Eve Russell

Eve Russell
Passions character
Portrayed by Tracey Ross
Duration 1999–2008
First appearance July 5, 1999
Last appearance August 7, 2008
Created by James E. Reilly
Book appearances Hidden Passions
Profile
Occupation Doctor
Residence Russell House
422 Swallow Lane
Harmony, New England, U.S.

Dr. Eve Russell (maiden name Johnson) is a fictional character on the American soap opera Passions, which aired on NBC from 1999 to 2007 and on DirecTV in 2007–08. Passions followed romantic and supernatural adventures in the fictional New England coastal town of Harmony. Created by the soap's head writer, James E. Reilly, Eve was played by Tracey Ross for the series' entire run. In 2003, Amanda Maiden and Kimberly Kevon Williams played Eve in flashbacks.[1]

Eve, part of Passions' Russell family, is introduced as the perfect wife of T. C. Russell (Rodney Van Johnson) and mother of Whitney (Brook Kerr) and Simone. Eve's desperation to conceal all evidence of her past relationship—and child—with Julian Crane (Ben Masters) leads to the breakup of her marriage and family, especially when her adoptive sister Liz Sanbourne (Amelia Marshall) arrives in Harmony and ruins Eve's life for abandoning her first family. Later storylines focus on her on-again, off-again relationship with Julian and her search for their son, who is revealed as Vincent Clarkson (Phillip Jeanmarie) despite long speculation by the show's characters and media outlets that he was Chad Harris-Crane.

Ross's performance was praised by fans and critics. She received eight nominations for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series, winning at the 38th NAACP Image Awards. Eve and Julian, known by fans as "Evian", were called "the Odd Couple of Passions" by Soap Opera Weekly.[2] Eve has been cited as expanding the TV representation of African-Americans and interracial relationships.

Development

Casting and creation

Ross was originally hesitant to audition for another soap opera after her stint on Ryan’s Hope as Diana Douglas from 1985 to 1987, which she compared to "working in a morgue" because the show was constantly threatened with cancellation. Although NBC repeatedly contacted the actress about the character of Eve Russell over several months before her agent convinced her to audition for the role, she described Passions as "my kind of show" because of the supernatural and fantasy elements in the first week's scripts.[3] According to Ross, she did not realize that Passions was supposed to be "wacky" until Grace Bennett floated out her bedroom window.[4]

Sheraton Kalouria, senior vice president of NBC’s daytime programming,[5] said that the show’s racially-diverse ensemble is represented by "the African American Russells and the Hispanic Lopez-Fitzgeralds ... It’s truly color-blind storytelling". An article in Jet described each member of the Russells (including Eve) as being an "integral part of the show" rather than token characters.[6] According to Ross, Eve was not defined by African-Americanism during her creation and casting: "If they wanted to make my character any other ethnicity they wouldn't have to change a thing about her. I don't know what else I could ask for. She's just a person."[7]

The actress cited the show's racial diversity as a primary reason for her attraction to the role. Ross "felt tremendous support from NBC and Passions that the black characters and/or Hispanic characters are all essential parts of the story", and said that if there were no Russells there would be no Harmony.[8] Rodney Van Johnson appreciated the show’s representation of "a full African-American family" on daytime television with serious storylines, not "just a flash in the pan". According to Johnson, the Russell family received an impressive response from African-American viewers.[6] Charles Divins called the show's treatment of the Russells as "a strong African American family" and an integral "part of Harmony" refreshing.[7]

According to Ross, Eve's relationship with Julian Crane was an authentic representation of an interracial couple. Eve is not a "walking, living philosophical statement" about race relations, but a fully-realized person with her own story. Ross credited "the people who laid the groundwork for me" and allowed characters to be played other than "in a minstrel-like way" (similar to Ellen DeGeneres paving the way for Will & Grace) for allowing a character like Eve to be created,[9] and equated playing Julian and Eve's love story to "playing Romeo and Juliet".[4]

Characterization

Joanne Woodward: a young woman with short, blonde hair
Ross' performance as Eve was inspired by Joanne Woodward's (pictured in the 1960s) role in The Three Faces of Eve (1957).

Ross characterized Eve as "a contradiction inside an enigma".[10] Although she initially saw the character as easy to play ("everyone's best friend, and the town doctor, and a great mother"), the actress had a more difficult time when Eve began behaving in morally-questionable ways to protect secrets about her past[11] and said that playing Eve was "as if somebody came and told you that your closest friend is doing abominable things".[12] However, Ross appreciated Eve's characterization as a human being who "is neither all good nor all bad, [who] has strengths and weaknesses".[13]

Early in the show, the actress based her understanding of Eve on the character's relationships with Grace and Ivy Winthrop (Kim Johnston Ulrich). Ross described Eve's love for Grace as "my rock in the sea" when the "difficult to play" Eve took extreme, illegal measures to hide her past.[12] Following Ulrich's interpretation of Ivy as valuing Eve as a confidant, Ross characterized Eve as respecting Ivy's "ability to take charge" instead of "always tiptoeing around and walking on eggshells".[14] She viewed Ivy's schemes to blackmail Eve as an attempt at a deeper connection; as "the closest thing to a friend that Ivy had", Eve interpreted their relationship as a desire for friendship.[9]

In an interview with the Atlas Society, Ross said her approach to Eve was inspired by Ayn Rand's objectivism and called Eve's willingness to "take any sacrifices you might be willing to make" a good example of Rand's ideology. She compared Eve to Catherine Halsey in Rand's 1943 novel, The Fountainhead, with Eve most resembling Catherine "at the midpoint of the novel, before she was completely destroyed".[15] Ross said that her portrayal of Eve was also influenced by Eve White, a character with dissociative identity disorder played by Joanne Woodward in the 1957 film The Three Faces of Eve. According to Ross, she researched books on sociopaths and psychopaths to better understand Eve's desire to hide her past at any cost.[12]

Storylines

Early life

In the 2001 novel Hidden Passions: Secrets from the Diaries of Tabitha Lenox, Eve Russell is the only child of Warren Johnson and Tanya Lincoln, a wealthy couple from Boston.[16] The series changed Eve's family, identifying her parents as Warren Johnson and Ruby Lincoln (a poor couple from the American South) and introducing Mr. Sanbourne as her stepfather and Liz Sanbourne as her adoptive sister. Despite the book's billing as canonical when it was published, the show contradicts much of its information.

As a teenager Eve wants to be a jazz singer, despite her mother's disapproval of any music other than gospel. Eve's decision to pursue jazz is portrayed as bringing shame to her mother from her family and her church congregation, leading to her parents' divorce. After the divorce, Eve's mother marries Mr. Sanbourne and they adopt Liz. Eve and Liz are led to believe that they are half-sisters. Eve later runs away to Boston to be a singer; she is involved with alcohol, drugs and prostitution, and her relationship with Liz becomes strained.

Eve singing onstage in a long-sleeved black dress, with her eyes closed
Passions was Ross' first singing role, and the show primarily uses "My Baby's Gone" to represent Eve's past as a jazz singer and her relationship with Julian.[17]

In Boston Eve meets Julian Crane, who introduces her to alcohol and drugs, and she becomes close friends with fellow jazz singer Crystal Harris. Eve accidentally hits future husband T. C. Russell while driving under the influence, ruining his tennis career. T.C., unaware that Eve is responsible for the accident, believes that Julian was driving. Eve and Julian separate after she learns that she is pregnant; Julian's marriage to the daughter of former Governor Harrison Winthrop, Ivy, is arranged by his father Alistair. Crystal, the only person Eve tells about her pregnancy, helps deliver her son. Although Eve initially believes that her baby died, she learns that he survived when she discovers Vincent Clarkson in 2007. For most of the series Eve and Julian's child is believed to be Chad Harris-Crane, who is later shown to be Liz's child from her rape by Alistair. After the apparent death of her child, Eve leaves Boston and gives up music to attend medical school. Alistair sends her money (which she uses to pay her tuition) to keep quiet about her relationship—and child—with Julian.

Eve eventually moves to Harmony and becomes a respected physician at Harmony Hospital, receiving a Doctor of the Year Award. She marries T.C. and has two children, Whitney and Simone. Eve keeps her past secret from her daughters to prevent them from repeating her mistakes, and from her husband out of fear of shame and divorce.

Hidden past (1999-2004)

Eve's early storylines focus on her attempt to keep her past hidden from her family and her neighbors in Harmony. She goes to extremes in eliminating threats of exposure, burning down Orville Perkins' apartment to destroy any evidence that Chad was her child with Julian and committing Charity Standish to a mental institution to discredit her visions of Eve and Julian's relationship. Ivy Winthrop unearths proof of Eve's relationship with Julian to blackmail her into lying about Ethan Winthrop's medical records (preventing Sam Bennett (James Hyde) from learning that he is Ethan's father) and forging DNA results so John Hastings appears to be the son of amnesiac Grace Bennett. Ivy has Whitney drugged to prevent Eve from revealing the truth about Ethan and John's paternity.

In 2001 Liz returns to Harmony for revenge on her sister, who left her in an abusive household, but Eve keeps Liz's identity as her adoptive sister a secret from her family and the town. In a 2002–2004 storyline, Eve relies more on Julian as Liz attempts to expose Eve and seduces T.C. Eve's secrets threaten to come out, and she works with Julian to find their child. Overwhelmed by Liz's desire for vengeance and the search for her child, Eve is unaware of Whitney's relationship with Chad.

The storyline culminates in July 2004, when Liz brings Eve's aunt Irma Johnson (Marla Gibbs) to tell T.C. the truth about her relationship with Julian and their child. Whitney turns against her mother, incorrectly assuming that her child with Julian is Chad (making her relationship with him incestuous). The characters also learn that Eve, not Julian, was responsible for the car accident which ended T.C.'s tennis career. In retaliation, Eve tells everyone that Liz is her adoptive sister. T.C. divorces Eve, unable to forgive her lies about her past with Julian and her pregnancy, and begins a romantic relationship with Liz. Eve and Julian renew their relationship, despite his wife Rebecca Hotchkiss' (Andrea Evans) refusal to divorce.

Rekindled romance with Julian (2004-07

In 2005, Liz drinks poisoned punch which Rebecca had intended for Eve. Liz accuses Eve of deliberately giving her the punch, and Eve is arrested for attempted murder. Julian uses his influence to defend Eve, and they grow closer. The night before Eve's trial, Liz offers to recant her accusation and testimony if Eve promises to leave Harmony and never see T.C. or her daughters again. Eve considers the deal, ultimately refusing it. Near the end of the trial, Julian agrees to give Rebecca anything she wants in exchange for her testimony that she saw Liz with the vial of poison. Tabitha's daughter Endora sends the jury into a fake flashback corroborating Rebecca's testimony, and the judge declares a mistrial. When Eve is arrested and tried, T.C. ends his relationship with Liz to reconcile with his ex-wife.

The plot then focuses on Eve's love triangle with T.C. and Julian, and she is torn between taking care of T.C. after his stroke and accepting Julian's proposal of marriage. Eve discovers Julian's affair with Valerie Davis (Daphnée Duplaix), an employee of Crane Industries. Although she forgives him, their frequent arguments about T.C.'s health force them to end their engagement and Eve decides to nurse T.C. back to health and renew their relationship to reunite their family. After Alistair murders Grace in England, Eve feels guilty about convincing Grace to go to Europe with John's false paternity tests and confesses her participation in Ivy's scheme to break up the Bennett family. Eve concentrates on rebuilding her family relationships and professional reputation, and Julian briefly rekindles his relationship with Ivy. He tells Eve that he was paying Valerie to search for their son; Eve forgives Valerie, and she and Julian continue searching.

The show's 2007 summertime plot resolves the "blackmailer" storyline in which a mysterious figure threatens to reveal Harmony's secrets and rapes several people, revealing the blackmailer as local tabloid editor Vincent Clarkson. Eve and Julian discover that Vincent is their son, and try to support him despite his criminal past. However, Eve cannot accept her son's criminality and incestuous, adulterous affair with Chad Harris-Crane (Vincent's half-uncle, adoptive half-cousin and half-brother-in-law) and begins abusing drugs and alcohol. Her career and reputation suffer, and she has a breakdown after Vincent's apparent death on August 30, 2007. In the show's final NBC episode on September 7, 2007, Vincent is revealed as intersex; he separates his identity into Vincent and Valerie, an indication of dissociative identity disorder.

DirecTV storylines (2007-08)

Young man peering stealthily around a doorway
Ross said that Vincent (above) giving birth to his father's child made her "physically nauseous" and she could only complete the birth scenes after the show's acting coach, Maria O'Brien, convinced her of "[their] comedic possibilities".[4]

After the show's transition from NBC to DirecTV, Eva's storylines emphasize her romance with Julian and difficult relationship with Vincent. Believed dead, Vincent reveals himself, his gender identity and his pregnancy to Eve after seducing Julian (his father) and threatens to kill her if she tells anyone. In late 2007, he begins tormenting Eve out of revenge for her failure to prevent his abduction when he was born. Julian checks Eve into rehab after she relapses, abusing drugs and alcohol to cope with Vincent's frequent appearances. Vincent tries to murder Eve in rehab to protect his secrets. Julian rescues Eve, but refuses to believe that Vincent is alive and he and Valerie are the same person. Vincent arranges for Eve's release from rehab to help him prepare for the impending birth.

He ties Eve up in a closet, forcing her to watch him have sex (as Valerie) with a drugged Julian he calls "daddy". Julian accidentally pulls off Vincent's wig, discovering that his son is alive and pregnant with his child. He refuses to believe it, attributing the encounter to a drug-induced hallucination. Vincent's psychopathic accomplice, Viki Chatsworth, later repeatedly stabs Julian in the groin and severs his penis. Vincent plies Eve with drugs and alcohol so she botches her attempt to surgically reattach Julian's penis; she reattaches it upside-down, and an erection might kill him.

In May 2008 Eve and Julian assist Vincent with the birth of his son on the Russells' kitchen table, when Eve explains everything about Vincent and Valerie to Julian. Eve plans to form a relationship again with Vincent (believing that motherhood has mellowed him), and convinces Julian not to turn him in to the police. That night, she visits Alistair in the hospital and tries to kill him for torturing Vincent and making him a psychopath. Julian stops Eve, killing Alistair himself. It is later learned that his gun was filled with blanks, and Viki actually murdered Alistair.

During the rehearsal for the joint weddings of Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald and Fancy Crane, Noah Bennett and Paloma Lopez-Fitzgerald, Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald and Kay Bennett, and Edna Wallace and Norma Bates, Eve assures Julian that they love each other emotionally and intellectually; Julian vows that the Crane family will take more responsibility for their actions now that Alistair is dead. At the rehearsal dinner, Eve and the other dinner guests eat Vincent and Vicki's poisoned mushroom sauce. She dies, but is resurrected when witch Tabitha Lenox renounces magic and becomes a born-again Christian. In the series finale, Kay uses her magic to heal Julian's penis. Since T.C., Whitney and Simone moved to New Orleans in 2007, Eve and Vincent are the only two Russells in the final episode.

In popular culture and other media

Tracey Ross and Rodney Van Johnson made cameo appearances as Eve and T.C. Russell in the series finale of the NBC primetime drama, Providence, one of the first daytime-primetime crossovers.[18] Eve and the other members of the Russell family recorded public service announcements celebrating the achievements of African Americans such as Sidney Poitier, Marian Anderson, Alex Haley, Thurgood Marshall, Condoleezza Rice and Bill Cosby to commemorate Black History Month. The PSAs, which ran on NBC stations during February, were called "another example of Passions' commitment to diversity and inclusion" (along with its racially-diverse cast) by NBC vice president Sheraton Kalouria.[19]

After DirecTV's decision to cancel the show, Passions joined Premiere Props in a public, two-day estate sale of props and costumes from the series. According to NBCUniversal director Stacey Ward, the auction gave fans "an opportunity to own a piece of their favorite show".[20] Several Eve-related items were offered for sale, including a medical coat splattered with blood from her botched surgery on Julian[21] and a framed copy of her medical degree.[22]

Reception

For her portrayal of Eve, Ross received eight nominations for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series and won at the 38th NAACP Image Awards.[23] Despite Passions' focus on African-American female characters like Eve, Lynette Rice of Entertainment Weekly wrote that the show failed to attract the "hard-to-reach audience [of] African-American women"; according to Kalouria, "Quite frankly, many of them aren't aware Passions is even on."[24]

Eve and Julian's relationship was seen positively by fans, who referred to the couple as "Evian."[25] Ross's portrayal of Eve was also warmly received by viewers, who frequently rated her their favorite Passions actress in Soap Opera Digest polls.[15] TV Guide listed Eve and Julian as one of the best soap-opera supercouples, praising the chemistry between Ross and Masters.[26] Eve's incorrect reattachment of Julian's penis was criticized by co-star McKenzie Westmore ("This has got to be the worst storyline ever done, what are they doing?"), who cited it as a reason for the show's cancellation.[27]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Who's Who In Harmony". Soapcentral. Retrieved 2016-01-20.
  2. ↑ "HIT The Odd Couple of Passions". Soap Opera Weekly. 2002-10-29. Retrieved 2016-01-20.
  3. ↑ "Tracey Takes On...". Soap Opera Digest. 2000-01-25. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  4. 1 2 3 "Tracey Ross Looks Back at Her Time on Passions". Soaps.com. 2008-07-14. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  5. ↑ "NBCS days ABC’s Kalouria". Variety. 2000-05-09. Retrieved 2016-01-16.
  6. 1 2 "Soap Opera ‘Passions’ Keeps Igniting Fervor Among Daytime Viewers". Jet. 2003-01-13. Retrieved 2016-01-16.
  7. 1 2 "INTERVIEW: 'Passions' Superstars Chad and Eve". The GW Hatchet. 2002-10-24. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
  8. ↑ "Slap Happy". eviandreams.com. 2003-02-04. Retrieved 2016-01-16.
  9. 1 2 "Harmony's Favorite Physician". TV Guide Online. 2002-02-12. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
  10. ↑ "Ben Masters and Tracey Ross "Passions"". NBC Passions Online. 2000-04-11. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  11. ↑ "One on One". NBC Passions Online. 2000-02-21. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  12. 1 2 3 "interview102.html". Soap Opera Weekly. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  13. ↑ "Tracey Ross - Is Eve all she seems to be?". Jamaica Gleaner. jamaica-gleaner.com. Archived from the original on February 21, 2004. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Mailbag with Tracey Ross (Eve)". NBC Passions Online. 2000. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  15. 1 2 "Tracey Ross: TV". Atlas Society. 2011-04-29. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  16. ↑ Lenox, Tabitha (2001). Hidden Passions: Secrets from the Diaries of Tabitha Lenox. New York: HarperEntertainment. ISBN 0-06-107605-8.
  17. ↑ "October 2002 TVGuideOnline interview with Tracey Ross". TVGuideOnline. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  18. ↑ "Providence Full Cast & Crew". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2016-01-22.
  19. ↑ "NBC's "Passions" Actors Celebrate Black History Month". Hoosier State Chronicles. 2003-02-20. Retrieved 2016-01-16.
  20. ↑ "Passions Props Sale". Soaps.com. 2008-04-02. Retrieved 2016-01-16.
  21. ↑ "Passions Eve Russell (Tracey Ross) TV Costumes". iCollector.com Online Auctions. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  22. ↑ "Passions Eve (Tracey Ross) M.D. DEGREE TV Props". iCollector.com Online Auctions. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  23. ↑ "38th annual NAACP Image Awards winners". USA Today. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  24. ↑ "Passions tries to attract a new type of audience". Entertainment Weekly. 2003-01-07. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  25. ↑ "Something’s in the "Evian"". Soap Opera Weekly. 2004. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  26. ↑ Branco, Nelson. "Soaps’ best super-couples!". TV Guide. Archived from the original on June 12, 2008. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  27. ↑ "McKenzie Westmore Talks 'Face Off,' Craziest 'Passions' Moment & How 'Batman v. Superman' Changed Her Wedding Date!". too fab. 2015-07-31. Retrieved 2016-01-19.

External links

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