If you were a viewer of Dallas in its 1980’s heyday, it’s probably hard to picture Patrick Duffy’s Bobby Ewing with anyone put Victoria Principal’s Pam, even if he did have other romantic interests in those years. If you were watching in the later seasons, it might have been April that filled the role of “Bobby’s true love” for you. Now, on TNT’s new Dallas, which airs a new episode tonight, Bobby has a new bride, Ann, played by the fantastic Brenda Strong. Ann is kind, loving… and knows how to carry a gun. We spoke with her at a Dallas press conference hosted by TNT a few weeks ago.
“It’s so refreshing,” she laughs when asked about what it’s like to play a character who is alive, and more than just a voice narrating the action. “I have to say, I feel so blessed, because I feel like I’ve been given a three dimensional character to play. Being revived is a great thing! But playing a role that really is a real relationship… I feel like I have been given not just the arm candy as Mrs. Bobby Ewing, but I’ve been given a really complex, modern day marriage to work with, and we’re facing, obviously, some deep issues with his illness and how much you share with your spouse without making them worry, and how I can protect him and the family,” she says.
“We don’t know a lot about Ann, and even in the first four episodes, we don’t get a lot of information about their history and how they met, but the thing that I love is all you have to do is listen to how they speak to one another and how they relate to one another, and you immediately go ‘well, we don’t know about them as a couple, but we like them together.’ At least that’s how I feel when we see Ann and Bobby,” she enthuses.
Brenda – who once appeared on an episode of the original Dallas as one of Cliff Barnes’ girlfriends – is aware that there are still going to be people who might not immediately accepting because of their allegiance to Bobby and Pam. “First of all, I have to pay homage to the role of Pam,” Strong says. “Pam and Bobby were really the Romeo and Juliet of their time, and they were the couple that everyone wanted to be. Everyone wanted to have that kind of lifetime love. And so, to step into those very big shoes is extremely intimidating,” she explains. “I’m not naive to think that I don’t have to win any of the audience over. I do. At the same time, I just have to do my job, and do it to the best of my ability, and let the chips fall where they may. But yeah. I’m aware of it. And at the same time, I felt so incredibly welcomed and included that that put aside any of my concerns right away.”
Although things seem smooth for Bobby and Ann now, there are a lot of secrets that Ann may be keeping, and we see some of her history as the first season evolves. “She has more secrets than even Bobby knows,” Brenda teases. “She’s protectected herself and him from her past, and unfortunately, as most things, as we know from Desperate Housewives, secrets always come out. It’s like when you pull on a thread and the whole tapestry starts to unravel,” she hints.
A new Dallas airs tonight, and among other things, it features the return of Ken Kercheval as Cliff Barnes, who, sadly, doesn’t share any scenes with Brenda Strong (yet!) Catch it tonight on TNT, and if you want to see images from the episode, go here!
