Guiding Light:
Me and My Character
Elizabeth Keifer
Elizabeth Keifer became the fourth actress to play Christina "Blake"
Thorpe when she joined the cast of GL in 1992. Ten years (and counting)
into her run, we sat down with Liz to talk about who Blake was, who she
is, and who Liz really hopes she’ll become!
Early Blake:
In 1992, Blake was a very petulant, confused, revengeful, nasty little
girl. She was also a spoiled little girl. Blake was very confused when
I first started playing her, because what started out as an act of complete
and utter revenge against her mother (who Blake blamed for destroying
the relationship between Blake and Alan-Michael), Blake decided to really
show Holly what it felt like to have a relationship destroyed. So, she
went after Ross. Blake managed to finagle that whole get-caught-in-the-act
thing, just to humiliate Holly. But then Blake started feeling real emotion
for Ross. So, when I came and started playing Blake, all that confusion
was already in there. The love had already started and, for Blake, it
was very surprising and hurtful and guarded. It was kind of fun because
I started to expose why those emotional walls were up for Blake.
Blake Now:
Blake today has evolved. She's made her choice. She wants to be better
and good and she's trying really hard. To Blake, being good means doing
the right thing. But she goes about it in an awfully wrong way, still.
Blake has such a strong emotional and instinctual side that completely
takes over before she is able to censor actions and emotions. I think
for her it's still all about wanting to be loved and wanting everybody
else to be loved. That deep, deep need is still larger than life. And,
after the Tory ordeal, I really believe she has earned her place with
Ross. They've both made mistakes, it's almost even. So now, Blake isn’t
getting into trouble. Now she's trying to get Harley into trouble. If
she can't mess up her own life, she's going to mess up somebody else's.
It's a symptom of her personality, it's going to come out. It's tough.
I love the Blake that she is now, because I love the healing aspect of
this character. This character does go in and moves people and shake up
lives, but sometimes they lose the really sharp, grounded savvy-ness that
Blake always had when she was just cutting-edge. So, I would like a happy
medium of the two, to tell you the truth. But, at the moment, I'm really
having so much fun working with Harley that I would really like us to
have a detective agency. I love the women together.
Mama Blake:
Blake’s a mother now. Children definitely change you, because it's
no longer all about you. And as much as Blake was all about Blake, it
just can't be. I wouldn't mind if they aged the children, because I would
love to have interaction with them. I would love to have something happen
with my kids, I really would. That would be very revealing for Blake.
I'd like to research that. I think Blake is definitely going to try her
best to have a nurturing relationship with all three of her kids. But
she also has no role model. Blake tends to fly off and have these careers
because she doesn't realize that a mother is supposed to do things like
stay home. Blake just gets on that plane for that meeting with a director
for that film. So once again, she may mess that parenting thing up. I'm
sure she's going to get some of her own medicine back, too. I think Blake
is going to be great to her sons. Blake is a dame. She's best buds with
Frank, so she probably will be a little more balanced and well rounded
with the sons. And there’s a lot of story there, I think. Remember,
these are Roger Thorpe’s grandsons! But with her daughter... When
it's your own daughter, bad behavior is harder to tolerate. I always thought
Marina would be a great character for Blake to be an Auntie Mame for,
because it would be like, "I've made those mistakes. I'll cover for
you." But for your own daughter, it's a different story. Children
are a big challenge -- no matter who fathered them.
Next: Beth Chamberlin
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