Eve Plumb had to channel her inner Jan Brady for The Brady Brides
Eve Plumb was once the sassy 10-year-old Jan Brady on The Brady Bunch, a series that ran from 1969 to 1974, before reappearing all grown up on the 1981 show The Brady Brides.
The Brady Bunch served as a launchpad for Plumb's career, helping to propel her to stardom over the course of five seasons. The sitcom was incredibly popular, often reaching the top of the Nielsen ratings alongside other hit series.
Even after The Brady Bunch ended, the show’s creator found ways to keep the family together through reunions and spin-offs, including The Brady Bunch Variety Hour and, of course, The Brady Brides.
This time, The Brady Brides focused on the two oldest Brady girls, Jan and Marcia, played by Plumb and Maureen McCormick. The popularity of The Brady Bunch helped push The Brady Brides into the spotlight, as the original show remained one of the most widely syndicated series in reruns.
See Also
"It's never been off the tube in Los Angeles," Plumb said in a 1981 interview with The Saginaw News. "In most places it runs five days a week. Naturally, I was surprised when they approached me to play Jan again. I debated with myself whether I should or shouldn't. But it was such a new contemporary idea that I decided to go ahead."
The Brady Brides follows the life of Jan and Marcia as they navigate married life. In the show, Jan marries Philip Covington III, while Marcia marries Wally Logan. The premise is based on the contrast between the sisters' marriages and their spouses’ clashing personalities.
According to the interview, Plumb had lost touch with Maureen McCormick and other members of her fictional family from The Brady Bunch during her eight-year hiatus from the series. The Brady Brides marked one of her first times seeing her on-screen sister in years.
"Acting is a funny business," Plumb said. "When you're doing a series, everyone is like family. You become really close. Then when the show is over you go your separate ways. When you work together, it's like picking up the threads of friendship right where you left off."
She said she always identified with her character as a kid, and one of the biggest challenges of playing the role as an adult was trying to break back into comedy after leaving it behind for quite some time. But she was Jan just as much as Jan was a part of her.
"Jan was a lot like me to begin with," Plumb said. "As a child I reacted to situations and people in the show just as I would in real life. Now, playing Jan at my age and with the experience I've had, I still don't detect any real divergence in the two of us. I think that's because they knew me as a child and they've built the older Jan around my character and personality so she fits me like a second skin."