[Lottida]

Sarah Michelle Gellar as Kendall Hart (March 1993 - July 1995)
Welcome to the 2nd Kendall Hart Appreciation Thread!

The Story

Kendall Hart always knew she never fit in and was meant for more than the average life in Florida, where she is raised by her adoptive parents, Bill and Alice Hart. Though loving, the Harts keep her adoption a secret from Kendall and, as a child, she learns she was adopted when she overhears them discussing it. Having felt displaced all her life, Kendall unseals her adoption papers where she learns her lifelong idol is her birth mother, Erica Kane. Longing for her approval, Kendall arrives in Pine Valley as a teenage runaway but keeps her true identity as Erica’s daughter a secret at first. Erica hires Kendall as her personal assistant. Mona, Erica's mother, recognizes a birthmark on Kendall’s neck and realizes Kendall is Erica’s baby girl she had Erica give up for adoption to the Harts after she had held Kendall as a baby. Mona secretly reveals to her friend, Nick, that Erica was raped on her 14th birthday by movie actor Richard Fields. Meanwhile, Kendall reveals to Myrtle that Erica is her mother and begs Myrtle to keep her secret. She only wants to be Erica’s daughter and to tell her the truth on her own time. Being jealous of the attention her half-sister Bianca Montgomery receives after a horse riding accident, Kendall reveals the truth to Erica and Erica welcomes Kendall into her life as her daughter.

Reaching out to Kendall, Erica invites her to live with her and they work on their mother-daughter relationship. Kendall and the other Kane women celebrate Erica’s marriage to Dimitri. They all work to grow as a family. Kendall and Bianca bicker, each feeling jealous of the attention the other sister receives from Erica. Bianca destroys Kendall’s bridesmaid dress and Kendall manipulates Bianca, ignoring her sister’s calls when Bianca locks herself inside a crypt until she reveals her sister's location. As Kendall and Erica work on their relationship, Kendall later wonders who her biological father might be. Erica tries to protect an unaware Kendall from the painful truth of who he was but, after Kendall begs to know, she reluctantly reveals it, distressing Kendall. Despite promises to drop the subject and repeated warnings from Erica against finding him, Kendall decides she needs to confront her biological father and resolves to find him. Her step-father, Dimitri, offers to help Kendall find him and Kendall develops a crush on her step-father. When they find Richard Fields, he deceives Kendall by lying to her that he never raped her mother and spins a fairytale version of that night. Kendall, desperate to believe she was not conceived in rape, makes herself believe him. When Erica learns that Kendall went against her warnings about Fields and her husband helped her daughter find him, she is furious and leaves Wildwind, demanding a divorce from Dimitri.

Weeks later, when Alice calls Kendall and asks her to return to Florida, Kendall asks Erica for another chance. Erica gently implores her daughter to stop hurting herself and return to the Harts after explaining that, despite her efforts, she can no longer try to be the fantasy mother Kendall dreamed her to be. Kendall is shattered by this and unsuccessfully attempts to seduce her step-father, having mistaken his paternal feelings for her as attraction. Dimitri explains he only loved her as a daughter. After he rejects her, Kendall is distraught and turns to her friend, a medical student from Hungary named Anton Lang, to talk. She loses her virginity to him that night when they sleep together. Upset by the possibility of being pregnant, Kendall goes to her mother the next morning and says Dimitri raped her. Enraged, Erica accuses Dimitri of raping her daughter and, overcome with memories of her own rape, stabs him with a letter opener believing him to be Fields.

When Erica’s trial for stabbing Dimitri comes around, Kendall is called as a witness. On the stand, Kendall lashed out at Erica. She incriminates her mother by saying she stabbed Dimitri out of jealousy because of the attention Dimitri had showered on her. Kendall falsely tells the jury the only thing she told Erica was that she had unprotected sex with Anton and was scared that she was pregnant. However, after Kendall brings Fields into her life in Pine Valley (believing his lies that he is not dangerous, loves her, and she is unable to accept people trying to caution her against him), she is horrified to catch him trying to molest her sister and stops him, saving Bianca before any assault occurs. Devastated to accept Fields raped her mother, Kendall turns against him and apologizes to Erica. She recants her former testimony. The DA charges her with perjury and Kendall is sentenced to 30 days in a minimum security prison, where she has the most unlikely of cellmates: Janet Green.

Not knowing who Janet really is, Kendall fills her in on all that happened in Pine Valley and, though she is upset at first when she learns who Janet really is, the two become friends. Anton proposes to Kendall while she is in jail and Kendall accepts. However, when a writer named Del Henry proposes the idea of a tell-all book about her mother to Kendall, Anton threatens to call of their engagement if she continues to scheme. Dimitri learns Anton is his son but keeps this secret. Upon Kendall’s release, she and Anton return to Wildwind where they find Julia. Kendall and Julia begin a rivalry over Anton. Dimitri hires Kendall as his assistant on the condition she stop her schemes against her mother. However, Kendall is hurt over her relationship with Erica and secretly agrees to write the book about her mother with Del.

Kendall realizes Janet is going by an alias around town in an attempt to be with her daughter, Amanda. Janet confronts Kendall, fearful that she would break her cover. Janet asked Kendall to promise to never tell anyone about her disguise and explains her love for Amanda. Kendall promises. She told Janet she would never do anything to separate a mother from her child, wanting a close relationship with her own mother, Erica. The two become close friends.

When Kendall's grandmother, Mona Kane Tyler dies, Kendall is deeply affected and attempted to pay her respects, only to be confronted by Erica, who mistakenly believes that Kendall is faking her grief and had come to cause a scene. Despite Kendall's heartfelt confessions, Erica orders her to leave. Later, when visiting Mona's grave, Kendall gets into another argument with Dimitri, which climaxes when Kendall demands to know why he still protects Erica after she stabbed him. Kendall resumes sabotaging her mother’s relationship with Dimitri and continues her work on the tell-all book with Del. When Del gets sick, Kendall supports him and they become friends. However, the book is discovered later that month. Anton leaves Kendall.

Frustrated, Kendall tries a few ways to get Anton back, including faking a pregnancy and faking a suicide attempt. This fails so Janet tells Kendall she should lie to Anton that Dimitri is his father. When Kendall tells this “lie” to Anton, Anton doesn’t believe her and repeats it to Dimitri. Dimitri confirms he is Anton’s father. Furious, Anton finds Kendall and they marry to get revenge on their respective parents. Dimitri disowns Anton over his marriage. Anton’s mother, Corvina, talks Kendall into stealing a letter claiming Dimitri and Corvina were switched at birth. This would make Corvina, Anton, and (by marriage) Kendall the heirs to the Marick fortune. They find the leopard, supposed to contain the letter, empty so they forge the documents themselves and plant it at Wildwind. When the plot is discovered, Anton ends his marriage to Kendall.

Del and Kendall’s friendship blossoms into a romance. Always believing in Kendall’s goodness, he helps her to let go of her anger at Erica and the Harts. Kendall is devastated when her father, Bill Hart, dies of a heart attack. She decides to return to Florida to be with Alice, and Del asks to go with her. Before Kendall leaves, she apologizes to Erica and mother and daughter make peace. Erica forgives Kendall and gives her Mona’s ring, hugging her as she wishes Kendall to be happy. Kendall returns in early 2002 under a new actress, Alicia Minshew.

Kendall Quotes

Kendall: I didn’t mean to cause trouble. Honest.

Kendall: I didn't want to hurt anyone. I just wanted them to accept me.

Kendall (to Erica): You got here pretty quickly. Your broom stick must be turbo-charged.

Kendall (to Dimitri): I'm the little gift from God she never told you about. I'm her first born.

Kendall: You put it in the paper that I’m your daughter.
Erica: I did. Is that alright with you?
Kendall: Thank-you! I will never forget this as long as I live.

(Kendall complains to Erica about Anton)
Kendall: He's always following me! Every time I turn around or go outside, he's on my heels! The garden, the stables, he's always there, gawking, asking millions of questions! It's just unnatural!
Anton: She's imagining things!
Kendall: I was in the kitchen, minding my own business-
Anton: I wanted coffee!
Kendall: Yes, he drinks gallons of coffee so he can stay awake all night so he can shadow me!
Erica: I have a great idea! Let’s all go get some de-caf.

Kendall to Erica: I’m not going anywhere. If you don’t want me here you’re going to have to throw me out.

Kendall to Edmund: Am I so terrible for wanting to grieve for one of the only people who ever loved me?!

Kendall (about Erica): I'm ready to drive the final nail in her coffin.

Kendall (to Del): I count, Del, and I won’t be overlooked or ignored. People are going to stop and listen to me. For once in my life, I am going to be the center of attention. When that happens, I can stop living in my mother’s shadow and finally get on with my life.

(Kendall is upset to hear about Erica’s accident but bumps into Noah on the way to her room)
Kendall: You, an orderly? You, up to your dreads in bed-pans. How very perfect.
Noah: Shedding tears over your mama ain't dulled your fork tongue.

Kendall (in her apology letter to Erica): Maybe that same little voice inside me is the same one you heard when you were my age and that same voice driving you to be the best you can be is the same one driving me to be the best I can be.

Kendall to Del (after she and Erica make peace): She forgives me. My mother forgives me.

Sarah Michelle Gellar on her AMC Days

"I chose to see Kendall as misunderstood, which was how, as an actress, I justified her actions - and I did.“ (Teen Queen; Soap Opera Digest, 1994)

“She loves Anton because he takes care of her, but I think deep down she knows she doesn’t love him the way she should. She’d like to experience that mad, passionate chemistry. More than anything, Kendall wants Erica to love her.” (Daytime’s Hottest Young Stars; Soap Opera Magazine, 1994)

"I didn't know when I auditioned for Kendall that she would turn out to be who she is. I had heard rumors, but everybody was denying it. Besides, I was scared enough just to be working with Susan and then when they told me I would be playing her daughter, I was like, 'What? Daughter? Me?' I remember on my first day when I walked into the rehearsal hall, Susan and Michael were rehearsing a scene. I was very nervous. I kept thinking, 'What if I'm really bad and they fire me?' I just snuck in the back and tried to blend in with the coffee machine, when all of a sudden, Susan said, 'Hold it, we need to stop for a minute. Then she walked over to me and said, 'Congratulations! I'm very glad you're here.' She put her arm around me and said, 'Don't worry, nobody bites.' And then she introduced me to everyone who was there. She really did help me and always made sure I was okay during my first couple of weeks when I was still unsettled. Both Susan and Michael made me feel comfortable." (Learning Life’s Lessons; Daytime TV, 1993)

“They (the fans) have a good time with (Kendall). They say Kendall is a young Erica, but I don’t remember a young Erica: I wasn’t born yet. I do know that Kendall and Erica are both very headstrong, very determined and very self-centered. I think they’re very much alike.” (Soap Opera Digest, 1994)

"I think that's what's the most fun about (Kendall). She's unpredictable, and it allows me to play different aspects of her. She's weak, she's strong, she needs men, she doesn't need men." (Star of the Year, 1994: AMC’s Sarah Michelle Gellar; Soap Opera Magazine, 1995)

"I was on All My Children while trying to graduate high school."

"I seduced my stepfather, and when he wouldn't sleep with me, I slept with the stable boy, cried rape, and my mother stabbed him with a letter opener. Then I went to jail for perjury, burned my parents' divorce papers, and locked up my little sister. I think that was all in the first week." (Buffy is Sweet, 16, and Slaying Vampires; The New York Times, 1997)

Fans on SMG as Kendall

"Sarah is a Genius Actress. I love her forever!" -- Rainbow8Skull6Girl9

"The original Kendall! LOVED SMG when she was on AMC and I could never get into the character of Kendall again after she left." -- canegirl09

"I loved SMG in this role and I was crazy about her relationship with Del." -- andemcbeal

"I miss SMG as Kendall. I loved Sarah as Kendall. She is the best Kendall." -- Youttubi

"But no one, no one will ever play Kendall like SMG. There is no question! She can play a bitch like nobody's business!! Alicia is good but Sarah is by far better!" -- MEE051677

“Oh I loved her as Kendall. She was so great, not to mention - preeetty girl” -- Taake

“I loved SMG as Kendall Hart, so glad she was on AMC when the writing was top notch.” -- Sunnydale Siren

“Sarah (Kendall) NEVER botched her dialogue on AMC (unlike most others).” -- desertshore

“The current Kendall is fine, but for my money Sarah Michelle Gellar will always be THE Kendall.
I'll never forget when she came on that show for the first time. She stole scenes from Susan Lucci, and that's hard to do.” -- nickbigd

Links

Kendall Comes to Pine Valley - 1993
Erica Learns Kendall is Her Daughter - 1993 (Part 1/5) part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5
After Kendall Tells Erica She is Her Daughter - 1993, part 2
Erica Calls Kendall's Adoptive Parents - 1993
The Harts Visit Pine Valley/Kendall Tries Running Away - 1993 (Part 1/2), part 2
Kendall, Bianca, the Bridesmaids Dress & Pre-Wedding - 1993 (Part 1/4), part 2, part 3, part 4
Kendall Motivates Bianca Into a Crypt - 1993
Kendall Saves Bianca from Richard Fields - 1994
Kendall & Anton - 1994
Kendall at the Erica's Trial - 1994 (Part 1/2), part 2
Kendall Crashes Mona's Funeral -1994
Kendall & Del - 1994
Kendall & Edmund - 1994
Kendall Threatens Suicide to Anton - 1994
Kendall & Anton Discuss Dimitri - 1995
YouTube - Kendall and Erica’s Farewell - 1995 (Part 1/2), part 2

Trivia

Michelle Trachtenberg met Sarah years before playing Buffy's little sister Dawn. Michelle was Lily Montgomery.

Rudolf Martin was Anton, Kendall's lover and first husband years before trying to seduce/sire Buffy as Dracula.

Julie Benz (Darla, BtVS/AtS) auditioned for the roles of Kendall & Buffy but lost out to SMG with both.

In the S7 BtVS episode Conversations With Dead People Buffy (Sarah) confesses her personal life to Holden Webster and then apologizes saying, "I didn't mean to get all All My Children on you."

Her former Swans Crossing costar Shane McDermott time on AMC overlapped and they were in three episodes together.

When Kendall was brought back in 2002 Sarah sent Alicia (the new Kendall) a basket of cookies and cakes with a note that said "Congratulations. You're doing a good job".

Sarah is the Godmother of Eva's (Maria) child and Eva is the Godmother of Sarah's daughter.

Awards and Nominations for Sarah Michelle Gellar as Kendall

1994 nominated - Young Artist Award Best Youth Actress in a Soap Opera
1994 nominated - Daytime Emmy Award Oustanding Younger Leading Actress in a Drama Series
1995 nominated - Young Artist Award Best Youth Actress in a Soap Opera
1995 won - Daytime Emmy Award Oustanding Younger Leading Actress in a Drama Series

Future Thread Titles:

b/c She is Erica Kane's first born daughter
b/c She was called the “second coming” of Erica
b/c Before Alicia Minshew, there was Sarah Michelle Gellar!
b/c Pine Valley was never the same once she decided to call it home
b/c A decade later people are still ripping off her “assistant” scheme *Adele on TLW*
b/c If Dimitri was our stepfather, we’d try to seduce him too
b/c At least there weren’t any vamps in the crypt she locked Bianca in
b/c She deserved to say goodbye to Mona!
b/c She has street cred! She served 30 days for lying under oath.
b/c When Dimitri didn’t bite, she let Anton (Dracula) seek his teeth in her
b/c She gets in more trouble each week than we do each year
b/c Kendall got SMG nominated for an Emmy not once, but twice
b/c She was called "The Next Susan Lucci" within a year of joining AMC

The Fans:

1. wilywiccan 2. Jaime Bee 3. I love Jenna Jameson 4. Burning up the Sun
5. Melanie Erdelyi 6. True Daisy Lover 7. BuffySMGfan26 8. Mischalicious
9. Issa 10. Nerenafan 11. tootynfrooty 12 Josie2288 13 Lottida 14. Baelfire24
15. BlackWhiteRose 16. twilightfan14 17. quin611

(If you want to be on the list, just ask)

[wilywiccan]

I love what you did with the OP!

2nd thread! Yay!

[Jaime Bee]

The OP!

[Lottida]

Thanks! I hope you guys like it!!

[~AnastasiaGrey~]

Originally Posted by Lottida (View Post) Thanks! I hope you guys like it!!

We do thanks

[wilywiccan]

I want a pair of those angel earrings and my ears aren't even pierced.

Staring at all the pics really makes me want a season with a brunette Buffy.

You changed the thread title. You didn't like the one you came up with anymore?

Since I'm marathoning The X Files, suddenly wondering what AMC would've been like if it were paranormal. But not like Passions!

[Lottida]

Originally Posted by ~TwilighterTee~ We do thanks

Thank-you!

Originally Posted by wilywiccan (View Post) You changed the thread title. You didn't like the one you came up with anymore?

I don't recall changing the thread title - I believe I proposed this one from the great selection of choices in the first thread? (Unless you mean shortening "Appreciation" to "App."?)

I love those angel earrings too and I think SMG is so pretty as a brunette! I also *love* X-Files

[BlackWhiteRose]

I never watched that show.
But its a good one right?

[wilywiccan]

I don't recall changing the thread title - I believe I proposed this one from the great selection of choices in the first thread?

Oh, I could've sworn you came up with a title and we agreed it would be the next one. Alls good though. I came up with the one being used!

I never watched that show. But its a good one right?

The X Files is a great series. A little slow paced and the clothing and some of the hair styles are atrocious but incredibly creepy, respectful of other cultures, and Dana Scully is such a role model (doctor/surgeon/former med professor, fbi agent, always rational but open minded, brave, etc.) The series deals a lot with government conspiracies but the individual episodes deal with everything from alien abductions, vampires, cannibalism, parasitic worms, shapeshifters, firestarters, possession, hauntings, cloning, zombies, feral people, djin, time travel, Bermuda triangle, the list goes on.

[Lottida]

Originally Posted by wilywiccan (View Post) Oh, I could've sworn you came up with a title and we agreed it would be the next one. Alls good though. I came up with the one being used! .

Yes, you did, and no title could be more perfect!!!

100% agreed on the X-Files love!

[BlackWhiteRose]

I was talking about All My Children because this thread is about the character Kendall Hart.

[Lottida]

Originally Posted by BlackWhiteRose (View Post) I was talking about All My Children because this thread is about the character Kendall Hart.

Oh! Yes. It was a long-running soap which ran from 1970 to 2011. Like many long-running shows (and soaps), it had its ups and downs Overall, it was one of my favourites. I think the other soap operas I watched on and off were Days and General Hospital. Days definitely had a more paranormal feeling to it sometimes!

[~AnastasiaGrey~]

Originally Posted by Lottida (View Post) Oh! Yes. It was a long-running soap which ran from 1970 to 2011. Like many long-running shows (and soaps), it had its ups and downs Overall, it was one of my favourites. I think the other soap operas I watched on and off were Days and General Hospital. Days definitely had a more paranormal feeling to it sometimes!

I also watched AMC

[wilywiccan]

There are some AMC storylines that have stuck with me no matter how many years pass. For instance, the plane crash that killed all but 4 people with Maria trapped in her seat as it descends off a cliff. And Princess Gillian being murdered and her spirit only accepting it when she finds out someone received her heart in an organ transplant. And Jake trying to sue for custody of Colby despite the fact he was just the sperm donor.

I would not want to ever give birth in Pine Valley. They always had things like someone forging paternity or switching babies or kidnapping or telling the biological mom the baby died when it didn't.

[~AnastasiaGrey~]

Originally Posted by wilywiccan (View Post) There are some AMC storylines that have stuck with me no matter how many years pass. For instance, the plane crash that killed all but 4 people with Maria trapped in her seat as it descends off a cliff. And Princess Gillian being murdered and her spirit only accepting it when she finds out someone received her heart in an organ transplant. And Jake trying to sue for custody of Colby despite the fact he was just the sperm donor. I would not want to ever give birth in Pine Valley. They always had things like someone forging paternity or switching babies or kidnapping or telling the biological mom the baby died when it didn't.

Aww I remember those storylines