Dallas Interview: Brenda Strong On The Past & The Future For Ann Ewing

A generation ago, the CBS nighttime serial Dallas told the story of Bobby Ewing and the love of his life, Pamela, the daughter of his family’s bitter rivals. The Pam and Bobby marriage, while passionate, also led to a lot of conflict.

35 years later, with Pam long in the past for Dallas, the new TNT incarnation of the series sees Bobby Ewing married to the former Ann Ryland, played on the new show by Brenda Strong. While she brings her own sorts of family drama due to her past relationship with Harris Ryland, Ann is a different kind of relationship for Bobby. We spoke with Ms. Strong at a recent TNT anniversary event to talk about what is coming up for her character as well as what her impressions of the series have been thus far.

“I think the writers did Ann a solid last year,” Brenda told us about the developments for the character in the second season, whose storylines included shooting her ex-husband, being tried for attempted murder, and being reunited with her long-missing daughter, Emma, played by Emma Bell. “They gave her so much conflict to invest in. They created all sorts of drama for she and Bobby, for their relationship… I think ultimately, anything is possible on our show, and the more our writers prove themselves to know these characters inside and out, the more I just say ‘go. Surprise me’,” she said. One rumored addition for Season 3 is a brother for Ann; however, at the time of the interview, this possible development is news to Ms. Strong. “I can’t to see what they’ve got for her, because God knows they pull all sorts of secrets out of the closet,” she said.

Another secret to come out of the closet in Dallas Season 2 was the possibility that Pamela Barnes Ewing, the character Bobby once loved as played by Victoria Principal and Margaret Michaels, might still be alive somewhere. Did this make Brenda nervous at all for her character? “You know, not really,” she admitted. “I don’t think Ann has anything to be concerned about, because Ann and Bobby are a different couple than Pam and Bobby were. They were the Romeo and Juliet of their time, and Ann and Bobby are a much more mature couple. And, Ann fulfills a different role than Pam did. Ann’s not the young love. She’s a legitimate partner in his life, and business, and it’s not the girl from the wrong side of the fence; the wrong family, you know? Although, you find out I have quite a family,” she laughed, referring to the Rylands. “But, no, I wasn’t worried. I would have been happy to have had her on the show.”

Pam Ewing isn’t the only thing from Dallas’ past that Brenda would be open to playing with, and she sees the wealth of past content to be a gift to the series rather than a detraction. “I think we have such a vault of interesting story lines and characters from the past that we could probably keep running for another 17 years, let alone another seven. And luckily, Cynthia Cidre and her staff have done all of the research, so I know that they’re not going to run out of any great ideas, to bring anyone back who is relevant,” she said. Strong herself is something from the series’ past, as she appeared in a 1987 episode of the show as a different character. Could she have expected that, 25 years later, she would be a series regular on Dallas, and as Bobby Ewing’s wife, at that?

“Absolutely not,” she said. “I had no clue. If you had given me a crystal ball and I had seen it with my own eyes, I would have said ‘no’.”

Strong admitted that she and Ken Kercheval, who played Cliff Barnes and shared a scene with her in the old episode, shared a laugh when they talked about it. “We had a good laugh over it, particularly because he’s considerably shorter, for one, and older, for two… we just had a good laugh, that we’re both back on something that he was certainly a very integral part of in the past. It was fun to see him,” she said.

Dallas Season 3 premieres in early 2014 on TNT.