Characterization
With Claudia debuting during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Brown noted in January 2008 that striking head writer Bob Guza had outlined the character beforehand. Brown previewed her role as the daughter of Anthony Zacchara, played by Bruce Weitz, that "has a soft spot, because she's being played by me. (Laughs) She's a very, very sexual woman. That's what I'm gathering. There are some really wonderful reasons for that. Like any tough cookie she's tough because she's really fragile, and she's really fragile because she has an Achille's heel." The strike ended a month after Brown started, and in December 2008 she acknowledged that the change in writers due to the strike had made Claudia "inconsistent" in that "half the things the writers had set up for me were changed ... you've made choices that don't work anymore and you're suddenly saying things that contradict what you did earlier."
Paired again with former co-star Maurice Benard (who plays Carly's ex- and Claudia's current husband Sonny Corinthos), Brown compared Claudia's dynamic with Sonny to Carly's:
Carly was a more outwardly insecure character who was always professing feelings of love and devotion to perfect strangers and people she identified with right away. She was more open, so she had much more drama on the table on a regular basis. Working with Maurice now, we want to keep things hidden under the surface, to make a bit more work for the audience to figure out what's going on. That's what they do in nighttime . It's more interesting when you're not spoon-fed.
Of the then-developing storyline that found Claudia trying to get pregnant by Sonny to protect herself from his wrath over her part in the shooting of his son Michael, Brown dismissed the idea that Claudia was "desperate":
"I refuse to play a needy woman who relies on a pregnancy to save her life. Trust me — it won’t go there ... it’s not why I signed on to this show again. And I don’t think Bob sees that kind of desperation in Claudia or myself. It’s not a road either of us are interested in traveling down. It’s also not what I do well. I like to think Claudia and I are a little more dimensional than that. Look, she ran the mafia in Italy with her uncle Rudy. She’s one of the guys. In many ways, she flourishes more in a man’s world than the men do ... Who wants to see a needy girl sit there, desperate for love from a man? There must be more dynamics in this relationship".
At that time she called Claudia and Sonny's relationship "sick and twisted," suggesting that "once Claudia has his baby, perhaps love will blossom, but right now, I don’t think there’s a lot of love there." She added, "I don’t think Claudia would behave this way if she was in love with Sonny. I’m holding out hope that they will fall in love and fans will see that journey on camera." Calling Claudia's hiring of the hit man who accidentally shot Michael "a stupid move on Claudia’s part," Brown noted that the character "feels very guilty over her actions." The actress also voiced her interest in seeing how the writers would get Claudia out of this situation and how Sonny would forgive her.
Read more about this topic: Claudia Zacchara