AMC: SOW Interview with Amanda Baker

[Skin]

I think Alexa is one of the strongest actresses under 35 that this show has produced in possiablly 7 or 8 years. She is the best younger actress this show has seen since Eden Rigel IMO. Something that I still believe to this day. I don't even understand how it's arguable to say that she can act. Yes I understand that some may not see Alexa has tremendously talented. But just looking at some of her previous storyliens (Babyswitch, Zoe, Satin Slayer, Janet, ect.) I just can't believe that someone could deny that this woman has a talent. Some may not think she is awesome. But I firmly do believe that this woman is a power house and IMO only Rebecca and Rigel were better then her in her prime years 04-06', 07'. She is definetely one of the top AMC younger actresses on this show.

One there is a major difference between Jen and Babe. The most dynamic being that Babe isn't dead. If Babe were to die I have no doubt that we would see some sort of ripple effects threw out the Pine Valley community especially on the Chandler/MArtin side of the valley even though they are currently only getting about 35% of the airtime and the rest is being sucked up on the Zen/Ryannie troop.

Also one could argue that Jabe is a "super couple". I personally don't think that they are but there are some who would argue to the death that they qualify.

I agree. Alexa is what hooked me and to say that she doesn't have atleast some talent is a huge slap in the face to any and all of the work she has done on AMC.

[R Sinclair]

Then let me wind up for a big ol' pimp slap, because she's not all that!

She knows how to act. Wonderful. I expect that from an actor. But she didn't bring anything to the role that makes me say, "Wow! Whoever replaces her has some big shoes to fill."

Sorry. I just don't see it.

Becky brought something to Greenlee. Terri brought something to Simone. Lish brings something to Kendall. Even Bobbie brings something to a horrible role like Krystal. But I'm still having trouble understanding exactly what it is that Alexa has brought to Babe other than being pretty, perky and crying on cue. I agree that she's a notch or two above Chrishelle, but that's only because she's had story after story, day after day for four years to hone her skills, while Chrishelle sat on the backburner. Liz Hendrickson was even wasted to promote Alexa. Alexa definitely can't outdo Kelli Giddish. That was simply phenomenal, the work she did as "Dixie", and she wasn't even 25 years old. Yet, she sat on the backburner as well.

When Babe broke down in tears at the faux helicopter crash site back in '04 once Krystal made her realize Bess was Miranda and Little Adam was the one who "died," I was just like... "And? "

Look, all I'm saying is that Alexa plays it safe. She lacks nuance. I have yet to see her making creative and decisive acting choices in any of her performances. When Babe was mad and hated JR, she was mad and hated JR. When she wanted to get back with JR, she wanted to get back with JR -- and it seemed to come out of nowhere, because there were no subtle nuances in her performances to make it seem like, "Hmmm... she's mad at JR, but yet, look at her eyes -- she still loves him." Nope. She just came off holier than thou, sanctified.

[dragonflies]

I can't think of anything that Alexa brought to Babe, IMO Babe is just another cookie cutter type character, they're a dime a dozen in soaps.

I have NEVER been impressed by Alexa's acting, all she seemed to ever play Babe as was: smug, whining or crying. Smug when Babe should NEVER have been smug..................

[Skin]

I disagree. I think Alexa did better work in 04'-05', 07' and even at times during her lull in the mid later months of 06' then Giddish did in her peak of 05'.

I really just couldn't agree less. When Paul Cramer drugged up Babe and told her that her son died in the plane crash and that he fell into the river, and then had to watch the drugged out Babe struggle to understand what that meant and then having her bawel and try HERSELF to fish him out of the river until Paul had to sedate her again was heart breaking to watch. I watch any scene in the transgender storyline with Babe/Zoe I see a beautiful poignant friendship. Even in the little throw away scenes you can see her heart and what motivates her. When she was seperated from her son and he nearly drowned due to JR's negligence she fell apart piece by piece. You saw that she was a concenred mother and that she was WRECKED that thought that her son drowned in the pool because her ex-husband wasn't watching him enraged her but at the same time she had to hold all of it in because he could easily take her visitiation away from her.

Not creative? I would call her portrayal of Babe tying JR up with chains creative. I would call her performence during JR's nightmare after leaping out the window creative, I would call her performences with Vincent naunced and creative. She has a gold mind of wealth in scenes with Eden Rigel, Jeffery Carlson, Vincent Irizarry, Bobbie Eakes and even Micheal E. Knight creative, piognant and nuanced. There have always been layered emotions with all of those characters and a great emotional wealth in all of those scenes and characters.

Alexa is more then you give her credit for IMO. I can defientely see the nuances and changes in her performences. Just looking at one scene back in 06' post explosion with Kate Collins' Janet where she is about to walk out of the shed and then Janet implies that she will never see her son again and gives her a small stuffed animal. She instantly freezes and clutches the teddy bear and one lone tear falls from the heartbroken terried look on her face. There were an abundance of wealth in those scenes IMO.

I won't even comment on Lish and her hit/miss work or her "dramatic acting". She is only mildly more seasoned then the overacting Sabine.

[JackPeyton]

some people seem to confuse char hate with actor hate...

[dragonflies]

^ Who's hating on the actress? I have seen no one say that.

I'm not a big fan of Alexa's that's true, but I far from hate her

[leevo64]

One, I was comparing Babe to Jen in that they are both McTavish-created blonde ingenues who were poorly defined from the beginning, went through fifty thousand transformations, love interests, careers, and personalities. Jen's a cool, nice girl. No, she's troubled. No, she's a moron. No, she's a psycho. No, she's a saint. No, she's a good girl again. Babe's a quirky, wannabe southern girl. No, she's got a heart of gold. No, she's conflicted. No, she's saintly. No, she's a career woman. No, she's a baby stealer. No, she's a saint again. And no, Jen is not on the show anymore but her presence has still not been forgotten.

Getting back to the topic at hand, I never said I didn't think that Alexa Havins was a bad actress. She's good. But she's no better than other actors on the show, and she's nowhere near the likes of some actors that are no longer with the show, like the ones I've mentioned before or others such as Eden Riegel, Rebecca Budig, or even Olga Sosnovska. It's always hard to accept a recast, but this is just not a character that I see as impossible to recast. Especially when you are recasting with an equally capable and appealing young actress like Amanda Baker.

[Southofnowhere]

All her whining to TPTB is what turned me off Alexa. She bought into Babe being a saint and made sure it happened. IMO she was also SUPER jealous of Eden Riegel!

[Cheap21]

I dont recall Babe being smug. The closest thing to that may have been when she first started working at Fusion but that was more of her defending herself against the Mean Girls who were out to get her even though she tried hard with them. For the most part, she's acted pretty humble during her run

[R Sinclair]

Some people seem to confuse character love with actor love. Goes both ways.

[Skin]

Some fans see Babe as being "smug" to JR at times. However I wouldn't consider that a problem. Especially since threw out most of Alexa's tenure her and JR were complete enemies towards one another. It's not like it didn't fit the scene when 85% of the time they were fighting with one another. Other kendellites may see Babe being improperly smug at Fusion when there were times when she was the ONLY fusion woman that actually WORKED. lol.

[alwaysAMC]

I can't believe some people are denying Alexa Havins' acting skills! She is probably one of the best younger actresses to come through this show. She's bright, vibrant, can cry, can carry storyline...she can do it all.

Sin - I can't believe you went there comparing her acting with Cameron Mathison's!!! lol

[Southofnowhere]

Babe being at Fusion was just plain WRONG ,but since she has become Kendall's new BFF ,it really doesn't matter anymore.

[R Sinclair]

It's easy to carry storyline when the whole show is written to prop you.

[NYC123]

Alexa is a great actress

She was great! Theere no doubt about it! It was just the writing! *McTavish*

I think Alexa will be hard to replace. I wish Amanda the best of luck and I want her to do well!

When Alicia came as Kendell I hated her acting! It was horrible! But 2 years later I started to say i love her acting!

Same goes for Alexa. At first i was like Oh No another newbie. I hate Alexa's acting for the first couple of months but after thats I LOVED HER ACTING!