Her trademark dimples and infectious smile captured our hearts every weekday afternoon in the 80s, first as the girlfriend and later wife of Jesse Hubbard (played by Darnell Williams). Angela "Angie" Baxter was Black America's sweetheart on the small screen. 

After two decades away from the cult soap opera, this North Carolina native is making a highly-anticipated return to Pine Valley on Friday, January 18th. Here, the fabulous fifty-something dishes on her budding love life, maintaining longevity as a Black actress and being a trailblazer.



Essence.com: So, I’m sure it’s surreal to go to work everyday after being away from All My Children after so long.



Debbi Morgan: Returning to the show was truly like coming home. A lot of the people from the crew are still here and some of them had tears in their eyes [when they saw me], saying 'Oh Debbi, it’s so good to have you back.'



Essence.com: Sadly, strong examples of Black love are rarely showcased on mainstream television. Did that void have anything to do with you returning to the show?



D.M.: A lot of variables impacted my return. As you get older the jobs start coming fewer and farther between. It was so nice to know that I would have [more] financial security. And the other half of that equation is I fell in love and the man lives in Maryland. Neither of us wanted a long distance relationship and I was 3,000 miles away. I moved to Maryland and [commute] to New York during the week. I guess God was saying that this union is really supposed to be. I feel so blessed.



Essence.com: Your life has changed so much since you were on the show 20 years ago. How do you balance your personal life and working on a soap opera that you tape everyday?



D.M.: Well, right now, we just really miss each other. My boyfriend is a technical engineer at Verizon. So all of this is just so foreign to him.



Essence.com: What does it feel like playing Angie again?



D.M.: I played her for a long time and she became such a part of me so it was just like stepping into a pair of comfortable old shoes. But I had forgotten how much of the medical jargon and terminology I had to know [laughs]. 



Essence.com: You were playing a young, Black, female doctor during a time when we just didn’t see them on the small screen.



D.M.: I specifically remember going to the executive producer at the time and being told that Angela was going to become a nurse. And I said, 'Why can’t she be a doctor? Why does she have to be a nurse?”' I don’t know that it would have happened had I not presented it to them.



Essence.com: How does it feel to be a trailblazer? What you and Darnell represented as this young Black supercouple was unheard of for daytime television in the 80s.



D.M.: People still talk about Angie and Jesse. Even though it’s great for Darnell and I, there should have been more. That was twenty years ago. Sometimes it feels like you take five steps forward and a hundred steps back.



Essence.com: You’ve appeared in iconic films like Eve’s Bayou and on successful prime-time shows such as Charmed. Which do you like better: film or TV?



D.M.: Daytime has a special place in my heart because like real life, it’s like a roller coaster and has it has ups and downs. Your character goes through so many transitions and evolves continuously.



Essence.com: Without giving too much away, what can our readers expect from this comeback?



D.M.: I think it’s gonna be exciting. He is supposed to be dead and when that turns out to be something else, there is so much drama. I don’t know exactly what has happened in Jesse’s past but whatever it is, I don’t think it’s gonna sit well with her.

Essence.com: You really don’t know the details, Debbi?



D.M.: I swear to you, I really don’t know. I do know that he’s not dead. He’s not a ghost. I have not been told why his death was faked. There’s a part of me that doesn’t want to know so when we play the scene, it will be spontaneous.

Essence.com: Do you have any words of advice for young actors or actresses of color?

D.M.: My advice has not changed at all throughout my career because Hollywood has not changed that much for us. This [entertainment] world is a crap shoot. I never try to get anyone to forgo his or her passion but you better have something to fall back on.

Photo Credit: Steve Fenn/ABC