Ex-‘Bold and the Beautiful’ Actor Kim Matula Opens Up About Hope Recasting and What She Learned From Working on a Soap [Exclusive]
These days, Kim Matula is busy spreading holiday cheer in her recent Hallmark Channel movie Ghosts of Christmas Always. But many TV viewers will also recognize her as Hope in the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. Matula recently chatted with Showbiz Cheat Sheet about what it was like to see another actor step into Hope’s shoes and what she learned from her years working on the daytime soap.
Kim Matula says it’s ‘kind of weird’ to know someone else is playing Hope on ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’
Matula joined The Bold & the Beautiful in 2010 as an aged-up version of Hope Logan. (The character had previously been portrayed by various child actors.) The actor quickly became a fan favorite, but after roughly five years on the show, Matula decided it was time to move on. She exited the show in late 2014, though she did return briefly in 2015 and 2016.
With Matula out as Hope, the character left town – and B&B – for a time. She returned in early 2018, now played by Annika Noelle. Recastings aren’t unusual for soaps, but Matula did admit that it was a little strange to think about someone else playing Hope.
“So full disclosure, I have not watched it,” she said. “It’s kind of weird, actually, to see someone else, to know that someone else is playing that part. That character that I played went from the age of 8 to 8 overnight. I kind of originated the adult version of the role.”
But Matula knows that the Hope character is in good hands.
“I’ve met [Noelle] in real life and she’s just such a wonderful person and I know that she’s doing a great job with it and she’s making this part hers, and that is exactly what should be done with it,” Matula said.
What she learned from her time on soaps
The Bold and the Beautiful was one of Matula’s early roles. Her time on the soap was “a great learning experience,” she said. “Jumping in and doing a show and being in nearly every episode for five years,” she said. “It’s an incredible, incredible learning environment.”
One particular skill she perfected while playing Hope? The ability to cry on cue.
“So my character on the soap, I think, cried every other episode. I mean, my God, she was a real emotional girl,” Matula recalled. “So I got really good at like being able to make myself cry on cue.”
Since moving on from B&B, however, Matula has moved away from needing to turn on the waterworks at the drop of a hat.
“If I don’t feel it in the moment, if it’s not authentic, if it’s not true to the character and to the scene, I’m not doing it,” she said. “And I’m actually really glad about that because it has made my acting more honest.”
How ‘B&B’ changed her life
Working on a soap involved an intense schedule. But it also provided some amazing opportunities, Matula said.
“I got to go to so many beautiful places,” she said. “We’re the only soap that got to shoot in other countries. I got to shoot in Italy and France, Monte Carlo and Amsterdam, all these really wonderful places that just totally changed my life. That travel bug really sunk its teeth in because of that show.”
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