|
 The
Knot-y Girl Next Door
Interviewed by Brian Edan
for Hollywoodfyi.com
It’s now been ten years since Abby Fairgate
Cunningham Ewing Sumner moved back into the cul-de-sac in the final
episode of Knots Landing. We can only imagine the havoc that Abby
has raised over the past ten years.
Although Donna Mills will always be remembered as
Abby, it wasn’t until a
year after that final episode of “Knots” that she took on the most
rewarding role of her lifetime…motherhood.
In 1994, a year after putting Abby up on the shelf, Donna adopted a
beautiful daughter, Chloe and has since become an advocate and role
model for single parent adoptions. It was a very challenging yet
rewarding process for Donna. “I really want to spend as much time as I
can with my daughter and really participate in her growing up. I’m
very active in her school.”
ON ABBY
Donna had a lot of practice being a strong and involved parent on “Knots.”
“Abby was a good mother. She devoted a lot of time toward her children”
Remember when Olivia was hooked on drugs and Abby had to keep her in
lock up (this is the only time you see Abby’s mascara run) or when
Abby buried Peter Hollister’s body in a park because she thought
Olivia had killed him? One of Donna’s favorite episodes was when
Olivia and Brian’s father came back to take the kids away. “(Abby)
duped him into thinking that she was going to marry him again. She left
him at the alter and took off with the kids.”
ON ACTING
Donna left her hometown of Chicago and headed for New York. She landed
her first television role on the daytime drama The Secret Storm.
“You really have to love the work. You can’t look for stardom. That’s
a by-product.” It wasn’t until she was cast in Clint Eastwood’s Play
Misty for Me that she made her way to California. For the next
several years she felt typecast. “I was tired of playing the
goodie-two-shoes.” Then Donna saw the breakdown on Abby. “I told my
agent, ‘I like that one.’ Then he called (the casting directors) up
and they said, “Oh, we know Donna. We love Donna. We’ll consider
her.’ I said ‘Nope, that’s not good enough.’ If they’re just
going to consider me for it, I’m not going to get it because they
think I’m too sweet. I made (my agent) insist that I come in and read.
So I did and about an hour later, he called me up and said, ‘You got
it!’” What drew her to the role was that “Abby was designed to be
the trouble maker and stir things up. She wasn’t evil, she was
naughty.”
ON CREATING ABBY
“I spent an enormous amount of time on “Knots” shopping and
getting clothes ready. There were episodes where I would wear seven or
eight outfits. It took a lot of time to get those together. What the
character wears is very essential to how I create the character.”
Coming full circle, Donna was reunited with Joan Van Ark and can be seen
this Wednesday, March 12th on the TV Land Awards presenting the
fashion plate male and female award.
 ON
SOAP NET
Donna has found a new generation of fans thanks to Soap Net.
Knots Landing is a show that has a timeless theme unlike DYNASTY
or DALLAS which are more statements on the eighties. “(“Knots”)
wasn’t about kings or palaces, it was about real people. I think that’s
why it lasted for so long. People are just as glued to it as they used
to be and a new generation who didn’t get to see it before are getting
a chance. It’s really quite wonderful.
CATCH UP WITH DONNA
You can find out up-to-date information on Donna by
checking out her official web-site at www.donnamills.com.
Plus don't forget to see this glamour girl on the TV
Land Awards on March Wednesday @ 9pm on TV
Land and Nick at Nite.
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