Secrets and lies, warring clans, a hidden pregnancy. They aren't just ingredients in your average daytime soap they're adventures in the real life of Brook Kerr. The Indianapoilis born actress, who convincingly plays teen sweetheart Whitney Russell on NBC's PASSIONS, says she's ready to share something even her closest pals on the set don't know: In real life she is a 26-year-old "married" woman with a 10-year-old son.
"I've lived a very real Romeo and Juliet story, but with a happy ending," says Kerr, who has decided to tell her tale before some tabloid tells it for her. It goes like this: At 14, she met and instantly fell in love with 16-year-old Christopher Warren. After a year of courting on the sly, they lost their virginity to each other. "I got pregnant the first time we had sex," says Kerr, "and was in such denial and fear that we hid the pregnancy for the whole nine months." (Kerr gained only 20 pounds and was able to hide it under bulky sweatshirts.) Right before she went into labor, the couple forged IDs to get "married" so she could be hospitalized without parental consent. They waited until Chris Jr. was born to break the news to their parents.
"Of course, they freaked," said Kerr. "There was already bad blood between our families. My mother wanted to keep us apart. Chris's family took control of the baby. Chris and I prayed a lot." One night, during a nasty fight between Warren and his mother, the teens fled with Chris Jr. and $19 and took shelter for a night in a cheap motel. After that, they lived in a car until Warren (who held down 2 dishwashing jobs and sold his plasma for extra cash) could get them and apartment.
"But through it all," says Warren, "we were very happy, because we were so in love and so committed to each other. we never gave up hope. It was truly a miracle. Other kids facing this kind of thing might have turned to drugs or prostitution." Instead, Warren self published a directory for Indianapolis businesses that proved very successful. By 1996 they were solvent enough to pursue their dreams (he wanted to act; she wanted to model), and moved to Hollywood.
Today, Warren whom Kerr has introduced to the PASSIONS cast as her "boyfriend" has a rising acting career of his own (guest shots on THE PRETENDER and MOESHA), as does Chris Jr. (Spike Lee's upcoming film "LOVE AND BASKETBALL").
"We are now at peace with our parents and the past," says Kerr, who considers herself married to Warren but plans to officially wed him sometime soon. She wants it clear that she "does not condone teen pregnancy. In no way am I ashamed, but I don't want people to think, 'Well, if Brook Kerr did it, so can I.'" Instead, she say, "I want people who find themselves in my situation or any rough situation to know that life is NOT over, that it IS possible to take on any obstacle God puts in front of you, and that love rules all."
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