After 7 years as leading lady of NBC's blockbusting soap *Another World* Victoria Wyndham can sum up everything her character, Rachel Cory, has been through in a succinct five minute recap - from separations to pregnancies to fierce fights with rivals. A statuesque brunette, Victoria couldn't be more different from tiny Robin Strasser, who originate the role. *when I left* recalls Strasser, *they tried to find a physical match for me, but the replacement didn't work out. Then the producers decided to hire a good, strong actress even if she didn't look like me.* Not only has the audience taken Wyndham to heart, it's also developed definite ideas about the relationship between Rachel and her on-again off-again husband, Mac Cory (Douglass Watson). In fact Wyndham reports, their split drew buckets of mail. *People didn't buy it.* she says, *My mail indicates that fans are a lot smarter than they're usually given credit for being.
These ladies are sophisticated television viewers whether they have a lot of book learning or not.* She insists that viewer dissatisfaction rarely has such a powerful effect on soap opera plot lines. *I don't think they've ever brought a character back from the dead because the audience was upset. The only way people can usually influence the show is by turning it off. If ratings go down, the network notices.* And that's just what happened with Another World. After being regularly trounced in it's time period by General Hospital, writers literally brought a character back from the dead. Steven Frame has returned to stir up the old love triangle between Rachel and her goody two shoes counterpart, Alice.
It was this romantic triangle that made AW's ratings zoom years ago. Actors on Another World do not exert vast power over story lines, though they might wish to. *We have absolutely no contact with writers.* Wyndham emphasizes, players can and do change the plot in various subtle ways, however. *This is the only medium in which an author can develop a character on the air,* says Wyndham. *An alert actor can communicate with the writer by the way she plays her role.* Wyndham, for instance, instigated one of the shows most successful bits almost by accident, *one day I needed an activity, some sort of handwork that would make the scene come to life. I discussed the problem with the director and he suggested needlepoint, but I said no, Rachel would never do that. I asked whether she couldn't be working with some clay, making a surprise gift for Mac* The choice was a logical one, Wyndham herself is a sculptor and at the time was preparing for a show of her own. *The writer saw the show and seemed to like the idea and started writing sculpting into the script.*
Another World is Wyndham's second day time TV drama, and she describes Rachel as, *a character with edges*. Despite the fact that she rates most soaps dramatic material as mediocre at best, she argues persuasively for the acting challenge they provide. *Where else can a woman work on a really good role. There just aren't that many decent female parts around. In films, the few that exist go to actresses like Jane Fonda, Jill Clayburgh, and Diane Keaton while on night time TV Elizabeth Montgomery, Joanne Woodward and Sally Field usually garner the plums.* *We're working with inferior scripts and trying to invest them with more life, which is a difficult problem for an actor - but one we solve every day with varying degrees of success. Our Characters have the same emotions as those found in Shakespeare - jealousy, rage, sadness -what else is there?* "
"Article from Carolyn Williams