Scene of the Week!
by Victoria L. Chapman

The week of April 14 in Oakdale, a paralyzed Lucy walked, a kidnapped Barbara made her triumphant return home, Carly unveiled her designs and Alison nearly ended up with a knife in the ribs.

But the Scene of the Week that really jumped off the screen and into the hearts and souls of viewers was Jessica Griffin (Tamara Tunie) getting her rapist, Marshall Travers (Lamman Rucker), onto the witness stand and, with just the two of them in the room, forcing him to look at the night in question through her eyes.

SoapCity asked Lamman Rucker what was going through Marshall's mind -- and his own -- as the riveting confrontation played out.

"Without there being any other distractions, without them being in the middle of any other kind of emotional or sexual, intimate moment, Marshall is able, for the first time, to clearly hear and clearly see how it pains her, how it hurt her," Lamman reveals. "And for the first time he's like, 'Oh, wow! Now I see it from your perspective. I see why you feel the way you do.’"

Despite his bad guy image, Rucker says he believes Marshall really does love Jessica, so the revelation to her view of the situation has a strong impact on the former DA. "It ends up hurting him so extremely when he realizes that he hurt her. He's dumbfounded. It's like she stabbed him in the heart."

Like many actors, Rucker says he cares for his character. But as a man who doesn't condone violence against women, "Naturally, I had a very big problem even having to go there."

Still he's glad the storyline is being played out from both perspectives. "There are times when this issue is not dealt with enough. And even when it is, it's not really dealt with in the right ways."

To watch Jessica's steely cross-examination and Marshall's shattered confession, make sure to download the April 16 episode of ATWT, here! You won't want to miss it!

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