Interview with Jennifer Bassey

Jennifer Bassey played the role of Marian Colby Chandler on the ABC soap opera All My Children for over 30 years. But her acting talents go far beyond the world of daytime television. She has had guest appearances on prime-time shows such as NBC’s Law & Order, appeared in major motion pictures such as 1990s Bonfire of the Vanities and just wrapped a short film about the powerful true story of a woman’s fight to overcome brain cancer entitled Timeless. She has also starred in numerous Broadway productions and was one of the original Playboy bunnies in the first Playboy club in Chicago.

TheCelebrityCafe.com’s Sari N. Kent had the chance to speak with Jennifer about her long run on ABC, what the last day of filming was like, what she’s been doing since and other projects she has in the works.

Sari N. Kent: Before we start, I’ve been an All My Children fan most of my life so I would just like to tell you what a thrill it is for me to talk to you.

Jennifer Bassey: Well, thank you and of all the soaps and I’ve done and I’ve three other soaps other than All My Children. I’ve got to tell you, I admire Agnes Nixon, what she did and has done for the world of daytime and for AIDS and homosexuality, for JR Martinez and all the injured. I think she’s the most innovative of all the soap opera people.

Sari N. Kent: I agree. I know I watch other soaps like One Life to Live and General Hospital, which broached those topics but not as in-depth as All My Children has. Well, on the topic of All My Children you played the role of Marian Colby Chandler on the show for over 30 years. How did it feel to say goodbye to the character on the show’s last day of filming?

Jennifer Bassey: Well, I started in the early 80s and I was supposed to be on for three months. At that point, everybody was being very funny and I want to be funny too, I don’t just want to be the villain. I wanted to be the funny villain, so I had just done a Harold Pinter play on Broadway and he talks in pauses between words. He’ll pause at provocative moments and then say the next word and it was such an experience talking to him. So, I thought I’m going to base my character on him. So, if I had a line like, ‘Would you like a bite of my hamburger?” I would say it like, ‘Would you like a bite of my…hamburger?” And the audience got it and the writers got it and then they started writing me funny. So, instead of being on for three months, I was on for 30 years.

Being with David Canary, [who played twins Adam and Stuart Chandler, the later whom Marian eventually fell in love with and married] we just loved working together and we just love one another. I mean everyone loved David... what’s not to love, he’s just a remarkable man. He’s very gifted and very talented. On the last day [of taping,] we all thought it was going to move [to an online format] so we didn’t know it was the last day, but, it was wonderful to be out of the asylum and back in Pine Valley and to see all of my friends. *laugh* I loved it and we all hoped it would be ongoing. So, we didn’t think it would be the very last day otherwise I think it would have been much more difficult.

Sari N. Kent: You just finished the film short Timeless, can you tell me more about that?

Jennifer Bassey: We did the short to raise brain cancer awareness. A true story about a woman where it was pushing out of her skull literally. We won at the Louisville Film Festival so far, as the favorite film of the entire festival. And it's really about being in the mind of Sheila Marden and how her stability was affected by the brain cancer and you’re seeing it from her point of view. I mean it was her reality, which was not the real reality, but it was still her reality. It gets kind of scary because she hallucinates... and it’s a true story. She was holding on for her daughter to get back from California and it's very moving.

[In the movie] I have a thing over my eye, I’m blind in one eye, and somebody who saw it in LA whose an Academy voter. The woman’s daughter, who was the one also produced and co-wrote it, said to the man who was a fan of All My Children, come see my short,.‘You know who’s playing the lead, it’s Jennifer Bassey.’ And he said, ‘No, I’ve been watching All My Children for 25 years and that’s not Jennifer Bassey. And she said, ‘Yes, it is’ and he said, ‘Oh my G-d.’

I [also] had a friend of mine watch it with me in LA and she said to me, “When are you coming on?” I mean that’s the ultimate compliment.

Sari N. Kent: Absolutely! You’ve also starred in feature films such as 1990’s Bonfire of the Vanities, which starred Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis and Melanie Griffith and 2008’s 27 Dresses which starred Katherine Heigl. Can you tell me what those experiences were like versus your work on daytime television?

Jennifer Bassey: Well, they’re very similar. I mean some of the biggest stars have come out of daytime television. Meg Ryan, Julianne Moore, I mean many of the big name movie stars started out on daytime television. I mean that’s how you learn to relax in front of the camera. Either you learn it or you get fired. So, basically there’s not much difference. There might be a little less energy, daytime has a little more of a theatrical edge to it.

Sari N. Kent: You’ve were also one of the original Playboy bunnies in the first Playboy club in Chicago. Can you tell me what that was like?

Jennifer Bassey: There were 40 of us when the first club opened. I was the meanest bunny in the bunch. We were very difficult, very temperamental, we all were. It was tough. We made a ton of money. [The club would be] filled with many wealthy people so the check could have been $3.00 and they’d leave $100 tip. So, we were all 18 years old making $1,100 or $1,200 a week. I mean they didn’t pay us, we had to pay them to work there so you can imagine how much money we were making and that was 50 years ago.

Sari N. Kent: Yes, definitely, for that time that was a bundle. You also have starred in a number of Broadway productions. Can you tell me what that was like?

Jennifer Bassey: Well, it would depend on which show. I mean there’s nothing like being on Broadway. There’s nothing like walking into a theatre and when the curtain goes up. There’s just a different feeling there. It’s just, it’s very exciting. What can I say, the audiences are great. I think it’s the hardest of all the mediums. I think its harder than television or anything else and you don’t have much of a life while you’re doing it. Its very exhausting and very demanding.

Sari N. Kent: You’ve had previous appearances on television shows like NBC’s Law & Order and 30 Rock. But, you recently had a guest spot on the new ABC hit crime drama Body of Proof, which stars Dana Delany. Can you tell me what the experience was like?

Jennifer Bassey: Well, with Body of Proof there was a lovely comedy bit and I love doing comedy. But, when I arrived to shoot it, we had to cut the comedy out. They didn’t think doing comedy right before my character died was such a good idea. So, it was kind of boring for me because I was hired to be funny. I just would have loved to have done the comedy I originally auditioned for. I mean you never know what’s going to happen.

Sari N. Kent: Is there anything you would like to add that you would like my site’s readers to know about?

Jennifer Bassey: I do have a series that I’m trying to get to the proper people to get it on the air. it’s about monsters and it’s not like anything else on the air right now.