Beth Ehlers Talks Greasy About Chuck Pratt and JR Martinez!
Submitted by Jamey Giddens on June 26, 2009 - 10:39pm

Beth Ehlers recently gave an interview to Stardish Radio that is setting the web on fire tonight! We Love Soaps' Roger Newcomb transcribed this pull quote where Ehlers goes hard against Chuck Pratt (deserved) and JR Martinez (not deserved):

As many times as I would casually try to go into my boss's office and say, 'Uh, you are going to start integrating me, right?' When you've been doing this as long as I've been doing it, you know how it's supposed to be done. But you can't tell you bosses that because it's like any other job in the world, you can't know more than your boss because they hate you for it. And so you have to be careful when you go in that you don't tell somebody how to do their job. And I wanted to scream at people. I wanted to go in and say, 'Hello, you're burying me here. You're making this really hard. First you give me somebody who, God bless him, I love J.R. but he's not an actor.' And so that's hard enough with somebody who...it's going to be a long time before he gets out of second gear. And I'm constantly having to hedge my performance cause I can't be doing Shakespeare while he's doing something else.

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with Ehlers on Martinez. While I am not onset sharing scenes with him, from the comfy spot on my living room sofa, the talented, young war hero looks like a natural. Hell, if you can share scenes with Bonnie Dennison, you oughta be able to make anything work!

Martinez tweeted a response to Ehler's hateration:

Apparently there are rumors going around about Beth (Taylor) & J.R. (Brot) are having a feud between each other. C'mon peeps. were not. I simply didn't agree with her chose of words in her radio interview, I never expected her to coach me. Just give tips to help the s/l.

Here's some more transcribed chicken grease Ehlers threw in Pratt's face, courtesy of We Love Soaps:

Chuck's been writing in a different medium for a while. Chuck's been doing primetime which is one episode a week. He's been doing a different genre entirely. He has not been writing soap operas. He's been writing camp basically and that's a whole different kind of thing. You don't have to commit to history. You don't have to commit to the gravitas in a situation when you write camp. Camp's all making fun of stuff. It's all broad comedy stuff. And so maybe he needed to be reminded that soap audiences don't take kindly to you messing with history. And even if you can't see the seriousness of a situation, they see it. And they want you to write it seriously. You're asking them to trust you, and soap audiences are very generous. They'll forgive you as long as they think you're taking it seriously and trying. If they feel like they're being, pardon me, f*cked with is when they get ****ed off. He's clearly a talented writer and has a good resume. I hope the show can find it's way back on track.

Okay, now homegirl is preaching the gospel. Somebody pass the collection plate so we can pray that devil Pratt right outta Pine Valley!

Discuss.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: east/west,

Sounds like Ehlers is just another daytime bitchy diva who hates her job and is blaming it on her costar and writer.

To imply that she is doing "Shakespeare" is a hoot. Wake up Beth. You may have been on soaps a long time, but you're no Susan Flannery or Erika Slezak.

After comments like this, no soap will want you!

I don't think the comments against her costar are appropriate, since she still has to act scenes with him and could make their professional relationship extremely uncomfortable and unproductive.

But when it comes to the writers, it's time to take the gloves off. We need more of the stars to start publicly shaming these hacks, because they're not listening to the audience, and they're not listening to the press. She's absolutely right that new characters need to be integrated into the canvas and not marooned in their own private island where no one cares who they are or what they do. She's right that he needs to take it seriously and respect the history and the fans. And she's especially right that we viewers are very generous with our time and patience when we know we're dealing with someone who takes it seriously, which is why many -- though not all -- of us continue to support Maria Arena Bell and Ron Carlivati even as we take them to task for what they're doing wrong.

We are being f*cked with. We're dealing largely with people who have no respect for us or the work. If only someone at B&B, ATWT, or GH would be equally willing to get really vocal about the sorry state of their shows.

Can't believe it took this long for that interview to make waves across the blogosphere, lol.

Listening to it she doesn't come across as harsh as it seems in print. She's just calling it as she sees it. Not that I agree with everything she said, but I guess she's just frustrated at the way things have panned out so far. It's pretty clear to me that the Brot storyline was initially a Pratt gimmick and that's why JR Martinez got decent airtime. And then with his character becoming somewhat popular and the Jake/Amanda pairing being a fave with fans, Beth is left to twist in the breeze while Pratt tries to figure things out. She does need to get over her RPG obsession though...

But really, she had her choice to go to Y&R and play that crazo Mary Jane (and I would've paid to see her to it), but chose to stay in New York for her kids' sake. Honestly, I think she should've stuck it out with GL and she probably would currently be frontburner embroiled in Spaulding intrigue and have a decent set of options once it's all over.

I listened to the chat and think the reaction is overblown. What she said about her co-star and how she said it was not mean or malicious in any way. She said many more nice things that are conveniently left out. And she has never criticized her co stars ever. The chat itself was very positive and encouraging about the show. Martinez is keeping this going and I really question his motives in doing so.

Bravo, Beth Ehlers!!!

I just wish the few heavy hitters remaining on this show would speak out...I'm talking about you Michael Knight, David Canary and Susan Lucci. Do you really think Canary was happy with Stuart being killed off or Liza being recast and written in a completely different way than ever before??? Same can be said for Knight. We need these three to speak up.

Then again Julia Barr and Cady McClain both spoke up and one poisoned pancake storyline (CM) and no sendoff (JB) later, they're outta there. So IDK if speaking up is good or not.

--Morgan

She should not have said what she did about Martinez. He was not the performer lacking in most of the scenes. It was her. She can blame him by saying she dialed down her performances, but what about scenes where was he wasn't her costar? She has not clicked on AMC since day one. She puts blame on everyone else, but herself. Did AMC viewers miss her during her 7 week vacation? My guess is no.

She also needs to stop sniffing after RPG's a*s*s. Talk about an actor giving weak performances. When it takes Chrishell Stause to make your character viable, you're in trouble.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Crystal,

I give her props for calling out Pratt for lack of storyline but she is way off base with Martinez. I don't watch AMC often but when I do catch it on the very rare occasion that Brot/Taylor are on I have always enjoyed him.

I totally agree w/u Crystal. If anyone has been flat in scenes it has been her. As far as I am concern J.R. is making the Brot & Taylor stuff viable.

If it's not on the page it's not on the stage. Taylor is a terribly written character and poor Ehlers is flat because the writing is flat. Good for her for taking Pratt to task for killing what was left of Pine Valley. We will never know how Ehlers would've fared as Liza and that's too bad. As for her words for her co-star they were harsh but true.

I applaud her for speaking up and hope the bigger stars from the show follow suit.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: FishBiscuit,

Pratt's attempt to youthinize AMC and make into Melrose Place has been horrific. And I can't blame her for calling him out because he really has no idea what he is doing. The deaths of Greenlee and Stuart have been abysmal at best. The plotting and pacing are way off and the characters are written more like cartoons and stereotypes than actual people. Plus, everything and every story playing out right now is a gimmick. Not good, not good at all!

I disagree with her assertions about Martinez, who I find to be pretty good for not having done any prior acting. But their stories have been some of the flatest and most boring stories on the canvas.

i'm with her 100%. I don't think she meant any disrespect to her co-star, i think she just meant that you know it's hard enough to jump start a new character but even harder when you throw the actress into scenes with people that haven't ever acted before. it hurts the credibility of the scenes and doesn't do the character any justice.

If they wanted to make this character a viable one they could put her in scenes with people like Tad, David, Krystal, Adam, Erica and people that could at the very least match her level of acting experience.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, I think it's great that she's speaking up for herself. She spent years building a fan base on Guiding Light and has been totally underutilized by AMC. She's the first woman to ever be nominated for an Emmy in all three acting categories and she deserves better.

On the other hand, to publically lambast your untrained co-star, who just happens to be a disfigured Iraq war veteran, is probably not a good idea.

quote:

Originally posted by Grace17fan:
On the other hand, to publically lambast your untrained co-star, who just happens to be a disfigured Iraq war veteran, is probably not a good idea.

It's not just that. This untrained actor did what Ehlers could not: he rose above the material to create a character the viewers wanted to see more of. He clicked with costars and he clicked with most of the audience. Ehlers had lost the audience long before Martinez's character was introduced. She was shoehorned into the show, and the bad writing and her unfocused performance sabotaged any long-term possibilities for his character. While she might have had to act opposite an untrained actor, she had been a misfire before they shared one scene together. Who's she going to blame for that? Goldin????

why isn't there a feud, i would be pretty ****ed off at her if i was martinez, i don't think she's that great of an actress.

quote:

Originally posted by Crystal:

quote:

Originally posted by Grace17fan:
On the other hand, to publically lambast your untrained co-star, who just happens to be a disfigured Iraq war veteran, is probably not a good idea.

It's not just that. This untrained actor did what Ehlers could not: he rose above the material to create a character the viewers wanted to see more of. He clicked with costars and he clicked with most of the audience. Ehlers had lost the audience long before Martinez's character was introduced. She was shoehorned into the show, and the bad writing and her unfocused performance sabotaged any long-term possibilities for his character. While she might have had to act opposite an untrained actor, she had been a misfire before they shared one scene together. Who's she going to blame for that? Goldin????

Martinez nor "Brot" have set the soap world on fire. Why, bad writing!!!! Let's not exaggerate sature of Martinez to bash Ehlers.

quote:

Originally posted by FishBiscuit:
Martinez nor "Brot" have set the soap world on fire. Why, bad writing!!!! Let's not exaggerate sature of Martinez to bash Ehlers.

Never said he did. I wrote that he rose above the poor writing to create a character most viewers care/cared about. Ehlers did not. That's not bashing her. That's an assessment of the situation. The problems with her character and performance were there before Martinez entered into the picture. She was willing to call out others so she should have been equally as critical of herself. She made a mistake in coming to AMC and I think she knows that now.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Crystal,

I'm going to be honest and say I do not like watching Martinez. I do not think Elhers needs to prove her worth, but I just do not think she should have been so vocal about her feelings towards her co-star. On the other hand, it's a job and if work with someone and they are not as skilled as you are then do you not have the right to complain?

All of the juicy drama is happening off-screen rather than on!

When is AMC going to hire a head writer who follows the rules on how to write a good daytime drama?

AMC jumped the shark when they un-aborted Erica's baby and they haven't recovered since!

quote:

Originally posted by Crystal:

quote:

Originally posted by FishBiscuit:
Martinez nor "Brot" have set the soap world on fire. Why, bad writing!!!! Let's not exaggerate sature of Martinez to bash Ehlers.

Never said he did. I wrote that he rose above the poor writing to create a character most viewers care/cared about. Ehlers did not.

I don't see where he has risen above anything. Brot and Martinez were events that did not work. Ehlers still has a chance to make something in Pine Valley but it won't happen until there is a new head writer.