| WILD AT HEART |
| Tired of playing goody-two-shoes, the irrepressible Judi Evans is having a blast as Another World's Paulina |
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Joining AW as Paulina has been almost as satisfying. "Of all the soaps in New York, Another World was the one I wanted to be on. They believe in taking chances. There's a full circle quality about the writing on AW that makes it more fun to play. There are little nuances that people have that make it funny. I may feel differently in three years, but right now I could stay here forever. After creating two memorable soap heroines, Beth Raines on Guiding Light and Adrienne Johnson on Days of Our Lives, Evans was ready to try something new, to show another side of herself. Paulina Cory offered her that challenge. For starters, she looks wilder than either Beth or Adrienne. "I never felt sexy before. Playing Paulina I feel very sexy. It's a big ego thing for me. I never really think of myself like that. I never had breasts before," Evans says with a laugh. "All of my other characters were flat-chested--I'm not. On my first day on AW, the dress was two inches above my knee. The next dress I wore was four. I never had legs before. I never had a real 'do' before--full makeup, red lipstick. Never. Once, when [supervising executive producer] Al Rabin was on vacation from DAYS, I got away with wearing red lipstick. When he came back he said, 'What was that?' and we went back to picnic pink." Evans inherited the role of Paulina from actress Cali Timmins. "I thought it was going to be a little difficult," explains Evans. "I didn't watch Cali in the role except for the last day, sort of out of respect. I was curious, but I didn't want to do what someone else had done. I had a certain mindset. I didn't want to think about it too much, because this is me, this is the way I'm going to do it. If they like it, they like it. Hopefully, they will." A large part of the viewers acceptance of Evans depends on her explosive chemistry with Tom Eplin, who plays her husband, Jake. Rather than marrying for love, Jake and Paulina only wed because he was blackmailing her. Needless to say, this soap couple is nothing like Evans' previous pairings--GL's Phillip (Grant Aleksander) and Beth, and DAYS' Justin (Wally Kurth) and Adrienne. "The thing about Jake & Paulina is that they're cut from the same cloth," says Evans. "They are very much alike. They hate that they see each other in each other. They also see the things they like about each other. It compels them and repels them at the same time. Even if they do get together in the end, they could never have a happy-go-lucky relationship, all hearts and flowers. They'll always have tension. That could be a lot of fun to play, butting heads all the time. There's a lot more flavors to them, a lot more levels. If there's a chemistry between me and Tom, that's great." Chemistry is something Evans has shared with a variety of leading men. "I don't think about it or go after it," she explains. "It either happens or it doesn't. I love Wally Kurth--I loved working with him. He was very different from Tom, but basically they are very much alike in a 'What can I do for you? How can I help you?' way. I like to work in that type of atmosphere, where you are both nurturing each other. "Tom has a different personality than Wally, so he brings other things into the work, but it's the same kind of giving," she continues. "He's wonderful to work with, he gives so much, and he's so alive. The way he works, there's no way you can just sit back and relax. You can't just go for a ride. You have to be there. "I think sometimes you can dislike someone and be part of a supercouple," the actress adds thoughtfully, "but it works better and there's another level of chemistry when you do like the person you work with, if you do respect him. I respect Tom and Wally very much. I'm so happy to be working with Tom that I never want to leave--and he better not leave either. I'll track him down!" Evans is diplomatic on the subject of working on GL with Aleksander: "Grant Aleksander and I are very different. Very different personalities. I don't know about him, but I was very young at the time and didn't know how to speak my mind as well as I do now." Although it's hard to predict, could Evans ever imagine returning to Days? Although so many Days alumni--Peter Reckell (Bo), Deidre Hall (Marlena) and Wayne Northrop (Roman)--have come back to Salem, Evans herself isn't sure she'd be willing to return: "The character would have to grow a lot, change a lot. I loved Adrienne--I'm not saying that she was a terrible character--but I certainly would want something different than I had the last two years there." Leaving Days wasn't easy for Evans ("They offered me a lot of money to stay. A lot of money! "), but it was essential for her marriage. She and her husband, shoe designer Robert Eth, had grown weary of their bicoastal relationship. "At first, it's OK and actually very exciting. Then after a while it's very difficult. We couldn't even discuss starting a family. Children need both their parents around more than a couple of weekends a month. And I want children, eventually." For Evans, one of the more troubling aspects of being an actress is watching her weight. "I've had a producer say to me, 'Lose weight or lose your job,' " says Evans, remembering a rather painful Days incident. "She said, 'You don't want to lose your job, do you?' I had someone say to me, 'We like seeing you on TV, just not so much of you.' Some women are long-waisted, and they look better on TV. I have a very short waist and I have a large bust which, if you're shooting from the waist up, looks very big. I have a small waist, though. Small hips and, for my body, long, thin legs. "When I'm gaining weight, I start to wear things that blouse over, but that's not what the character is necessarily wearing," she explains. "I had a director once tell me he had to change the camera shots because my butt was too big. I was crushed, and it was right before I got married. When my husband picked me up at the studio that day, he could tell that something was the matter because I was so quiet. When he asked me, I fell apart. I was in tears; I was so crushed." "As a woman, an actress, all you have is your body, your soul," she says. "When someone attacks one of those things in such a tender place, it really hurts. For me to lose weight, I need a reason. I can't make those reasons for myself. I have the incentive now because of the way they're dressing this character--in skintight, sexy clothes. Now it's easy to work out, easy to not eat. I hit 116 pounds yesterday and it feels good." The youngest of four children, Evans' energetic personality was evident even when she was a toddler. Since her parents worked as trapeze artists, it was perfectly natural for Evans to become a baby clown. When she was older, she considered a career in medicine, until she began acting in college. Nine months after graduating, she was cast on GL. "My mom and dad have a strong influence on my life," says Evans. "They're very strong, very funny, very goal-oriented, but not to the point where they kill themselves. They're warm, happy, good people who care about other people. My friend Marcia is another big influence. I always say when I grow up I want to be just like her, and she always asks when am I going to grow up? She's the one who taught me that life's too short. Nothing should be too much like work--nothing. It should never make you crazy. Relationships, jobs, anything. And that was a great thing to learn. If you don't like it, get out. Move on. If it makes you that unhappy; don't do it." Evans is thrilled to report that right now she is very happy. "The worst thing is to not have fun at work, because then why go to work? I had an ulcer working on a show because the atmosphere was so awful. It seriously hurt my health emotionally and physically. Life is too short. I want to be happy. Fifteen minutes after I arrived at AW, I felt I had been there my entire life. I felt like I belonged, really belonged." # |
by Allison J. Waldman