Soap Opera Digest, Early 2004:

How life as GH's reigning Mafia princess has earned Tamara Braun the royal treatment from fans.


Just the Facts:

Birthday: April 18
Celeb She'd Most Like To Meet: "Well, she's dead, but I would have loved to have met Vivien Leigh. Laurence Olivier, too. The two of them."
Ivories Coast: "I played the piano and I loved it...until I went to lessons and then I hated it."
Lost In Translation: "I really wish I had learned another language. But I don't have such a grasp on English, so I don't know that learning a second language would be so easy for me [laughs]!"
The Plain Truth: It was Braun who decided not to wear any makeup during Carly's coma scenes. "Maybe I'm an absolute idiot, because I didn't look so glamorous, but wouldn't it be distracting [for viewers] to be like, 'Why does she have lipstick on?' "


In case Tamara Braun didn't know she had "made it." In case it wasn't entirely clear to her that she'd acheived the level of stardom in her field that many actors dream about. In case she hadn't been paying attention to the endless online polls that put her straight at the top of the favorite actress lists, and her and co-star Maurice Benard (Sonny) at the top of favorite couples lists. In case she had missed out on all of these things, there was a day when those facts truly hit home. Actually, they hugged home.

"I was at the gas station," she recalls, grinning at the memory. "I had the pump in there. I was cleaning the windshield and I was also on [my cell] phone. So, the gas was pumping and this couple walked by. The girl turned her head and went [makes a gasping noise], then beelined straight for me, arms open! She just grabbed me and held me and hugged me and said, 'I love you! It's Carly! Oh, I love you! I think you're so great! Oh, my gosh, Sonny and Carly are the best!' And I was like, 'Omigod, thanks!' I said, 'Hold on' to the person I was talking to on the phone [laughs]! But I think that's when I realized, 'Oh, okay, I guess this has become something.' "

Not that Braun hasn't been enjoying a warm reception from fans pretty much since she took over the role of scrappy Carly Benson Roberts Almost-Jones Quartermaine Corinthos in 2001. "I had a few nasty letters in the beginning," she confides. "But I haven't had anything since [then]. I have always had great support from people, and I completely appreciate that support. I didn't know what to expect when I started. All I know is that to be thrown in with that many pages, with that much dialogue, with the storyline I came into...I thought, 'They are trying to kill me,' " she cracks. "But I didn't know any better. I do know that I have the greatest respect for actors on soaps now. Much more, I have to admit, than I did before. I have a great respect for actors on soaps who take their jobs seriously and deliver and raise it above the stigma that soaps used to have."

And you know, even without her saying it, that Emmy-winning co-star/on-screen husband Benard is first and foremost in her mind when she makes that statement. "I have learned so much from him," she acknowledges. "He is an incredible teacher. He has that gift because he loves the craft so much. And he was such a strong advocate of mine. I always knew he was on my side, I always knew he was rooting for me, from [my initial] screen test."

A point the actor drove home loudly and proudly in the press when, soon after Braun was cast, online rumors began circulating that Benard didn't think she had the chops necessary to handle such a challenging role. "That was so stand-up to do that," praises the actress. "It was such a gentlemanly thing to do. And Maurice doesn't bulls---. He won't go and talk about something unless he means it and he won't defend anything unless he believes in it. So, the fact that he defended my position and defended me as a person...That really touched my heart."

Braun has also developed a strong kinship with reel-life sister-in-law Alicia Leigh Willis (Courtney). "Oh, she is such a doll," raves Braun. "She is such a good friend to me and we really enjoy each other's company. It's nice to feel close to somebody who you work with, and it's fantastic that Carly has been able to not be threatened by Courtney -- that she has opened up her heart and realized that there's real value in a good female friend."

Support value that previously pregnant Carly has well needed in the past year or so, having not only gone into premature labor several thousand times, but also been kidnapped (a few times), shot (by her own husband...while in labor, no less), rendered comatose right after delivering son Morgan and having gotten mighty confused about which is the man she truly wants to be with -- Sonny or Sonny's nemesis, Lorenzo Alcazar. And if you imagined that Braun may have balked at the Sonny/Carly franchise being so thrown on its ear, you'd be wrong. "Maurice and I went up and talked to Jill [Farren Phelps, exuctive producer] and she told us about it. When we heard about it, we were interested. It's a drastic twist, but we both thought it was intriguing and that they handled it with care. It was the most challenging thing that I've had to play in awhile."

And speaking of challenging....While Braun shares that she enjoyed getting to play out Carly's pregnancy on-screen, that storyline did often put her in a bind, so to speak. "It was really fun at first," she smiles. "I loved it because I've never carried a baby. I mean, it was a piece of foam in a bodysuit, but...Then I got tired of it because that bodysuit yanked and pulled in areas that didn't become so pleasant after awhile [laughs]! And the biggest bummer is that after all that time, I didn't even get to bond with the most beautiful baby in daytime! Courtney got all of the love; Carly got none from the baby! But really, Tamara is the one who loves babies. I love babies."

Enough to start thinking about having a few Morgans of her own? "I've had pangs in my life, really hard," she divulges. "But I don't ever take that lightly. I don't have any illusions about what it's like to be a mother. I know how hard it is, just from seeing my friends deal with it. I feel like, if I'm ever going to have a child, I need to be ready to change my life and make that little person my No. 1 priority. There are too many unhappy marriages and too many neglected children out there. I take those things very seriously."

What the actress also takes very seriously is protecting the particulars of her personal life. Choosing not to discuss any details of her current love life, Braun explains, "It's just private. My public life is my public life and my private life is just that. As much as someone would feel about having children and getting married and my family...those things are sacred to me. I have a sensitive heart and so, I don't want anything open for discussion."

One subject Braun will discuss openly and honestly, however, is her feelings on her future with the show. "As an actor, you want to do as many roles as you can," she muses. "My perfect world would be if this shot for six months and we had six months off. In those six months, I would love to be [doing] film. I love character-driven film, I love independent film. I love going to the movies and being brought into another world for a few hours. That's something I've always wanted to pursue. It would be incredible if we had a hiatus, because that would be the ultimate for me -- to do both."

That said, Braun continues, "I love my job. The writers, they love Carly and I really love playing her. I have gotten to go to places and explore certain things with this character that honestly, I'm probably never going to get the opportunity to do in a film or anywhere else. I'm really thankful for that. And it has helped me grow as an actor and as a person. I actually feel like I'm betraying my GH family to say that yeah, one day, I would like to do some other thing, but I'd be lying if I said no. I would love to do something and come back. Would I be able to? Who knows? If they could work that out for me, I'd be thrilled." But, she concludes with a smile, "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. I really do love the family that has been created here at GH. I love that I have a place to go to every day and do my work. I love where I am here. I can't complain. I have a really good job and I know it. I really do."


Did You Know?
Braun once passed out fliers for a French film festival on Chicago's bustling Michigan Avenue while dressed as a can-can girl. "For once in my life," she cracks, "I was happy my breasts are small."

GH is Braun's "first ever regular job, ongoing."


Snicker Dudes
Think about the intense, brooding energy that Braun's close male costars Steve Burton (Jason) and Benard bring to the screen...then throw that out the window. When the cameras aren't rolling, says Braun, their on-screen frowns are usually upside down. "People are always talking about Steve and Maurice," grins Braun. "Like, 'Oh, they're so hot. They're so cool.' And Alicia and I are like, 'They're the biggest dorks if you came on-set [laughs]!' They're so silly. They're so goofy. Now, Alicia, she gets the giggles a lot. And so, we'll get going. But Maurice and Steve get the giggles. I'm not talking they just laugh, they get the giggles. They're like schoolgirls. And so, it's fun to get a rise out of them and to watch them do that sometimes."




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