"Is Barr Finished?
STATUS Even as her current contract nears its end, Julia Barr (Brooke, AMC) marvels that her
supporters won't stop in their quest to return her to the frontburner.
The In Depth Story: At the soap's fan club luncheon in August, you couldn't miss members of the Barr Association.
Wearing bright red T-shirts and passing out buttons, representatives of her fan club were unyielding in their support for
Brooke's portrayer, whose contract is up for renewal at the end of this year. "At the beginning of the year, with the
death of Edmund, and the death of Phoebe, there was a lot of momentum going," Barr tells Soaps In Depth. "They
had started to play a little bit with the Brooke and Adam characters, and it looked very much like it was going in that direction."
To that end, the actress issued a letter to her fans via her Web site in July. The missive, Barr asserts,
was just another example of her honesty with the viewers and a case of her thanking her fans for their concern. "I always
like to be positive and upbeat, and this was certainly not meant to be negative," she notes. "It was just meant to say,
'You know what? I don't want to be dishonest with you, but I don't really know [my future]."
Whether AMC picks up on the fan club's efforts to keep Brooke around remains to be seen. "Timing is
everything," Barr says. "I think that fans being extremely vocal definitely can have an impact."
Under "Seen & Heard", from the same section about the Luncheon, was the following:
Most Visible Fans: Clad in red T-shirts and unyielding in the
campaign to get their fave actress more screen time, Julia Barr's legion of supporters presented her with flowers as she made
her way to the podium.
