Lauren Koslow makes it difficult to completely hate or love Kate Roberts, her Days of Our Lives character for close on 17 years.
But the 58-year-old actress has never once failed to engage us. Kate’s scandalous deeds, which generally involve cunning plots and ruses that boomerang on her, have been most engaging.
A sexier but just as lethal a villainess as your Vivian Alamain and Sheila Carter, Koslow laughs when recollecting her character’s depth.
“I was talking about this to another actress just the other day – I was thinking about how wonderful it is to play a character so compact and complex. The storylines keep the character very alive and fascinating. You don’t know what she is going to do next. I would not trade this character,” says Koslow.
In fact, there are times when even the veteran actress is astounded by her character’s brazen comments.
And, boy oh boy, has Kate had a colourful past, having pulled herself out of the gutter as a call girl to become a tour de force business- woman at Titan. Formerly married to druggie Curtis Reed, with whom she had two children, Billie and Austin Reed, she traded up when she married Victor Kiriakis. Her other children include Lucas Horton and Philip Kiriakis as well as Cassie and Rex Brady – all from different fathers.
While Kate can be faulted on her morals, the same cannot be said of her responsibilities as a mother. If anything, she is a protective mother hen. A case in point would be her determination to ensure that Lucas doesn’t marry Chloe.
“Family is very important for her (Kate). And it is important that they make the right choices. It is almost her thinking of it in terms of an empire. And she is not above manipulating when she truly believes she is doing the right thing,” Koslow explains.
She adds: “Yes, Kate is very domineering. I think she is a bit of a narcissist when it comes to being a mother.”
Of course, if soap addicts were to psychoanalyse Kate, they would conclude that her disastrous relationships have much to do with her overbearing disposition where her children’s love lives are concerned.
“I guess she is always overcompensating,” concedes Koslow. “There were so many negatives in her relationships from the past. She feels she wasn’t as involved in their lives as she could have been when they were little.”
While her family will always remain her Achilles heel, Kate’s determination to rise above obstacles is laudable. She has fought off a murder rap, bounced back from stage four lung cancer (thanks to donor Chloe) and beaten bankruptcy.
“She is the ultimate survivor,” Koslow reveals. “That is her attitude. I think what helps with that is that there is very rarely any place for self-pity. There is a desire that becomes a bonfire. There is just no taking her down. She is insatiable where love, power or money is concerned.”
As for love, it is always eluding her, even with her recent romance with Daniel Jonas, who had an affair with Chloe.
“In all her relationships, it always becomes a negative. She would love to find her equal who would accept her for who she is,” she shares.
With regards to her plans for Victor and Stefano, Koslow didn’t want to ruin the storyline – in the US they are far ahead of what we are seeing – but hinted that it is about to get much more interesting.
“There are just too many wonderful twists and turns with regards to high finance and taking her cosmetic company to another level.
“The most exciting thing is that we are going to find out more about Kate’s past and it will answer a lot of questions about why she does what she does. And there may be a few new relationships that explain a lot. It’s all very psychological,” she says.
Could Kate Roberts actually redeem herself in the eyes of viewers? I guess we will have to wait and see as Koslow has an unbridled blast unscrambling Kate.
• Days of Our Lives airs on SABC3 on weekdays at 5.40pm.