Since 2008, the Canadian actress has played Steffy Forrester in Love, Glory and Beauty, broadcast Monday to Friday at 10:15 a.m. on France 2. Meeting at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival.
How was the arrival of Krista Allen, who replaces Hunter Tylo as your mother, Taylor?
Jacqueline MacInnes Wood: It’s great, she’s so nice! Taylor had to come back because Steffy, my character, had no one to talk to. But she needs her mother after everything she’s been through: an opiate addiction, the ups and downs of her relationship with Finn and Liam…I was heartbroken when Hunter wasn’t came back but it was her choice. She has moved on to another chapter in her life and I fully understand that.
How long did it take you to be comfortable in the skin of Steffy, also embodied by other actresses?
For Steffy, there hasn’t really been a change of actress. She’s more of a child who was brought up all of a sudden. But it took me three or four years. Initially, she was nice and clean. So I wanted to make it a little more rebellious, less perfect. There was also a lot of dialogue to learn, a lot of game hints and descriptions that sometimes explained on two or three pages why she felt such and such an emotion. Initially, I tried to respect them, even if I saw things differently. After a few years, Susan Flannery, who played Stephanie Forrester, Steffy’s grandmother told me: “We don’t give a damn about these indications! Do as you feel like!” She gave me that freedom.
Why can daily soap operas afford to talk about social issues, such as opiate addiction?
In Love glory and beauty, it is thanks to the sensitivity of the Bell family (producer of the series, editor’s note) who understands what is agitating society. It had been decided to evoke opiates just before the Covid crisis and the plot had to be much longer. But during confinement, their consumption increased. Bradley Bell then preferred to deal with subjects that would give hope in this depressing period. So the opiate story only lasted a few weeks. He knows very well how to capture the atmosphere of the moment.
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