"WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THIS PART," SAYS BEARSE, WHO HAS BEEN ACTING PROFESSIONALLY FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS BEFORE GETTING THE PART, "IS THAT I'M NOT TYPED. I CAN PLAY YOUNGER, BECAUSE I LOOK YOUNGER, BUT I GET TO PLAY A SEXY ROLE AS WELL, WHICH I NORMALLY WOULDN'T GET TO PLAY." BEARSE, UP UNTIL THAT TIME, WAS BEST KNOWN TO TELEVISION AUDIENCES AS AMANDA COUSINS, THE RECURRING CHARACTER SHE PORTRAYED FOR TWO YEARS ON ABC-TV'S "ALL MY CHILDREN." BORN AND RAISED IN WINTER PARK, FLORIDA, BEARSE WAS ACTIVE IN COMMUNITY THEATER AND SCHOOL THEATER DURING HER GROWING-UP YEARS, AND THEN MOVED TO NEW YORK SPECIFICALLY TO ATTEND THE NEIGHBORHOOD PLAYHOUSE. DURING HER TWO YEARS THERE, SHE STUDIED ACTING WITH SANFORD MEISNER, RICHARD PINTER, WILLIAM ALDERSON AND GEORGE ROSE, AS WELL AS GETTING A CHANCE TO APPLY SOME OF THE TECHNIQUE SHE WAS LEARNING DURING HER STINT ON "ALL MY CHILDREN."
"IT WAS KIND OF AN UNUSUAL SITUATION," THE ACTRESS SAYS ABOUT THE ROLE SHE PLAYED ON THE LONG -RUNNING SOAP OPERA. "THERE WAS A CONTRACT ROLE AVAILABLE ON THE SHOW--A REGULAR PART, A LEADING--PLAYING LISA COLBY, AND THEY WANTED A BLUE-EYED BLONDE, SO THEY DIDN'T CHOOSE ME. BUT THERE MUST HAVE BEEN SOMETHING THEY LIKED ABOUT MY AUDITION, BECAUSE THEY FOUND A PLACE FOR ME, AND CREATED THE ROLE OF AMANDA, USING MY NAME. AT FIRST I WAS A BAD GIRL, BUT BECAUSE LISA WAS SO HARD-CORE MEAN, THEY HAD TO HAVE A CONTRAST, SO I BECAME HER CONSCIENCE. SINCE LISA WAS TOTALLY SOCIOPATHIC," SAYS BEARSE WITH A SMILE, "AMANDA COUSINS EVOLVED INTO BEING A GOOD GIRL. IT WAS FANTASTIC TRAINING, BECAUSE I'D NEVER BEEN IN FRONT OF A CAMERA BEFORE, OR SET FOOT ON A SOUND STAGE. BUT AT THE END OF TWO YEARS, I WAS READY TO EXPERIENCE SOMETHING ELSE."
HAVING ALSO PLAYED A PART IN THE CBS-TV MOVIE "FIRST AFFAIR" DURING HER TIME IN NEW YORK, BEARSE HEADED FOR LOS ANGELES TO SEE WHETHER SHE COULD BREAK INTO FILM. SHE LANDED A SMALL ROLE IN "PROTOCOL" (PLAYING , OF ALL THINGS, A SOAP OPERA CHARACTER ON GOLDIE HAWN'S TELEVISION SET) AND THEN A FEATURED ROLE IN "FRATERNITY VACATION", WITH STEPHEN GEOFFREYS.
"AMY IS, I THINK, A SERIOUS GIRL FOR A HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR," BEARSE SAYS ABOUT THE CHARACTER SHE PLAYS IN "FRIGHT NIGHT." "IF SHE WEREN'T SHE'D JUST BE BLASE AND SELF-INVOLVED, NOT AS INTERESTED AS SHE IS IN WHAT HAPPENS TO CHARLEY. BUT SHE'S RELAXED AND HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR, TOO, WHICH IS KIND OF SIMILAR TO ME. I'VE HAD MORE LIFE-EXPERIENCE THAN AMY, SO I HAVE TO REACH FOR SOME OF HER NAIVETE, BUT THEN AGAIN, I DO GET A CHANCE TO PLAY THE OTHER AMY, TOO."
For more info on Amanda Bearse go to imdb.com.
BIOGRAPHY
