Dawn Wells: ''There's a lot of me in [Mary Ann].''
Mary Ann was the dream girl; Dawn Wells was the wonderful reality.
One of the most important questions that anyone can ask you is, Are you team Ginger or team Mary Ann? It’s a question that’s plagued our society since Gilligan’s Island premiered, and I’m not sure there’s any way to settle it over fifty years since the last episode aired. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t let Mary Ann say her piece.
In an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Wells explained part of what she believed to be the difference between Ginger and Mary Ann.
She said, “Mary Ann would be the one that you would trust. She’d be kind to you. You could take her to the prom, or if she turned you down, she’d still be your friend, where you might be a little terrified to approach a Ginger because she was so much more worldly than you.”
Speaking of working with Ginger’s actress, Tina Louise, Wells said, “It wasn’t really difficult for me. Tina had been in several movies and everything and was quite a big sex symbol, but we were never in competition or anything. We weren’t real buddies. We didn’t pal around together. But I don’t think Tina and I ever had any words about anything.”
Important in the Ginger versus Mary Ann debate is that Wells feels that Mary Ann is, at least in part, a reflection of herself. She said, “I think there’s a lot of me in [Mary Ann]. She’s a nice girl. She was principled. And I think that’s part of me, I hope.”
As for the actual debate, Wells was asked in The Times if the whole “Ginger or Mary Ann” debate offended her. Her response? Not at all. She said, “No! It doesn’t offend me. Because from what I’ve heard, I usually win!”
So let's hear it. Are you team Ginger, or team Mary Ann?