Thursday,April 5, 2001
By MICHAEL STARR
ACTRESS Tamara Braun will replace Sarah Brown as fan favorite Carly Benson on ''General Hospital.'' Braun, a brunette who has dyed her hair blond for the role, is a well-traveled veteran with roles on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer,'' ''Party of Five,'' ''The Magnificent Seven,'' ''The Sentinel'' and ''7th Heaven,'' among other shows.
Braun's first on-screen appearance is scheduled for Wednesday, May 2 (3 p.m. on Ch. 7).
She auditioned four times for the role opposite Maurice Benard, who plays her on-screen love interest, Sonny.
''I didn't come into the role completely blind, although I didn't know what I was auditioning for when I auditioned,'' says Braun. ''No one told me to play the role in any certain way - just to go in there and have a good time.''
Braun, who grew up in Chicago, says she's a little bit familiar with ''GH.''
''I used to watch all the Ch. 7 (ABC) soaps on the tube,'' she says.
While it's not unusual for character to leave soaps, Brown's departure from ''GH'' caused a mini-scandal among the show's fans - some of who were convinced she was pushed out the door by executive producer Jill Farren Phelps, who joined the show in January.
But Brown emphasized that she wanted to leave to pursue a career in prime time, and Phelps denied any antagonism between the two.
In fact, an ABC spokeswoman said that Brown and Phelps hugged - twice - after Brown taped her ''GH'' farewell earlier this week amid much on-set fanfare (including a cake).
