Exclusive interview with Suzanne Marshall (Maggie Gillis on "Santa Barbara")

It is during the hostage crisis by Peter Flint at the Perkins house that we meet a new officer of the city: the young police sergeant Maggie Gillis. Maggie comes on her own to propose to Cruz to serve as a bait, by disguising herself as Kelly Capwell to enter the house. However, during the hostage crisis, she is unable to shoot Peter Flint, which could have put an end to the drama (synopsis from “Santa Barbara: le site francais”).

Suzanne Marshall, who left the acting career in 1997, has grant an exclusive interview to the Santa Barbara Blog, remembering her beginnings, "Santa Barbara" of course and sharing her current life with us. Enjoy!

How acting came to you?

Well it was always in my blood I suppose. My mother was a professional singer and both of my sisters were actors. I guess you can say I started as in infant as my older sister put on plays and I was always the baby in them LOL. Acting was always one of my great passions, even when I was young. Horses and singing were the other two (although I did toy with the idea of being an astronaut!). I got my first pro job while still in college at UCLA on the soap Capitol. I was classically trained, focusing on Shakespeare (oh the hours spent rehearsing with a cork between my teeth for enunciation LOL). To me it was always about taking people to places they had never been before - making them feel things - making them see things differently.  So acting was very much a family affair.

I didn’t know you were on CAPITOL. Do you remember what was your character name and what was the plot?

I played the young Clarissa McCandless...Constance Towers...In her flashbacks.

How SB came to you? Do you remember your audition? Was it with John Allen Nelson?

I was visiting my folks in CA. I lived in NYC at the time. My LA agent called me to audition. It was with a John Allen... what a sweetheart! Such a nice guy! We had a lot of fun.

And... you got the role of Maggie Gillis, a police officer who fails her first mission: to kill the Carnation Killer. Do you remember your first day on set, starring with A Martinez?

Actually I remember it very clearly. I was pretty nervous having been mostly on stage. A Martinez was fabulous and funny and put me totally at ease. Its hard coming into a show where everyone knows each other and you are the "new kid" but A made sure I felt welcome. He talked to me about Shakespeare and made subtle jokes to me throughout the day.

Did you have any time to rehearse on set or was it like rush rush rush?

Well A had a classical background too so he and I liked to rehearse. Se we would meet in his dressing room to run our lines and talk about the scenes. Most of my scenes were with A or John Allen - John Allen would also rehearse with me.  The first day there really wasn't much rehearsing but John Allen was there that day - even though we had no scenes and he made sure to make me feel comfortable. I was very fortunate.

Bridget and Jerome Dobson - the creators of the show - were known for taking risks with their storylines and Maggie story was definitely a powerful and risky one: she was married with a tetraplegic husband and suddenly she began to feel sexually attracted by Warren, feeling guilty soon after. I think that it was kinda of minefield to explore on daytime back then. How was the audience reaction to that story and your feelings about it?

The audience was upset with me at first for not shooting LOL - Joe died because of me. But as they got to know Maggie I got some lovely feedback. Personally I thought the story was interesting and there was certainly enough to sink my teeth into. Also being raised by a woman in a wheelchair (she had had polio as a child but was a very active mom - still is at 85!) did perhaps give me a different take than others. I don't think I thought of it as being a risky storyline - I was used to Shakespeare - now talk about risky storylines LOL. It was just my story to tell and was a great chance to make people think about things.

When I said “risky”, I thought to the typical daytime audience: exploring the sexual life of a married woman “unfaithful” to her tetraplegic husband was not so common on soaps. Let’s talk about the 2 different actors who played Ben Gillis, your husband. I can imagine the director saying them “don’t talk, don’t move”. Poor actors LOL Any memory of them?

Oh looking back I agree the story was "risky" for the audience. I just didn't really think about it at the time.  Gosh - for the life of me I can't remember the actors names - isn't that terrible of me! Well it has been 34 years LOL. The first actor to play Ben was a super guy. He used to make jokes about moving his finger or something when he wasn't supposed to. The second actor was only there for a couple shows if I remember correctly. But - yea - it was pretty frustrating for them. The first actor kept hoping they would let him "come it of it".  I remember that it was the first actors birthday and a friend of mine (actually Mike Pniewski who does a lot of TV work in GA) and I went and found a street sign that had his name on it and we took it and I gave it to him for his birthday LOL.  Do you have their names?

Ahahah. What a nice anecdote!! No, there is no trace of their names, but I get their pic for you. Let me make an appeal to both of them: if you are reading this interview and you recognize in these pics, please contact me!

But Maggie's main love interest was of course John Allen Nelson's Warren Lockridge and I have to say that I felt a lot of chemistry between the both of you. Was it just my projection?

Aah John Allen... he was a sweetheart! There was definitely chemistry. But we were just friends. He had a lovely girlfriend that he ended up marrying.  Turns out he grew up with a good friend of mine from NYC.  Can’t think of anything funny off the top of my head...just was a lovely person he was. He was always making little jokes and making me less nervous.  Oh I remember the first day... he wasn’t in my first scene but was there to support me. Well the director’s voice came booming out from above our heads... I was startled as I had always had the director on set and so I looked up at the sky/ceiling. John came up to me and told me not to worry that it was just God putting his two cents in. That got me laughing and my nervousness went away. He was always there for me ... and the other actors too.  He was just terrific.  Gosh I hadn’t thought about all of this for so long.

Did you ever meet the creators/head writers of the show, Bridget and Jerome Dobson?

Yes... I met them before they cast me and once briefly after I left the show they came up to say how much they enjoyed my work.  They were very nice.

Toward the end you also had several scenes with Lane Davies and Joel Crothers, who died soon later...

Lane was very funny. Really laid back and had a really sharp wit.  Don’t remember Joel as well ... just that he was very down to earth and professional.

Then your storyline was suddenly dropped after just few months. Maggie backtracks and goes with Ben to New York. The 10 million dollars she finally wins in her fight against the Capwell Enterprises would be used to treat Ben and try to give him a better life. What really happened? Was it your decision to leave the show?

It was not my decision. Im not sure how accurate this is but I was told that a new producer entered into the picture and he wanted a friend of his in the Maggie role so they let me go. However A and John Allen didn’t want to work with the new actress so the role was cancelled.  I was understandably disappointed. Maggie and Warren were just making headlines and magazine covers.  At first I thought I had done something wrong, then it was explained to me. I believe that is why the Dobson’s searches me out at a party to tell me they enjoyed my work. I enjoyed the cast and crew of the show and was sorry to see it end but I moved back to NYC and moved on.

You worked both on Capitol (briefly) and SB. Did you notice any difference in the production? Which?

Not really as I only did a few shows on Capitol ... it was all so new as I had only done stage that it all seemed foreign to me.

What did you do after SB?

Mostly stage... off broadway, regional theater etc. Did a few days on General Hospital as they were exploring a new character but they decided against it. Lots of industrial films... but mostly stage. But I left the industry 20 something years ago. Was singing in a rock band for about 8 years and then left that too. Returned to my greatest love... horses. I own a training, breeding horse farm in NJ where I teach and train classical dressage, travel the east cost performing on horseback and teaching. I also breed Lusitano horses and Great Pyrenees dogs. It’s a fun life!  And when I miss the stage I just book a performance on one of my horses.

What would you like to say to all the people who still loves SB all around the world?

As with all performing, it is the audience that makes a show. SB is fortunate to have such a great group of fans.