Life After Carly

ABC Soaps In Depth---September 18, 2001

Silencing her former character has allowed Sarah Brown to find her own voice once more...

In a way, saying goodbye to General Hospital's Carly Corinthos broke Sarah Brown's heart as much as leaving a long-term boyfriend would. "I broke up with the love of my life of five years," the three-time Emmy winner tells Soaps In Depth, referring to her former alter ego. "I needed at least two months to sit and let it go. You can't start a new relationship when you're still in love with an old flame. I had to be at peace with letting go of that character, that job, that whole experience, so I could walk into a new place."

When at last her healing was complete, the actress was ready to open herself up to different roles. In no time, she had been cast as ambitious journalist Emma Shepard opposite Adrian Pasdar on Mysterious Ways, the PAX network's X-Files/Touched By An Angel hybrid. As her October 16 debut nears, she looks back at the home that she left, and ahead at the road she is traveling.

"Carly Was Following Me Around!"

Before getting signed for the three-and-possibly-more-episodes Mysterious Ways story arc, Brown first had to put to rest the memories of Carly that dogged her every move. "You can't do a character for five years and shake her that easily," she observes. "I brought Carly into a lot of auditions when she wasn't right. She was following me around -- the way she talks, walks, moves...her attitude.......

"I stopped auditioning for two months because I needed to focus," she continues. "It wasn't going to help me if I was still carrying this character around. Now, I'm free of that, and that's really a big, big thing."

"She's Very Impulsive..."

On Mysterious Ways, which chronicles the efforts of Declan Dunn (played by Pasdar) to prove that miracles truly happen, Brown adds chaos--and romance--to the mix. "Emma is a journalist who is constantly looking for that story that will give her that big break and get her a position as a hard news anchor," she elaborates. "She's very impulsive, which sometimes gets in the way."

Emma meets Declan when he interrupts her during an on-air interview, and their attraction builds from there. "This is a fabulous gig," enthuses the single mother of one daughter, Jordan, 3. "It's a family show that kids can watch with their parents and then talk about, which is really appealing to me."

"It's Not Enough For Me To Just Be Really Good!"

The timing of Mysterious Ways couldn't have been better for Brown, either. The break that she took did more than help her put Carly to bed, it enabled her to regain a clear picture of what she truly wants. "I searched myself to remember what's really important about acting and to get the focus and drive back," she says. "When you're working all the time and you have a job, it's very different than trying to get a job. Trying to get a job, you have to be that much better. To audition is such a different process than actually being able to do a role. I'd like to get myself to a place where I've done enough work that people know that I can act."

That said, directing is still in Brown's forseeable future; in fact, within 10 years, she hopes to helm a major motion picture. "Although I will do my own short films, professionally, you have to have a laser focus on what it is that you want," she asserts. "To try to be a jack of all trades at this point in my career, when I haven't established myself on firm ground as an actress in the outside world of primetime and film, is premature. I have so much to learn about acting and about being great at it. It's not enough for me to just be really good. I want to be great."

"The Show Must Go On!"

While Brown pursues her goals, GH is forging forward with her old character's relationship with husband Sonny--but with a new Carly, Tamara Braun, in her place. Nonetheless, Brown remains a trouper. "At the end of the day, the show must go on," she says. "That's what's really important, that the show continues to grow and thrive, and the fans are happy and excited."

Although her confidence level is high, Brown firmly believes that her immediate success has been due in large part to luck--and also to her wonderfully supportive admirers. "I knew that I was really going to have to hone my craft when I left daytime, and be better than I've ever been," she shares. "I can't rely on that I have three Emmys. It doesn't transfer.

"It's a beautiful thing that what people are more concerned about is how big of a fan base I have," she continues. "That is why I'm doing as much as I can to say thank you to the fans for how much their support has meant. For an actor, it doesn't matter how many awards you have and critical acclaim you've received from your peers. Fans are money to the network and to movie producers. The people that say, 'I'll follow you wherever you go,'--that's how and why all of us actors continue to work."

With all of her enthusiasm about those viewers who began the journey with her at GH, would she ever consider revisiting Port Charles? "You don't know where your life is going to lead you," she muses. "I don't forsee a return to daytime in my imminent future. But I never say never."


Captions from "Life After Carly" ---ABC Soaps In Depth, September 18, 2001

"I totally believe in karma," says Brown. "What goes around, comes around."

"Emma is the kind of reporter who will climb a barbed-wire fence or jump out of a helicopter to get the story," Brown says of her Mysterious Ways character.

"Only someone as talented and experienced as Sarah could so easily become a part of our close-knit family," marvels her Mysterious Ways leading man Adrian Pasdar. "We're all happy to have her around."


FYI FYI FYI FYI FYI ---ABC Soaps In Depth, September 18, 2001

Birthday: February 18.

Welcome wagon: The day that the actress arrived on the Mysterious Ways set, the assistant director announced, "This is Sarah Brown. She's with us for a few episodes. Let's give her a Canadian Mysterious Ways welcome." Then, the entire cast and crew stood and gave her a round of applause.

A woman's prerogative: The GH alum chose to take the Mysterious Ways job instead of a part in the indie film Shock Treatment, because, she says, "I didn't think that was what I wanted to do straight off of GH. I really wanted to make an impact, make an impression, to get a network behind me."

Great minds think alike: Danny DeVito told the future movie star that he never "auditions" actors when he is wearing his producer hat. "He brings them in and meets with them," explains Brown. "He thinks it's a silly process that you think you could know from three pages whether or not somebody is a good actor. My philosophy very much follows him with that."

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