Trudy Joplin: Olivia Brown


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From the book "The Making Of Miami Vice" by MacGregor and MacGregor (I just purchased it)

 

Before joining the VICE cast as detective Trudy Joplin, she'd made guestappearances on Hill Street Blues and played Eddie Murphy's girlfriend in 48 Hours. Onthe VICE pilot she was listed as a guest star and had one line: 'I'm sorry, Sonny.' "Theygave me guest star billing, which is real unusual when you only have three words tosay. Before the pilot, they'd told me that getting called back would depend on how wellI did in the pilot. So I really said, 'I'm sorry, Sonny,' with a lot of feeling," she laughs.But three words is all it took. The twenty-eight-year-old actress was signed with theshow, becoming the last regular cast member to join. "I'd been living in Santa Monicaand I'd been married less than a year. . . as a matter of fact, after the pilot, we took ourhoneymoon."By the time she returned the VICE offer was waiting for her. "So there I was, packingup and moving to Miami." Her words flow steadily as she recalls the changes in her life."I'd never been here, I had no family here, it was real hot, I'd never been in weather likethis. . . . yeah... it's changed everything." She pauses, her mouth dimples. "But it's reallyhelped my career. People know who I am now. . . all over the United States, not just inMiami." She says this as if she still hasn't gotten quite used to the idea.In fact, during the first season's hiatus, Olivia got a taste of what it means to berecognized Love Boat asked her to be in a two-hour episode and the cruise took her toeight European countries. "I always figured that if you go to Europe, it'd be great tobackpack through it. I can always do that route, but this was different. I got to see theroyal side. We ate with the Spanish royal family, stayed in hotels where the waiting listis five years long, and they rolled out the red carpet in every country."Although she had another offer from Love Boat for the second season hiatus, a tripwhich would've taken her to Africa, she decided to turn it down. Before the seasonended, she was considering a role in a made-for-television movie and wanted to spendmore time with her husband, Mykel T. Williamson, who still lives and works in LA. "Iused to always say that the distance was good for us, that it made us closer and all. Butit's getting tougher now. He's working a lot and just finished a feature film and with myschedule being what it is, we don't see each other as often."Olivia has bought a home in Miami Beach and she's also opened an art gallery onLincoln Road called DON'T ASK. "People will say, 'Where'd you buy that and you'llsay, 'Don't Ask.' The name's controversial. I like it."Her interest in art once took precedence over acting. She majored in art and minoredin theater at Sacramento and Fresno state colleges. But until she'd opened the gallery,she'd never sold any of her stuff. Art, she says, is one of her outlets, and the gallery is akind of refuge. Sometimes, she'll go over to her studio around midnight and startworking and when she looks at the clock again, it's five in the morning."When I first got the part, some of my actorfriends were saying that I had to be a character, that I should do something the sameevery week so it catches on. I started noticing that everyone else was doing that withtheir characters, but I figured people aren't really like that, especially someone workingundercover. So I decided to make Trudy an emotionally complex person. She's moody,eclectic." And while Trudy isn't a walking fashion show, Olivia makes a point of neverdressing her the same, of changing her hairstyle. "Women are always changing and I tryto show her different sides."Since being a chameleon is essential to undercover work, Olivia worked with thereal Miami Vice squad in preparation for her role as Trudy. "They told me that chanceswere one in a million that something weird would happen that night. Well, it did."Olivia and Saundra Santiago, who plays Gina Calabrese, her partner, dressed up likeprostitutes and went out to the strip to work with real hookers. They each had a policeofficer with them who was dressed for the part. "We were bugged and were told wecouldn't tell the guy how much or the sexual act to be performed. He had to say it."The arrangement was that once the man had stated the price and the act, Olivia andSaundra were to walk around the back of a building to a motel. Then the police wouldswoop in on him. "If the guy had a record for the same thing, they'd arrest him. If hedidn't, they'd give him the equivalent of a traffic ticket and scare him good."They were told that if one of the cops working with them said, 'Oy vei,' that meantto hit the ground or run. But they were to wait for instructions on which one to do. "Sothis guy drives up in a car with two teenage boys in the back seat. I mean they wereyoung. I'm talking to him through the window and the real police officer is sitting onthe hood, looking through the windshield. The guy wanted to pay me fifty dollars to dosomething with these two kids. So I'm going through the motions of luring him out ofthe car when suddenly, the police officer says, 'Oy vei."But the officer didn't tell Olivia whether to run or hit the ground. "So the bottom ofmy body is totally outa control, shakin' and shiverin', and the top of me is so cool andsmooth 'cause I'm not going to let this guy know. I'm stalling him for more money andfinally he says, 'Okay, five dollars more and I'll watch.' I felt like telling him, 'Hey, youknow who I am?"Before she knew what to do, the cops moved in and busted him. Then she found outthe police woman on the hood of the car had seen that the man had a gun next to him."He went right to jail."They were also taken on a raid of a sex parlor and were present during the arrest ofa hooker "This lady, slides in the car with us and she thought we were hookers too. Shesays, 'So how's you women doin' tonight?' And in this real cultured voice, I replied, "Weare doing just fine, thank you very much."They were also briefed on the street language—specifically, what different sexualrequests meant. "Not everyone who comes up to a hooker wants just plain old sex. Imean they've got these words for it. Now, I'm twenty-eight years old and felt that I'dheard everything. Well, let me tell you, when we were, told some of the things peoplerequested, Saundra and I would look at each other and say, 'Huh? What's that?' Peopleask for some - strange things."Olivia notes that she and Saundra were dressed in $500 outfits that night and admitsthat she, like the character she plays, has a weakness for clothes.During her second season on VICE she renovated her house to fit her style. She hadthe roof removed so a closet could be added. "I wanted my closet to look like aboutique. So now you open these glass French doors and it looks like a shop inside withmannequins and everything. My friends are always saying, 'Hey, let's go sit in yourcloset.' That's how much of a clotheshorse I am."Shortly after she bought her home, the Miami Beach Historical Preservation Societyshowed up at her doorstep and informed her she'd purchased an historical monument.She wanted someplace old, however, because she felt it would stand a better chance ofmaking it through a hurricane. "To declare a house an historical monument, you have tohave the original stuff in it. And it does. It has the brass light fixtures, the chandeliers,everything." But because the interior didn't fit her tastes, she removed the fixtures andchandeliers and stored them in the garage for when she sells the place. "Then I re-didthe place in Olivia Brown funky."One of the most obvious changes VICE has brought about in Olivia's life is financialfreedom to do such things. But when asked if she likes having money, she frowns alittle. "Yes and no. People expect things now. When I didn't have money, things were alittle more carefree. I could make my own furniture and people thought it was a neatand artistic thing to do. I could dress in funky clothes and it was okay because I couldn'tafford anything else. But now they expect me to wear designer clothes and I don't. Imean, I still shop in thrift stores and I get weird looks like I'm stealing the stuff. Theyexpect me to act different—and I don't. I made my living room table and people say,'Oh, that's nice. But why don't you just buy one?"Olivia claims she has no head for business. "You kidding?" she laughs. "If I handledmy own business stuff, I'd be in jail." She has an accountant, receives an allowance andsays she doesn't even know how much money she has. The gallery business, however,she runs herself with the help of two secretaries. "But even that's a lot for me. I like aneasy-come, easy-go kind of life. I could just as easily move into a small apartment andgrow my own vegetables and make furniture and have my puppy dogs and myhusband and be just fine."

Edited by Pink Flaming0
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