"SANTA BARBARA" IS PARADISE TO STEVENS

Orlando Sentinel - January 26, 1990

1989

NEW YORK — “After 30 years as an actress, I feel as if I have ventured through the looking glass into a whole new world,” says veteran film and television star Stella Stevens while describing her first-time starring role in daytime television as Phyllis Blake on Santa Barbara. “Here I am acting for a whole new world of people who might not ever have seen my work before.”

Stevens joined the cast of Santa Barbara last November as the ostentatious con-artist mother of Gina Timmons (Robin Mattson) and Mack Blake (Steve Bond). With an array of credits under her belt, including the nighttime drama Flamingo Road and the films The Poseidon Adventure and The Nutty Professor, Stevens felt an urge to tackle a medium she had never acted in before

“I’d heard rumors that a good part was coming up on Santa Barbara,” she explains. “They (the show’s producers) sent some feelers over to my manager to see if I’d be interested in joining the show.

“I told my manager to tell them I would be delighted to audition for Santa Barbara,” she continues. “I thought it might be fun and challenging to do a soap.”

After Stevens read for her test scene on Santa Barbara, the actress knew instantly that she had struck gold.

“I fell in love with Phyllis as soon as I read the script,” says Stevens. “I remember laughing out loud. I thought Phyllis sounded like a caricature of me and the roles I’ve played over the years.”

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When Stevens auditioned at the studio, she knew that she was destined to win the role of Phyllis.

“I went in feeling I was Phyllis Blake and that everyone else was an impostor pretending to be Phyllis,” she recalls.

The powers that be at Santa Barbara signed Stevens to a two-year contract.

Stevens admits, “I was thrilled with the prospect of creating a monster with Phyllis. She’s someone that can entertain and delight people with her wit and wily ways, silly costumes and funny hairdos.”