Simone Russell is a fictional character on the American soap opera Passions, which aired on NBC from 1999 to 2007 and on DirecTV in 2007–08. The character was portrayed by three actresses over the course of the show: Lena Cardwell, Chrystee Pharris, and Cathy Jenéen Doe. Simone was initially portrayed as one of the series’ supporting characters, but gained more prominence during a storyline in which she comes out as a lesbian to her family.
About Simone Russell in brief
Simone Russell is a fictional character on the American soap opera Passions, which aired on NBC from 1999 to 2007 and on DirecTV in 2007–08. The character was portrayed by three actresses over the course of the show: Lena Cardwell, Chrystee Pharris, and Cathy Jenéen Doe. Simone’s storyline made daytime television history when Passions became the first soap opera to show two women having sex. At the 17th GLAAD Media Awards, the show won Outstanding Daily Drama, and Doe accepted the award on the show’s behalf. The show’s representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender topics and Doe’s performance as Simone, received a mixed response from critics. Simone was initially portrayed as one of the series’ supporting characters, but gained more prominence during a storyline in which she comes out as a lesbian to her family, and her relationship with Rae Thomas. She was the principal actress during the storylines focusing on the character’s sexuality. The network defended the show’s treatment of Simone’s sexuality as a serious commentary on the topic. Simone is the youngest daughter of Eve Russell and T. C. Russell, and the younger sister of Whitney Russell. Her early appearances center on her love triangle with Chad Harris-Crane and her sister Whitney; the character later gains more prominence on the Show through her experience coming out as lesbian.
She is the first African-American lesbian on daytime television and daytime television’s first female lesbian in the history of daytime soap operas. The role was created as a part of the Show’s effort to represent a complete African- American family and fully realizedAfrican-American characters on television. The exact reasons behind Cardwell’s departure remain unknown; Pharris chose to leave to pursue other acting opportunities. Doe was the third and final actress to play Simone before the character was written off the show shortly before its transition to Direc TV. She said that her time on Passions helped her to realize that her occupation as an actress could be used as a platform to advocate for Christianity. She also said that she used her father’s temper as inspiration for her performance. She described the character as a “daredevil teen” and referred to the role as ‘daredevil’ to Josey to refer to her older sister Whitney as a “bitchy toy to her”. She has said that the role of Simone helped her realize that she could be a role model for young girls.
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This page is based on the article Simone Russell published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 04, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
