Mandana, Simone and BG the musical.

[operagoth]

Kinda my take on the Mandana vs Simone thread with a few other bits thrown in!

I must admit to being a kinda equal fan of both Mandana and Simone (although have to admit that after seeing Mandana in RL am a bit more a fan of her now as - wow - she is just so damn hot!) so I think I can give a quite rounded view on their relative popularities.
I think one of the reasons Simone seems more popular is because so many people could identify with the Helen Stewart character. I know that I was a young teen/pre-teen when BG was first aired and was going through that time when sexuality was a really important thing. I could see Helens struggles with her own sexuality and identify myself with that as could many of my friends. The character of Nikki was almost to strong for younger girls to see themselves in.
Both women are extremely gorgeous but, as has been mentioned on here before, Simone's beauty is far more stereotypical than Mandana's, which is more ethereal. For me both women also have amazingly seductive accents; Simone's soft Scottish lilt and Mandana's deeper, almost gravelly quality that sounds like a purr - mmmm!

A lot of the more recent popularity probably does come down to exposure, us humans are fickle in nature and only the most hard core and loving fans will stick by their idols when they have been off screen for an extended period of time. While Mandana took the decision to take a break from acting to care for Enzo, Simone has never really been out of the spotlight and has also had exposure from her charity work for her niece's memorial fund. To be honest I don't think there's as much if a difference in numbers as many think as there are loads of 'crossover' fans like myself, and the difference in the number of fan sites/videos to me can be easily explained by the fact that there is just simply more easy to access pictures, interviews, tv/film appearances etc of Simone - not to mention an official Facebook page! (I haven't found a Mandana one, though would certainly join if there was one!)
Anyway - I'm sure none of that made any sense but feel free to ask questions/comment or whatever for clarification.


There also seems to have been a lot of discussion on here in the past about the 'chemistry' between Simone and Mandana; was it just onscreen or off and about the fact that they don't seem close now.
Well I have my own take on that too, (though obviously I'm no expert and am not them so would never even take my own word as gospel on that. At the end of the day only they really know. )
There is a certain level of chemistry between two people that, no matter how good you are, just cannot be acted. From all the clips I have seen, both on set and off, of the two of them together, I can honestly say that I feel they had that chemistry. I believe that they certainly did have a very deep and close relationship during BG, although (much as part if me would love to believe it in my own little way) I do not for a moment believe, as some fans on the net seem to, that it was ever in anyway a romantic one. (any more than you live your best mate.) Perversely I also believe this to be the reason why they may not be in contact with eachother so much now. It's a strange phenomenon in the acting world that often those who you were closest to 'on set' or 'during a run' ate the ones you quickly loose contact with after it's all over. I think it boils down to the 'cabin fever' theory that relationships during a show are so intense as you are working so closely together for so long and basically see eachother all the time so things get heated very quickly. Add to that the characters they played - they played at being in love fir so long and so intensely that it was sure to rub off on their real selves making them 'feel in love' with each other even though they were not really. The best way to get back to reality with this kind of thing is to distance yourself from the situation/person for a while to let reality kick in. The trouble with reality in the acting world is that so many other things start to creep in and you never seem to get in touch again! However I bet if they ever did work together again it would be like they were never apart!
Ok so that whole spiel made no sense either but.... I do apologise for my ramblings.

To end this post my thoughts on BG the musical.
I never saw it or heard of it til recently when a friend of mine mentioned to me she had got the DVD cheap somewhere and, knowing I was a BG fan offered to lend it to me. Well before that I downloaded the soundtrack to my phone and had to admit I flipping loved it - especially the Helen/Nikki love duet (which said mate and I are performing in a concert over Xmas!) but when I saw the DVD I thought it was rubbish. There was just no coherent plot line, but a mish-mash of bits and bobs from the tv show with new bits thrown in and it didn't really make any sense. Don't even get ne started on the H/N relationship which was a complete damp squib after I had got my hopes up after hearing the duet!
In the end I gave her back the DVD after being quite unimpressed, but the soundtrack is still top of my playlist on my iPod. If only the libretto/script was of the same quality as the songs it could've been quite brilliant, but alas it wasn't so.

If you have made it to the end of my ramblings then I salute you! I just hope it hasnt all been a load of twaddle!

[operagoth]

You miss understand me - from their body language I 'believe' them to have been very close during BG. Like I said I feel that certain types of chemistry can't be acted no matter how good you are and I believe they had that.

I am certainly not claiming my belief to be gospel and I may well be wrong - there is no 'evidence' to the contrary either except perceived evidence as in the case of them being close. As I say, it's just my belief; I may well be wrong I never make claim to 'evidence'. At the end of the day, only they themselves and those around them know the truth whatever it is.
I am open to both views despite my belief.

[operagoth]

(deleted my last post as re-reading it during the day it was badly phrased and didn't get my thoughts across properly.)

At the end of the day, I hope no one does get the wrong idea about my little theories; I don't imagine some little fantasy world between them (ok, I do but only in so far as 'I wish; not actually ever believing any of it!) but I just say what I think about what I perceive. I dint know, and have no right to know, if I'm correct or not. I can only appologise if I came across as posting 'fact' in my opening post, when my intent for the post was to put only opinion.

Am really interested to hear more thoughts on my post agreeing or disagreeing, and why.

[topcat]

Oct 23, 2011 2:41:34 GMT -5 operagoth said:

I can only appologise if I came across as posting 'fact' in my opening post, when my intent for the post was to put only opinion.

No need to apologise, as far as I am concerned, og. Your post didn't come across as anything other than your opinion. ;D

It's a strange phenomenon in the acting world that often those who you were closest to 'on set' or 'during a run' are the ones you quickly loose contact with after it's all over

Completely agree. Having been involved in theatre for over 20 years, it is true that you can become incredibly close to your fellow cast members but that you quickly move on once that production is over.

Actually, you could say that about any work environment. In my 'day job', over the years, I have made excellent friends at various places and vowed to remain in touch when I or someone else leaves. It happens for a while but folk lose touch when they are not seeing each other day in, day out.

there is no 'evidence' to the contrary either except perceived evidence as in the case of them being close

Well, there were comments made by Simone on her own website (not the current one, but one that she started up after leaving BG) whereby she changed wording from saying 'unfortunately, Mandana and I do not see each other as often as we'd like, which is a shame' to 'Mandana, I do not see very often'. It seemed a harsh change. As you say, the 'perception' of what fans thought of that statement change may have been way off the mark but you can understand how that 'perception' came about.

from their body language I 'believe' them to have been very close during BG.

Are you referring to body language at BG events? I would have agreed until I read Mandana's interview a few years ago when she was asked

At a movie premiere, you and Simone held hands and kissed in public. Were you just two friends having fun, or were you making a political statement?

Her response was

In all honesty, I think it was a bit of working the crowd, I have to say. [Laughs.] I remember at the time being told to wear a suit to the premiere and I drew the line at that. I thought, well why? We’re not Nikki and Helen, we’re actually Simone and Mandana going out. I said, ‘I’m not wearing a suit; I’m wearing a dress, that’s it. Not unless you want to go and get me a fabulous suit.’ [Laughs.] It was a little bit … when you get told to wear a suit, you know what you’re expected to be doing on that public outing, so I think it was a little bit of a tip and a nod in that direction

I guess you could argue that all the interaction we saw was 'playing the crowd' - book signings, South Africa promos etc etc.

As you say, we will never know. Personally, I think they got on well but were probably closer to other cast members away from the show - Simone with Lara (documented in interviews) and Mandana with the Two Julie actresses (photographic evidence)

[operagoth]

I think you may be right with that last comment. It would certainly ring true with what can be seen in SA. On andoff set chemistry can vary so much.

[jilly2000]

Re: Relationships on sets.

There's close(colleagues) and there's close(intimate).

And operagoth I'm in no position to ask you for evidence for anything.

As neither of us were there.

PS I'm deleting my previous post.

[operagoth]

No probs jilly. I actually quite like your post because it got me thinking and yes, you hit the nail in the head with the collegues/intimate thing. There was no need to delete your post. X

[coolbyrne]

Thought I'd share this interview with Simone. It's very recent (Nov. 28th, 2011) and I haven't seen it posted anywhere else.

Ten Years On

This is a good place to post it, as she talks a fair bit about the Helen/Nikki relationship and a small bit about Mandana. (If you want to skip to it, it's right near the end, around the 8:30 mark.) RM and I have spoken about the Simone/Mandana relationship in the past and this interview got us talking about it again. As has been said, none of us know exactly what went on with them (no, I don't mean in any kind of sexual way- I think they're two very straight women), but it's interesting to try and analyze interviews, body language, etc.

I will always remember the quote from Mandana:

You sort of look at their face & imagine what part you'd love to kiss & why... you find some part of that person to fall in love with, really.

And I think this is how she really approached Nikki/Helen. And... I think her openness to the relationship made it safe for Simone to commit to it, too. I think the strength of Mandana as an actor is her ability to recognize the subtleties not just in a scene but in her fellow actors. It allowed Simone to, well as I said, commit to it, and in turn it helped both of them create a very emotionally intimate relationship, most likely as much off-screen as on. But when the show was over, I think that bond was over, too. (Notice in the interview that she's not quite sure when Enzo was born.) That's not a criticism; as top said, it's quite common not only with actors, but in every day relationships.

They've both done separate interviews over the years- I'd love to see them sit down after all this time and do an interview together.

[topcat]

Jan 23, 2012 23:16:04 GMT -5 coolbyrne said:

Thought I'd share this interview with Simone. It's very recent (Nov. 28th, 2011) and I haven't seen it posted anywhere else.

Think you'll find it posted on the 'Reprising Nikki - pros and cons' thread page 6

It's from 2009. That's if it is the same. I'm at work and can't access youtube.

They've both done separate interviews over the years- I'd love to see them sit down after all this time and do an interview together.

I always thought it was odd that they were never interviewed together visually (I don't count the SA promo because that was not an interview). They were interviewed on the radio and for magazines together but not on TV. Simone was interviewed with Debra (Shell) and Mandana with Helen (Bodybag). Even on the DVD releases, they were separate. I always thought it particularly odd that Mandana was left to do the 'Nikki and Helen love story' feature on the series 3 DVD alone. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it imensely, but most fans at that time would have loved to see them interviewed together, I think, as closure.

My guess is that the 'powers that be' didn't want the focus to be solely about the love story when getting an interview slot. By putting them with other cast members, the topic would have to be more neutral. I think it always bugged Shed that it was so popular. That was evident by comments made around the time of the musical.

[coolbyrne]

Jan 24, 2012 9:49:11 GMT -5 topcat said:

Think you'll find it posted on the 'Reprising Nikki - pros and cons' thread page 6

It's from 2009. That's if it is the same. I'm at work and can't access youtube.

Show off.

I always thought it was odd that they were never interviewed together visually (I don't count the SA promo because that was not an interview). They were interviewed on the radio and for magazines together but not on TV. Simone was interviewed with Debra (Shell) and Mandana with Helen (Bodybag). Even on the DVD releases, they were separate. I always thought it particularly odd that Mandana was left to do the 'Nikki and Helen love story' feature on the series 3 DVD alone. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it imensely, but most fans at that time would have loved to see them interviewed together, I think, as closure.

My guess is that the 'powers that be' didn't want the focus to be solely about the love story when getting an interview slot. By putting them with other cast members, the topic would have to be more neutral. I think it always bugged Shed that it was so popular. That was evident by comments made around the time of the musical.

I think it was both the beauty and the bane of Shed's success. It made them, no matter how hard Shed tried to pretend otherwise.