GH: Patrick Mulcahey talks about the creation of Carly

[Vee]

I remember when I really got acquainted with Carly for the first time, I absolutely could not stand her. I thought she was so unbelievably obnoxious and immature. I still far preferred her to Brenda, though, and that was appropriate - she was conceived explicitly as "the anti-Brenda." And because of the writing and Sarah's portrayal, she really was very 'anti-soap' in a lot of ways in her first years, IMHO. I grew to love her with Jason and Sonny. Of course, in later years I grew to despise them all.

Sarah's career has had a lot of hills and valleys of late and I don't believe she has steady work right now. I would not be surprised anymore to see her back someday, but only over Benard and Burton's dead bodies, probably.

[brimike]

The inmates should never be allowed to run the asylum.

[R Sinclair]

I believe if Sarah came back, she'd repair a LOT of the damage to the role caused by Braun and Wright.

When Sarah played the role, she really was creating and exploring this character and it came through in her performances. I never got the hint that Sarah was like "Oh, I'm hot shit now because I'm playing the best role on GH!" I just felt that Sarah was trying to convey the truth of her character. I believe she would've done the same if she were cast in any other role. It's just because of her dynamic portrayl, it has been believed that it's the Carly Character that is magic -- not the actress behind it, because Sarah made it look so easy.

Sarah portrayed Carly as this troubled young woman who had questions about who she was, where she came from, how she came to be and where she belonged in life. I saw all of those moments and struggles in Sarah's version.

Braun and Wright played the character as "Oh, she's just a bad girl. She does naughty things because 'That's just Carly.'"

Michele Val Jean, who obviously loves Carly, tries to write things to depict who Carly is, but Wright just recites the lines as if "yeah, yeah, I know I have issues, but YOU should look past them." She doesn't show Carly as being vulnerable. Wright just plays Carly as being pigheaded and stubborn... and immensely entitled.

[dragonflies]

IMO Braun made Carly too "soft" Carly lost her identity when TB played her. She was just an extension of Sonny and nothing more during that time

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I think Braun kinda grew into the role at some point, she didn't have the chops Brown has, but she gave it her best.

Laura Wright, on the other hand, is nothing but a scenery chewing monster. This woman desperately wants an Emmy nomination, but she'll never get one, especially with her acting choices. I've never been a fan of Wright's "acting", I hated her on GL and Loving/The City. She has no grasp of what vulverability, subtext, and emotional maturity is.

[R Sinclair]

Because she has no real sense of being vulnerable and from the wrong side of the tracks. Her little Soapography on SOAPnet solidified that for me. She was Miss Popular in high school, and then got Loving and then Guiding Light and immediately booked GH... so that "entitled" vibe I get from LW's Carly is most likely from LW feeling that everything is just destined to be hers. She sits there and makes it seem like booking roles on all these shows was just so easy.

There's no sense of struggle. And when you're Lil' Miss Popular in high school cast in the top role on a soap opera, of course you're going to let that bleed into your performance. Before I even saw LW on Soapography (I had to watch it last month on YouTube since I don't get SN), I always felt LW played Carly like a bratty, stuck up high school cheerleader -- and SURPRISE! That's exactly what she was in her high school years. All perky, pretty and popular -- which is totally not Carly. Carly feels as if she doesn't fit in. She feels unpopular, unwanted, always waiting for someone to realize she's "lesser than" so she strikes first. That's the impression I got from Sarah's version.

Tamara's version was a street bully who'd beat you up in the cafeteria for your lunch money.

LW's version is more, stuck up, "I'm the girlfriend (ex-girlfriend) of the star jock in our school. I'm also cheerleading captain! You're SOOOO not cool enough to hang out with me!"

First Segment of LW's I've Just Always Been Fabulous Soapography

[RuAsRuAnAu]

Wow. People sure do hate Wright...as Carly. I've read that there's a feud b/w Guza Jr. & Mulcahey? If that's true, would he ever return to GH if & when Guza leaves for whatever reason? The main reason why Brown left is because she wanted to try out other roles, not b/c of the big, bad wolf, Phelps. Check out there final/first appearances on GH.

Michele Val Jean loves a lot of characters, that's why she was chosen to HW with Korte. What would the show be like if they weren't demoted? Much better, that's for sure. If Mulcahey can help create such a complex & engaging character like Carly Benson, why not HW B&B and work wonders? We all know that the 30 minute format has many advantages over the hour-long format.

Higley would never do this type of interview because she has yet to master the art of storytelling. 20 years on DOOL did her no good. She rested on her laurels for such a long time that when it came to HW the show, she flopped in a major way. (ie. destroying the show) She reverted back to form on OLTL.

Why not have a writers version of Inside The Actors Studios. Proposed Title: Inside The Writers Mind. Premise: An in-depth, candid conversation with the best & most successful writers in the fields of screenwriting & literature. First Guest: Agnes Nixon.

[Toups]

That's such an awesome idea.

My first guest would be James E. Reilly. It would be a dream come true to interview him and just talk soaps with him.

[leevo64]

To me, Tamara Braun's Carly was like Carly decided one day that she wasn't going to be white trash anymore, she wasn't going to be a child anymore and she was going to set out to make a real name for herself. Poor Jennifer Bransford played the role at face value (ie. NUTSO at the time) and Laura Wright plays the role like a senior in the high school drama club who just got the lead over the other, more talented but quieter girls in the musical. Laura Wright has altogether ruined the character of Carly for me. She's "entitled," which is the first word that came to my mind the first time I saw her on screen, and it just butchers the role.

I hope that in time, someone realizes that it was a combination of Sonny, recasts and flimsy definition that killed Carly and fixes it.

[Sylph]

Everyone has that idea.

Toups, since you're a co-founder of this site, it would give you some sort of legitimacy and it shouldn't be that hard to get an interview with him via email or something. Just contact his agent or someone. He is a reclusive personality, but if you write a cracking fan letter, he might be interested in talking to you.

[R Sinclair]

I totally agree.

Also, I feel TPTB played Jennifer Bransford for a fool. She auditions for a role named "Drew" and surprise -- IT'S CARLY! I know, I know, they were recasting while Tamara was still taping scenes as the character and ABC wanted it to be under wraps (because we all know how secrets NEVER get leaked over there )... but come on. It's just not a good idea to send an actress in to audition or even play such a distinct and dynamic character without giving them a heads up on who exactly this character is and where they are at this point in the story and where they're headed. They just threw her in in the middle of an incredibly heavy frontburner story, watched her get hit by a bus, and then just shrugged and booked another actress.

Maurice Benard got some respect from me when it was reported he fought for Jennifer, because he totally didn't have to. Even though I hoped she would click in the role and supported her, even I saw she was horribly miscast.

But, I agree. The Sonny dependency has been horrible for the Carly character. I like the Jason/Carly relationship on paper (even though, again, every time I hear LW call Jason her best friend, it sounds sooooo high school and proprietary), because there are people in my life I have a similar connection with. But it's this retread after retread of Sonny & Carly that has made this character unbearable.

I think if Sarah were still in the role, the Carly character would've been away from Sonny's orbit several years ago.

[leevo64]

I loved Tamara Braun with Shaun Benson's Steven Webber. They were great. How awesome would Carly have been if she had married into the Webber family and had to earn the respect of Audrey and avoid the scheming Heather? That would have been awesome.

[RuAsRuAnAu]

I would like to see Mulcahey promoted on B&B to an AHW so he can create a character similar to Carly (preferably a male version) & tie that into the shows roots with the Forresters, Logan & Spencer clan. He sures knows how to plot a story.

[RuAsRuAnAu]

Does anyone see Mulcahey returning to GH? If so, as what? AHW? BDW? SW?