A Closer Look: Maeve

Soap vet Judi Evans (ex-Adrienne/Bonnie, Days of our Lives; ex-Paulina, Another World;
ex-Beth, Guiding Light) talks about bringing Misery to Holden and happiness to real-life people facing their own mortality

By Mala Bhattacharjee

WEEKLY: So Maeve and her husband Ed stumbled upon not-so-dead Holden?

EVANS: They found him thrown from the pickup truck and dragged him back home and nursed him back to health. Sort of (laughs).

WEEKLY: Are they friendly folks or is this a Stephen King Misery situation?

EVANS: Half and half. Maeve is a caretaking person, [whereas] her husband is a down-on-his-luck hard case.Then Holden inadvertently lets the cat out of the bag that he had come up against this bad guy who happened to be a friend of Eb and Maeve's. So that's how he ends up shackled!

WEEKLY: Skaggs ran off with some money after escaping from prison. and they think that Holden might know where it is.

EVANS: Yeah.They need to get their hands on that money, by any means necessary.

WEEKLY: But Maeve develops a soft spot for Holden right off the bat.

EVANS: Eb and Maeve don't have the best of marriages. She's been under his thumb for a long time. She has a good heart. She's not all bad.

WEEKLY: You've played many memorable women. How did you approach playing Maeve?

EVANS: Being a character who's undergoing a lot of abuse, I did a lot of studying on that. It's very difficult for me, because I'm very different from Maeve in that... "that s-t don't fly (laughs)." It was really hard to pull back when I wanted to go, "You know what? The heck with you!" We all have the victim inside of us, and [I was] trying to bring that part of myself back out — trying to find a very vulnerable place, and also to build strength in her, too.

WEEKLY: How did the role come about?

EVANS: My wonderful manager, Michael Bruno, gave me a call one day out of the blue and said, "You know, there might be something at ATWT," and I was like,"Really? Well, that would be great." Next thing I knew, he was calling me to tell me that he'd procured me some work there and I should get packing!

WEEKLY : Was it surreal to return and shoot a different show in the same studio where you shot Affi?

EVANS: Very, very surreal, but very cool. Everybody was so wonderful; everyone I hadn't met was fabulous and, of course, everyone I knew was incredible. So, it was just a wonderful experience.

WEEKLY: Wally Kurth (ex-Sam; ex-Ned, General Hospital) started back on Days as Justin right before you debuted as Maeve. Is there a chance that Adrienne could follow him to Salem?


EVANS: I have no idea. If it were [an option], I could go back! Wherever work takes me, that's where be.

WEEKLY: And well follow you wherever you go!

EVANS: Thank you. Its goot to be back. I totally changed my life and had a whole other career, which I'm still doing So, worst-case scenario. Its back to the cemetery! I've been working at Rose Hills [in Whittier, Calif.]; it's the largest cemetery in the world and I sell pre-need funerals and pre-need cemetery spaces.

WEEKLY: Do people ever go. -Oh, my gosh, Paulina Cory is selling me a funeral plot!"?

EVANS: Eventually, they put two and twc together. It's like,"Wow, I know you.You'l-r been in my home before." "Well...sort ot After a while, it's like, "Well, I used to be an actress," and "Oh, my God!" Basically, if they buy a funeral, I give 'em an 8x10 (laughs). I'm kidding!

WEEKLY: That's an amazing change, totally different from acting.

EVANS: I love people. I get to deal with people; I get to help people. I can't tell you how many times someone has made all their arrangements so their children don't have to, and afterward they're hugging me and crying. It's a wonderful feeling to be able to bring that kind of joy into someone's life, [because] they don't have to worry about it anymore. They never have to think about it again.

WEEKLY: : Ironically, since Holden is presumed dead, his family is having a funeral for him this week.

EVANS: I could've helped them with that!