Full Steam Ahead! AMC's Carrie Genzel

by Meg McCaffrey

DAYTIME STAR: CARRIE GENZEL

DAYTIME ROLE: ex-Skye Chandler, ALL MY CHILDREN

DADDY DEAREST: "There were a lot of people who understood that Skye's motivations did have to do with Adam and him not being there [for her]."

PINE VALLEY FAVE: Marian Colby. "She steals every scene that she's

in."

ONE FOR THE VCR: "One of my favorite episodes was when [Erica, Janet and Skye] beat up the undercover cop -- they thought he was Jonathan Kinder."

WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN GREAT IF...: "Edmund and Skye got together, although Skye kept the secret [about Maddie's paternity] from him. And then Maria came back!"

SUNNY SKYE: "They didn't kill her off, so that's good!" [Laughs]

ALL MY CHILDREN's Skye Chandler bid her father, Adam, farewell November 11, saying in parting she was "out of steam, out of heart, out of hope." However, the same cannot be said of Skye's portrayer, CARRIE GENZEL, who was let go by the soap. For her year-and-a-half on AMC, Genzel was just about always in a central storyline. That's part of the reason why her firing came as such a surprise. "I would just go from one front burner storyline to the next," she recalls happily. " I worked four or five days a week. It was wonderful. It's kind of been an adjustment for me to not have to go in to work... I'm a workaholic, so it's not a good adjustment for me." Genzel was told Skye was being written off because the character had been "written into a corner." Many viewers would disagree. Skye's storyline possibilities seemed to be as endless as, well, the sky. Okay. Okay. We can't help but propose a few... Wouldn't it have been great if the feisty Skye stood up to the out-of-control Dimitri? Continued her pursuit of the one man she felt every really loved her -- Edmund -- and joined forces with him and Tad in Hungary to get the baby back? Better yet, Skye should have taken Adam's advice to stay in Pine Valley and fight the good fight with him by her side. Ironically, it was only in the end that Skye realized how much alike she and her father actually are. Alas, Skye left town very much in the thick of things. Meanwhile, Genzel moved to Los Angeles and is busy on the audition circuit. "I definitely haven't ruled out daytime," she enthusiastically notes.

FULL STEAM AHEAD!

DIGEST ONLINE: How have AMC fans reacted to Skye being written off the show?

GENZEL: The fans have been wonderful. They've just blew me away. I didn't expect the [positive] reaction that I got when everyone found out the character was being written off... through the Internet, the mail, and just people I bumped into on the street were upset. I just came back from ABC Super Soap Weekend. Fans still want to write letters to bring the character back. They're still fighting it. It just amazes me that I've made such impact in a year-and-a-half.

DIGEST ONLINE: You must have been surprised that the soap let you go?

GENZEL: Yes, because I was working a lot. They were progressing with the Edmund storyline. I seemed to be getting close to him and the baby, and practically moving into Wildwind. It was very shocking to me that they decided to end all of that, and it ended quite quickly. I didn't see it coming at all.

DIGEST ONLINE: In the end, Adam and Skye were kindred spirits, more than ever.

GENZEL: That's one of the things I really liked about those last scenes I did is that everyone right now hates them both. There's a moment when they're standing there and realizing how similar they really are. At this time, Adam is right. They should be sticking together, because they are the only ones who are going to support each other. Because of Dimitri's threat, Skye's scared and she's running away. She has a history of doing that. I loved how the show explained to the audience how Adam and Skye are so similar. I was sad about what Adam said, 'You know, I wasn't a good father to you. Let me make it up to you.' But it was too late.

DIGEST ONLINE: What was it like filming those last, heart wrenching scenes with David Canary [Adam/Stuart]?

GENZEL: It was really sad. My last couple of days were shows with him as both Stuart and Adam. It was tough. David said, 'This keeps happening. I feel almost as if it's deja vu. My daughters keep leaving -- meaning Skye -- and they come back, but look different.' [Laughs] It was sad because I had to say good-bye to everybody, not just the character. It was very emotional because everyone was so wonderful to me there, and everyone became my family. I didn't know a soul in New York when I moved there. Everyone was so warm. I was fine until the last day.

DIGEST ONLINE: Some of your best work has been in the last few weeks. They gave you a lot of emotional stuff to play out. Were you happy with the way they wrote off Skye? CARRIE

GENZEL: I was happy about it. She definitely went off with a bang. It wasn't like she disappeared into the background. I worked a lot right up until the end. We definitely dealt with the issues the audience wanted to see -- the baby, Skye finally telling Edmund what she had done . Hopefully, the audience was happy with that. They waited a year for that to happen. We addressed everything that needed to be addressed. They didn't kill her off so that was good. [Laughs]

DIGEST ONLINE: In the way that Skye just simply left town, it leaves the door open for her to possibly return. Would you be open to returning if AMC ever asked you to?

GENZEL: I would if I was available. I've been setting up meetings and going to auditions here in L.A. If they decided that they are interested in bringing the character back, then I would definitely consider it. If it was something I could do, I would definitely talk to them about it. But I'm not counting on that. [Laughs] So I'm out looking for more work.

DIGEST ONLINE: Talk about going out on a good note. In recent weeks, we've seen Skye's good side take over her often negative impulses.

GENZEL: Viewers loved seeing the human side to Skye. When she was felt guilty and caring for Edmund, yet she was struggling with this terrible secret [that Edmund was really Maddie's father]...[the viewers] loved all of that. It was very shocking to me that they just decided to end it and it ended quite quickly. They just wrapped it all up, and that was it. It was surprising to me, very surprising. I just didn't see it coming at all.

DIGEST ONLINE: I was always of the opinion that Skye wasn't a villain. You could understand her motivations came out of love or a great need.

GENZEL: I was always surprised by that because there were certain times when I was worried that the audience wouldn't understand why she did certain things. Of course, there were people who just wanted to hate her, so they didn't try to understand her. [Laughs] They just wanted to hate somebody, and I was a villain so they picked me. But there were a lot of people who understood that Skye's motivations did have to do with Adam and him not being there. She just wanted to get attention and his love. That's one of the reasons why she fell in love with Edmund. He did give her that attention and he told her that she was worth something, that she was talented and appreciated. That's why she fell so in love with him. She didn't get that from her father. That's why she went after Edmund so full steam ahead. He was the only man who said she was worth something. Even her husband, the crazy Jonathan Kinder [Laughs], tried to kill her. That's one reason she ended up hurting so many people and didn't care for so long was because she needed Edmund so badly.

DIGEST ONLINE: Edmund and Maria fans would have my head on a platter, but I was rooting for Skye a bit.

GENZEL: Well, you felt badly for her. I got a lot of letters from people -- they understood that. They would tell me that they just want to see Skye happy. I said, 'She'll probably always have some little caper going on, because she gets into trouble and that is what makes her fun.' But I would have liked to have seen her in a relationship and happy. She's much like Erica, Skye's very different when she's in a relationship, but she always sticks her nose where it doesn't belong -- there's the always trying to keep it a secret from the boyfriend/husband. 'Oh, I don't want him to find out, because he's going to yell at me again.' That's what makes it fun.

DIGEST ONLINE: Skye is the most similar character to Erica on AMC. On paper, one could say Skye is a villain, but on-screen you don't get that impression. When you were brought onto the show, did they tell you that the character was indeed a villain.

GENZEL: I didn't watch the show before I came on, so I had to ask a lot of questions. There is so much history with this character. It was such a secret when I came on who I was. Remember they [called] me 'Toni.' at first. I knew that she was not a nice character. The character had been gone such a long time, a lot of people who worked at the studio when Skye was [on air] last time weren't there anymore. So I couldn't get answers there. They tried to write me a summary of what she was like, but when she came back she was none of those things. She was drugged, pretty pathetic and passing out all the time. [Laughs] Then she got mean for no reason. I think it took a while for the me and the writers to figure out what she was going to be like. Unfortunately, just as it seemed to be getting really good and the audience got behind her, they closed the door.

DIGEST ONLINE: For a while, it seemed as though she might have a love interest in Jake.

GENZEL: They would put me with different people and they would stop it. I don't know why. The whole thing with Jake would have been a lot of fun considering Adam didn't like him, and there would have been that conflict with Liza and the Martins didn't like me. They also didn't play the past relationship with Tad. That would been a lot of fun. There would have been that tension. Recently, there were a lot of people telling me that they wanted Edmund and Skye together with Skye carrying around that secret. That would have been fabulous, especially if Eva [La Rue Callahan, ex-Maria] ever decided to come back. I don't know if she ever will, but the storyline would have been fun to play. Skye was definitely was one of the most eligible women in Pine Valley and couldn't get a date. That's sad. [Laughs]

DIGEST ONLINE: Was the storyline involving Dr. Kinder, Erica, Janet and Skye as much fun to play out as it was to watch?

GENZEL: We had so much fun! It was fun to play the comedy, especially with three women. It was nice to see the friendship between the three women and the bickering that went on, especially between Erica and Skye both wanting to take charge. Poor Janet would get caught in the middle, and end up doing all the dirty work. I know I still get letters from fans who enjoyed that storyline. I loved the kidnapping him on a plane, dancing on his grave and rolling him in a carpet to get rid of him.

DIGEST ONLINE: It was also fun to see the three Pine Valley outcasts in cahoots.

GENZEL: Oh yeah. Each had their own history, some trouble with the law. They are all quite different. It always seemed that no matter how well they planned things, nothing worked out. I think that was fun for the audience. There was one episode that is one of my favorites -- the one where we beat up the undercover cop because we thought it was Jonathan. It was a cop assigned to follow us, though. I thought that was hysterical.

DIGEST ONLINE: Was that your favorite storyline while on the soap?

GENZEL: Yes. It was fun at the end because we got Jennifer Bassey [Marian] involved. She's one of my favorite characters. She's written so well and always has the best one-liners. She steals every scene that she's in. It was great having her on board. Of course, we always had some snide remark to say to her about her past. You know, she seems to have an appetite for men. We'd always have some cheap thing to throw in. [Laughs]

DIGEST ONLINE: It just seemed to me as an AMC fan, there were many avenues Skye could have taken.

GENZEL: Oh, there's a lot of things they never did with her. That's one of the reasons why I was disappointed. You know, the reason I was given [as to why Skye was being written off] -- that they felt they had written the character into a corner -- well, I thought there were other ways to take her. They never really played the fact that I was a part of the Chandler family. A good example is Liza's baby. I never acknowledged that she was pregnant or lost the baby. I understand that Skye and Liza are not friendly, but I would have at least have confronted her father on it. As if to say, 'How do you feel? Do you think it's yours?' Or at least talk to Hayley about it. I always thought it would have been fun if Adam and Skye got together and did something together because they would be unstoppable.

DIGEST ONLINE: What's next for you?

GENZEL: We're sorting of trying for everything. It's pretty busy right now [with auditions]. In the few days I have been back [in L.A.], I've already gone out for a film, a pilot and a sitcom. We're sort of hitting every area. [Laughs] I definitely haven't ruled out daytime either. [My manager and I] are just looking at my options now and will take it from there.

DIGEST ONLINE: I could see you in a sitcom.

GENZEL: It would be fun to do something a little different, but we'll see. Obviously, daytime would be the easiest thing to do because I've just come from that. I think that other shows definitely pay attention to who's coming and going.

DIGEST ONLINE: Do you still model?

GENZEL: No. I gave that up when I started to do this full-time. It was never something that I had ever wanted to pursue as a career. I'm glad I did do it because it taught me a lot about myself. It really toughened up my skin to deflect people's comments, especially in the modeling industry. It's so based on what you look like. And that's it really. They don't care what you think or if you have a brain. They judge everything on your look, so it really taught me how to deal with people and business situations and how to present myself. After a while, it just wasn't interesting to me because I did want to act. Acting is far more challenging for me.