Sunday, December 04, 2005

Nip/Tuck: More on Kimber Henry...

Source

Here is a great article giving some insight on Kimber Henry (played by Kelly Carlson) via Ryan Murphy, the show's creator. Some of this information was new to me and the end of the article didnt make me too happy since I can't imagine not seeing Kimber in another Nip/Tuck episode.



The Character: It Wasn't True Love Until He Rebuilt Her Nose
Author: KATE AURTHUR

IN the series premiere of "Nip/Tuck" in 2003, Kimber (Kelly Carlson) got breast implants, abdominal liposuction, cheekbone enhancements and a nose job, at the suggestion of Dr. Christian Troy (Julian McMahon), a plastic surgeon who is one of the show's lead characters. The already beautiful Kimber thought - after a one-night stand with the womanizing, manipulative Christian - that getting the surgeries was the way into his heart. But when she didn't hear from him after the operations, she appeared at his office, hyperventilating so much that she blew out her stitches.
Ms. Carlson said she assumed that the single episode would be her only appearance on the FX series. "She's the pretty girl, a little bit of tragedy, she gets her heart broken," she said. "She's dumped and gone." But in this week's show (Tuesday at 10 p.m., Eastern and Pacific times ; 9, Central time), Kimber and Christian will move toward a more permanent partnership after two seasons of sporadic, twisted coupledom.

Ryan Murphy, the show's creator, said directing Ms. Carlson during her maniacal scene in the pilot changed the character's fate. "I remember coaching her through it while the cameras were rolling, telling her to breathe deeper and get more hysterical," he said. Ms. Carlson responded exactly as he had hoped, and Mr. Murphy paid her what might have been, in this context, the ultimate compliment. "I was so into Kelly and her performance that I got a nosebleed," he said.

So later in Season 1, he brought Kimber back, as Christian's girlfriend. "Nip/Tuck" is known for its elaborate, explicit sex, and Ms. Carlson and Mr. McMahon have engaged in near acrobatics. In one scene, while she pretended to be a prostitute, they had sex in his car, but she kept hitting her head on the roof. "I'm a model, not an actress," Kimber said to Christian. "This is totally uncomfortable."

"The sex was, at first, a hint unnerving," Ms. Carlson said. Mr. Murphy said: "There's a lot of nudity, there's a lot of vulnerability, there's a lot of sex as intimacy. Her stuff is hard."

But gimmicky sex was the least of Kimber's problems, once Christian betrayed her by trading her to another plastic surgeon for a Lamborghini. "Kimber Henry would make a perfect mother for my children," Dr. Merrill Bobolit (Joey Slotnick) proposed to Christian. "My DNA mixed with hers all but assures a blond Jew."

When she found out what Christian had done, Kimber tied him up and threatened him with a knife. "Cry for me!" she begged him. "Why couldn't you just love me?"

After leaving him, Kimber ended up with Merrill - the ultimate debasement - and a cocaine addiction. In an episode in Season 2, she dug through her purse on the floor of a restaurant bathroom, in search of leftover drugs. "You need to go to a place when you're performing a cocaine binge where you really don't care about yourself very much," Ms. Carlson said.

Kimber's habit eventually led her back to Christian - he reconstructed the nasal passages that her cocaine use had ravaged. In better health, she embarked on a successful career in pornography. By the end of Season 2, and now in Season 3, she is a mogul, and Ms. Carlson is now a series regular, no longer a guest. About Kimber's transformation, Mr. Murphy said: "It is fun to come up with those, 'What horrible thing can Kimber endure?' But more fun than thatis what she can overcome."

By "Nip/Tuck" standards, Kimber's relationship with Christian is stable. "They have the same faults," Ms. Carlson said. Mr. Murphy said, "She is the only woman that Christian Troy should really be with." But he warned viewers. "In typical fashion, it won't end well," he said with a laugh. "We can't have a happy ending on the show."



6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are we SURE Kimber is dead?

Mark Kruger said...

I don't think we can be sure she's dead. However, the note at the end of that article by Ryan Murphy suggests it might be true...

Anonymous said...

Hi Mark,

I remembered seeing the preview with Kimber saying "Do you miss me?" to Chritian. Is that an illusion or real?

Mark Kruger said...

rachel, I am pretty sure that was an illusion but that would be a wild twist if it were true...

I'm not sure how Kimber could just get on a plane all slashed and then be in a plane crash to top it all off.

Christian still has her on his mind and hopefully the illusion gets him to try and find her!

Anonymous said...

Like you, Kimber is my favorite character, I hope she's fine.

BTW, the site is getting cooler and cooler. Just checked your photo album, I really like it!

Mark Kruger said...

Thanks Rachel! :o) I keep adding new blog widgets and gadgets as I see them. I recently added the discussion board so we'll see how it goes. It's a good way to start other conversations and maybe just throw them into a blog post. Its also a nice way to get feedback to me outside of the blog comments.

The characters at the bottom of the blog are also new and very cool if I do say so myself. The images are courtesy of the FX Nip/Tuck Website. The countdown to the next episode in the upper left is also new :o)