B&B: Susan Flannery interview

[JamesF]

Just found this on YouTube. It would seem she's visiting Australia to see her daughter and it's interesting to get to know the actress behind the character seeing as she doesn't do a lot of interviews.

She certainly looks and comes across as a lot softer than Stephanie but that wouldn't be too hard. Not too impressed that she wants to leave in a year or so though.

[sheilaforever]

Awesome. Rare is not the right word for the chance of a Susan Flannery interview - it's basically impossible.

[bakedghoti]

La Flannery should just quit already.

Brad Bell has ruined Stephanie. Instead of exploring her hatred and obsession of Brooke, which led to a rape, he took the easy way out with Steph's shooting. And the storyline had zero ramifications in the Logan and Forrester clans.

Stephanie is a caricature already, after Brooke's rape. La Flannery sparring with Jennifer Gareis is hilarious. If SF needs more sparring partners, they should pit Heather Tom's Katie against Stephanie. Instead they're wasting her with bimbette Donna.

This is Stephanie. She's battled Sheila for years! She and Brooke have been at war for eons! Donna is someone Steph would have for lunch!

[JamesF]

The nicest (and weirdest) part is that she's not in Australia to do promotion and still agreed to do the odd interview and promotional spot for Ten. I read that she was a guest on the political game show Good News Week on Sunday night and got a standing ovation for being such a good sport. Would love to see that make it online.

I enjoy the Donna rivalry. She's such a brazen and constant irritation for Stephanie. To give Brad Bell credit, he's never written Donna as being a particularly intelligent woman -- unlike Brooke she only has sex going for her. You certainly won't see her taking over Forrester Creations anytime soon.

[bakedghoti]

That's exactly why Donna vs. Steph is laugable. Donna is a little pest that Steph could kill with a fly swatter. She's no match for Steph. So Eric and Donna's little game of cat and mouse with Steph is just ridiculous. brad bell know how to write only 3 kinds of women 1. sluts (taywhore, donna, jackie), 2. psychos (stephanie, sheila) or heroines (brooke, bridget, katie). He can't seem to write well for women that don't fit so neatly into those molds: fifi, ashley. so IMO his writing of donna is nothing new from his limited bag o' tricks.

[Cat]

I think I like her more than I did before, if that's possible!

She's erudite, in touch (talking about Kenya and women over 40 in Hollywood) and just... class. I must say the level of questionning was a touch higher than we normally get for soap stars in the States. Plus the interviewers seemed to be unabashed fans of the show without falling to SoapTalk levels of unarticulated gushing.

Man, I hope they figure something out for her stay on as Stephanie. She *is* B&B. And, honestly, I'm not just throwing that phrase around for the sake of it. She's playing the best female role in all of television, IMO (save for, maybe, Glenn Close on "Damages"). Even if the writing has been (at best) dodgy, La Flannery rises above it and transforms the material. If she leaves, the void left behind would be huge.

As for Stephanie vs. Donna, Donna is of course no Sheila. But S&D have an interesting, bitchy, soapy dynamic. Mainly because they are such opposites. Donna is the embodiment of "sex kitten" -- everything Stephanie is not and never was. That is both her strength and her weakness. I wonder if these two don't enjoy the battle for the sake of it rather more than the prize of Eric "Three Legs" Horndog.

[bakedghoti]

But Donna is just a retread of what they've done before.

Steph vs. brooke pitted steph against the complex sex kitten from the valley.

Steph vs. sheila pitted steph against a psychotic woman.

Steph vs. Morgan pitted steph against the psychotic sex kitten.

Donna is nothing new. She's a poor man's version of brooke. Why hire Heather Tom as a talk-to character? Katie should be battling Steph in a battle of wills and intelligence. Steph vs. Donna is too subpar for La Flannery.

[Noel]

Oh wow! I can't imagine a Bold & Beautiful without Susan Flannery. Wow. I'm too shocked for words. Great interview.

[sheilaforever]

She wants to retire since 2003... 5 years passed - so we're very lucky. And extremely fortunate if we get some more years with Susan...

Her contract should be up this fall again and I hope Brad Bell can convince her to re-sign with another Betty White sort of trick or another vacation package, addionally to the 2 she already has, to enable La Flannery to travel the world. And having Ian Buchanan on B&B - one of her dearest friends - wouldn't hurt either...

This interview was really great. They touched B&B, Susan's personal life which she usually keeps mum about and talked about the world. You can't do more in 15 minutes.

@ Cat: ICAM about the Glenn Close comment. (And I freaking loved DAMAGES) I could see Alley Mills to fill the Flannery void but I want this moment to be as far in the future as possible.

[YRBB]

What a wonderful interview. Luckily, she didn't seem too resolved into leaving the show, which is always good.... And now that the guy presented her with the idea of having a responsibility to the audience.... La Flannery might not leave after all!

[Cheyenne]

Wonderful interview. Thanks for posting!

[Matt P.]

I love the Aussie dialect! Susan Flannery shows us that she's not who she is on the screen. On the screen she's such a bitch that you love to hate or to root for but here she was just herself. It shows that she plays a character. That to me is a great actor.

[kentville]

Thanks for the interview, I enjoyed it very much. Susan Flannery is one classy lady!!

[edgeofnik]

Thank you for posting! I can't believe I watched the whole thing. SF is so gracious and matter-of-fact at the same time. The fact that she's still on 200 ep a year gives me hope that if she's offered a deal with 150 or 175, she'll stick around. However, if she wants to enjoy the rest of her life and travel, etc. then she's more than earned it. (It does sound like she enjoys the challenge of directing, so that may be another way to keep her around....)

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I can't imagine B&B without La Flannery, I don't know if the show could survive without her to be honest. So much of the show focuses on Stephanie's consciousness and mental state, it would be hard to fill that void. It would all be a shell of its former self if Susan were to leave.