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KEEPIN' AN EYE ON ... GL's Beth Chamberlin
Phillip's First Love Lives!
by Dawn Mazzurco
Soap Opera Update
December 4, 1989

Inheriting a major role on a top-rated soap that was originally played by a very popular actress is never easy. But when that same character's return is met with such great anticipation, well the prospect can become downright terrifying. That's exactly why meeting Beth Chamberlin, the charming and intelligent actress who plays Beth Raines on GUIDING LIGHT, was such a refreshingly unexpected shock.

It is a scandalously hot, autumn morning in New York when I finally come face to face with Ms. Chamberlin, and two things immediately strike me. First is how much she resembles Judi Evans (Adrienne, DAYS), the actress who originated the role six years ago. Second is how dramatically different she is from Evans. The dichotomy makes for a fascinating young woman--a woman with a unique perspective and a great deal of determination.

Raised in a small town in Vermont, Beth was trained as a ballet dancer. While at New York University, however, the acting bug bit and what ensued was a string of happy coincidences that led her straight to the coveted role of Beth Raines--a character that Beth enthusiastically describes as a fragile, tragic figure.

With a background based in dance and no actors in her family, what exactly was it about the acting profession that attracted Beth? "There's something when you act, when you're really in the moment, it just feels like flying. It's so much fun for me to take a script and pull it apart and then put it back together and try different things--to make it me and to make it real. When I'm in a scene, I have tunnel vision. It's like nothing else matters. It's flying."

In a strange twist of fate, it turns out that this isn't the first time that Beth has been asked to take on the role of Beth Raines. Five years ago, when the GL storyline called for Beth to be on the run, Beth Chamberlin was hired to play a girl who was mistaken for Ms. Raines by her mother Lillian. So when Beth went to the GL studio a few weeks before she was to begin taping, it was a happy surprise when Tina Sloan, who plays Beth's mother, remembered all the details of their first encounter.

With the reception that she received from Tina Sloan and with the support of her costar Grant Aleksander (Phillip), whom Beth says was extremely helpful during her audition, it is easy to understand the enthusiasm she shows for her new role and her co-workers. "I'm really excited," she admits. "It's so good to love your character. I really love (Beth) and I think she's a great person...I'm happy to be on GL, I like the people...they're all so friendly and giving."

After a few years of living in Los Angeles, these next few months are being spent getting reacquainted with New York. On this morning, Beth tells me of an apartment that she is about to lease and her worries over whether or not she will have to share the apartment with rats! Through it all, she shows a good-natured outlook that makes it easy to see the similarities that she shares with her onscreen persona. She's bright, optimistic and full of life, qualities that become further intensified when they mix with her natural beauty and intelligence.

She even finds a positive side when discussing her now bicoastal personal relationship with an actor she has been seeing for well over a year. "He has a commercial that aired during GL and I thought, we're going to be on the same show...actually he'll come here and I'll go there," and meanwhile her phone bill will be sky high!

Whereas most actors lament over the roles that have slipped away, Beth's unique outlook has enabled her to channel those minor "rejections" into a positive force, one that she feels has prepared her for the role she is now playing. "I look at things now and say, 'Well, isn't it good that I didn't get that (other role),' even though I was devastated that I didn't get it. At that time I might have been scared and now I don't even question that, which surprises me. I feel like I'm at this place now, where I know I'm a good actress and I feel very confident and comfortable with myself. If I had got the role a year and a half ago, I would have been a nervous wreck--I'm sure I would have handled it--but it's so nice to go into something feeling calm."

The very nature of the profession, with constant auditioning and inevitable rejection, can really have a negative effect on an actor--but Beth decided a while ago not to let the process get in her way. "I've screen-tested for a lot of things where I've walked away going, 'I'm going to get it.' But I've learned at this point just to be happy with what I do. And then (getting the part) is a nice validation...I found out that if I depend on other people in this business to give me confidence, then I'll be floundering all the time. You have to learn to believe (inside) that what you're doing is right." And obviously her approach has worked, as Beth Chamberlin settles in for a long run on GL.#