by Lisa Backus, Fall 1991
Was it life imitating art or just mere coincidence? When we last saw Another World’s Josie Frame, she was trekking off to Hollywood in search of her big break. When the actress who played her, Alexandra Wilson, left the show this past January, she had no idea that within a few months she’d follow the path of her character and move to California for a big break of her own.
“I was getting out into the real world again, auditioning again, which was exciting but tough after having a steady job on a soap for three years,” says Wilson. It was during this time that Wilson screen-tested for the role of Sarah, who is torn between her fiancé and his brother, in the pilot episode of Homefront, an hour-long drama about families in a small town adjusting to life after World War II.
“At the time [of the screen test] I thought, ‘This is such a wonderfully written, beautiful piece that I probably won’t get it,’“ recalls Wilson. “I loved the character of Sarah so much.” A month later the producers asked her to come to Los Angeles for a callback. “They let me know the same day that I got it,” she says. But the waiting wasn’t quite over yet: The network (ABC) still had to pick up the series as part of the fall lineup.
“So,” says Wilson, “I hung out in New York, and even though it was only about two months, it was too long. I was losing my mind. I would meet [Another World’s] Matt [Crane, Matthew], Ricky Paull [Goldin, Dean] and Allison [Hossack, Olivia] for dinner after they had been working all day and I’d say, ‘So what did you do today? I worked out, I cleaned the bathroom...’” When the network did pick up the show Wilson says she and roommate Hossack “jumped all over the place.”
With the help of a friend, Wilson found a place to live in the Los Angeles area. “I can see the Hollywood sign from my window,” she describes, “and I have a dog. I wouldn’t have missed living in New York City for the world, but I feel very at home here.”
Homefront, says Wilson, is really about people. “It’s about love, racism, religion and dealing with life after a war, coming home and having all this joy and patriotism, and then reality sinks in and the world really isn’t that great and it’s scary and there’s no money. It deals with everything. It’s good storytelling.”
Ironically, Wilson is a longtime history buff and says World War II is one of her favorite eras. “It’s a fascinating period, not only the battlefront but the homefront, too. I guess it was a confusing time. People were scared and lonely, but good things happened, too. Women went to work in the factories and found out they could take care of themselves and work for the country, too.”
Although her career so far has been based on teen-age characters (prior to AW she played troubled teen April Hathaway on Loving), Wilson is excited about the prospect of playing a woman for the first time. “I am in love with this part,” she says. “It’s so different, maybe because I’m growing up, too. I was playing innocent, demure girls for so long it was no longer challenging.
“[On Homefront] the scripts are so good I can’t wait to get my hands on them,” she continues. “I read them like you read a good book. I can’t stop until all the pages are done.”
Homefront premiered on ABC Tuesday, Sept. 24. The network has guaranteed 13 episodes, enough, Wilson hopes, to make the show a hit. But if the series doesn’t work out “I’ll be fine,” says the actress. “I can waitress, I can audition - what happens, happens. Right now I feel like I’m the luckiest person in the world. I didn’t want to leave AM. I told them they were pushing me out of the nest, that I didn’t want to go, but I think it was the best thing. The funniest thing was that they sent my character to Hollywood. They gave me a good omen as a parting gift.”