They wanted to make her less rural, less of a cartoon. Not that Southern woman are cartoonish - they're the strongest women in this country, but with Val they wanted to take the stereotypical things out.
Joan Van Ark
So I had all the names, three names, and that's good to have on a soap.
Running is my church.
David Jacobs is a great influence on my life, has taught me so much about so many things.
When you're on a long running series, you reach a very rarefied, high oxygen area and after a while to keep a show on the air they have to make some very drastic changes.
When I become the village idiot, or at least, it starts to become a joke, you can't do that much longer.
A couple of years ago I ran in the LA Marathon.
I want to play trailer trash; I swear to God.
I'm Presbyterian and I don't go to church very much.
I need to run every day. If I don't I feel cheated.
My brother Mark still lives in the house we grew up in.
Running is a great way to relieve stress and clear the mind.
You've got to realize that any lady on a soap is devoting her life to it, 24/7.
When I'm not involved in an acting job I try to run 10 miles a day.
I had been doing plays in New York and on a whim we packed up and moved West, I started doing commercials and plays and guest star spots on TV and one thing led to another and I got Knots Landing.
Knots was about the relationships that were built over many years.
It was understood that when I left to do the pilot that I wasn't coming back.
When two characters or two actresses are together for a while there is bound to be chemistry developing.
I didn't even know Michele before we started the show but we became great friends, and still are.
