HELL'S ANGEL
by Michelle Ann Moro
Soaps in Depth 2/23/99

Mary Kay Adams gives the devilish India her due
When Andoran baroness India von Halkein arrived in Springfield in 1984, the self-centered young woman was hell-bent on revenge and determined to weasel her way into Spaulding Enterprises. No one dared stand in the spitfire’s way, and she went after what she wanted with gusto, no matter what the repercussions. Fifteen years later, she still is self-centered, but these days, she’s also a lot wiser. “There’s not that grand passion that she had to get back at people,” observes her portrayer, Mary Kay Adams. “That’s the maturity of the character – and of me. When we’re young, we want to change the world. Then you realize, ‘Well, the world’s not listening to me.’ You have to adapt a little bit.”

“Now," she continues, “India knows a real sense of satisfaction in getting away with a lot; there’s more fun in the risk taking. She knows everything will work out.”

Though India has adopted a more mature approach to her gold digging, she still has her eyes on the prize. “She feels entitled to the Spaulding fortune, and I think she’s going to want to pull as many strings as she can,” Adams hints. “I’d like to see her manipulate to get what she wants.” At the same time, Adams would be delighted if India were played for a fool – as long as she’s a fool for love. “I’d very much like the involvement with Ross to become important to her,” she volunteers. “And for her own good, I’d like some acknowledgment of her past with Phillip, because that is such a primary part of her history.”

Growing Pains
Like her character, Adams herself has matured over the past decade and a half, both personally and professionally. After a short rerun as India in 1990, the actress relocated to Los Angeles. Aside from short turns as Neal Alcott on AS THE WORLD TURNS and Death on ONE LIFE TO LIVE, she found steady work in primetime, appearing in sitcoms and the sci-fi serials STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE and BABYLON 5. But she grew frustrated with Hollywood’s antifeminist backlash. “I am very impatient with it,” she admits. “I might sound like I’m resentful, but I’m not. The fact is, a woman over 35 finds it extremely difficult to continue a career in LA What does that say about the value of a woman past a certain point of physical appeal?”

“As people age, they gain experience and wisdom that make them far more interesting as people,” she points out. “And that Hollywood just denies women the opportunity to express that makes no sense. There were many times that I was asked to fade so I didn’t upstage some actor. And I’d always think, ‘Well, why can’t they just be bigger? Why do I have to hide?’”

Home Front
Ultimately, California was never home for Adams, who maintained residences on both coasts. While she admits to finding some satisfaction in LA, figuratively and literally, it was time for the New Jersey native to come home, to her family and GL. “Coming back was in one word, marvelous. That’s enhanced even more so because it was my request,” she declares. “I felt apprehension, but it was like literally rising a bicycle.” Yet no matter how much of India’s personality Adams is able to adopt as her own, the actress is miles apart from the woman who grew up as European royalty. “I find that out-to-get-what-she-needs-at-any-cost attitude really empowering,” she says. “And in her own way, India is capable of the real emotion, real loyalty and real love. But living on the edge and society fluff...that doesn’t appeal to me.” Case in point: “The clothes that India wears are not from T.J. Maxx!” Adams laughs. “India is not content until she’s wearing the very expensive designer couture. I’m excited when I get corduroy pants at the Gap for 20 bucks!”