SPOILER ALERT! This story contains a major plot point that was revealed in the episode of The bold and the beautiful.
EXCLUSIVE: Talk about a major overhaul of the CBS daytime drama.
In the April 29 episode The bold and the beautifulfans learned that a character they loved to hate isn’t actually dead after all.
The villainous Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown), who was supposedly killed two months ago on the CBS daytime series, actually is healthy and happy.
To bring back the popular Brown, head writer Brad Bell devised a surprise comeback that featured the first appearance of a character named Sugar Clearly‘s sister soap The young and the restless (where Brown founded Sheila in 1990). Sheila has a doppelganger named Sugar (played by Brown, of course). she was the woman killed by Steffy Forrester on February 26th. It wasn’t, um, Sheila.
B&B has been hinting at the possibility of a Sheila comeback for two weeks, with Deacon Sharpe (Sean Kanan) refusing to believe his soulmate was dead. But fans could hardly believe it would happen since Brown said in interviews that she was leaving the Sudser for good.
And from February 6 (the date of her last taping) to March 18, Brown thought she was out of the soap business – until she got the call from Bell. In her first interview since her return B&B, Brown talks to Deadline about her shocking return.
Kimberlin Brown as Sheila Carter. Matthew Taplinger/CBS
DEADLINE So, surprise!
KIMBERLIN BROWN To be honest, I didn’t see that coming.
DEADLINE And who called you about your return? Was it Brad Bell?
BROWN It was. He was very vague. He was like, ‘Okay, I’m working on something.’ I don’t know what it is.’ And I said, OK. Talk about a roller coaster ride. The only thing I can think of is that maybe it’s because of my fans, maybe because of everyone who commented, who made it all go viral. Brad listens. He’s giving me attention, and in my opinion, I truly believe that my following, my fans, and the people who loved to hate Sheila all these years are responsible for me coming back.
DEADLINE: Does Brad have a reputation for changing his mind?
BROWN I really do not know it. I get my scripts, I memorize my scripts, I think about what I’m going to do with them that day to make it flavorful and fun. And I go to work and go home the next day and see my family and work. I’m not one of those actresses who bangs on the door upstairs. I let them do their job and I do my job. It is not my place to question why decisions are made the way they are. I’m just very, very happy that he decided to bring me back. It surprised me when he told me how he did it, and he had to put a lot of research into the backstory to make this current story a reality.
DEADLINE Maybe he thought he made a mistake and is now correcting it?
BROWN Either that, or he had it on his mind the whole time and just didn’t tell me about it! But I can’t imagine anyone doing something so bad. That would be a Sheila moment.
DEADLINE How is the trust of the fans? Are you concerned about how this might end up with them?
BROWN I really did it because I really thought I was gone. I gave the interviews knowing that I was no longer there, and I was looking forward to the next chapter in my life and what might emerge, behavioral or otherwise. I even bought property in Montana. I am expecting a grandchild in June. My son lives there and I’m building a house in Montana so I can be closer to my grandchild. I wanted to close on my house in Los Angeles that I rented for work. And thank God I got the call from Brad a week before I was due to move out of my house in LA. I really thought it was a done deal. And like I said, it’s been kind of a roller coaster ride for me, and I’m just so grateful that this roller coaster is going up again.
Sheila is my happy place. I’m one of those people who goes to work because I absolutely love what I do every day. Getting that call asking me if I would consider coming back was one of the best calls I’ve ever received in my life.
DEADLINE Let’s go back to the original discussion when you first learned that Sheila would be killed.
BROWN Brad called me upstairs to talk to me about what he had planned for Sheila. I had a hard time swallowing the pill. I’ve played Sheila for years and I consider her my baby, so to speak. And this was definitely not news I was expecting or hoping for.
DEADLINE Was he pretty blunt? Did he just directly say, “We’re going to kill Sheila?”
BROWN Yes very much. I went to his office because he said we needed to talk and I thought it was related to the plot because he often calls me to tell me what to expect and what he would like me to play. I thought this was the conversation I was going upstairs for. And when I walked into his office, he looked at me and said, “We’re killing your character.”
DEADLINE Were you stunned into silence? Or did you ask a lot of questions and make statements like, “What will the fans say?”‘
BROWN No, I’ve never been that actress. I’ve never been one to question why they do what they do. I’m more of a person who is just so incredibly grateful that my career lasted as long as it did during the day. It was an incredible ride. But when he told me, you could probably hear a pin drop. I just said okay. I was grateful that he was the one to tell me and that I didn’t hear it over the whispers in the hallway. It speaks volumes when you have that kind of integrity, because I know there are other shows that don’t always do that. So I was very happy that he had the respect for me and my character and told me first hand.
DEADLINE. How did you feel about the reaction to your character’s death?
BROWN I definitely saw the reaction. I even saw what happened to the ratings the following week. The fans went crazy. They exploded. My social media and the stories everyone wrote surrounding my exit went viral. And that was amazing to me. It was a bittersweet thing for me here. I was evicted from the show, but literally millions of people here were so upset about that fact and expressed it very verbally on Instagram, on Facebook, on Twitter, and it was really great for me to see it. For me, it was wonderful to see the impact my character had over the years I played her. I’ve had people say to me before, ‘Oh, you’re an icon of the day.’ I’ve never seen myself like that. I just felt really blessed to have had the career that I have. And when it all came out and the fans cheered so much, I didn’t realize that I had such an impact on people. I didn’t realize that my character might be as popular as she is. I mean, there were posts and direct messages sent to me that literally brought me to tears.
DEADLINE So does this mean you’re back as a series regular?
BROWN I am pleased to announce that I have been asked to negotiate another contract.