SUNSET CENTRAL LIBRARY

Fear Not
By: Matthew Miles Grayson
Soaps In Depth Magazine
Dated: March 10, 1998

A year after Susan Ward hit the beach,
she isn't scared by even Terror Island!

"I love horror movies, especially the ones that are true stories," reveals Susan Ward, whose role as Terror Island target Meg has gone a long way toward turning her into the Neve Campbell of daytime. "Doing that storyline was fun, but it took a lot out of me emotionally. The material was really heavy, with Mark's death and all."

Plus, the actress is creeped out pretty easily. "The dark scares me a lot," admits the budding scream queen. "I know it's a weird thing, but if it's totally dark and my eyes are open, I begin to imagine things."

Even in broad daylight, sometimes on the way that her soap career is going - ever better! - spooks her. Not only has she spent the entire first year of her show on the frontburner, but she is half of the serial's most popular couple, Meg and Ben (the latter of whom may or may not be a seriel killer). "Every once in a while I think 'Oh my God, can I carry this?'" she says. It's been quite intimidating and exciting at the same time.

"But," she adds, "I'm glad that the producers have enough confidence in me to give me that much storyline. It's been a great honor for me to have them trust me like that. Gary Tomlin, the executive producer, will call me into his office every few weeks and say 'You've got a very big storyline coming up,' and I'm like 'When didn't I?'"

Ward is quick to share the credit for her popularity with her leading man, Clive Robertson. Their chemistry as Meg and Ben is what causes the audience to react, she suggests. "Clive and I are much much laid-back with each other. We have a great relationship on and off-screen. And off-work, he and his girlfriend, Libby, and my boyfriend, Joey, and I hang out."

Stranger in a Strange Town

The same way that Meg had to conquer her fears of leaving home and coming to a new city, Ward overcame hers - and then some. "At age 13, I had to convince my parents to let me move from my hometown, Monroe, La., to New York in pursuit of modeling," she recalls. "It was difficult for them to let me go."

But at least, she wasn't acting on impulse the way that Meg was when she left Kansas to find her internet suitor. "When Meg left, she was woman, but maybe a little too idealistic," Ward allows. "I would never walk away from my life and move somewhere else for some guy, especially one I met on the internet. I have to resolve everything."

That's not to say that Ward doesn't recognize Meg's appeal. "She's so sweet," her portrayer asserts. "That's why people are attracted to her. Yet she's smart and knows how to size up people without judging them. That's how she was able to wedge her foot in the door at Sunset Beach."

Even Meg's romance with her aforementioned Internet beau - who turned out to be Ben - has worked out frightfully well. "She didn't let any of his history taint the relationship," Ward points out. "Now she has no reason to not trust him."

Unfortunately<, Meg's sneaky ex-fiancée, Tim, keeps putting new reasons for her to be suspicious in front of her - reasons like, "Meg, before Mark died, he said Ben was the killer!" "Meg things Tim is being a jealous nut," says Ward. "That would annoy me so much in real life. I'd probably have to get a restraining order on him."

The Truth Is More Frightening Than Fiction

While Ward never has had an ex-beau who was quite as irritating as Tim, she acknowledges that sometimes her life has been pretty dramatic. "At the time Meg left for Kansas and broke up with Ben, my real father was very ill, and I also was breaking up with Joe. It was hard because the two prominent male figures in my life were out of my grasp. Then I was going through it on the show as well. I couldn't escape it."

How did she cope? "The cast and crew helped me out tremedously. And my friends were always getting me out of the house. It was the toughest time in my life, but it only made me stronger."

And the story had a happy ending. Her father recovered, she says, "And Joe and I are back together now."

While the jury's still out on Meg and Ben's future, Ward reflects on the way that her life has turned out - scarily well. "I get overwhelmed," she admits, "but I remind myself that I'm at a point in my career that I wanted to be."
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