Simone Russell

Simone Russell is a fictional character on the American soap opera Passions, which aired on NBC from 1999 to 2007 and on DirecTV in 2007–08. Simone, a member of Passions' Russell family, is introduced as the youngest daughter of Eve Russell and T. C. Russell, as well as the younger sister of Whitney Russell. While her early appearances center her love triangle with Chad Harris-Crane and her sister Whitney, the character later receives more prominence on the show through her experience coming out as a lesbian to her family, and her relationship with Rae Thomas. The network defended the show's treatment of Simone's sexuality as a serious commentary on the topic.

Created by the soap's founder and head writer James E. Reilly, the role was portrayed by three actresses over the course of the show: Lena Cardwell (July 5, 1999 to April 16, 2000), Chrystee Pharris (April 17, 2000 to April 22, 2006), and Cathy Jenéen Doe (July 23, 2004 – September 4, 2007). The character was created as a part of the show's effort to represent a full African-American family and full-realized African-American characters on television. The exact reasons behind Cardwell's departure remain unknown while Pharris chose to leave to pursue other acting opportunities. Doe was the third and final actress to play Simone before the character was written off the show shortly before its transition to DirecTV.

Her storyline made daytime television history by having the first instance in a soap opera of two women in bed making love. The character is also notable for being daytime TV's first African-American lesbian. At the 17th GLAAD Media Awards, the show won Outstanding Daily Drama for its portrayal of Simone's sexual orientation. The show's representation of LGBT topics, and Cathy Jenéen Doe's performance as Simone, received a mixed response from critics; Doe was the principal actress during the storylines focusing on the character's sexuality.

Development

Casting and creation

Sheraton Kalouria, senior vice president of NBC's daytime programming,^[1] described the show's use of color-blind casting as part of an effort to build a diverse pool of characters that best reflected the various ethnic and racial groups living in the United States. Kalouria believed the show was set apart from other soap operas, by including "the African American Russells and the Hispanic Lopez-Fitzgeralds".^[2] Over the course of the show, Simone was played by three actresses: Lena Cardwell (1999 to 2001), Chrystee Pharris (2001 to 2004), and Cathy Jenéen Doe (2004 to 2007).^[3]

After seeing her audition, producers Reilly and Lisa de Cazotte considered Cardwell the ideal choice for the role of Simone.^[4] NBC fired Cardwell in the winter of 2001, in a move that was described as "abrupt" by an article from Soapcentral.^[5] Cast members expressed disappointment at Cardwell's departure from the show and the re-casting of Simone. Tracey Ross described Cardwell as being "very sincere, completely authentic and without malice" in her performance. Johnson viewed himself as "a father figure to her" and said their close relationship helped make the Russell family more authentic and relatable to viewers.^[6] After leaving the show, Cardwell said she "received so much fan mail, it was overwhelming" and the experience "made me feel loved and appreciated."^[7]

Pharris assumed the role in 2001,^[3] and later decided to not renew her contract in order to pursue other projects.^[8][9] During an interview with The Christian Post, she said that her time on Passions helped her to realize that her occupation as an actress could be used as a platform to advocate for Christianity.^[10] Doe was hired for the third and final recasting after moving to Los Angeles from New York, where she was primarily offered the role of "a runaway teenager, a prostitute, a drug dealer". Initially hesitant to assume a character already established by other actors, she shaped her performance through her friendship with Pharris; she described Pharris as "a really [positive] person" who answered her questions about the character.^[11]

Characterization

The show initially constructed the character primarily around her "major crush on street-kid Chad Harris since he came to town."^[12] Daniel R. Coleridge of TV Guide characterized Simone's early behavior as "bitchy to her older sister, who was nothing but kind to her",^[13] and Variety's Josef referred to the character as a "daredevil teen."^[14] When assuming the role in 2001, Pharris said her preparation consisted of asking her friends "as many questions as I could think of about Simone, Whitney and Chad" in order to make "the character my own by putting my own life experiences in the situation".^[15] She commented that the ability to work closely with the producers allowed her to use her own family background as inspiration for her performance as Simone. While discussing the connection to her family, she stated: "my father had a temper so I made Simone have a temper too!"^[16]

When discussing the decision to portray Simone as a lesbian, Kalouria emphasized "sexual identity isn't a passing fancy" and "this is where [Simone] is...I can assure you we're not going to make light of this particular topic."^[17] During the storylines involving her girlfriend Rae Thomas, Simone was noted for her naivety when approaching relationships and sex.^[18] Simone's sexuality is regarded as "a badge of shame" by the series' characters.^[17] Following the character's departure in 2007, a writer from Soaps.com identified Simone as a "charming and strong willed" character who would be remembered for "br[eaking] down some barriers for the depiction of lesbians on daytime TV".^[19]

Storylines

Born in 1983, Simone Russell is the youngest daughter of T. C. and Eve Russell, and the younger sister of Whitney Russell. Her early storylines concentrate on her reluctant participation in her friend Kay Bennett's schemes to separate Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald from Charity Standish and her attraction to Chad-Harris Crane. Chad and Whitney hide their relationship from Simone to the point where Chad pretends to be Simone's boyfriend to keep her happy. After catching Chad and Whitney having sex, she breaks with him and tells everyone in Harmony about his relationship with her sister. Disconnected from her sister, Simone becomes close friends with Kay's younger sister Jessica Bennett and Miguel's younger sister Paloma Lopez-Fitzgerald and turns to them for support. Simone acts primarily in a supporting role for these two character's storylines, such as advising Paloma to divorce her abusive husband Spike Lester and seek professional help for her drug addiction. She briefly dates John Hastings, who is the son of David Hastings. At the time, John was falsely believed to be Grace Standish's son and the half-brother of Kay and Jessica. Simone's relationship with John ends in 2004 when he moves to Italy with David and Grace.

In the summer of 2005, Simone comes out as a lesbian by revealing her relationship with Rae Thomas to her family. Her family reacts negatively to her sexual orientation. T. C. beats her and says he is ashamed to be her father. Eve panics and is concerned that her daughter's reputation will suffer if the rest of Harmony learns of her sexuality. Simone's great-aunt, Irma Johnson, describes homosexuality as a sin and calls her "vile" and "disgusting". Simone turns to her mother for emotional support after Rae rebukes her declarations of love by revealing that she has no interest in a committed relationship. In December 2005, Eve, Julian, Liz, and T. C. find a video from Alistair Crane, in which he claims to have hired Rae to seduce Simone and "turn" her into a lesbian. Rae later explains that the money is intended to start a lesbian club and that she was never hired to "turn" Simone gay. As she reconciles with Rae, Simone reconnects with her family. Her father, who recently suffered from a stroke following a car accident, apologizes for his homophobic behavior toward her. Her mother also becomes more supportive of her relationship.

Viewers saw the set-up for the ending of Simone's romance with Rae through the beginning of 2007. Rae finds out Vincent Clarkson was framing Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald for his girlfriend Fancy Crane's rape. On February 12, 2007, Vincent stabs Rae to death before she can reveal his identity to Luis. Simone attempts to cope with Rae's death by helping Jessica through her pregnancy. She invites Jessica to live in Rae's old apartment so they can protect the baby from Spike. Eve, who was previously being blackmailed by Vincent, tells Simone the truth about Rae's murder. Simone leaves Harmony with her sister Whitney to start a new life in New Orleans. She does not make a physical appearing during the show's run on DirecTV or in the series finale. In July 2008, Simone sends a letter to Kay congratulating her on her wedding to Miguel and includes a pair of earrings as the "something new."

Impact and reception

The soap opera made daytime television history by having the first representation of two women in bed making love;^[20] Simone was daytime TV's first African-American lesbian.^[21][22] Passions won the award for Outstanding Daily Drama at the 17th GLAAD Media Awards for its portrayal of Simone's sexuality and her relationship with Rae.^[23] Doe accepted the award during the ceremony on the show's behalf.^[24] Doe was also listed as a pre-nominee for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for the 34th Daytime Emmy Awards alongside co-star Emily Harper, but was not chosen as one of the final nominees.^[25][26]

Simone's storyline about coming out as a lesbian received primarily positive feedback from critics and media outlets. The Atlantic's Aaron Foley connected the show's inclusion of a black, lesbian character as a sign of "America bec[oming] more comfortable with seeing blacks on screen" and viewers "bec[oming] more comfortable with risky, sometimes hilarious storylines".^[27] An article on Soaps.com noted that Simone would be remembered as "a character who broke down some barriers for the depiction of lesbians on daytime TV and earned the show awards and accolades from civil rights groups".^[28] Damon Romine, media entertainment director of GLAAD (2005-2009), reported the introduction of gay characters makes soap operas "worth tuning in" and emphasized the show's capability of normalizing LGBT topics with a wider audience.^[13] Soapcentral's Brandi Pine found Simone's homosexuality to be "the most real and moving story on the show right now", and highlighted T. C.'s reaction as a realistic portrayal of a parent's difficulty in accepting his or her child's sexual orientation.^[29] Sarah Warn, former editor of entertainment website AfterEllen.com, found the storyline to an improvement over a similar one used in All My Children.^[17]

Television critics commented on Doe's performance and made comparisons between Simone and other LGBT characters on the show. Sarah Warn criticized Simone's relationship with Rae as for being poorly developed and portraying Simone as "a one-dimensional character who happened to sleep with a girl". She followed this up criticizing the lack of chemistry between Doe and Jinario. Warn argued that viewers were never given "the chance to see this woman through her eyes" since the character's sexuality was never fully explored on-screen. She expressed disappointment that Simone's past relationships with men, and her possible bisexuality, are never addressed on the show.^[17] Herndon L. Davis of Windy City Times felt the representation of Simone as daytime's first African-American lesbian was overshadowed by how the show "recklessly wrote a down-low storyline which involved an African-American man but eventually turned it into an outrageous intersex serial killer storyline". Davis addressed the character as connected with the larger issue of race in daytime television.^[22] Mike Perigard of the Boston Herald criticized the death of Simone's partner Rae following the reveal of Chad's affair with Vincent. Perigard believed Rae's removal from the show was only written to maintain a low quota of gay characters on the show.^[30]

See also

• List of soap operas with LGBT characters
• List of soap opera recasts

References

External links

• Simone Russell at NBC.com
• Simone Russell at the Internet Movie Database