Theresa

Poirot

Poirot

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There is an interesting interview with Jen Lilley, who plays Theresa, in this week's TV Guide, heck, she got a whole page. A lot of talk of what a wild, nasty person Theresa is, all her crimes, past deeds, etc.
Ms. Lilley herself is a very religious person, and when told about the character, including the huge list of crimes out in L.A. (grand theft auto, cocaine possession, two different counts of assault & battery, lol) she prayed a lot about taking on the part.

Quoting the article....".....landed a job in the Salem Hospital public relations dept., and rarely did a day go by that this angel faced demon wasn't embezzling, blackmailing, or breaking & entering". "Then she met her match in wealthy, handsome Brady Black, and the two began the most debauched, coked-up, booze-fueled romance daytime drama has ever seen. Naturally, Theresa made sure they got married in Vegas in a ceremony blotto Brady couldn't remember the next day".

She is very frank about how she plays the character, doesn't worry about pushing the viewers too far, only that she give it her all. She says she knew exactly the kind of girl Theresa was, she prayed very hard about it, and felt strongly there are a lot of young women out there who perhaps are lost, on the wrong path, etc. She feels Theresa is redeemable, that anyone and everyone is redeemable.

However, she also feels that Theresa has tons of devoted fans......though I think it is Jen Lilley herself who has them, not the audience/viewers.

There is more, but I think I covered the most important parts. (She is married, hubby not in the business at all. ) Michael Logan did the interview.
 
I think Jen Lilley is fantastic as a person and an actress but I've almost given up on the character of Theresa. That's the writers' fault though, not hers. She does a very good job in her portrayal but I would imagine she's got to be getting fed up with the antics of her character. There has been very little growth and in fact she has regressed in many ways. I expected her to make a huge change becoming a mother but I have not enjoyed Theresa at all since Tate came into her life. I do hope the new writers have plans to reinvent this character because I am fed up with her right now.

I like that the actress is so open about her faith. Not many people in show biz are. Good for her! :clap:
 
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Poirot said:
"Then she met her match in wealthy, handsome Brady Black, and the two began the most debauched, coked-up, booze-fueled romance daytime drama has ever seen. Naturally, Theresa made sure they got married in Vegas in a ceremony blotto Brady couldn't remember the next day".

However, she also feels that Theresa has tons of devoted fans......though I think it is Jen Lilley herself who has them, not the audience/viewers.
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This is just not true at all. Brady is in no way shape or form Jeannie Theresa's "match". I posted this on Twitter today but it annoys me like nails on a chalkboard when they are together. No chemistry whatsoever and they have nothing in common.

It's news to me too that the actress thinks that Jeannie has tons of devoted fans.

This has got to be the 3rd or 4th interview with a Days actor that I've read in the past month that has really annoyed me. They either are really pushing the company agenda or they are seriously ignorant to how fans of this show feel. I'm thinking it's a combination of the 2.
 
I love Brady with Theresa. When/if the foolishness stops, they are good together in my opinion. I blame the writers for messing Theresa up. They are going too far with her actions.
 
This character needs a serious reset in order for her to be remotely redeemable. Here is what I want to see happen.

Bring Vargas back to press charges against her for stealing his money. Have Jen serve as a witness for him and she can finally have Jeannie legally punished for trying to embezzle from the hospital.

Brady and the rest of the Board force Anne to fire her because of this.

She also loses joint custody of Tate and is kicked out of the KMansion.

Sentence her to a short jail sentence along with 2 years of community service. In jail, she befriends Gabi and over time they strike up an unlikely friendship. This will also create tension between Gabi and Abigail.

Once Jeannie is released, she decides to start her life over and start going by Jeannie again, completely dropping the Theresa. She moves in with Caroline as she has now lost her apartment. She also gets a job as a waitress at the Brady Pub working closely with Caroline. This is where she connects with Ben when he comes in to pick up some clam chowder...
 
Definitely would like her to take back her Jeannie name. Heck, if Kayla, Arianna Hernandez & Gabi all lived above the Pub, why not Theresa?
She could "visit" Tate at the Kmansion....???

It is too bad that whole Vargas apartment/money thing was never referred to again, because he would not really know if she took the money, or the landlord who had to clean out the apt. for new tenants. Jen promised not to press charges, so that is out, and then we have the assault on John, the lying to blame Brady, etc.
 
Nothing against Jen Lilley as an actress, but I just don't agree with how she sees her character or Theresa's relationship with Brady. The only thing they have/had in common were drugs and alcohol (and don't get me started on how they both just quit those addictions cold turkey). This is hardly something to base a relationship on. What serious conversations about love and life have Brady and Theresa shared? What have we seen them do together that didn't involve sex on the floor or illegal substances? Brady was nothing to write home about before Theresa came into his life, but his association with this woman has done his already damaged characterization more harm than good.

Jen Lilley is right though, anyone is redeemable. The thing is though, redemption doesn't seem to be the goal with the current writing for Theresa. And let's not forget, the thing that makes Theresa such an awful human being for some viewers is we don't know what's driving her to do what she does. If I understood her past, maybe, just maybe I'd be able to sympathize with her on some level. She's the daughter of a super couple and we know more about Rory's life than we do her.
 
cryin4days said:
... She's the daughter of a super couple and we know more about Rory's life than we do her.
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I'm laughing and crying at this. Beautifully put and well said, but tragic that it's so true.

I don't find Jeannie T redeemable at all but I could go along with most of Heather's story outline. Frankly I'd just push the "nuke" button and bring the REAL Jeannie out from a DiMera closet. This whole coke-fueled, money-scheming nightmare has been another Stefano DiMera scheme. (This would also allow for the actress to play a dual role, which I think she'd be excellent at.) Then we can either redeem the bad clone, or send her to jail, while the REAL Jeannie gets to know her Salem family.

As to Jeannie having "a lot of fans," Jen Lilley has a lot of fans. I can't think of a single person (on YouTube, facebook, twitter, etc.) that LIKES Jeannie T. Honestly can't think of anyone who "loves to hate" her, either. Most people are bored with her. (That is the fault of the writers, not Jen Lilley, who does a terrific job with un-terrific writing.)
 
I've got to be up front and state that I like the "bad guys", that includes Stefano, Victor, Clyde, Kate and all the way to Anne, Theresa, Vargas, Nick and Xander as well as all those in the past. They get the meaty roles and in some places, the written path to stardom. Too bad that doesn't come up very often in Days "land" though. I keep hoping.
 
Theresa's obsession for Brady reminds me of the same obsession cousin Sami had for Austin. If Theresa had another possibility I'm sure she would've switched the results. In the end I think and hope Theresa meets and falls for someone else, which might be her only way to get Brady.
 
Theresa has reached the point where she either has to start growing as a character, or leave. If the old writers were still around, I would say she has to leave. However, there is a chance that the new writers will take her character in a new direction and redeem her. This includes a decent back story that explains why she behaves the way she does.

I think Jen Lilley is a terrific actress who, like Chrishell Stause (Jordan) and Melissa Archer (Serena) was given a horrible role to play. It probably has more to do with Jen's acting than the actual writing, but there have been a few times Theresa has shown a bit of vulnerability. If the writing comes to the table, that vulnerability can play out for this character, show us a maternal side as she cares for her son (not use him as a tool), and give us a good backstory.
 
I love the little spitfire Jeannie T, she is adorable. I hope the new writers let her bump her head and become a good Mom to Tate and that she and Brady slowly make their way together.
 
Heather4CU said:
This is just not true at all. Brady is in no way shape or form Jeannie Theresa's "match"..
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I took her comment in a completely different way. Around here, when someone is said to have met their match, it means they have the same bad characteristics or habits. In this case, Theresa and Brady (who chose that over going to meetings) were for the most part keeping up with each other in the boozing, drugs, and sex. That is until she made sure he was drunker than a skunk while she stayed sober to orchestrate their marriage in Las Vegas, and when she conked John to within an inch of his life..
 
I took that comment the same way, although when I think about Jeannie's first scenes with Brady (right after they un-DiMera'd him), she had her sights on his bucks from the get-go.

I do find it interesting how the actors try to get more into the mindset of the characters than the writers do. Terrifying, but interesting. :)
 
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