Esme Vanderheusen

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Esme Vanderheusen

Erin Cardillo as Esme Vanderheusen
Passions character
Portrayed by Erin Cardillo
Duration 2005, 2006, 2007–08
First appearance November 10, 2005
Last appearance August 7, 2008
Created by James E. Reilly
Profile
Occupation Socialite
Residence Crane Mansion
14 Raven Hill Road
Harmony, New England

Esme Vanderheusen is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. Esme is portrayed by actress Erin Cardillo, who joined the cast in a recurring capacity on November 2005; Cardillo later went on to make appearances in 2006 and 2007 before becoming a contract cast member upon the show's DirecTV debut in September 2007.

Esme is the best friend of Harmony heiress Fancy Crane and is introduced in November 2005 as a minor obstacle to Fancy's relationship with Noah Bennett. Esme later resurfaces in April 2006 when Fancy travels to Rome, serving the dual role as Fancy's confidante and comic relief. She again surfaces in May 2007 one more time before permanently moving to Harmony in August with her fifteen-year-old niece and ward, Viki, who secretly begins murdering Esme's lovers. Overall, Esme is best known on the program for her sometimes blunt speech, comedic abuse of alcohol and prescription medications, inability to remember the names of both Fancy's and her own lovers, and one-liners.

Character history

Early life

Esme Vanderheusen was born circa 1980 to an unnamed, wealthy couple who later divorced, one of at least two children. Since at least the third grade,[1] Esme has been best friends with fellow heiress Fancy Crane, whom she frequently dragged into outlandish schemes and trouble. Unlike Fancy, however, Esme often became violent when angered and was kicked out of ten boarding schools as a result;[2] at one school, Esme was so incensed when she learned that she would fail physical education class if she did not successfully climb the rope that she burned down the gymnasium. Esme's rage has also led her to harm her own family members — though she was once close to her sister, a heated argument led Esme to push her sister out of a third story window, ruining their relationship.[3]

In their pursuit to have "fun", Esme and Fancy frequently found themselves in legal trouble, and both their fathers had to bail them out of jail several times and protect them from legal ramifications; one time, while acting alone, Esme set fire to her father's hunting lodge, as well as to 3,000 acres (12 km2) of national forest after consuming twenty-five jägerbombs, though her father's legal team was able to protect her from the law.[4]

Visits with Fancy, 2005–07

Esme is first seen on-screen on November 10, 2005, when she arrives in Harmony to visit with Fancy. She quickly comes to lust after the pair's limousine driver, Noah Bennett, unaware that Fancy has previously been in a relationship with him. Noah uses Esme's overt flirting to make Fancy jealous, ultimately succeeding; in order to separate Noah and Esme, Fancy pretends to be Esme's stuttering ex-suitor, Lord Sarny, and claims that his disapproving mother has died, leaving the two free to be with one another. Esme quickly sets off for England, but soon realizes that she has been tricked. Furious, she returns to Harmony and chases Noah and Fancy around the hotel with a shotgun, firing several times at the couple.[2]

Esme does not resurface until April 2006, when she and Fancy cross paths in Rome. Esme is still fuming over Fancy's betrayal but calls a truce after she tricks Fancy into spending an evening with notorious gigolo Gianni Valentino. Esme attempts to console Fancy over her break-up with Noah — whom she alternately calls Ned, Norman, Moses, and Solomon — but eventually comes to believe that Fancy has unknowingly fallen in love with her aunt's ex, Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald, though Fancy denies Esme's accusations.

Esme visits Fancy in Harmony once more in April 2007. Fancy confides her troubles in Esme — Luis, whom she has begun dating, is on death row for murder — and Esme encourages Fancy to fight Sheridan for Luis while providing more comic relief.

Move to Harmony, 2007–08

Some time between May and August, Esme's life undergoes a major upheaval. After losing his entire fortune in a series of bad financial investments, Esme's brother-in-law commits suicide after murdering his wife, Esme's sister; as a result, Esme becomes the legal guardian of their fifteen-year-old daughter, Viki Chatsworth. Esme faces financial troubles of her own, however — Esme's parents are furious with her for ruining her engagement with Lord Sarny, and this, coupled with her detested stepmother Brenda's machinations and her guardianship of Viki, who painfully reminded them of their dead daughter, led the Vanderheusens to cut Esme off financially.[5]

Luckily for Esme, she comes across Fancy's younger brother, Fox, and he graciously allows Esme and Viki to live at the Crane mansion for as long as is necessary. Esme finds herself deeply attracted to Fox, and vice versa; after Esme's long list of conquests and the end of Fox's messy marriage to Kay Bennett, the two believe that they have found true love with one another. The two have just consummated their relationship when Fox is shot in the chest by an unknown assailant, resulting in his death on September 17. Esme is deeply traumatized by Fox's death and briefly goes into mourning.

In an attempt to cheer herself, Esme goes home with a man that she meets at the Blue Note, Pete, who is revealed to have a bizarre cat fetish. The two are engaged in foreplay when Pete, dressed as a cat, is viciously mauled and killed by his neighbor's dog. Police investigation reveals that the dog had been deliberately released, and both Esme and Fox's widow, Kay, come under suspicion for the murders. Police Chief Sam Bennett then assigns Officer Jake Olsen to serve as bodyguard to his daughter, Kay, and Esme, but Jake and Esme are instantly attracted to each other, and Jake abandons his duties. While roleplaying, Jake's arm is punctured by a needle that had been dipped in poison, killing him. Esme is devastated by her lovers' deaths and becomes determined to catch their murderer, who also tries to kill Spike Lester after Esme kisses him.

After Fox, Pete, and Jake's deaths, Esme decides to sleep with Julian Crane, Fancy's father, believing that no one will dare to try to murder someone as powerful as Julian; the attacker does attempt murder, but fails. After Julian survives their coupling, Esme sleeps with a man working as Santa Claus on the wharf. Santa is less lucky than Julian and dies, destroying Esme's confidence. While speaking with Fancy on New Year's Eve, however, Esme gets the idea to sleep with evil people — namely Alistair Crane, Fancy's grandfather — in order to bring about their deaths. Alistair sees through Esme's act, however, and is attempting to rape her when he is stabbed in the back and the attempted murderer is revealed to the audience as Viki, who fears being sent away to boarding school if Esme marries.

A financially motivated Esme enters into a complicated and largely physical relationship with Julian; who is still in love with Eve Russell and expecting a child with Valerie Davis. Esme has also enlisted Ethan Winthrop's help to legally adopt Viki. During the summer of 2008, Esme befriended town witch Tabitha Lenox who subsequently revealed her secret to her, as well as the fact that her niece murdered all of her lover's, contributed to the death of Alistair, and was responsible for severely injuring Julian. A devastated Esme confronted Viki, who along with Vincent Clarkson-Crane poisoned many of the citizens of Harmony with a deadly mushroom sauce. Viki further admitted that she killed her parent's for trying to send her away to boarding school, and admitted all of the murders were so she would not be parted from Esme. A furious Esme struck her niece, informing her that she loved her, and did not have to resort to murder just to stay in Harmony. She convinced Tabitha to help save the citizens of Harmony by sacrificing her powers. With everyone restored, Viki and Vincent were arrested, leaving Esme to turn to liquor as usual.

In the series finale, an intoxicated Esme showed up late for the four consecutive wedding ceremonies. She did however view Ethan's marriage to Theresa Crane, the downfall of Gwen Hotchkiss and Rebecca Crane, and the baptism of her friend Tabitha into the Catholic faith.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Passions. Season 9. 2007-11-19. DirecTV.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Passions. Season 7. November 23, 2005 episode. 2005-11-23. NBC.
  3. ↑ Passions. Season 8. August 28, 2007 episode. 2007-08-28. NBC.
  4. ↑ Passions. Season 9. Episode 4. 2005-09-20. DirecTV.
  5. ↑ Passions. Season 8. August 31, 2007 episode. 2007-08-31. NBC.

External links

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