DAYS' Judi Evans & Wally Kurth

Speak Out on the Love Story of Justin & Adrienne

by Mimi Leahey SOAP OPERA DIGEST: 1989 She was a girl from the wrong side of the tracks. He was a rich playboy who had never given his heart to anyone. But when Justin and Adrienne met, it was love at first sight. Improbable, but intensely romantic, their relationship has changed a lot since the first blush of idealistic love. She's suffered a miscarriage. They've both had affairs. He's gone to work for the mob and tried to kill her ex-lover. He was paralyzed and impotent, but they stayed together. Will it last? We spoke with Judi Evans and Wally Kurth, the actress and actor who portray this volatile duo. Here are their candid thoughts on the troubled union between Adrienne and Justin. Why do you think these two characters have such trouble staying together? What do you think is the real problem between them? Wally: I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that Justin hasn't really been able to communicate exactly how he feels and what he thinks. He tries to manipulate the situation, control the situation if you will, and so he leaks out only certain information, certain feelings. And by doing that, they're not being honest with one another. Lies are told and you can't have a relationship like that. It has to be open, so I really blame Justin for a lot of it. Judi: They really do love each other, but there are some things that are hard for both of them to live with. You know, you love someone, you want to be with them and you like them, but there's certain aspects that present obstacles. In their case, Justin has tried to control her and hasn't always told her the truth about his business. He was doing it to protect her, but it destroyed the trust between them. Why does Justin have such a problem being honest? Judi: I think he's been afraid if he told Adrienne the truth she wouldn't love him anymore, but she would always love him. Also, as the relationship progressed, she wasn't always able to be really honest with him either. And when you're not able to be honest with someone, I think you look for things that they're doing wrong to make what you're doing OK. Wally: Justin has a fear of being rejected. He's a person who never really had love in his life. He lost his parents when he was young. He found someone whom he really loves and he wants to hold onto her with all of his might. He's a very bright guy and he's very sincere and you'd think that he'd be smart enough to realize that love will still be there, but he doesn't have faith in that. I think that's why he's always creating these romantic situations where she has to act a certain way--he's planned it all out. I mean what woman wouldn't be swept away with an evening of candlelight and champagne and everything else? What's Adrienne's problem in this relationship? Wally: I wouldn't say it's a problem exactly, but Adrienne is very vulnerable. She's so easily hurt that Justin underestimates her strength. Judi: And she's not always so understanding. Life is cut and dried in her mind, black and white; there are no gray areas. Either you totally do good or you totally do bad, that's it, there's no middle ground. She has to learn how to compromise a little bit. Maybe if he opened up to her, she could understand that. Also, she put Justin on a pedestal, which is a mistake. Then, when he does something wrong, she's crushed by it. All of a sudden he wasn't the perfect person that she fell in love with. Well, she didn't fall in love with a perfect person. She fell in love with a person who's perfect and imperfect. They had a very idealistic, romantic kind of love in the beginning. Then, when she felt attracted to Emilio she was very confused by it. Since she knew she loved Justin, how could she feel attracted to someone else? It really shook her up. They were both swept away by this romance. Wally: Yeah, that's right. Justin never really sat down and thought about what this love thing was. He never thought about the responsibilities of it; he was totally swept away. It was like, 'OK, whenever I'm around this girl, I get this wonderful feeling. I really love her and that's what love must be.' That feeling. He keeps trying to create it. He never once ever analyzed it or doubted it, or tried to put it in perspective. I think for Justin and Adrienne it was just sort of an idealistic, romantic love. As much as he thought about anything, he just assumed it would work out. Love conquers all. He didn't ask himself, 'Now how is this going to work out with my uncle? How is this going to work out with my business? How is this going to work out when we have children?' All the different complications that really have now arisen in the relationship--how is she going to deal with living in the mansion?--all sorts of things like that. Judi: Justin was her first love and her only love. Sometimes I think that can be a detriment to a relationship because you have nothing to compare it to, so it better be perfect. You know, there have been no mistakes with anyone else. Their relationship began shortly after her father had raped her, so she was still recovering from that. There was a lot of that residual feeling. She found it hard to trust men, and for good reason. So when she trusted Justin and when he made a mistake, it pushed buttons in her that said, 'Oh my God, oh my God, how can I live with this?' What do you think has been the most difficult thing for you in playing a character like this? Wally: Well, I'll tell you what: Wally is very cautious when it comes to love. I mean I start applying tests before I even get the impulse. It seems like I do a lot of analyzing. I'm very logical when it comes to love. And Justin was the complete opposite. I mean they said, 'Wally, you're going to see this girl, and we've got to see a zing and this is it, this is the love of your life.' And that was kind of hard for Wally. See, Justin never doubted his love for Adrienne, it was just there. That was kind of hard to play because I kept wanting to go, 'But he would think this, he would think that.' Judi: Well, I suppose the incest. I get so many letters from women who have been abused. I feel really responsible to portray it accurately. It brought up a lot of feelings. You see, Adrienne is frightened by men. Men scare her a lot. It's hard to feel worthy after that or ever think you're good for anything else. You think, 'Maybe that's all I'm good for. How could anyone really like me?' You don't like yourself, you always think it's your fault. You carry that secret. Right now she's starting to come out of that. She's going, 'Well I am good enough, and I love him and I'm gonna try.' The last thing on her mind is to hurt him. What was the initial attraction between these two? Wally: A deeper passion than he'd ever felt before. And a sense of rescue. Adrienne was so lost at sea with everything, and I think Justin really felt he could save her. He was her hero. That was for his ego. Right now, we're going through that exact opposite thing: Justin needs her help but can't accept it. A lot of it is pride. She wants to help Justin through his paralysis and he won't let her. He's a control freak. Judi: Adrienne feels safe with Justin. And I know that sounds weird since she's been afraid of him, too, but he gave her space and respect and he never tried to hurt the little girl inside of her. Especially in the beginning. He was always very gentle. Even though he lied to her, he never lied to her about how he felt about her. And marrying him was the fulfillment of a fantasy. It was a fantasy that became a reality. He was her prince. I think she really believed he would solve all her problems. 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