Charlene Elizabeth Barrett is a character that got her start on the series, Resort, and is now on Harpers Falls. She was originated by McKenzie Westmore, who plays Caitlyn Donaldson on HF. She is currently played by actress/producer Francesca James, who was best known for her role of Kitty Shea and her twin sister, Kelly Cole Tyler on the long-running All My Children.
"At first, I wasn't sure what to make of this role," Francesca smiled, "because of all the unknowns of her, but once Albert and I talked, and we discussed her history, especially the fights she has with her birth sister, Jennifer, then we realized that Charlene was the stable one, while Jennifer was always reckless and vindictive. The contrasts between the two sisters brings a bit of the overarching theme of Love of Life, when it was in its prime. The theme of good sister-bad sister and I am looking forward to it.
Jennifer's more sensible sister[]
If Jennifer Barrett is the Barrett daughter who is constantly smearing the family with bad press and her troublemaking idiocy, then Charlene Barrett is the total flipside.
Unlike her reckless and more antagonistic sister, Charlene is more sensible and family minded. She was born in Los Angeles, California, the older of two daughters of John and Barbara Barrett. When their later in life daughter, Jennifer was born, they tended to spoil her rotten. A fact that Charlene didn't seem to mind, because her sensibility made her more prone to be pragmatic.
While Jennifer made millions with her modeling, Charlene went into a sensible marriage when she turned twenty five, but the marriage didn't last long (he died) and he left her the full of his fortune, so she herself is quite wealthy.
From her marriage until 2008, she had lived in Seattle, Washington, running her late husband's company. When the time came for her to sell, she did, and flush with her money and her late husband's fortune, she moved to Orlando, Florida, where her ex-brother in law, Aaron Atherton was living, after the violent breakup of his marriage to Jennifer.
In lieu of her sister, she became the mother figure that her nephew, Aidan needed. She got along with his adopted caregiver, Sarah Jo McArthur, and she was devastated when she died of cancer. However, happily, she was in attendance when Aaron and his husband, Rusty got married.
After returning to Seattle for a time, Charlene decided it was time to move to Boston. She had accumulated a goodly amount of money from the sale of her late husband's company, and she felt it was time for her to live and be happy.
Despite Jennifer's manipulations, she and her parents have a solid relationship and she gets along wonderfully with her stepmother, Marta, and she considers Marta's children, Shawn and Maranda Castwell as her siblings, moreso than she would Jennifer.
After hearing about the recent antics of her sister, thanks to Aaron, who had called her; Charlene decided it was time to make Jennifer realize who was the dominant in their family. With her parents blessing, she moves to Boston, and Jennifer's face turned white when she saw her older sister come to town. Also coming along was Maranda Castwell Barrett, her stepsister. Upon her arrival, Aaron made Charlene a partner in the Boston Bistro, which is sure to set Jennifer into a fury!
The hate that Charlene has for her spoiled brat younger sister has not been tamed by time, in fact, she hates her even more than ever, because Charlene is one of the few people who can stop Jennifer's bullying and is also one of the few people that Jennifer cannot push around.