“I’m proud to be part of Supanova,” Wells says. “Our country has being doing this for a while. When you were on TV all those years ago, fans didn’t get to meet movie stars. And we were working so hard back then, we didn’t get to meet the fans. When you’ve been around as long as I have, you get to meet three generations. People bring their grandchildren to say hello. It’s a chance for me to connect with people.”
Interestingly, Wells’ career has merged with her passion for the culinary arts. “This one is Kitchen Creations – home recipes for my fans,” she says on her cookbook. “It’s easy cooking. You don’t have to spend five hours in the kitchen. The first one was island recipes; some recipes from the cast members. I’m half Italian and some of these recipes in Kitchen Creations came from my mother. She was a fantastic cook.”
Wells is proud of her long years with Gilligan’s Island. Admittedly, the show doesn’t offer the most complex characterisations or narratives. However, that’s not the point. “It brings joy to the world. Joy and love for fifty years,” says Wells. “A lot of people love it, and why should you not embrace that? It’s not about the role, but it’s the concept. That’s what’s sustained it over all this time, along with the great cast. You’ve got seven characters on an island together – how are they going to get along? What seven people would you want to be stranded on a remote island with? These characters have a hard time living together. They’ve not got one thing in common. It’s like families. The world is what you’re looking at.”
Wells says she’d like to venture it to more dramatic roles. “I like the idea of shocking you,” she reveals. “Shakespeare doesn’t interest me, but I’d like to do other drama. Comedy is always good. Rehearsal’s my favourite part of the process. It’s better than performing.”
Besides writing cook books and acting, Wells is constantly on the go with all sorts of projects. She is chairwoman of the Terry Lee Wells Foundation – focusing on women and children in Northern Nevada, and her other creative ventures include working as a producer, author, spokesperson, journalist, motivational speaker and teacher.
“In this business you’ve got to keep ahead of everything,” she declares. “I’ve got a couple of TV projects in development. I’m a traveller. I travel the world. I’ve been to the Solomon Islands and canoed there. And I paint. I get lost when I paint.”
Who inspires her? “Oh, a lot of people. Helen Mirren. Maya Angelou. When it comes to comedy, Lucille Ball.” Wells is inclined to be philosophical. “I want people to know I’ve lived a good life. That I’m productive and compassionate. Every day is important. Did you thank someone? Did you help someone? Did you make a difference? We’re all so busy with our own lives, but we do have an obligation to contribute something.” Ultimately, Wells wants to use her platform for positive causes.”If you’ve got the power and the opportunity to do so, then you should do something with it. You never know what’s around the corner. I have a cute story. My dad passed away about 30 years ago. I’ve done a lot of radio interviews and about three months ago I was doing an interview and I was talking about my father, how we were at the hospital when he died, but didn’t make it to his room in time. That day on the radio a phone call came in, from a woman who told me she’d been my dad’s nurse. She said, ‘He talked about you all the time.’” That came to me all those years later. You can’t give up. You can’t give in.”
BY LIZA DEZFOULI
