I recently had the pleasure of talking to one of my favorite daytime actresses, and she was just how I imagined… Ellen Dolan was in turn kind, articulate, funny, thoughtful, and informative…not unlike the character she’s played since 1989. 

We started by talking about the path she took to As the World Turns. Unlike many actresses, Dolan intentionally headed to soaps. She says when she first came out of college she wanted to do daytime because she thought it would be a great place to learn. 

In L.A. pursuing a career, Doug Marland contacted her about joining ATWT. Having Marland, an icon for the genre, personally choose for her to come work with him was very flattering. Dolan says, “He’s part of daytime history in so many ways. If you get someone who’s that kind of storyteller asking you to tell his stories…when you get one of the top people, it’s just a high compliment.”

As it turned out, the call from Marland was timely. Dolan’s mother had recently passed away and she told me she felt herself drawn to return home to New York, so the offer couldn’t have come at a better time. But she wasn’t sure she had given L.A. enough of a chance, so after a few years, she quit the soap and went West again. What she discovered is the work wasn’t any more interesting and that daytime in general treats women pretty well. She returned to her role in the Hughes family after only a year’s absence.

Margo Hughes is an unusual character for daytime television. For starters, she and husband Tom have the distinction of being one of the longest married couples on daytime, surviving innumerable obstacles and staying together for more than a quarter century. A detective with the Oakdale Police Department, Hughes commands respect from the denizens of her city…but sometimes the character isn’t treated as well by the writers. 

I pointed out Margo has been idle for the past two years to which Dolan diplomatically demurred when I asked her to speculate on why TPTB would waste such a richly talented actress. She commented on women and aging.  “There’s just so much you can do with a character like this. The most important thing I try to keep alive is: women this age are still active in every single aspect of their life.  From the bedroom to the corporate boardroom, we are active. And there’s a big audience out there that is this particular age range. Women in America ages 40 to 60 are the biggest consuming group. That’s where the market is, so it seems to me that’s where the money would be spent. But it’s such a youth oriented field.”

Ellen was willing however to expound on her hopes for Margo’s future and how she would like her alter-ego to be written. “I’d like her to be more aggressive in police activity and work. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me that when push come to shove, my character is the one who sits back and sort of whimpers and squeals instead of running in with a gun and saying ‘what the hell is going on here,’ which has been more of her history.  I’d like to see more of that sort of action.”

She acknowledged that “I like the whole relationship with Maddie. I think that it’s a good way to hook up the generations and allows me to acknowledge my character’s history.”

She was adamant and replied “I can’t tell you one specific thing (I’d like to see) storyline wise, because there’s a lot of opportunity for Margo. She’s got a lot of facets to her.  She is a really great, loving mother. She is a great cop. The one aspect I’d like to see come back is for her be more of the reckless maverick sort of thing.”

Dolan clarified she doesn’t mean reckless in the sense of willing to throw away her family, but rather she’d like Margo to be more willing to take sensible risks. She adds that it’s more important for the fans to let the writers know what they want, and she encourages viewers to write and e-mail the show with their likes, dislikes, expectations, and ideas.

What this talented and respected actress doesn’t want is a repeat of the last real story Margo had - the abbreviated “romance” with Doc Reese nearly two years ago. She went on to say “I never was told why the story ended so abruptly nor do I know why TPTB have chosen to make Margo more of a background player since then. But that particular plot made no sense to me”.  Dolan explains, “It was out of character for Margo to have a schoolgirl crush kind of thing. I thought it was out of character for Jessica to do that, as well. I thought it was strange that it was two strong women who just sort of fell into this puppy love thing.” I commented it was two strong women who had both previously been sexually attacked, making that sort of acting out even less likely, and she agreed. The situation was so distasteful, and the tale such a deviation from the individual that Dolan has worked to create, the insightful Ms. Dolan commented “The Doc story was one of my least favorites in all her years on the show.”

So what other stories stand out for this beloved veteran? “I loved the liver transplant for one. I didn’t dislike Margo’s liver transplant, although it was hard in the sense that I had to spend much of my time in tears. I hated having to do all these crying scenes, and then having to say the word liver in the middle of it.”  “My livaah,” she laughed. As for her favorite, Ellen quickly cites her rape storyline as “one of the best chunks of work” that she’s been given.    

Sometimes real life is more dramatic than what’s happening within the show. Last summer the cast was dealt a horrible, emotional blow with the unexpected death of Benjamin Hendrickson who played Detective Hal Munson. His character was tightly interwoven with Dolan’s Margo, making Ben’s passing that much harder for Ellen.  She describes the experience as “absolutely numbing.” “He was a charming wonderful guy. One of the funniest guys on the set. But he just had too much pain in his own life.  He had to move on to get from it.”

Believing in some way that Hendrickson’s spirit is still with them she gently jokes “that maybe he’s to blame for the continuing problems they have with the soundboard. The technical difficulties,” the actress says, seemed to begin immediately after his passing and increased when photos of him were hung up on set for the recent memorial service.

During the interview sirens could be heard in the background. Dolan mentioned “My home is in the downtown area, just blocks from where the World Trade Centers used to stand.” She goes on to say “The significance of being so close to the site of one of the most devastating events this country has ever witnessed is devastating”, she became choked up and had trouble expressing the enormity of the impact the anniversary of the event holds for her. 

She haltingly told me “I am moved by the tolling of the two huge brass bells which ring for each person who died on September 11, 2001 when the towers were destroyed by terrorists.” But I am a self-described “one-hundred percent liberal democrat, she say “I am also “furious” about the political aftermath.” She goes on to say “I find it odd that such a solemn occasion has turned the area into a “creepy” tourist attraction, complete with street vendors hawking souvenirs and profiteering from the tragedy.”

Like many working women Dolan has to find ways to balance her career with being a mother…and she doesn’t make it easy on herself. Aside from her role on ATWT, Dolan acts with the Workshop Theatre Company, she mentions “I am also planning a fundraiser for the theatre while simultaneously renovating a loft in downtown Manhattan.”  She goes on to say “the hectic schedule is probably harder on my daughter…although Angela is busy with her own interests like tap dancing, and starting guitar lessons.”  The obviously proud mom says “My daughter has a “presence on stage, and it would be great if Angela chooses to enter the entertainment field.”

After all, show business has worked out very well for Ellen.