The Alice Krige Home Page: Dynasty Interview

             On the Set of the New Dynasty

                                           No plot was too outrageous for ABC's hit '80s series Dynasty -- a
                                  royal wedding was interrupted by revolutionary commandos crashing
                                  through church windows -- or too inconceivable -- while the "real" Krystle is locked in a dungeon, her "evil twin" beds Blake.

Now the alphabet network has started production on a TV movie that's a satiric look at the over-the-top series. Are you ready for Dynasty: Behind the Scenes? The film stars BART JOHN as JOHN FORSYTHE (Denver oil baron Blake Carrington), ALICE KRIGE as JOAN COLLINS (Alexis Carrington Colby) and MELORA HARDIN as LINDA EVANS (Krystle Carrington).

On tonight's ET, we take you behind the scenes of the Sydney, Australia-based production.

"This is not a put-down," explains PAMELA REED, who plays Dynasty creator ESTHER SHAPIRO. "That is not what this is. This is about how a show comes alive, and then how a show that has a soapish quality to it goes through the machinations to stay alive, and then its demise. It is a metaphor of the '80s and the excess that we went through, and then how we paid for it and are still paying for it."

Neither Reed, nor Krige watched much Dynasty in its heyday: Reed, because she worked nights in theater in New York, and Krige, because she grew up without a television.

"I was a Dynasty virgin," Krige admits. "I have done as much research as I had time to do. I found two interviews with Miss Collins that I pretty much know by heart, and I have watched a lot of Dynasty as I had a lot of ground to cover, and I have read both of her biographies and beauty books, so I am getting up to speed."

                       Still Krige says that the task of playing Collins is terrifying, because the actress is a
                       great icon. "The most fun I am having is to inhabit her confidence as a human
                       being," Krige shares, "and what is marvelous are the frocks."

                       Getting Krige, who doesn't resemble Collins, into costume is a team effort for the
                       hair, makeup and wardrobe staff. But also a great deal of fun. "I would say the
                       engineering that is required to produce my figure is fairly outrageous," she says
                       with a laugh. "If a bra strap were to pop, the entire thing would collapse."

The two-hour movie dramatization of the hit '80s primetime soap opera spoofs unforgettable, classic television moments, including the cat fights between Alexis and Krystle, the above-mentioned Moldavian Massacre and the on-screen kiss between Linda Evans' and ROCK HUDSON's characters that sent shockwaves through Hollywood.

That said, the film is not cartoonish. "What drew me to this script is that it is very funny," says Reed. "It is very smart and sassy."

Original episodes of Dynasty air on SOAPnet, Monday - Friday, at 4:00 p.m. ET/PT, and Saturday as part of "Dysfunctional Family Night" at 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

                                                      Copyright by ETonline.com ( March 24, 2004)