Five years after his beloved wife, Maria, was presumed dead, AMC's Edmund has found love again with Brooke, whom he plans to wed. But an oh-so-familiar face just might change everything. "Brooke and Edmund's relationship is very solid," begins Julia Barr (Brooke). "In other words, nothing except something that would be out of the ordinary, miraculous or whatever would ever affect them. They have come to an extremely solid place."
It's so solid that Brooke is no longer threatened by the spirit of her one-time rival. Barr notes, "Brooke says she wants Edmund to talk about Maria because it's part of their job to keep her memory alive with the children."
Just this week, Maria's name comes up again because Lorenzo, Hayley and Mateo's baby and Maria's nephew, suffers from a fatal liver disorder. A donor is needed -- and Maria is the perfect match. But she's dead. Or is she? At a hospital in the Southwest, there is a woman who we think we've seen before.
Yes, Maria's portrayer, Eva LaRue Callahan, is back. Her first air date was June 3, but whether she's playing Maria remains to be seen. AMC is closely guarding the storyline details. Even the actors claim not to know where this hush-hush tale is headed. "We are kind of in the dark," contends LaRue.
LaRue's husband, John Callahan (Edmund), insists that they're not just playing coy. "No, we can't act that well," he quips. "We're in Black Hole, Calcutta."
"All I know is that you're going to see the back of my head the first couple of times," offers LaRue. "I'm going to be hair acting."
If this character does turn out to be Maria, the writers will face the daunting task of believably explaining why responsible, family-loving Maria would walk away from her husband and kids, Sam and Maddie. "Wow, I can't even imagine why she would do that," says LaRue, "but you know what? Stranger things have happened. Like when Maria slept with Dimitri. That was pretty out of character.
There's always amnesia. The actress enthuses, "That would be fun to play because it's different. (Me: It is???) I would have no history to go on."
Or perhaps she's just a dead ringer, an idea that excites Callahan. "If it were a look-alike .... very interesting. Then you bring in Vertigo.
There's another thorny issue for the soap to contend with. Brooke and Edmund's first romantic go-round was popular back in 1993, and there is a contingent of vocal viewers who do not want the duo to break up again. "You're talking about daytime. Isn't that about triangles? You have to have a triangle at some point," shrugs Barr. "You can have other kinds of conflicts, but the most common thing [is a triangle]. If a couple is coming together who has a real strength, you go, "Well, something is going to have to come in there and cause a problem." Still, Barr has an idea on how to nip any problems for Brooke in the bud. With a mischievous glint in her eye, she muses, "I could see her and go, 'Oh, my God, that looks like Maria,' and not tell anyone. Ever."
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