan Carruthers said that Reese never
wavered in her commitment to Bianca, but it was playing oddly
to this audience. So some were not happy with the story.

I am sorry they were not happy, because one of my main reasons
for taking this role was to be able to give a positive voice to
same-sex couples.

It was hard to root for the couple because some of the
issues that face the LGBT community went off point.

I agree. The issues did go off point and I understand why it
was difficult for some to root for Bianca and Reese. I think
some may have felt that they missed a great opportunity. But, I
am so thankful for the fans who hung in there and did support
us.

Tamara, you signed a short-term contract with the show, as
did Eden. Do you think that made the difference in the way the
story was actually told?

I think it is a gift and a blessing to know that you have your
characters for a short amount of time, because it enables the
writers to get to do something they don't generally have
the luxury of doing in soaps, which is to write a beginning,
middle, and an end.