Kate Walsh & Addison Montgomery—there’s no denying they’re very similar. After all, they share a body. But anyone who has spent the past seven years getting to know the two of them can tell them apart, even in pictures. After all, their expressions and body language are quite different. But distinguishing between the two seems to be a problem for people who haven’t taken the time to get to know them, and of course, for new fans. Recently I had an interesting & frustrating conversation with a friend that demonstrates this very fact.
“Kate Walsh,” my friend said quizzically. “Who is Kate Walsh?”
“She plays Dr. Addison Montgomery in Private Practice, on TV. You know, the gorgeous redheaded baby doctor? She started out in Grey’s Anatomy, remember?”
“Hmmm….”
“Addison pranced into the hospital and proceeded to break Meredith’s heart & cause shockwaves to ripple through the TV- viewing community by uttering, ‘You must be the woman who has been screwing my husband.’ Surely you have heard about that?”
“Ahhh yes! Red hair. Black dress. Sexy. Simply stunning. I think I saw a picture of her on the cover of a magazine this week. A nude photo. F’in hot!!!”
“A pic of who?”
“The sexy doctor!”
“That was a picture of Kate, not Addison.”
“Same diff…”
“Um, no. It isn’t. Kate and Addison are completely different. For one, Addison is not real. She’s a made-up TV character, and secondly, Kate is much more attractive and definitely less damaged emotionally than Addison!”
“Well they look the same to me. Kate IS Addison!!”
“Kate PLAYS Addison, I think you mean. Kate and Addison may share some characteristics, such as intelligence, beauty, ability to wear beautiful clothes, a huge shoe collection, great hair, amazingly expressive eyebrows, love of a glass of red, but there are a lot more differences than similarities!”
“Like what?”
“Kate has a really wicked sense of humour and loves to laugh. Addison is always depressed and all dark and twisty. Kate loves to eat potato chips and bacon and red velvet anything and cheeseburgers. Addison drinks green juice and plays with her food. Oh, but she did eat burgers recently – a little bit of Kate creeping in maybe? Anyway, Kate is very social and is always hosting parties, going out to events and rock concerts. Addison is either at the hospital or curled up on her deck, drinking alone, whilst wistfully gazing over at her douchey ex-boyfriend’s house. Kate exercises regularly, doing Pilates, pretending to jump around like a bunny in a park, and hikes with her dogs. Addison ran once.”
“But they still look alike…duh!”
“I don’t think so AT ALL! To me it is obvious when Kate is being Kate, and when she is playing the role of Addison. They may share the same gorgeous body, beautiful hair, etc, but it is the different personalities that make them look so different to me. Look at these pics, for example……"
(there are 4 more pic sets like this which I've previously posted here)
“……..Kate or Addison???”
“Ok, you got me. That would be Kate. She is absolutely gorgeous. But Addison isn’t too bad either!”
I smiled wryly.
Conversations like the above drive true Kate fans insane. We know the difference between our girl and the beloved, but increasingly relationship-crippled Addison. Kate is an actress, not a doctor, dammit!
