"The character I play now is about as opposite as Sarah Webber as you can get," laughs Jennifer Sky of her new recurring role as "young Amazon" Amarice on the hit syndicated show XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS. "She has a really big heart and she wants to do the right thing, but doesn't always know what that is,"
Unlike good girl Sarah, a role Sky took on from 1997-98. "Basically, [GH] was doing this whole storyline with [Sarah's sister] Liz, and I wasn't really involved," Sky explains of her decision to leave. "It was kind of a choice I made, whether I wanted to sit out that storyline and maybe get another of my own, or if I wanted to go out and do something different. I had been on for a year, which I know is not very long in soaps, but I feel like as an actor, I really got what I needed out of that. I was happy with my time at GENERAL HOSPITAL, and I loved working with Becky [Herbst, Liz]. It was an amazing training experience."
Following Gh, "I did a bunch of episodic work, a movie of the week and then was up at [the] Sundance [Film Festival] with a film I had done a couple of years back called Trigger Happy," recalls the L.A.-based actress, "And while I was there, I got a call from my manager saying, 'There's this really awesome part on XENA. It's a two-episode thing, possibly recurring.' A week and a half later, I was on my way to New Zealand [where XENA is shot."
Two episodes turned into four and four into six. "And now, I have a contract with XENA until March," enthuses the actress. "I love this character. I'm not that tall, so the term Amazon is being used very loosely here [laughs], but I'm having so much fun. She's really sarcastic and funny, and she wears this big, curly, red wig. The only way people will know me, probably, is by my name. And then they'll go, 'That's the same girl who played Sarah Webber [laughs]>'"
Which is okay with Sky, who's enjoying her "anonymity" in her adopted "home-away-from-home-away-from-home." Notes Sky, "One of the big things I always wanted out of my career was travel. That's why a soap opera wasn't great for me."
Beyond XENA, Sky is unsure of what lies ahead career wise - and that's just fine with her. "I'm really excited about what I'm doing right now," she smiles, "so I don't feel the need to say, 'Oh, what's next?' I'm just reveling in the enjoyment. Wherever life takes me..."
(A section from the "Where Are They Now?" article in the July 27, 1999 issue of Soap Opera Digest)
