Soap's Original Bad Girl Can't Get Enough Of EE
By Larry Jaffee
Eileen Fulton started on the American soap opera As the World Turns in 1960 and quickly laid claim to the genre's first bad girl/desperate housewife. The North Carolina native is still on the daytime CBS show 45 years later, making her Lisa one of the series' longest-running characters (and one with eight husbands, in typical soap fashion), although she took a few sabbaticals along the way.
Fulton's New York publicist, Jane McIntyre, had long been bothering the soap star to check out EastEnders. McIntyre had been hooked since the days of Den and Angie.
At WLIW's August fund-raiser one of the phone pledges to come in was from none other than Dame Eileen, who "just had to have that book," meaning EastEnders: 20 Years in Albert Square. Fulton then volunteered to host the WLIW benefit screening in October of Civvy Street (see page 3), and enthusiastically raved in her introduction to the SRO audience about how and why EastEnders is a great soap.
In an exclusive interview at her New York City apartment on Central Park West, Fulton expanded on these thoughts and explained what attracted her about Walford. (A funny twist is that the Walford Gazette's own Tim Wilson once auditioned for the role of Lisa's son.) Like a proper English hostess, Fulton offered her guest afternoon tea.
Walford Gazette: What is it about EastEnders that appeals to you?
Eileen Fulton: When I started on As the World Turns, it was much closer to EastEnders in that we delved into the characters and their relationships, and why we did these terrible things. I was the BITCH of all time, but in the scripts they took time to understand why I did the things I did. You saw how all these characters had choices-they [usually] did the wrong thing, and then they had to pay the price. I see that in EastEnders' Sonia. One thing connects to the other.
WG: When do you think As the World Turns shifted in getting away from character development?
EF: In the last 15 years.
WG: Was it in search of ratings?
EF: I think they were trying to keep up with night-time shows, which weren't soaps. To do that, you had to have outrageous storylines, and it doesn't work on a soap. A soap needs characters and understanding. We could do storylines from 1960 to 1975 five days a week that [night-time shows] couldn't with one episode a week. A woman could have a baby or an abortion. It was not a subject people talked about. You could understand the pain.
WG: Who are your favourite EastEnders characters?
EF: Pat, Peggy and Pauline. I call them the three "P"s. I can identify with them. The joy of seeing older women with storylines. That's the biggest difference between EastEnders and As the World Turns. I think a soap should deal with all ages. That is what I love about EastEnders.
WG: One thing that they now have in common is bringing back characters that were supposedly dead.
EF: James was burned to a crisp; he was identified by his dental plates. Then he was pushed out of a jet. He came back several months later. They said he landed in a haystack. His son Paul then shot him. We see him die, blood. Of course he's back. He has nine lives.
WG: Do you think soap actors don't get enough respect?
EF: My start was in the theatre. I was in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? When I'd go up for things they'd always say, "She's just that soap opera actress." They didn't know my work at all. It's a kind of blight that we [soap actors] all have to overcome.
WG: I heard on NPR about a year ago Alec Baldwin talking about how the training he received while he was on the American soap The Doctors when he was starting out gave him terrific training for his future acting career.
EF: It was scary-the first years on As the World Turns were live. We rehearsed in the afternoon. The next day we came in, and it was learned.
WG: Have you been to England much?
EF: I have never been. One of my best friends is from London. I should go.
WG: Are there other British television shows you really like?
EF: Keeping Up Appearances-what a wonderful ensemble. And I love Judi Dench in As Time Goes By.
WG: When did you start doing the cabaret act?
EF: I've done it for years. I perform as much as I can. I have the best musical director, Bob Goldstone, and a great group: a fabulous bassist Tim Ferguson and fabulous drummer Andrew Burns.
WG: What do you look for in a song?
EF: I don't do a song because I need to do a song. It needs to tell a story.
WG: What's in your repertoire?
EF: Stephen Sondheim, Gershwin, Cole Porter. Carole Hall and Francesca Blumenthal.
WG: Have you done any films as well?
EF: In the past two years, I have done five films. I like character parts because it allows me to get away from Lisa. I did one in Costa Rica where I played an Irish druglord. It's called Sign on the Cross. I did another when I played a lesbian, and another when I was a drunk, mean mother.
WG: For the record, what is Lisa's full name, taking into account all of her husbands' surnames?
EF: Lisa Miller Hughes Eldridge Hughes Shea Coleman almost-Hadley McColl Mitchell Grimaldi Chedwyn.
WG: Any last thoughts?
EF: A fan of a TV show can't take for granted something she or he enjoys, so everyone should support EastEnders if they're asked to contribute.
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