DAYS' Judi Evans & Wally Kurth

Speak Out on the Love Story of Justin & Adrienne :: PART 2

What lessons do you think are there to be learned from watching this relationship? Wally: Well, you have to let love flower. You do that by nurturing it, by com- municating, by weathering the storms. I think Justin doesn't really know how to do that. He's just sort of inept. He's willing to do it, but he just does the wrong things. He'll spend any amount of money to save it, to hold onto it, but he's just doing the wrong things. He won't just let it be. As an overview, I'd say there's puppy love and then there's mature adult love. When you get married love changes, and you have to be open and mature enough and responsible enough and loving enough to just let that take its course and not sort of hold onto what it was in the past. I guess that's what Justin and Adrienne have to learn. And maybe they will. Maybe these things that they're going through have helped them. I think their love is growing. It is getting stronger and that's good. Judi: Well, that money doesn't solve problems. That's one. Money makes things seem easy, but that's just surface. Another thing is that lack of trust can wreck love. That insecurity hurts love. And that you can't have a healthy relationship if you depend upon the other person to create your happiness. Both Justin and Adrienne did that. But I think this relationship also shows that you can overcome problems. What do you think was their happiest moment together? Wally: I would probably think their honeymoon -- the wedding and then the honeymoon. Judi: Gosh, there were so many. There's a lot of romance between them. How would you compare Judi to her on-camera character of Adrienne? Wally: Actually, I think Judi is more like Adrienne than I originally thought. I think in terms of background, she came from East LA, from the barrio. Her parents were circus performers. When she had that whole story line with Emilio, I think there was a lot there she could relate to. She speaks pretty good Spanish. And Judi is very emotional. Sometimes we'll do a scene and I'll say, 'Judi this is so sappy, this is so sentimental.' And she'll say, 'No, it's romantic and I love it!' There's a part of Judi that really is very romantic. She loves doing the soap opera. Her whole being is just there in it. She would really be watching the soap opera if she wasn't on it. She wears her heart on her sleeve, she's just right there. How would you compare Wally to his on-camera character of Justin? Judi: This is so hard because there are so many similarities between the two. I think he's funnier than Justin, he's got a better sense of humor and he's lighter. Wally's much more intellectual, he thinks things through a lot more logically than Justin does. Wally is one of my best friends; I feel so close to him. I know he would never hurt me. He's really been very supportive of me as a friend through many hard times in my life. We talk almost every morning when we work together; we'll talk about what's going on in our lives. That's not like Justin and Adrienne. What do you think has created the chemistry between you two as performers that has made Justin and Adrienne such a viable couple to the show? What has made this romance work? Wally: I think actually the fact that our approaches are different and we are both also willing to learn from one another. We weren't in competition with one another. We are really willing to just take a stab out there and really try to make the relationship work. And because her emotions are right on the surface, Judi was willing to just dive right in, too. I think the fact that we were just both willing to just let ourselves just fall in love and just fall in love with the characters, I think that's what sort of created the chemistry. We were willing to just be able to look into each other's eyes and just love one another as characters and as actors, too. Because Judi and I have become very close. We've worked together now for two years; it really is amazing. And I know she's seen the growth in me, but I've seen so much growth in her as a person. Judi: It's probably the trust we have in each other. We've worked to get that. In the past, I've worked with men whom I didn't particularly care for, and who certainly didn't care for me. I personally prefer to work with somebody whom I like and somebody whom I get along with. It allows you to be more creative in a much healthier sense. I feel so free with Wally. We certainly do have our differences. And from time to time, we get in moods, but it's passing. We'll get frustrated at our ourselves, but we have a good enough friendship to get mad and get over it. We apologize. We let it go. It's nice not to feel threatened at all or scared. What do you think that you personally have learned from playing this role? Wally: That love is about faith and about just being open emotionally and not having to analyze everything. Sometimes it means just taking off your shoes and sitting by a lake and just holding hands and watching the clouds roll by--it's about romance, too. I wasn't a very romantic person until I started playing Justin. Now when I go out on a date, I really try to plan the date and try to make a special thing. I've made more of an attempt to nurture the innocence of love and keeping the spark alive, that's always got to be there too--just been more romantic. I've definitely become more open emotionally. And Justin's made me more vulnerable and more understanding and sympathetic. I guess it's just being more sympathetic to this thing that we call love. Judi: I've learned to be more of my own person, not to rely on anyone else. By watching her mistakes, I've learned not to rely on someone else to be the end of my circle or the end of my life. I can understand exactly where Adrienne's coming from because I've been that character. I've been that person who feels that without a man she is nothing. But I've done a lot of workshops and gotten into therapy about who I am and what I want. I'd like to see her do that. # Return to Press Index