Simone Russell

Simone Russell 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 founder and head writer James E. Reilly, the role was portrayed by three actresses over the course of the show: Lena Cardwell (July 5, 1999 to April 16, 2001), Chrystee Pharris (April 17, 2001 to April 22, 2004), and Cathy Jenéen Doe (July 23, 2004 – September 4, 2007).^[1]

Simone, a part of Passions' Russell family, is introduced as the youngest daughter of Eve Russell (Tracey Ross) and T. C. Russell (Rodney Van Johnson) and younger sister of Whitney Russell (Brook Kerr). While her early appearances center on her involvement in a love triangle with Chad Harris-Crane and her sister Whitney, the character receives more prominence on the show through her experience coming out as a lesbian to her family and her relationship with Rae Thomas (Jossara Jinario).

Her storyline made daytime history by having the first representation of two women in bed making love on a soap opera. The character is also notable for being daytime's first African-American lesbian. In the 17th GLAAD Media Awards, the show won Outstanding Daily Drama for its portrayal of Simone sexual orientation. The show's representation of LGBT topics and Cathy Jenéen Doe's performance as Simone received a mixed response from critics; Doe was the principal actress during the storylines focusing on the character's sexuality.

Character creation

Background

Simone Russell is one of the original twenty-five contract cast members invented by the show's creator and co-creator, James E. Reilly. Sheraton Kalouria, senior vice president of NBC’s daytime programming,^[2] described the decision to create and cast a racially diverse ensemble, as seen with the inclusion of "the African American Russells and the Hispanic Lopez-Fitzgeralds" in the soap's four core families, as reflective of the show's "truly color-blind storytelling."^[3] The cast emphasized the representation of an African-American family and fully realized African-American characters as the main attraction to the roles. Charles Divins, one of the actors to play Chad Harris-Crane,viewed the show's treatment of the Russells as "a strong African American family" as "refreshing."^[4]

Rodney Van Johnson praised the incorporation of a complete African-American family as distinguishing Passions from other soap operas:

"We are the only daytime drama with a full African-American family. The Russells have a key role in the community. There aren't just a flash in the pan. The storylines are heavy. The show has received a huge response from the African-American community for that reason."^[3]

Characterization and casting

Over the course of the show, Simone was played by three actresses–Lena Cardwell (1999 to 2001), Chrystee Pharris (2001 to 2004), and Cathy Jenéen Doe (2004 to 2007). The producers Reilly and Lisa de Cazotte considered the role ideal for Lena Cardwell upon seeing her audition.^[5] The show identified the character primarily as Whitney's younger sister and her personality was constructed around her "major crush on street-kid Chad Harris since he came to town."^[6] Daniel R. Coleridge of TV Guide characterized Simone's early behavior as "bitchy to her older sister, who was nothing but kind to her."^[7] Cast members expressed disappointment at the recasting of Simone. Tracey Ross described Cardwell as being "very sincere, completely authentic and without malice" in her performance; Johnson said his close relationship with Cardwell, viewing himself as "a father figure to her," helped make the Russell family more authentic and relatable to viewers.^[8]

When assuming the role in 2001, Pharris said her preparation consisted of asking "as many questions as I could think of about Simone, Whitney and Chad" to her friends in order to make "the character my own by putting my own life experiences in the situation."^[9] She commented that the ability to work closely with the producers allowed her to use her own family background as inspiration for her performance as Simone. While discussing the connection to her family, she stated "my father had a temper so I made Simone have a temper too!"^[10] Pharris explained she did not renew her contract in order to pursue other projects.^[11]

Doe was hired for the third and final recasting after moving to Los Angeles from New York, where she was primarily offered the role of "a runaway teenager, a prostitute, a drug dealer". Initially hesitant to assume a character already established by other actors, she shaped her performance through her friendship with Pharris; she described Pharris as "a really [positive] person" who answered her questions about the character. ^[12] When discussing the decision to portray Simone as a lesbian, Kalouria emphasized "sexual identity isn't a passing fancy" and "this is where [Simone] is...I can assure you we're not going to make light of this particular topic."^[13]

Storylines

Born in 1983, Simone Russell is the youngest daughter of T.C. and Eve Russell and the younger sister of Whitney Russell. Her early storylines concentrate on her reluctant participation in her friend Kay Bennett's schemes to separate Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald from Charity Standish and her attraction to Chad-Harris Crane. Chad and Whitney hide their relationship from Simone to the point where Chad pretends to be Simone's girlfriend to keep her happy. After seeing Chad kissing Whitney, she breaks up with him and tells everyone in Harmony about his relationship with her sister.

Disconnected from her sister, Simone becomes close friends with Kay's younger sister Jessica Bennett and Miguel's younger sister Paloma Lopez-Fitzgerald and turns to them for support. Simone acts primarily as a supporting character for the two character's storylines, such as advising Paloma to divorce her abusive husband Spike Lester (Christopher Maleki) and seek professional help for her drug addiction. She briefly dates John Standish, who is the son of David Hastings. At the time, John was falsely believed to be Grace Standish's son and the half-brother of Kay and Jessica. Simone's relationship with John ended in 2004 when he moves to Italy with David and Grace.

In the summer of 2005, Simone comes out as a lesbian by revealing her relationship with Rae Thomas to her family. Her family reacts negatively to her sexual orientation. T.C. physically beats her in drunken rage. Eve panics that her daughter's reputation would suffer if the rest of Harmony finds out about her sexuality. Simone's great-aunt Irma Johnson describes homosexuality as a sin and calls her "vile" and "disgusting." Simone turns to her mother for emotional support after Rae rebuke her declarations of love by revealing a disinterest in a committed relationship. In December 2005, Simone discovers that Rae is being paid by Alistair Crane to seduce her. Rae later explains the money is intended to start a lesbian club and she was never hired to "turn" Simone gay. As she reconciles with Rae, Simone reconnects with her family. Her father, who recently suffered from a stroke, apologizes for his homophobic behavior toward her and her mother becomes more supportive of her relationship.

Viewers saw the set-up for the ending of Simone's romance with Rae through the beginning of 2007. Rae finds out Vincent Clarkson (Phillip Jeanmarie) was framing Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald (Galen Gering) for his girlfriend Fancy Crane (Emily Harper)'s rape. On February 12, 2007, Vincent stabs Rae to death before she could reveal his identity to Luis. Simone attempts to cope with Rae's death by helping Jessica through her pregnancy. She invites Jessica to live in Rae's old apartment so they could protect the baby from Spike. Eve, who was previously being blackmailed by Vincent, tells Simone the truth about Rae's murder. Simone leaves Harmony with her sister Whitney to start a new life in New Orleans.

Simone does not make a physical appearing during the show's run on DirecTV or in the series finale. In July 2008, Simone sends a letter to Kay congratulating her on her wedding to Miguel and includes a pair of earrings as the "something new."

In popular culture and other media

The character of Simone received further media attention due to Pharris' participation alongside the other cast members of the Russell family in recording public service announcements to celebrate the achievements of African Americans like Sidney Poitier, Marian Anderson, Alex Haley, Thurgood Marshall, Condoleezza Rice, and Bill Cosby in commemoration of Black History Month. The PSAs ran on NBC stations throughout February. Sheraton Kalouria identified the PSA campaign as "another example of Passions ' commitment to diversity and inclusion" alongside its featuring of a racially diverse cast.^[14]

Despite the focus on African-American female characters like Simone, Lynette Rice of Entertainment Weekly wrote the show has failed to attract the "hard-to-reach audience [of] African-American women." Kalouria commented "quite frankly, many of them aren't aware Passions is even on."^[15]

Following DirecTV's decision to not renew the show, Passions partnered with Premiere Props to hold a public two-day estate sale of props and costumes from the show. Stacey Ward, a director of NBCUniversal, pitched the auction as "an opportunity to own a piece of their favorite show."^[16] Several pieces of Simone's wardrobe were put up for sale.^[17]

Impact and reception

Passions made daytime history for showing two women—Simone and Rae—in bed together, but critics responded negatively to the lack of chemistry between the actors.

Passions won the award for Outstanding Daily Drama in the 17th GLAAD Media Awards for its portrayal of Simone's sexuality and her relationship with Rae.^[18] The soap opera made television history by having daytime's first representation of two women in bed making love.^[19]

Simone's storyline about coming out as a lesbian received mixed feedback from critics and media outlets. The Atlantic's Aaron Foley connected the show's inclusion of a black lesbian character as a sign of "America bec[oming] more comfortable with seeing blacks on screen" and viewers "bec[oming] more comfortable with risky, sometimes hilarious storylines." Foley commented the storyline was "short-lived."^[20] An article on Soaps.com wrote Simone would be remembered as "a character who broke down some barriers for the depiction of lesbians on daytime TV and earned the show awards and accolades from civil rights groups."^[21] Damon Romine, media entertainment director of GLAAD (2005-2009),^[22] reported the introduction of gay characters makes soap operas "worth tuning in" and emphasized the show's capability of normalizing LGBT topics with a wider audience:

"These stories have the ability to reach the many different generations of viewers who watch daytime and share with them stories of our lives, he says. What viewers are seeing is that more and more of their own neighbors and friends are dealing with these issues, and the soaps are merely reflecting the reality of the world we live in."^[7]

Sarah Warn, former editor of entertainment website AfterEllen.com, gave the show a negative review by calling the relationship "a poorly developed plot that has reduced Simone to a one-dimensional character who happened to sleep with a girl." Warn points out that the viewers "haven't had the chance to see this woman through her eyes" as the show does not attempt to fully explore her sexuality; she expressed disappointment that Simone's past relationships with men and her possible bisexuality are never addressed on the show. Despite the criticism, Warn praised the show for providing a more realistic representation of lesbian sexuality than the "one three-minute scene than All My Children did in five years."^[13]

Cathy Jenéen Doe received mixed feedback for her performance of the character. Doe was listed as a pre-nominee for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for the 34th Daytime Emmy Awards alongside co-star Emily Harper, but was not chosen as one of the final nominees.^[23] Warn criticized Doe and Jinario as "horribly matched as scene partners, with little chemistry."^[13]

Simone's storyline received frequent comparisons from critics to the soap's treatment of Chad's struggle with his sexuality and Vincent's identification as intersex. Herndon L. Davis of Windy City Times described the representation of Simone as daytime's first African-American lesbian as overshadowed by how the show "recklessly wrote a down-low storyline which involved an African-American man but eventually turned it into an outrageous intersex serial killer storyline." Davis said the soap opera tackled "daytime's bitter issue with race."^[24] Drew Rowsome, blogger and later editor for Fab, said Simone's storyline was done "quite tastefully and with a certain degree of political correctness" in comparison to the show's approach to gay and intersex characters.^[25]

During the final years of the show, Rodney Van Johnson criticized the decision to start "taking out the people of color[,]" like Cathy Jenéen Doe and the character of Simone, as an obvious sign that "this thing is going down."^[26]

See also

• Russell family
• List of soap operas with LGBT characters

References

External links

• Simone Russell at NBC.com
• Simone Russell at the Internet Movie Database