In this page you will find many articles where Robin Wright talks about soap opera ‘Santa Barbara’, where she played Kelly Capwell for 4 years (1984-1988).
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September 24, 1985: Robin Wright in Soap Opera Digest
Robin Wright is featured in the USA magazine Soap Opera Digest.
The article, written by Ellen Byron, says that “Once in a blue moon, something magical happens on daytime television. A young unknown suddenly appears. Often, he or she is untrained and inexperienced. But these fledgling stars are gifted with such incredible beauty and natural talent that they instantly captivate the audience and voila – like they say in the movies, “A Star is Born.” In this case, Ellen Byron is talking about newcomer Robin Wright.
In the article, Wright talks about the auditions she did for ‘Santa Barbara’ in 1984. She says: “I auditioned in February for Laken and then I came back and auditioned for Jade. I thought, ‘Well, I didn’t get it.’ I was out of money, so I went to Hawaii to work. They called me four days later and said, ‘You got Kelly.’ It BLEW me away. I couldn’t believe it. I thought, ‘A role, MY GOD, what am I going to do with it???’ And oh, my life just changed drastically.”
Robin Wright speaks about her newfound fame. She says: “It was a shock in the beginning. A lot of it is trying to keep your sanity and going places for serenity, which keeps you in line. I see so many stars who have their noses up in the air and act like they own the place. I think that’s a complete joke and I pray to God I’m not that way.”
Also, Robin Wright talks about her beautiful experiences with the fans. With the help of Santa Barbara staffer Mary Andersen, Wright responds to every letter she receives. “I can remember being star struck by movie stars so I know how they feel. There are a few people I really like, and I write to them week to week. “
Unfortunately, not all fans are so harmless. Robin Wright talks about a terrible experience she has with a ‘Santa Barbara’ fan. She says: “There is this one male, I don’t know how old he is, but he writes a lot. Crazy writing. I got a letter last week saying, ‘Well, I finally decided, Robin, if you’re not going to respond to my letters, I’m going to commit suicide. And he’s threatening me. He says he knows the address of SANTA BARBARA, and he’s going to come here. It’s scary.”
Robin also speaks about Santa Barbara chaotic growing pains. The show has gone through four C.C. Capwells and, “It was HARD,” Robin stresses. “One day we were in there with Paul Burke, and the next day, we were in there with Charlie Bateman. And it was a direct pickup from the day before! It was like, ‘Okay, you’re my dad. Guh- reat!”
However, Robin’s most frustrating moment came with the firing of Dane Witherspoon and the dissolution of the Kelly/Joe storyline. “I was told that the Kelly/Joe/Peter storyline was the hottest thing going, then they killed them both off and left me stranded to mourn for weeks,”
Witherspoon’s departure was particularly difficult. “Oh God, that was death,” Robin moans, admitting that working with replacement Mark Arnold “was terrible for the first two months because I was real good friends with the original one and I still am. But I was being real close-minded about it, too, and people got on my case.”
Although NBC spokespersons say Joe was killed off because Arnold didn’t want to renew his contract, Robin has her own theory. “I think Dane was the biggest loss on the show, and the Dobsons knew it; that’s why they got rid of the character”.
Yet, Robin was thrilled about the new direction Joe’s death forced Kelly into. “I love it. I couldn’t wait for this point in time. I was longing for it,” Robin declares decisively. “I feel she’s experienced everything she could up until now, and I think she’s finally going to be in control of herself. Her perspective will be a lot different and she won’t need Joe anymore. I feel like she should be a strong character and in the last few months, she’s finally standing up for herself.”
One of the biggest differences between Robin and Kelly Capwell is that the actress is a lot more assertive and independent than her alter-ego. “I think she’s more of a wimp,” Robin states with amusing honesty. “She’s not really adventurous like I am. In most of the storylines, I would just go after it. I would have killed my ex-fiancé, that sort of thing. Kelly’s from a very wealthy family, she’s daddy’s little girl, so she’s always looking for someone else to cover her.”
But right now, Robin Wright is disappointed and frustrated with Kelly’s story because she was looking forward a more adult and stronger role, but her most recent storyline with David Haskell, who plays Nick Hartley, had her lose her memory and revert to a childlike, dependent state.
She hopes that changes very soon because Wright wants to play a strong and confident young woman character who doesn’t need a man to rescue her.
November 1985: Robin Wright is on the cover of Daily TV USA
In this article, Robin Wright talks about her auditions for soap opera ‘Santa Barbara’. She says: “I tested for three roles on this show a year before. At first they said I was too young for Kelly.” But finally, they gave her the role of Kelly who is supposed to be 22 years old right now, but Robin Wright is only 19 years old.
Robin Wright also explains that, if she has any reason to be unhappy about her long-term commitment to the soap opera, it’s because it’s clipped her wings. No time for travel and she misses it a lot. Also, she’s not able to do other works. She says: “I’ve turned down two movies and two commercials in the past year. I couldn’t take them because I’m always working.”
One of them is the movie ‘Weird Science’. The casting director of the film Jackie Burch revealed that Kelly LeBrock was not the first choice for the character of Lisa. Robin Wright was cast but they lost her because she was working on ‘Santa Barbara’ and the producers of the soap opera didn’t allow her to do this movie directed by John Hughes and starring Anthony Michael Hall, Bill Paxton & Robert Downey Jr.
At this point in time, she’s almost certain not to renew her contract when it’s up. “I have learned a lot and the other actors have been very supportive. I’ve also learned not to do another soap. I think you can get stuck in them.” She wants to do movies. She wouldn’t mind following in the same path as Jessica Lange, whom she admires tremendously.
But Robin says that she also has some time out for amusement on the soap set. “Dame Judith and I sit around and talk about my makeup or lack of it, and the fact that I love to wear jeans and t-shirts.” But the venerable matriarch of the show doesn’t totally approve of the youngster’s casual garb.
December 1985: Robin Wright in Télé Star magazine
Robin Wright is featured in the French magazine Télé Star.
The article says that Robin immediately pleased the producers of ‘Santa Barbara’ when she made her first audition. But everyone had a different idea of the role they wanted to give her.
She first auditioned for Laken Lockridge (Julie Ronnie) and then for Jade Perkins (Melissa Reeves). But the producers were so impressed with Robin that they decided to give her the leading role of Kelly Capwell. For Kelly, the producers wanted a sophisticated actress, much like a young Grace Kelly.
The article explains that on the set of ‘Santa Barbara’ she met Dane Witherspoon (who played the role of Joe Perkins). They fell in love and now Robin Wright is seriously considering marrying him.
Her dream is to have a child with Dane. “I want him to be raised in France and his first language to be French,” she says. “And I wish it will be a girl. When she is born, I will stop working for three years to raise her properly in France.”
But Robin’s health has been a little concerning lately. A doctor has obtained that her contract no longer requires her to work five days a week, twelve hours a day. So Robin only goes to the studio for three days.
That means in general she only appears about 2-3 episodes per week instead of 4-5 like Marcy Walker, A Martinez or Lane Davies. And that’s a relief for Robin because she’s tired of working on the show after one year and a half.
1985-1986: Robin Wright talks about David Haskell & Page Mosely
In Soap Opera Digest, Robin Wright talks about David Haskell and Page Mosely who play the Hartley Brothers.
She really loves working with Haskell. She says: “David Haskell is very, very talented. He has a great disposition and he’s wonderful to work with”.
On the contrary, Robin Wright is not a fan of her story with Page Mosely. She says: “The dumbest thing that Kelly did was sleep with Nick’s brother, Dylan. She obviously didn’t think of what the outcome would be. Kelly has done plenty of other dumb things. She’d better wise up!”
Years later (in 2012 and 2014), Page Mosely revealed that he didn’t get along with Robin Wright and that he thinks that she was the reason he was fired. He said: “Robin Wright did not like me very much. I think that led to me getting knock off the show. Robin was a handful. She didn’t like to rehearse and certainly didn’t want to hang out. We had a tough time getting along at times.”
April 1986: Robin Wright disappointed with her ‘Santa Barbara’ storylines
In a recent interview, Robin Wright said she’s very disappointed that they transformed Kelly Capwell into a confused, naive little schoolgirl. “The change in Kelly really upset me,” admits Robin. “She turned into a real baby. For a while there she couldn’t make up her mind about anything. She went back and forth between Dylan and Nick like a ping-pong ball! It was pretty frustrating for me as an actress.”
“I’m nothing like that,” she continues. “I like to get to the point of things-make decisions right away. It took Kelly months to get Dylan out of her life and out of her system. I would have done it in a matter of days.”
In spite of Robin’s obvious displeasure over her wishy-washy SB character, Wright is extremely grateful to ‘Santa Barbara’. “Santa Barbara really took a chance on me,” she admits. “The only real acting experience I’d had before landing the part of Kelly was a guest-starring role on The Yellow Rose. But they hired me anyway. I’ve learned so much from this show. Every day is an experience. There have been good times, bad times, and weird times, but I wouldn’t have traded them for anything. Santa Barbara is a soap opera within itself,” she laughs. “Our cast is one big family. We work long, hard hours together and we’re very close.”
June 1987: Robin Wright & Ross Kettle on the cover of Soap Opera Digest
Robin Wright and Ross Kettle play lovers Kelly Capwell and Jeffrey Conrad on soap opera ‘Santa Barbara’.
In this interview Robin Wright explains that in order to get sprung from her soap role, she reluctantly agreed to add another nine months to her contract. Translated, this means that no matter how ga-ga Hollywood goes over Wright’s movie debut -and no matter how many offers come pouring in- she’s chained to the soap until mid-1988. “That wasn’t a fair trade,” she surmises, “but it was worth it. My agents and managers decided that I should agree to anything, to work Saturdays, to kiss their butts for the next nine months, whatever it took to get out and do the film.”
During the last 3 years, Robin Wright had to turned down big movies due to her commitment to the soap like the leading roles in ‘Weird Science’ (In October 1984) or ‘Dirty Dancing’ (in 1986).
In a recent article, John Allen Nelson (Warren Lockridge) expressed how unfair were the contracts in the soap opera world. He said: “I was hired for Santa Barbara in June 1984. I signed a two year and a half contract. But that does not have a lot of sense for the actor, who must respect the terms of it, whereas the producer can put an end to it when he wishes it. In fact, this contract is a protection for the producer, since the actor cannot retract.”
Despite all of this, Robin Wright wants it made clear that she’s not anti ‘Santa Barbara’. She says: “I don’t want to knock it,” she states. “It’s been great. This has been my acting class and paid-for training ain’t bad.”
The article says that while her work on the first few episodes was wobbly at best, no one will argue that the newcomer got real good real fast. And she doesn’t take crap from anybody. At least that’s what Ross Kettle (Jeffrey) was warned about.
Ross Kettle says: “Robin was still out of the country making her film when I joined the cast. I didn’t know who she was, so of course I was curious as to who I’d be acting with. So I asked around, and everybody said, ‘Oh, she’s lovely, you’ll really enjoy working with her, but she doesn’t take any crap.”
Later, upon hearing this down on the set, Wright goes into hysterics. When she sobers up, she demands, point-blank, “Well, what does that mean exactly?” Kettle, not wishing to get in over his head, sort of shrugs.
“Is that what they say?” she proceeds, full speed ahead. Obviously, she wants names.
“Yes,” responds the actor. “That’s what they say and they’ll always remain they.”
Wright doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry, so she chooses a third alternative revenge.
“Ross is a total bore,” she smiles. “What are you, a Libra?”
“She stands around and maligns me all day long,” he harumphs.
“It keeps you on your toes, babe,” she grins. “You’re bored when I’m not here. Admit it.”
“She’s got such an ego,” Ross volleys. “I love workin’ with ya,” Wright coos. “I love workin’ with ya, too,” her co-star gasps.
Later, the actress assures us, “Ross and I really hit it off, thank God.”
October 1987: Robin Wright talks about Dane Witherspoon, modelling and ‘Santa Barbara’
Robin Wright started modeling when she was 14 after an agent saw her skating and was impressed by her poise. Wright says: “I thoroughly hated modeling. It’s such a chauvinistic world. Women are treated like commodities. They sell their looks. All a model is ever told is to put her clothes on and shut up. I did it for the money and to see the world.”
Then she explains that working on ‘Santa Barbara’ is a lot more emotionally rewarding than modeling. “Oh, yes! In ‘Santa Barbara’ they actually ask my opinion about what goes into the show. Besides, if you do a soap, you can do anything in the world. Working on a soap is so hard and so fast.”
Robin Wright also talks about her boyfriend Dane Witherspoon: “Our chemistry was so hot we were steaming just looking at each other. No wonder we got the parts. But soon Dane was fired. He went through hell emotionally, but we held on to each other.”
1988: Robin Wright wants to play Keith Timmons
Daytime TV magazine asked some of Santa Barbara’s top stars if they could switch roles with any other characters on the show (male or female) who they’d pick and why. These were some of the responses:
Robin Wright (Kelly): Keith Timmons. There’s so much freedom in that character. He’s like the Jack Nicholson of soaps and I just love him.
Marcy Walker (Eden): My natural response is Keith but that’s because I admire Justin Deas so much. I think he’s a terrific actor. But that’s actor, rather than character. I guess if I could be another character on Santa Barbara I’d pick Cruz Castillo. That way I’d get the chance to hold a gun once in a while. No pun intended. Make sure you add that!
James Luisi (Ben Clark): Jeffrey, so I could make love to Robin Wright (Kelly).
Jed Allan (C.C.): Even though I don’t think that there’s a better part in all of daytime than C.C. Capwell, if I had to pick another character to play on our show I’d say Cruz. That way I’d get to make out with Marcy Walker (Eden) every day.
Judith McConnell (Sophia): I’d love to be baby Chip. He comes in early; he gets out early; and he gets carried around constantly while he’s at the studio. I wouldn’t mind a few days like that!
June 23, 1988: Robin Wright leaves ‘Santa Barbara’ forever
June 23, 1988 is the release date of “Santa Barbara” episode 982 which is the last episode of Robin Wright as Kelly Capwell.
Marcy Walker talked about Robin Wright’s departure from the show. Marcy admitted that it would be really hard adjusting to her new on-screen sister played by Kimberly McArthur. She says: “Robin is a really special person. We were so close. We had our times…, times when we misunderstood each other and times when we’d walk away from a scene together and know that we really loved one another. We were like family…, like sisters in a way. Robin and I worked together from the beginning of this show. I saw her grow up. She saw me grow up. We had such a history together. To look at someone else and have to play that same kind of relationship is going to be really hard.”
July 30, 1988: Robin Wright attends the Santa Barbara 4th anniversary party
Robin Wright left the soap opera on early June 1988, but in late July she attended the Santa Barbara 4th anniversary party.
In the garden of the old villa of the actor Don Ameche, seen in the movie ‘Cocoon’, in full center of Encino, in the suburbs of Los Angeles, Robin Wright attended the party and she met Kimberly McArthur who played Kelly Capwell 2.
Robin Wright made a point of being there. She said: “I am happy to find all my friends, with whom I spent four marvelous years. I do not regret having given up the role of Kelly Capwell. I totally launched out in cinema and I am very happy.” She however refuses to evoke her projects. “I am here to celebrate the success of Santa Barbara, not mine. But, say to the televiewers, who continue to write to me, that I do not forget them and that they will see me again on the big screens very soon.”
In this photo Robin Wright poses with Isabelle Caron who works for the French Magazine Télé 7 Jours. We can also see Marcy Walker, A Martinez, Todd McKee, Nancy Lee Grahn, Ross Kettle and the new Kelly Kimberly McArthur.
April 1992: Robin Wright talks about her ‘Santa Barbara’ contract
In ‘Movieline’ magazine, while promoting her new film ‘The Playboys’ also starring Aidan Quinn and Albert Finney, Robin Wright talked about her restrictive ‘Santa Barbara’ contract.
She said: “I had a clause in my two-year TV contract that let me out for four weeks once a year to do films. But no film gets shot in four weeks and I did three movies, so every extra week extended approximately a month or two onto my contract. I could have walked, but I would have had to have paid [in legal fees] three times the amount I made on that show in the whole two years.”
She feels a little sad because she couldn’t take the leading roles of some movies she really loves like ‘Weird Science’ or ‘Dirty Dancing’.
January 1993: Robin Wright talks about the end of ‘Santa Barbara’
Soap Opera Weekly asked Robin Wright how she felt about the cancelation of the show. And she said: “Santa Barbara was my first job and the experience was great. Judith (McConnell) was like my real mother. We were all so close, and that’s an unusual thing to have happen. We were like one big family.
July 1996: Robin Wright in Harpers & Queens
In an article of this magazine, Robin Wright talked a little bit about her experience working on ‘Santa Barbara’. She said: “Working in a soap opera is like getting paid to have your acting lessons in public. It’s the hardest line of work in this industry, but if you can do it, you can do anything.”
June 1998: Robin Wright had a big crush on Joseph Bottoms
In the magazine ‘Total Film’, while promoting her new movie ‘Loved’, Robin Wright revealed that during her ‘Santa Barbara’ years she had a crush on Joseph Bottoms, who played Kirk Cranston, the evil husband of Eden Capwell (Marcy Walker).
Robin Wright said: “I remember being so in lust with Joe Bottoms, one of the actors on the show,” she grins. “You know when you have such a crush on someone you laugh all the time? Well, I would do that a lot when he came into a room. This one time he said something and I went ‘Aieeee!’ and laughed so hard I spat, like a hock delubey-snot, and it landed on his face.” She squeals and slaps her thigh. “And of course he went with it, Well, er, thank you.’ That was just about the most humiliating thing I… Oh no. Fuck, no!”
February 2022: Robin Wright in Harvard Business Review
In this interview, Robin talked about her beginnings and her work on soap opera ‘Santa Barbara’. She was a dancer at 10, a model at 14, and a soap opera actor at 18.
She said: “I was a dancer first. I really believed that I was going to go be in the chorus line on Broadway. But I also couldn’t wait to get out of America and explore the world. I did some traveling, and when I got to Paris I thought, “I don’t want to leave,” so I did that modeling thing. I got signed by a modeling agency, and I ended up staying nearly a year. I grew up with beautiful strangers.”
Then she talks about her experience on soap opera ‘Santa Barbara’. Wright says: “On Santa Barbara, we were sometimes doing 18-hour days, and it was an hour-plus drive home, so I often just slept in my dressing room at NBC Studios. You had to manage your time, your sanity, and your immune system. But what I really learned was the technical side of performing. We worked with three cameras at all times. How do you not only remember your lines but also when you need to turn a bit to the left to favor camera one or at which line you need to face camera three. At that age, I was also working with older, experienced actors and watching and learning from them.”
Also, Robin Wright explains that she didn’t want to do ‘House of Cards’ when she was offered the role of Claire Underwood. In fact, David Fincher had to beg Robin to take the role of Claire.
“I didn’t want to do television. I’d been stuck on Santa Barbara for years and remembered how hard it was to do those long hours and memorize 10 to 15 pages of dialogue a day. I loved film. I loved that you got to travel and experience other cultures and play different characters instead of being stuck with one. But David said, “Trust me. This is going to be revolutionary. You will have 13 hours to tell your story, and people will have the choice to watch it whenever they choose.” I said, “But what about the part? She’s basically the governor’s arm candy, and it doesn’t really interest me to just be a politician’s wife.” And he said, “No. We’re going to build this character together. I trust him so much. I love his taste, his movies, his mind. So I said, “OK, let’s go.”
