What a strange, soapy trip it's been! When Port Charles premiered in June 1997, Julie Morris-Devlin was a capable-but-secretive intern with no signs of mental illness. Little did any of us know that the young woman with the Felicity-style hair would eventually be revealed as the "General Homicide" killer... or is she? After a year in the looney bin, Julie is fighting for her freedom and her sanity — and we won't even mention the daughter she gave birth to behind bars who is now being raised by Scotty and Lucy! Through it all, Lisa Ann Hadley has rolled with the punches and tried to color Julie as a sympathetic woman victimized by circumstance (and a psycho named Greg Cooper). As Julie's latest trial wends to a conclusion, we turned to Hadley for some in-depth character and fashion analysis.— Jonathan Reiner Does the addition of new blood, like Erin Gray's recent appearance as Julie's mother, Nicole, make the scenes in that prison waiting room a little more interesting? Do you feel like you "own" that set? Oh, yeah! But I'm really comfortable in that set, and after being in there a year it gets kind of homey. So when Julie gets new visitors, whether it's her mother — especially with somebody different playing her mother — or the occasional visit from Lucy, Kevin or Scott, it's always kind of fun. And the other great thing is that usually those scenes only with two or three people, so it makes the scenes really intimate and quick. How long has Julie been in prison, anyway? About a year! I've been in [prison] denim about a year, Jonathan. Do you ever feel like a real prisoner, since you're not really allowed to interact onscreen with most of the cast? That's funny! Maybe I don't feel as trapped as I should, because so much excitement and so many interesting things have taken place in the last year while Julie was in Ferncliff. It's surprised me how much the writers have come up with for the character in order to make the storyline exciting while I'm [in there]. First it was, "Hello, I'm pregnant," then I have Christina, and then Chris and I get married in the institution. So as much as one would think I'd feel confined, I love my visitors and I love it when other characters have a really good dream about me! It gives me the opportunity to be on another set, too! If and when Julie is released, I'll look forward to it, though. If? Do you think they are going to keep Julie in there forever? Oh, no, but I'm never saying never. Does being in prison make going to work seem like a chore? Other actors get to do interesting things and go to interesting sets, and you're stuck behind bars in denim! No, actually it doesn't make it a chore. There are some really good benefits to it: as much as I complain about being in denim, I know I'm wearing every day! That's true. And sometimes, if I get tan lines from the beach or a good bruise going on my leg or something from playing sports or something like that, the denim covers it. But seriously, I never feel like... I mean, there have been times in the last year that I guess I get a little antsy, because I think, "Gosh, I'd love to have a scene with somebody other than the pay phone!" But I've never felt like it's boring. As a matter of fact, the whole time I've been on the show, I think the last year has been the most exciting for me as an actor. My character has changed tremendously. Oh, my god, yeah! So it's given me a lot of freedom — even though I'm in this very stagnant set and I've been there so long, there is a lot of freedom with the character changing so much and being such a loose cannon. What do you remember from the show's early days, back when it was just the interns against the world and Julie had those petty conflicts with Eve? I remember it being fun... the conflicts with Eve or the love story with Frank, the revelation of Julie's past, and even the kidnapping — all those things were fun and interesting stories. But I love that they decided to take Julie in a whole new direction and change her so much. As much as I think fondly of the early stuff, my memory sticks to the most immediate stuff, which is the last year and the changes that have taken place. How hard did you have to work to develop a rapport with Kimberlin (Browne, who plays Dr. Rachel Locke)? Not hard at all! Actually, it worked to our advantage when Dr. Locke came on the show, because Julie was... what's the word I'm looking for, Jonathan? A little nuttier than she is now? No, no — just not fond of the idea of having this new person in her life and having full knowledge of what's going on with her. So she was resistant, and it facilitated an interesting rapport between the two of us as actresses. And she's wonderful to work with. She and Nolan (North, who plays Chris) are both great. I feel very, very lucky. Any idea how the recent behind-the-scenes changes will affect the storyline? No, I really haven't gotten an indication, but the changes that have been made recently have all been for the best. I think they're going to continue the storylines with Chris and Christina and Scott and Lucy, and [the new writers] will work to make it better and more interesting. I have total faith in Julie [Hannan Carruthers, PC's new executive producer] and these new writers to come up with some really interesting and fun stories. Do you think Julie is worried about the Y2K problem at all, or is she just concerned with getting back Christina? [Editor's note: This interview was done just before Hadley's Christmas/New Year's break.] She could not care less about Y2K. Does she even know about it? Does she have access to a TV or to other media? She does have access to a TV but she's not too worried that anything severe is going to happen at Ferncliff. Besides, we've already taped into the New Year and there have been no repercussions! |