Susanna Thompson's Stormy Past

Once and Again's Susanna Thompson says she passed on a role in the summer blockbuster The Perfect Storm to play Billy Campbell's ex-wife on the hit ABC drama. "Though I was torn with the decision, I know I made the right one," the actress tells TV Guide Online. "I think destiny sort of plays a role."

"I was a week away from starting The Perfect Storm and I had no intention of giving [it] up," says Thompson, recalling her audition for the part of Once and Again divorcée Karen Sammler. "And I went in to read and they wanted me for the part and they couldn't work it out [with] the production company for The Perfect Storm. So I had to choose."

The Random Hearts star missed out on one of the summer's biggest blockbusters, but she has nothing but praise for the Tony Award-winner who took her place on the stranded sailboat. "They got Cherry Jones and she's the foremost stage actress in New York right now."

Thompson has earned glowing reviews for her sympathetic portrayal of Sammler, but she admits that she was reluctant to play the stereotypical ex-wife. "Though they wrote [Karen] very angry, very bitter, very shut down, I had to go with that, but I think a part of me wanted to show a reason for that. And quite often I was told to put that aside. But subliminally I think that there's always two sides to a story and even more," she says. "And we quite often in this industry show one side of the story."

Fortunately Thompson's relationships with co-stars Campbell and Sela Ward make her job much easier. "In the stories, we're in enemy camps, but we're not on the set. It's really kind of sickening that it's sort of a love-fest." — Allie Cahill__"Insider," TVGuide.com (September 14, 2000)