Kelli McCarty (Beth Wallace)
Beth is back! If you watched Vendetta Chapter 13, you know that Beth and Marty have been hiding out in Rome. We checked in with Kelli McCarty to see what she’s been up to and what lies ahead for her crazy and devious character.
What’s it been like since you’ve been back?
To be honest, I feel like I never left. For some reason, I expected some sort of difference, but it’s exactly the same! I look a little bit different – I let my hair grow out and it’s a little bit lighter. And they are dressing Beth a little more sophisticated now that she’s got all the Crane money. But other than that, everything is exactly the same. Well, except that I don’t have “Mother” and BamBam (ex-Precious).
So it feels a little weird without Mrs. Wallace and Precious?
Yeah. We had such a rhythm, even with BamBam. I miss that quite a bit. But it’s cool working with different people. I worked with Emily (Harper, Fancy) and Chris (Maleki, Spike), and it was fun.
What did you miss the most while you were gone?
Well, I didn’t miss the memorization part! (Laughs) I missed the people. I know people say this a lot, but I truly mean it. I just adore the crew. They are like a big family. I’ve been on a lot of sets, and this is a very nice set. It’s easy-going even though we have to work at such a crazy pace. The people are very, very cool. The crew really cares and they have big hearts. Not seeing them on a daily basis was kind of hard.
Besides her new hair and clothes, has Beth changed much since we last saw her?
I think Beth has just gone further over the edge in the delusional department. She’s just Beth X 10 now! It’s funny because I wasn’t sure if she was going to get a little better and get her head around the fact that Luis doesn’t love her. But she still thinks it’s gonna happen!
Quite a few fans on the internet say Beth is the best mother on the show. What do you think of that?
(Laughs) That’s pretty cool! You know, the fact is, she stole this baby feeling like that would bring her love, not just from Luis, but the baby, too. Beth would finally have someone in her life who truly loved her. Let’s face it, she didn’t get that from her mother or father. I think she has a big heart and very much cares about other people, but she got pushed to a certain point in her life... I’m not excusing what she did, but I kind of understand it! (Laughs) I do sympathize with her in a weird way. Many people come up to me, and they are like, “You know what? I know you did these terrible things, but we still feel for you!” For me, as an actor, that means a lot. I didn’t want Beth to just be an evil villain. I wanted people to understand why she did what she did. It’s all for love. She treats Marty the way she wanted to be treated in her childhood, but wasn’t. I think that’s kind of sweet.
Do you think Beth can be redeemed?
Oh, absolutely! (Laughs) I mean, it IS daytime, hello? It IS “Passions!” (Laughs) But if Beth were crazy for a long time to come, I wouldn’t mind that, either!
It’s sort of more fun to play her that way?
There’s no comparison. I always said that my dream job was to play a psycho. I couldn’t have asked for a better role.
What is your all-time favorite outrageous Beth moment?
Definitely the Jack Nicholson/”The Shining” moment. When Beth was like, “It’s Bethie!” as she sticks her face through the closet door with an axe in hand. Also, being out on the boat on location just before Beth left. That was so much fun doing those boat races. I was nervous because I had only driven a boat a couples times at my parents’. We were going pretty fast with the helicopters and the shots overhead. Even though I was sad that I was leaving, it was really fun. The blonde nurse stuff was a lot of fun, too. And everything with BamBam. I would love to go back to that in a second. I miss that a lot.
What have you, Kelli, been up to since you were last on the show?
Well, my husband was executive producing a surf show called “Beyond the Break.” I was on the show, and we shot in Hawaii for about five months. It was a half-hour show so it was weird having so much time on your hands during the day. We’d only shoot a couple pages, and then the rest of the day I could go to the beach and hang out. David Chokachi from “Baywatch” stars in it and I play his wife. It was so much fun!
