 In
the summer of 1987, I was in Paris shooting a Movie of the Week for David
Wolper called Napoleon and Josephine. The day I was leaving Paris
to return home, my agent called and asked if I would be interested in
doing two episodes of the hit television show, Dallas, in a guest
appearance.There was only one script available to read,and it would be
awaiting my immediate response. When I arrived home, I literally put my
suitcases down and read it. It seemed to be a fun character. Her name was
Kimberly Cryder and she was rich, witty, wily and sexy. I met with the
producers and said "yes". What was to be only a brief appearance, quickly
became an extended commitment. I did 21 shows of Dallas as Kimberly
Cryder. I was home only a week, then on a plane to Dallas, Texas. I was
rapidly immersed in shopping for Kimberly's wardrobe. She was very rich,
and it was the eighties, so courtierère clothing was the order of the day.
What fun for me ! We bought gorgeous clothes, and the Dallas wardrobe
designer, Nancy Renard, lent her extraordinary eye to the fine tuning.
The first day of shooting was in a beautiful restaurant with Larry
Hagman and myself acting a scene of Machiavellian flirtation between our
characters. J.R Ewing and Kimberly Cryder were both connivers, not
particularly moral, and very attracted to each other. Champagne was to be
served in the scene. When a scene is played with alcohol as a "prop", it
is always, in my experience, bubble water, applejuice or grapejuice. As we
rehearsed the scene, I noticed what appeared to be an amazing replica of
the finest Champagne being poured in out glasses. I "marked" in my mind,
as I do when I rehearse, where and when I would sip my drink as I spoke
the dialogue without actually drinking. Rehearsal was now over, it was
time to shoot. "Action!" , and the scene began.
We spoke, flirted and then I drank. It was real Champagne ! I kept my
wits about me and stayed focused in the scene even though several more
sips were needed to make it real. "Cut!", and, of course, we needed to do
it again. Already I felt the effects of the Champagne as I am easily and
quickly affected by alcohol. It was my first day of shooting, I knew no
one, and I was too shy to speak up and ask for bubble water since it was
clear Larry loved his Champagne and our glasses were to be poured out of
the same bottle. Several "takes" later, I was now drunk, and Larry
appeared perfectly normal. I realized that the Champagne would always be
real, if I was working with Larry. I began to avoid my character sharing
any drinks with JR Ewing.
There is, however, one wonderful scene we did where I once again drank
Champagne with Larry. I was in a huge bubble bath, drinking and eating
bon-bons. My hair was up in a very Rita Hayworth way, my nails were long
and red and I was negotiating a business deal for millions of dollars,
manipulating JR with sense and sensuality. It remains one of my favorite
and most outrageous scenes.
I admire Larry Hagman because he has been very forthright and public
about his years of drinking. He paid for his drinking with his liver. He
is now a living Voice for how alcohol caught up with him and almost killed
him. He is so talented, wonderfully eccentric and open about his views. He
is an absolute treasure and an original. |
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