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It seems like a part of a through line of the other canceled soaps before it, that as All My Children goes off the air come this September 23rd after its 40-year-network television run on ABC, it follows the now tradition set by Guiding Light, and As the World Turns …as another soap leaving daytime with a gay love story and/or gay central characters attached to it.  And, as AMC heads into its final month of air shows and final few weeks of taping, the powers-that-be have finally advanced (and rather quickly we might add!) the love story of Bianca Montgomery and Marissa Chandler.

But what makes this story more intriguing are the mere facts that Bianca has fallen in love with a previously known “heterosexual” woman of Pine Valley, and that Marissa started out as Bianca’s divorce attorney while Bianca was trying to extricate herself from a messy divorce and custody battle for her children from her then wife, Reese. (You all remember Reese, don’t you?)  And, while poor Bianca has had more of her share of boggled romances and unimaginable circumstances thrown at her, she has always been the moral center of Pine Valley on the female side.  Of course, what is also fascinating is that as we head towards the network conclusion of this series, both actresses playing the new lovebirds are both recasts…Christina Bennett Lind replacing Eden Riegel as Bianca and Sarah Glendening replacing Brittany Allen as Marissa, both in 2010.

On-Air On-Soaps heard from many of you that you wanted an interview from the couple now known as Minx, and it was great timing, because these two talented young ladies were already on our soap radar!

We caught up with Christina Bennett Lind and Sarah Glendening to get their honest thoughts and comments on the burgeoning and complex Bianca and Marissa pairing, next week’s upcoming love scene with the duo, and the importance of carrying the LGBT torch on a dwindling daytime canvas.  Here are two of our favorite charmers….Christina and Sarah!

MICHAEL:

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Sarah, when you found out that Marissa was going to fall in love with Bianca, did the powers-that-be at All My Children mention this to you when you were initially recast in the role? Or, did this switch-up in the character’s sexuality happen later?  In other words, who knew what was going on when?

SARAH:

There was no inkling at all when I auditioned for the role that this would be the direction that this was going to end up in.  There were two things that happened: on one level it was just Christina and I sort of talking about it and musing over how much fun that would be since we are friends. And then the other half of that was, we saw that they were having us work together more, and we started wondering if our ideas that we came up with independently were sort of coming true.

MICHAEL:

Christina, soap actors are notorious for playing into scene flirtations, or a physical attraction to another character or actor that they would like to hint to the writers that they would like to work with. Were there hints you wanted to leave for the writers, between Bianca and Marissa?

CHRISTINA:

I think part of it was being from Bianca’s perspective; being sort of open to whomever they had me gravitating towards. When Sarah and I were talking about it originally, it seemed more like a fun playful joke, but we did realize at a certain point that it would be interesting and dramatic.  I don’t know Sarah, if you had inklings, but I think the writers may have been trying to figure out what to do with us, too.  So it may have all sort of happened at the same time.

SARAH:

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Yeah, I agree. I think as soon as they started putting us together in scenes, we started wondering… because otherwise, there would not be a need to have us in scenes together very often.  So once Marissa became Bianca’s divorce attorney, we started wondering if there was a reason behind it. And, no one ever came and talked to us about it.  It is possible they may have been putting us together just to see if there would be any chemistry there and see if we matched up on screen. It could have been their version of a subtle screen test. But whatever way, it worked out and we are happy.

MICHAEL:

So there was never what I like to call in soaps, “the talk”, when the higher-ups have to tell a certain actor they are going to be playing gay?

SARAH:

What I will say is that at one point, after we had been working together a little bit, I think that fans started to have that feeling. In an interview, someone asked me what I thought of that and supporting the LGBTQ community?  After that, I went to our executive producer and asked if she thought this might be a possibility?  That was because I wanted to be prepared and speak eloquently about it, instead of talking off the top of my head on things.  If I am going to be talking about something, I would not like to sound like an idiot! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

I think Christina knows from her beginning days on All My Children, gay characters and the actors who portray them are sometimes looked at under such a microscope in the soap world, because sometimes you can’t win with the mainstream and sometimes you can’t win with the gay audience.  And sometimes, it’s just because the stories progress, get dumped, or botched, that causes this reaction. Christina, in your journey as Bianca and taking over for established actress in the role, Eden Riegel, do you think you were prepared for what was to come, and the importance of Bianca to so many viewers?

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CHRISTINA:

And as you are talking, I am remembering my first interview with the show, and it was with you for Advocate.com in the hotel lobby I was staying at after just moving to L.A and just after I got this job.  I remember thinking, I knew what role I was playing, but no one ever prepped me and said, “This is what you can say. This is what we want you to say.” We had a wonderful publicist, who is no longer with us at All My Children named Michael Cohen.  I asked him, “What do you guys need from me in terms of responding to questions about playing a gay character?” And he and ABC said, “Speak from your heart and whatever you believe. We are not going to tell you what to say or how to think.”  And I thought that was very brave and bold of them and testament to the show at large and the character.  I mean, AMC did not know how I personally felt about the gay community.  I thought, “Wow, this first interview with you was my opportunity as Christina to really let that in and really talk about how I feel about it as a person.”  My feelings are always pro-gay. But I think playing the role has really enriched my experience as well. It has gotten me fired up about being more pro-active politically about this subject.  It was really hard jumping into this role for so many reasons, but on that subject, I think it’s been really exciting for me as a person to think about how to affect change, and that has been some of the coolest things about playing Bianca. Eden Riegel had not prepared me at all for that. I think that was part of her plan. (Laughs) She probably thought, “She will get so much out of this on her own. I won’t even tell her about how exciting it is to play this role.”

MICHAEL:

Sarah, do you feel like now that they flipped Marissa, do you think there is now a social responsibility for your character? Or, is it hard to get into that aspect of this, since they are telling the story at such a rushed pace, to get to the end of the network television run and progress the story to a satisfying place for viewers?

SARAH:

You are right, and it is both of those things.  It is something I was excited to do, because when you go into a soap opera you don’t necessarily think you are going to be able to make a political message, and especially a political message that I feel so closed to. I mean, I have a theatre background and Christina does, too…

MICHAEL:

…What are you trying to say, that there are gay people in the theatre? (Laughs)

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SARAH:

Yes, I am. (Laughs)  I grew up in a small community, but just because it’s small it does not mean it does not have a cast of characters, and it was all across the board: gay, straight, you name it.  I had a friend who I was there for and by his side while he was coming out, and it was very difficult for him. I have always wanted to be such a huge advocate for him and it ended up extending into my entire outlook towards the gay community.  So the fact that I am in a place where I can be a part of some political message pertaining to the gay community makes me really happy.  I don’t know how to stress that enough. But you are right… it happened so quickly on air.  I was worried that it was not going to honor the story in the way anybody would be happy with, and from what I have been hearing, especially after AMC’s Fan Club Weekend and especially after speaking with so many people, it seems they agree it went very fast, but are not hating me because of that! (Laughs) They understand that it had to happen quickly, but it is kind of a problem. I know that our writers and producer wish they did not have to make this happen so quickly due to the end of our run on ABC.

MICHAEL:

I was feeling kind of bad for you Sarah, because Marissa had to literally go from one person to the next in Pine Valley going, “I’m Gay.”  Next person, “I’m Gay!”  I was so impressed that Marissa was so strong in her conviction after just figuring this out for herself, that she could walk up to anyone and say that! (Laughs)  Good for her!

SARAH:

So many people had no problem with it at all!  (Laughs) I am really glad they showed acceptance from so many people and even little AJ!  But I am also glad they were able to show the conflict when JR all of a sudden becomes homophobic because of all of it.  I think it’s useful to show that too, because in the world we live in that is a reality, too.  It really is!

MICHAEL:

How is it working with your on-screen mama, Bobbie Eakes (Krystal)?  She had told me in regards to the scene, where Marissa tells Krystal she is gay, that she kind of rewrote it just little bit because she feels, and rightfully so, that it is an important subject…how parents react when their kids tell them they are gay.  Bobbie also told me she was so glad that Krystal was Ok with it and not opposed to it, because that would have really upset her!

SARAH:

Photo Credit: Steven Bergman

Well, Krystal wouldn’t be against it now, would she?  I mean, Krystal had got it together and is savvy and the salt of the earth.  Bobbie really brings that to the role.  I could not say enough good things about Bobbie.  I look up to her and she is the complete package.  She is a friend as well.  It was great with those scenes that they allowed us to stop and take a moment to work these.  It is difficult in soaps to stop and ask for more time because everything is so fast paced.  But they did give us a little extra time to really talk about it and what it means, and how difficult that conversation is, and things you don’t necessarily think about – the repercussions.  I was glad that the scenes were ringing true. Those scenes would not have happened like that if it were not for Bobbie.

MICHAEL:

Christina, we wanted Bianca to have story and a lead story at that!  When you came on the show and after our interview with Advocate.com, Bianca was supporting Kendall’s drama, and having her sister crying on her shoulder and we would be thinking, “When is the lesbian character going to get her own story?” (Laughs)

CHRISTINA:

I was like the asexual lesbian, and there was no sex being had. (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Then I thought it was awkward that they had Bianca on those random dates!

CHRISTINA:

I know.  It is like these beautiful lesbians who just appeared in Pine Valley.  I was left wondering, “What they are doing here? Are they trying to introduce a new character who is gay? Are these dates going to become relationships?”  I thought it was not that fun to play, and I imagine it was not fun to watch – where a lesbian comes into town and we start dating.  I think that is why much to a lot of people’s dismay that Marissa had to realize she was gay instead of being gay all long.  I think you are right, the drama sort of sucks right out of it to watch two people who are their one and only option in town, start dating!

MICHAEL:

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You two are now known as Minx… do you like that acronym?

SARAH:

I totally love it, and I think the fans on Twitter came up with it.  One day in hair-make up, Christina came in and said, “So you know they have named us Minx, right?”  I said, “Good Lord!” (Laughs) But I loved it and I could not wait to test it on everyone I knew!

MICHAEL:

And you told your husband too!

SARAH:

I was not asking my husband if he liked it, I was telling him! (Laughs)  I said, “Guess what?  You will never guess what?”

MICHAEL:

What did your husband say when you told him that all of a sudden you were now playing a lesbian character?

SARAH:

He thought it was great.  C’mon!

MICHAEL:

Straight guys love seeing two girls together!

SARAH:

I know!  My husband already could sense something was up, with me being an actress and occasionally having to make out with people who are not him. So in a way, it’s like, “It’s a girl? Why not?” (Laughs)  It is probably better for him in his mind, and he does not see Christina as competition! (Laughs)

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MICHAEL:

Christina, I think mainstream America can tolerate, or seems to be able to handle seeing two lesbian characters on television together than two gay men.  Why do you think that is?  Why is it OK for two girls to kiss, but not two boys as much?  I have said this in other interviews, but I so recall Y&R’s head writer and executive producer, Maria Arena Bell, speaking to me about the possibility of moving forward with a gay love story on her show, but she told me she got some correspondences from viewers that said, “We don’t mind seeing gay people, we just don’t want them on our show.”

CHRISTINA:

I think there are two reasons.  I think the mother thing comes into play – and I think people have a lot more tolerance for homosexuality when there are children involved.  It is hard for me to say, because I also hear the converse with some people going, “Well, that is not a real family.”  I think if television is being run to a large extent by heterosexual men, then I think absolutely there is a reason on Grey’s Anatomy that there are two lesbians in bed all the time.  I don’t think it’s a weird coincidence that you don’t see two gay men on TV as much.  I think it’s because for many, two women are sexy and it’s an erotic image.  I think that speaks more to the fact that television had been run for so long by men than it has to do with people liking lesbians better than gay men. I think it’s a sexual thing.

SARAH:

It’s a huge question that you are asking?  I agree, I think lesbians fly under the radar more politically than gay men.  I may be mistaken here, but that is how it would seem at times.

MICHAEL:

I know coming up next week on All My Children, Minx are going to hit the sheets! What can you tell me about those love scenes?

SARAH:

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I think it is very nice and not graphic and it is very tender.  I think people will find it’s very sweet and has all kinds of sensitivity and love in it.  It is not like we are “going at it”.  We are discovering each other and I think it’s beautiful.  But I have not seen the footage and I only know what we did.

CHRISTINA:

I thought it was not well described in the script what we would be doing when we shot the scene.  So the director at one point had us take a piece of clothing off.   So I thought, “Oh, we are going to really do this! So then… let’s really do this!”  So of course, my independent and adventuress spirit started coming out.  And then I thought, “Oh wait. This is daytime, so we can’t do anything too crazy.”  But I think both of us were consciously trying to do that experience justice; for the fans who are watching, and to make it as real and sweet and also sexy. We were both trying to make it sexy, even though there is a cap to what you can do on daytime.  I think both of us were a bit nervous, but once we got going, we were good.  I hope it turns out sexy enough, because I think there is a sweetness to it.

MICHAEL:

And who knows?  There could be a spike in the ratings that day if all the heterosexual men happen to catch two hot babes having sex with one another!

CHRISTINA AND SARAH:

Exactly! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

On that note, what has been your favorite scene or moment together as Bianca and Marissa?

SARAH:

I always go back to the snowball fight. That is the first time people said, “We knew from the snowball fight. We knew.”  And then the producers came down and said, “Don’t show that the two of you have chemistry, you might soon, but we don’t want that in the scene yet.”  And we were thinking, “Oh, um. We are going to make this good!”

Photo Credit: Steven Bergman

CHRISTINA:

It was a great scene just because it was so damn fun.  I mean, where do you get to that at a job anyway?  Run around and throws things at each other?  And I love how it came out. When I saw the footage it put a smile on my face!

MICHAEL:

Christina, I am giving you three words to describe Sarah.  What would they be?

CHRISTINA:

She is honest, generous, and complex in all the best ways that word is supposed to mean.

MICHAEL:

Ok Sarah, your turn… three words to describe Christina?

SARAH:

I would say, authentic, and what I mean by that is that she has integrity. That is the first thing that comes to mind.  And then I would say, sweet, and she has great depth!

MICHAEL:

Christina, one of the things we talked about is Bianca always seems to find herself in a messy situation that has some heterosexual element thrown her way – a la Reese kissing Zach the night before their wedding.  I am sure you know about that debacle…even though, luckily you were not there for this.  And now we have got this girl Marissa in love with Bianca, who all of a sudden is now gay after previously being with guys on the show.  So you can understand why fans can have pushback, and at times are very protective of wanting to see a real LGBT love story unfold on a soap that is not so far-fetched.

CHRISTINA:

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Yeah, Bianca lives in a world where anyone can sleep with anyone on these shows.  I mean, how many kids does Ryan have?  Let’s be honest!  And so the lesbian has to also play on that canvas.  I think it is hard for the writers and I think their intentions are pure, but maybe not so much with Chuck Pratt, but as far as being able to get Bianca to play with the other characters and sort of not having her be the leper in the corner who can’t have anybody.  So in that way, what they are trying to do with a straight character realizing that they are bisexual, or that they are gay, is letting her be a part of the canvas instead of being an outsider.  So, it is kind of a lose-lose, because it is sort of inauthentic, that this would be something that happens over and over again. But in lieu of having a gay bar that Bianca can go to, and a community of friends for her to hang out with, who is she going to interact with?

MICHAEL:

Oh my God…a new watering hole in town… “Bianca’s Bar”!

SARAH:

It will be called, “Not ConFusion”! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

No, “Total ConFusion”! (Laughs)

CHRISTINA:

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(Laughs) I think what the writers are trying to do is let Bianca not be isolated, and so in that way I have great respect for them, trying over and over again when they hear the complaints from fans, and to try to get her involved with people.  I think it’s a tricky place for the writers to be in too, because they want to be very careful with Bianca because the character is so supported and adored by fans, gay and straight.

MICHAEL:

And this brings me to the sad fact that you are wrapping up the show for network television in the coming weeks, and the fact that Bianca will be gone.  How are you feeling about that?  How are you both doing with this?  And until we know what is up with Prospect Park’s launch of the show online, are you prepared to say goodbye for now?

CHRISTINA:

No, I don’t think I will be.  I don’t know what Sarah is thinking, but I always find this part of it so amazing…. that I have been able to be part of the rich history of Bianca and Eden Riegel before me, and how I have been able to be part of this show.  I think I am finally feeling like this experience of saying goodbye to Bianca on this level, and the family I have on camera will be for me to play, not Eden.  So I feel timing wise, I am glad that I was able to be on as long as I have, so I can feel some ownership over what has happened and the beautiful arc of this character that I got to be a part of.  But I do think it is starting to hit in waves that it is actually going to end, both personally and with people in society that are attached to seeing a lesbian character portrayed on television in that way.  I am totally unprepared for the ending and taping my last scenes.  I think I won’t be able to speak to anyone for a week or so after it’s over!

MICHAEL:

Sarah, you are a newbie to the show.  Do you think the end won’t hit you as much because of that fact?

CHRISTINA:

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First of all, I am realizing more and more everyday that I am just in denial. (Laughs)  Before the online possibility came around, I did feel very much like I would move on and say goodbye.  This had been so incredible, and this will live in my heart forever. And then now that the online possibility is there, all of that went out the window, and I am thinking, “Wait a minute. We are not ending.”  We just have to figure out how the next part is going to work.  So I have two mindsets about the whole thing: I am excited to see what happens with all of that, and I am in denial.

MICHAEL:

Christina, I know nobody knows how things will work out yet, but do you think depending on where you were with your career, and when they would debut the series online, and if you are protected by the union, and if the financial model makes sense… do you think you want to continue as Bianca in its new platform? I know, so many questions to be answered!

CHRISTINA:

I would say it’s a complicated answer, but for me there are not any red flags saying this is a definite “no” or ‘yes.”  For me, it has to be looking at it as a fresh project.  I am someone who has to have beginnings and endings of things.  I am feeling very nostalgic in the final days of taping at AMC, thinking to myself this is the last time I would possibly be Bianca.  And then, I have to look at the start of an online project as the start of something totally new.  There is nothing about the show I would not want to continue doing, so that is the best way I can answer it.

MICHAEL:

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I think many Bianca fans would like to see her at the end of AMC having her with her complete family, meaning: her kids, her woman, and surrounded by friends and the family she loves.  Don’t you think that would be an appropriate ending for her, so she can finally have everyone she wants and loves by her side?

CHRISTINA:

Yes, that is how I would love it to end.  It makes me emotional even thinking about it.  I think that is what the fans need and what the country needs to see, and not to blow it out of proportion, but if that is the way this incarnation ends, that is my hope how Bianca goes out.

MICHAEL:

What is your wish for Marissa for the ABC network conclusion of AMC?

SARAH:

I adore Marissa, and she just wants a nice family.  So if Bianca and Marissa end up together then I think, “How can Marissa be unhappy with that?”  It’s perfect.  Miranda and AJ were born on the same day, and they are birthday twins!  They are good friends and they go to parties together, and the three kids get along so well.  They already have a sibling relationship going on anyway.  It would be great to turn this all into a new kind of “family”.

MICHAEL:

Finally, what is your takeaway from playing these characters and hearing and getting to know more about the issues that face the gay community in our country? What would you tell the mainstream about acceptance and tolerance for gay people and the fight for equality?

CHRISTINA:

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If I had to say one thing right now to people who are intolerant, I would say that as a very personal and intimate thing, relationships of all kinds need to grow in order to keep being valid and valuable and pertinent as a human being.  And I would say, to deny people the opportunity to grow relationships the way they need to grow – and I am talking about marriage, and I am talking about having legal rights as a human being with people that you love – that to deny people that in our country is in inhumane.  I think it’s insensitive and it does not bode well for anyone to deny someone that intimate personal experience.  It is wrong!  To put a cap on how much someone can do that with another person does not make sense.

SARAH:

I also want to say, as far as discrimination and prejudice, alluding back to your early point Michael, that to say, “that I don’t mind gays but I don’t want to see it on my television sets,” and to take the stance of writing a letter to an executive producer because it offends you, it is still a form of discrimination. You wouldn’t write a letter saying, “I don’t mind Italians; I just don’t want to see them on TV.”  You have to begin to open your heart and realize that just because it is not familiar to you, doesn’t mean that it is an offense to you.