AMC: SOW Interview with Amanda Baker

[Skin]

I don't expect Babe to be evil. Especially after they tried for the last 3 years to make her the new generations Dixie. I just didn't care for her performence on Night Shift.

[Laurie]

I am looking forward to Amanda's take on Babe.

[Ryan]

Amanda was a capable actress on NS....but she seriously has to bring it. Like it or not, Babe is an "important" character on AMC. There is no time for her to "adjust" to being Babe. She needs to hit it out of the park or leave. It's been what....5 months since Sabine joined AMC and she's still "adjusting". Well while they're adjusting, we're being forced to watch their half-assed attempt at being a good actress. It's not their fault their predecessors kicked ass...but it is their fault that they aren't bringing it.

ACT OR DIE is what I'm going into this as. I tried to be optimistic w/ Sabine and it blew up in my face. Never again...........

[Tishy]

I don't know, I understand that Babe is in a big storyline and the character had t be immediately recast. Nonetheless, when characters are immediately I find it really jarring. When Alicia took over as Kendall (and I FLOVE SMG as Kendall) it took me a bit to like her but Ilove her in the role now. I lov Sabine in the role of Greenlee. I think time needs to pass before a recast. I'm not confident in this recast.

[JackPeyton]

shes so not a strong enough actress for this role.

[NYC123]

I thought they should have kept AH till the end of this major storyline! She had such chemistry with Wes/Ritchie!

Amanda has to bring it the first and second epi! If not then I will never look at Babe the same way!

[leevo64]

It's going to be interesting to see Amanda Baker's first SCENE. That is not the way to introduce a new actor.

[R Sinclair]

OMG! Seriously! Why are people acting like Babe is this dynamic character played by this dynamic/powerhouse actress?! This isn't Sarah Michelle Gellar's Kendall, Becky Budig's Greenlee or Sarah Brown's Carly (GH).

This is a character that has basically been pimped and propped to no end because, clearly, she can't stand alone without destroying other characters to support her -- played by a blonde Britney Spears/Jessica Simpson look alike. Sorry, but let's be real, here. Alexa Havins was not hired by the shallowest of casting directors (Judy Blye 'It's All About the Look' Wilson) because of her phenomenal acting talent -- she was hired because she resembled what was "hot" at the moment. 2003 was all about Britney and Jessica Simpson, and Brian Frons loves his blondes.

All Amanda Baker (GAWD, another "Amanda" has infiltrated this show) has to do is speak with a generic nasal twang, shed a few crocodile tears when she rationalizes all of her sociopathic behavior (sleeping with her husband's brother, lying about her previous un-annulled marriage, doctoring pregnancy tests, kidnapping babies, telling parents their infants are dead, cheating on her husband because he has the nerve to be grieving for a presumed dead little sister, etc.), and she should be quite alright. All Babe has done these last four years was cry, blame JR for all of her horrible actions, repeat them, and cry again. The fact that she has been background ever since McTavish left -- and it hasn't unsettled the show -- is evidence that Babe and Alexa aren't that much of a central figure on this show.

Reflecting what was mentioned in the Patrick Mulcahey article about the writing of "Carly Benson," it seems the writers were scared to make any major decisions with the Babe character because McTavish wanted her to be liked and worshipped. The only decisions the writers made was to make Babe cause her own trouble so she could play JR's victim, in an obvious attempt to get the viewers to sympathize with her.

Next thing you know, people will be screaming at a Ryan recast: "He better bring it, or else he'll never compare to Cameron's "

I wish Alexa the best of luck, and maybe she'll be able to play a better written role than Babe Carey ever was -- but Amanda Baker has plenty of room to play in this role

[leevo64]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU R SINCLAIR! I could not agree more. The character of Babe Carey is nothing but a passing ingenue in a long line of passing ingenues on AMC. She's not a brilliant creation, not some significant soap character that changed the way people looked at soap opera as a genre, and CERTAINLY not half of any supercouple.

I don't necessarily think that Babe needs to go - I am interested to see Amanda Baker's portrayal, since to me she was one of the strong points of Night Shift - but I guarantee you in a few years we'll be looking at Babe like GH fans look at Courtney. She's not even as significant as OLTL's oft-hated Jen - her death years ago still resonates in Llanview today, as her death prompted Lindsay to take a fierce motherly attitude toward Marcie which in turn led to Spencer's murder. Look at it that way.

[Ryan]

The character of Babe is a horribly written one, but no one and I mean NO ONE can dispute Alexa's acting ability. Hate Babe or not, Alexa made the Babe character. No one is saying that "Babe" is so important that she couldn't be recast, but Amanda has some tough shoes to fill. With a weaker actress, Babe would NOT have lasted as long as she did on AMC. It was Alexa's portrayal that made you either love Babe, or hate her.

Frons may have hired Alexa for her looks, but she damn sure backed it up with talent. To try and undermine what she's brought to the role is really unfair.

[NYC123]

TOTALLY AGREE RYAN!!!

[leevo64]

I think Alexa Havins is a very good actress, yes. I also think that Kelli Giddish, Terri Ivens, and Tanisha Lynn are also very good. I'm not undermining anything, I just don't see the value of the character at all, no matter the actress.

[R Sinclair]

You're welcome!

But, really, I agree with you. The Babe Carey character was just executed poorly. She came on in one direction then OVERNIGHT shifted into another and everything on the show was ruined to support this change in character. I'm not saying that she didn't have her likeable qualities (I can understand how Babe has some fans), but overall, the character was horribly, shapelessly, insultingly written -- and she was also shoved down our throats for four years. I believe her overuse made people think that she was a bigger character than she was, as if the show wouldn't last without having a Babe in some form or fashion.

It's funny you should mention GH's Courtney Matthews -- because for years, I've been saying that McTavish's writing is so predictable, that she writes formulaic caricatures -- not organic, interesting characters. When she wrote GH, Jax could easily be mistaken for Ryan. Carly could've easily passed for Kendall. Same for AJ and JR, both being alcoholic rich kids with overbearing fathers. And Courtney -- who was a McTavish creation -- was identical to Babe. The naive ingenue who was duped by the drunken rich boy.

Absolutely nothing original about this character.

[R Sinclair]

Not really. I honestly think she played what was written. If she brought anything at all to the role, I don't think it happened until this past year, with the whole Zoe/Satin Slayer storyline. That was a difficult story to pull off for all of the actors involved, and I think she did a good job. I won't take that away from her. But overall, the past four years, she skated on McTavish and Frons' love for her and the character. That's the only reason the role lasted so long. She had a lock with the idiots in charge.

[dragonflies]

Sin I gotta marry that post

Plus Babe being propped started the whole propping ish on AMC, which STILL is going on to this day!

WORD Ryan(well except for the "important character" part LOL)