Soapy | Eileen Davidson's Enduring Superstardom | S3 EP10
CBS
0:00 Hello everybody.
0:01 Welcome to Soapie.
0:02 I'm Rebecca Buddy.
0:03 And I'm Greg Ricard.
0:04 Um, okay.
0:06 Okay.
0:07 Greg.
0:08 Okay.
0:09 Go ahead.
0:09 Are you having a stroke?
0:10 No, I'm good.
0:12 What do you think makes a soap opera legend?
0:16 Soap opera legend.
0:17 Not you.
0:18 Not you.
0:19 Well, you know, it's funny.
0:20 When we when we first launched this year podcast and we were doing some press,
0:23 we kept getting introduced as soap opera legends.
0:26 Well, people overuse that word and overuse iconic.
0:29 But I would say our guest today
0:32 is someone who without is legit a legend, right?
0:35 I think
0:37 she has been identifiable in this genre for decades for her beauty, her talent,
0:43 uh the fact that she has played iconic roles on three different soaps.
0:48 Yeah.
0:49 And I told you I'm like I I've been obsessed with her beauty.
0:52 I mean, and her acting actually um for years.
0:55 So, I was I'm just really excited to
0:58 Well, let's tell everybody who we're talking about.
1:00 The one, the only Eileen Davidson, who of course you know as Ashley Abbott
1:04 on the Young and the Restless as a plethora
1:06 of different characters on um Days of Our Lives
1:09 and also uh going way back to Santa Barbara
1:13 and recently of Beverly the Real House of Beverly Hills,
1:16 which isn't a soap, but not so many.
1:19 It's in the it's in family, I would say.
1:22 Yeah.
1:22 Well, it's going to be a really great interview, guys.
1:24 So, stick around.
1:25 We'll be right back with the lovely and amazing Eileen Davidson.
1:41 Well, I don't know.
1:41 Are you going to start or am I going to start?
1:44 Oh, Eileen.
1:45 Eileen Davidson is here, guys.
1:47 Welcome.
1:47 Welcome.
1:49 Do you want to introduce us?
1:52 Yeah.
1:51 We're doing things different today.
1:53 Um, we're so thrilled and honored to have you with us.
1:56 Oh, thank you.
1:56 I'm excited.
1:57 Thanks.
1:58 Um, I don't know where to start, but I have an idea.
2:01 Okay, go ahead.
2:01 No, go ahead because there's a lot I want to ask her about.
2:04 Okay.
2:05 I remember one of the first times I worked with you.
2:07 We were against the the front door at the Abbott mansion.
2:10 I think I remember.
2:10 And it was that weird those weird I'm sorry.
2:12 I'm jumping right in everybody.
2:14 Were you with Space Invaders?
2:15 They they block you where you're so close to each other.
2:18 I didn't know him.
2:18 And I'm in his face and I'm like,
2:20 "You've got gorgeous green eyes." I remember saying that to you.
2:23 You have the most remarkable green eyes.
2:25 Thanks.
2:25 And you have beautiful blue eyes.
2:27 That is not my first memory of you.
2:28 My memory of you is
2:31 I feel like Jesse was an infant and I just remember you being
2:36 Jesse is your son.
2:37 Yes.
2:37 Who's now almost 23.
2:39 Yeah.
2:39 That tracks.
2:40 Um
2:42 seriously,
2:42 I know you were on the show that long ago.
2:45 Yeah.
2:46 Yeah.
2:46 I know.
2:47 He looks like he's 12.
2:48 I don't like him very much.
2:49 That's crazy.
2:51 That's I started in 2003.
2:54 June 2003.
2:55 Okay.
2:55 He was a month old.
2:56 So that's wild.
2:57 He's brand new.
2:58 And I remember you being in hair and makeup with him and and probably
3:01 a caretaker to take care of him while you were on set.
3:04 A caretaker.
3:05 Yes.
3:05 A caretaker or take care of you.
3:08 I don't know.
3:08 Whoever
3:11 Yes.
3:11 My gardener is here to take care of my child.
3:16 Yeah.
3:15 Oh my god.
3:15 The caretaker.
3:17 I don't know, a nanny, whoever it was.
3:19 Uh that's that's my first memory of you.
3:21 Um
3:23 but yeah, we just jumped right into it.
3:25 Yeah.
3:25 And uh and you guys just met for the first time, right?
3:27 Well, I saw her passing in the hall.
3:29 Passing in the hall.
3:30 You were looking for what room they were putting
3:31 you in that day and I just remember thinking,
3:33 "Oh my god, she is so beautiful in person." So sweet.
3:37 Thank you.
3:38 I've always found you to be striking.
3:39 And you are an terrific actress.
3:41 But um you've taken breaks from here and there on YNR.
3:45 Yes.
3:45 Oh, yeah.
3:46 Yeah.
3:46 She's like, "Yeah, 10 years.
3:48 10 years here, 10 years there.
3:50 10 years there." Yeah.
3:52 Yeah.
3:52 But let's start at the beginning.
3:53 I know you're the youngest of seven, right?
3:55 And I'm the youngest of eight.
3:56 I was like, "Oh, wow." You know, you can't really understand that
4:00 until you're that, right?
4:02 Um what that what that means.
4:04 But um what
4:04 and and there's a 14-year gap.
4:06 Is that correct?
4:06 Between between me and my eldest brother, there was a 14 year.
4:10 And then my sister was 13 and 13 and then 12.
4:13 And
4:13 Oh, that's big.
4:14 Yeah.
4:14 And I had the same 14-year gap with my oldest brother as well.
4:18 Anyway,
4:19 um but you I know you grew up in California.
4:24 Yes, I did.
4:24 Yes.
4:25 And then you ended up in Hawaii at some point.
4:27 When I was 19.
4:28 When you were 19.
4:29 And you were like writing.
4:30 I was there for a couple months deciding what I wanted to do with my life.
4:33 I want to go into school back to school
4:36 and be a marine biologist or if I was going to give modeling a try.
4:39 And crazily enough, I found something going through like during CO,
4:43 I went through my closets and I found
4:44 something I'd written when I was 19 in Hawaii.
4:47 I think I'd just gotten back from Hawaii and I said,
4:49 "Oh my god, for the first time, I'm alone.
4:51 I don't really have a home with mom and dad anymore.
4:54 It's time for me to go.
4:54 I don't have an apartment yet.
4:56 I don't have a boyfriend.
4:57 It's just me.
4:58 I think I'm going to move to Los Angeles.
5:00 I've got a feeling." And I framed it like two weeks ago.
5:04 I framed I thought, "This is so crazy." A
5:06 I mean I had no reason to have that feeling by the way.
5:10 I had none except I done a little modeling in Newport Beach like bikini shows.
5:15 That was it.
5:16 And what did you do in Hawaii?
5:17 Were you pursuing
5:18 I had a girlfriend that lived there and I
5:20 went for two weeks and I stayed for two months on the Big Island or
5:24 on the on uh the north shore of Aahu.
5:26 Okay.
5:26 And back then, back in the stone age, uh we didn't have a car,
5:30 we did not have a TV, we had no phone, we had a little transistor radio.
5:36 And I literally, we'd have to go on the pay phone to call
5:38 my parents and let them know what was going on with me.
5:40 I ran out of money cuz I was staying so long.
5:42 So, I'd had a connection from Newport Beach that uh
5:46 knew the guy that did the photography for Crazy Shirts.
5:49 Do you guys know Crazy Shirts?
5:50 They're all the tourist stuff in every city.
5:53 The t-shirts.
5:54 He said, "If you need something, maybe you could go get a job there." So,
5:57 I called the guy on the pay phone.
5:59 I took the bus into Wik Ki,
6:02 which took literally two hours from the Northshore and I
6:04 got a modeling gig and earned my airfare back home.
6:08 Wow.
6:08 Anyway, that's a really long story for the Hawaii.
6:10 I'm so sorry.
6:10 We're going to be here for like two weeks.
6:12 Did you start?
6:14 Just hunker down.
6:15 Hunker down, Eileen.
6:16 Next day after.
6:19 Okay.
6:19 Wait.
6:19 So, okay.
6:20 So, then you COME BACK TO CALIFORNIA.
6:21 FASCINATING.
6:22 WAIT.
6:22 SO, YOU COME BACK TO LA.
6:23 So then what's the what what happens?
6:25 How do how do things start happening?
6:27 Really?
6:28 Okay.
6:28 No, I don't mean like the next day, but like
6:30 Yeah, we would like to know every single day when you came back.
6:33 I was a Nova.
6:34 Oh god.
6:36 Oh.
6:37 Uh I moved back in with my parents.
6:38 I I found of somebody uh another girl who was moving to LA.
6:43 She had a friend.
6:44 It was a guy.
6:45 It was two girls and a guy.
6:46 We lived in Los Angeles in West Hollywood.
6:51 And then I he oh I was modeling trying
6:53 to model even though that was never my destiny.
6:55 And he said you should take acting
6:56 classes to loosen you up for commercial acting.
6:58 Got it.
6:59 And I fell in love.
6:59 I cried like my first time.
7:01 I know.
7:01 I was destined for but never never before never like growing up.
7:05 Did you play?
7:07 Okay.
7:07 And the one line was and this is the Denfield living room.
7:10 I'll never forget it.
7:11 Everybody cheered.
7:12 It was all my family.
7:13 Oh my god.
7:14 It was all my family.
7:15 I know that feeling.
7:17 Like everyone here is my family.
7:18 The Davidsons are here.
7:19 Yeah.
7:21 So, okay.
7:21 So, um so when when did things start happening?
7:26 How soon after acting classes and
7:29 Yeah.
7:29 So, I was taking uh several acting classes.
7:32 I was actually cleaning the bathrooms of the school I went to
7:36 for classes because he'd give me like an extra class every month if
7:40 I cleaned the studio and the bathrooms and the toilets and the whole thing.
7:43 And um I was working in for my father
7:45 as well in Fullerton and taking dance classes and um
7:50 I quit my day job when I was 21 and I moved up there when I was not quite 20.
7:55 I was so lucky.
7:56 I started doing lowbudget movies,
7:57 a horror movie which you know well actually did not know
8:01 it well until this past week but um my husband had told
8:04 me you've got to watch House on Sorority Row and I
8:08 have since learned it is a huge cult favorite of Quinton Tarantino's.
8:13 It's mentioned in the original Scream movie,
8:17 right?
8:16 So, what amazes me most about that film um is,
8:21 and I said this to Rebecca earlier,
8:22 and I was trying to figure out the way to explain this,
8:26 that you're you're terrific in it.
8:28 You're 21.
8:29 Thank you.
8:29 Yeah.
8:31 And you are like, again, I hope this comes out the right way.
8:35 You're a fully formed, strong woman at 21.
8:40 Like, you are who you are today then.
8:43 And I was like,
8:44 oh god, no.
8:44 But they that's how that's how you you come across.
8:47 And I and it's funny because we had a little back and forth and you
8:50 said you didn't know that you can ask for a fake slap and you got so naive.
8:53 I was so incredibly stupid.
8:55 I was just a dumb.
8:57 But you were so good and you seem
8:59 so self-possessed and mature and that's what I was.
9:01 That's what it is.
9:02 I think you said like he said I see old old
9:05 videos of you acting when you're like 20 and I'm like oh
9:08 no.
9:08 I say there was there was a girl youthfulness there.
9:12 And then he said when I watch when he watched you um in this movie
9:16 that there's just a maturity like a like a real sense of self.
9:20 And did you not feel that at that age?
9:22 No.
9:23 Okay.
9:22 See if everything I just said.
9:24 No.
9:24 I mean, you know, I I really took it very seriously.
9:28 Maybe it was That's why I said slap me.
9:29 Go.
9:30 I told Kate McNeel, "Go ahead and slap me." Was she supposed to slap me?
9:34 Probably more.
9:34 Oh my god.
9:35 I was seeing stars.
9:36 I'm like, "Oh my god." But I wanted the reality.
9:39 I was a real actress and
9:41 you know I did a lot of things cuz I
9:43 wanted to be a real actress so I would just like
9:45 stabbed me with that thing for real.
9:47 Yeah.
9:47 I mean crazy stuff but yeah plus the director was great.
9:51 I just did for the first time I did like a horror con six months ago.
9:55 They asked me to do it for that
9:56 for the the remake.
9:57 There was a remake of it and they asked me to come and be on it.
9:59 I was there with the original director, Mark Rossman, and you know,
10:02 I had a little brief nudity in that movie and um there
10:06 was another scene that was supposed to be at it and I said,
10:09 "I'm really not comfortable." He goes, "Leave your shirt on.
10:11 It's okay." And I remember I was up on this panel and I said,
10:14 "Mark, you don't know what that meant to a 21-year-old actress
10:18 because it's just they wanted you to take your clothes off as much as possible.
10:21 I mean, they do.
10:22 They still do.
10:23 Always." Yeah.
10:23 So, it was just a really nice thing for him to do.
10:25 And he was a terrific director.
10:26 It holds its own a lot because of him and his vision.
10:29 and how much he believed in it.
10:30 Um, was anyone else from the movie there on the panel with you?
10:33 No.
10:34 Well, Kate is now she works with kids.
10:36 I think Kate McTill, she went on to do As the World Turns.
10:39 Oh, really?
10:39 And she had a really big um career in film and TV.
10:43 Um, and Harley Jane Kak was also in it.
10:46 Harley was on Texas and did Parenthood.
10:50 She had a big career, too, but they both kind of moved on to other things.
10:53 So, were you after when you were doing those low budget films,
10:56 were you kind of off and running?
10:58 Was was it sort of smooth sailing?
11:00 I got fired when I got house on sority where I was a waitress.
11:03 I was a server and I got fired because it was the second
11:05 movie I'd gotten in a couple months and the managers just said,
11:09 "If you're not going to stay here,
11:10 you got to go." And I just decided that was going to be my last day job.
11:13 I ran into him like a couple years ago.
11:16 Wow.
11:15 I said, "Thank you so much.
11:17 Thanks for firing me." Um, but yeah.
11:19 Oh my god.
11:20 How to randomly run into your old boss from a like a where where was it?
11:25 I know.
11:25 Well, my husband's ex-wife worked there, too.
11:27 So, he was like, "How's Betsy?" I'm like, "She's great."
11:30 That's a very, very small world, trust me.
11:32 Holy crap.
11:33 I know.
11:34 That is so funny.
11:35 I know.
11:35 So, what was your first soap opera then?
11:37 Was it Santa Barbara?
11:38 No, Wer.
11:39 Was it WR?
11:39 Wer was before Santa Barbara?
11:41 Yeah, I did win our Oh my god, your deep dive was so shallow.
11:44 Oh my god.
11:45 Oh my god.
11:45 Oh my god.
11:46 I love you.
11:47 I love you.
11:48 He's really shallow, isn't he?
11:50 You're shallow.
11:51 He doesn't know how to go deep.
11:52 I had such hopes for this interview.
11:54 Then I was prepped.
11:56 I just blew it all with um House and Sarity Row.
11:58 That's all I
11:59 spent six and a half years on WR in the 80s.
12:01 You missed the hair.
12:02 Oh my god.
12:04 Miss
12:04 I don't know why I thought Santa Barbara was before that.
12:07 No.
12:07 All right.
12:08 No, I was tell about that.
12:14 Yeah.
12:14 Had you watched soaps growing up?
12:15 You know, my sister I moved in with my sister when I was 16, 17.
12:19 I was her nanny when she had her kids and she was in love with Ryan Hope.
12:24 So, she got me hooked on Ryan's Hope, by the way, to get any kind of soap.
12:28 Ryan's Hope was brilliant.
12:29 Ryan's Hope was a very brilliant.
12:34 Yes.
12:33 I mean, that whole cast was incredible.
12:35 And the writing I know.
12:37 I remember.
12:38 I remember cuz I grew up, we had Ryan, wasn't it?
12:40 Ryan's Hope and All My Children, weren't they all on ABC?
12:44 But Ryan's Hope was like a half hour, I thought.
12:46 Yeah.
12:46 It was a good show.
12:47 So, that was like the show she watched.
12:48 So, I'd come home from school cuz I would
12:50 be done at noon and uh we'd watch that together.
12:52 And you know what else we do?
12:53 We'd play Pong.
12:55 You would?
12:55 Yeah.
12:55 Remember Pong?
12:57 Pong the Pong the video game was like the very first video game.
13:01 It's my sister.
13:02 Hey,
13:03 we watch soaps, played Pong, and we make pancakes and play Frisbee with him.
13:06 We were a couple of crazy kids.
13:08 That sounds hilarious and fun.
13:10 I went in on that.
13:11 Um, okay.
13:12 So, uh, we're digressing with, um, with what's his name?
13:15 Who played my dad on YNR who you worked with, too?
13:18 Um,
13:21 wow.
13:22 Wow.
13:22 I am so sorry.
13:23 You were supposed to do some homework for me.
13:26 Um, man, I'm on vacay on what?
13:29 Who?
13:29 Who played my Who?
13:31 Tom Fischer.
13:32 Okay, I know who you mean.
13:34 You do, right?
13:35 Yeah, but I can't I can't Oh my god.
13:38 Can we Google it?
13:39 I think we are right now.
13:42 GBT.
13:41 No, but he I know he worked on on Ryan's Hope before.
13:44 Yes.
13:44 Oh, yeah.
13:44 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yes.
13:46 Oh, yeah.
13:46 Tip of my tongue.
13:47 He's no longer with us.
13:48 No, he's not.
13:50 Can you take over?
13:50 I'm having I'm doing
13:51 We could talk about something else.
13:54 Rosco Borne.
13:54 Rosco Borne, who by the way was a terrific terrific actor.
13:57 Well, to I I meant to I was mentioning him because
13:59 when you talked about how great the actors from Ryan's Hope were,
14:02 he's obviously the first person I thought of
14:04 and you got to work with him on on Wine when
14:06 we were sort of quasi related for a minute, you and I.
14:10 Right.
14:10 Yeah.
14:11 With Tainted Face Cream and
14:14 Yeah.
14:13 Gloria and your dad and
14:15 Yeah.
14:15 Yeah.
14:15 There's a motorcycle in there somewhere, too.
14:17 I was with Tom the crazy guy, but whatever.
14:20 Yeah.
14:20 Ashley went motorcycle riding.
14:21 I remember.
14:22 So then what was that experience like to get a soap?
14:25 Like you know having sort of
14:26 I'm sure you remember.
14:27 You're so excited to work.
14:28 Yeah.
14:29 Yeah.
14:29 Well, yeah.
14:30 And also, but I watched the people when I
14:32 when I went to all my children at least, not guiding light per se,
14:35 but when I went to all my children,
14:36 I had watched all these people and I was like,
14:38 "Oh my god." Um, so it was kind of it was just Yeah.
14:42 I was excited to be there.
14:44 Yeah.
14:44 I mean, I I hadn't really watched Wine Art.
14:47 Um, I had been auditioning for General Hospital constantly
14:51 really before I got Winer.
14:52 Marvin Paige was a casting director at the time.
14:54 He was an incredible casting person,
14:57 the kind that would call you at home and tell you to come in the day before.
15:01 He'd work on it with you.
15:03 He was very gruff and he's scary.
15:05 He was very scary, but he would like work on it with me.
15:08 He really wanted me on that show.
15:11 And it was during it was right after the whole uh
15:14 Luke and Laura thing and they were right before Demi Demi
15:17 Moore came on and um it was right around that time
15:20 and he was really trying to get me on that show.
15:22 Did you audition for any roles that are still on that show?
15:25 I don't think so.
15:26 Not that are still on but big ones at the time.
15:30 Yeah.
15:29 I mean Yeah.
15:30 And then I got WR during that same time.
15:32 Who was the casting director at WR back then?
15:35 Man, are you stumped?
15:39 Oh,
15:38 I'm the guest.
15:42 Um,
15:43 this show is mean.
15:45 Should I send him out of this room?
15:47 Eileen, we can just hang out.
15:48 Speaking of casting directors, Tom.
15:50 His name was Tom.
15:51 It was a long time ago.
15:53 Wait, but speaking of casting directors, I I um asked Marne this morning,
15:57 I said, "Hey, do you have any good Eileen stories?"
15:58 I don't even have a Whis.
15:59 Oh my god.
16:00 Eileen I I Marne this morning said to me, I said,
16:03 "Do you have any good Eileen stories?" and she said,
16:05 "The first one that comes to mind is just
16:08 story
16:07 um is just that when you and your now husband Vinnie were on screen together,
16:11 just that your chemistry was incredible and so incredible
16:15 that you had to get married in real life."
16:17 Yeah, I know.
16:17 Crazy.
16:18 Yeah.
16:18 Yeah.
16:19 I think you just recently did a project together, didn't you?
16:21 Seven Days to We did that a few years ago.
16:24 Yeah.
16:25 Yeah.
16:25 I was I was shooting at the same time I
16:27 was doing Housewives and Wer and Days of Our Lives.
16:29 That's why I'm not working now.
16:30 I was doing a lot.
16:31 And you were writing because you also write, right?
16:33 Yeah.
16:34 So, it was busy.
16:35 Yeah.
16:36 How do you find like that must have been a bonkers time
16:39 because we know how hard it is with kids and families and
16:42 you you just you get really good at juggling
16:44 and I'm a very present parent as I'm sure you two are too.
16:47 You just
16:49 you don't do that.
16:50 You don't do this.
16:51 You I can do this that time, but I have to be here for that.
16:55 You just make it work.
16:56 Wait, so that was that was that was 2018, I think.
16:59 And and that was YinR days and housewives all at the same time.
17:03 Yeah, it was my last year on Housewives.
17:04 So, I was doing a lot of press for that.
17:06 And then Vinnie had this movie that was we were doing.
17:08 And you also had another movie that is this a film that you
17:11 wrote with your niece cuz I know you and your niece write together.
17:13 We're still pitching.
17:13 That was another one that was about to go and then his went first.
17:16 We had the same people producing it.
17:18 His went first and then by the time ours was supposed to go, they had lost.
17:22 They'd been uh pirated one of the movies.
17:25 So,
17:25 Oh, really?
17:25 It's a journey.
17:26 The whole writing thing is a journey.
17:28 Would you prefer to just write?
17:31 You know, that's a good question, Rebecca, because I thought so.
17:35 That felt pointed.
17:38 I didn't mean it that way, but you know, you thought so.
17:40 That's right.
17:40 Yeah.
17:41 Um, I did, but I really miss acting.
17:44 So, I've been kind of I miss acting.
17:46 I like it.
17:46 It's fun.
17:47 Do you like um acting in daytime or do you prefer to venture out and do
17:52 I like acting anywhere, but I like it to be I don't like long periods of acting,
17:57 you know, like short few months here.
18:00 The long contracts are a little overwhelming, but depends.
18:05 I don't like to say no to anything.
18:08 Yeah.
18:10 But
18:09 how did you like doing um The Housewives of Beverly Hills?
18:13 Okay, I'm just going to ask it.
18:16 Yeah.
18:15 Um how how did you like that experience doing a reality show?
18:19 It was so terrifying all the time,
18:22 but also fun and crazy and completely outside of my comfort zone.
18:26 And uh I don't have any regrets.
18:28 It's just been really interesting.
18:30 I just went to a party um a couple My stomach is growling.
18:34 Can you guys understand?
18:34 No, that was mine.
18:35 Oh, was it yours?
18:36 Was it mine?
18:37 I don't know.
18:38 Three of us.
18:39 We meet a pizza party.
18:40 My brain's not working out to get food.
18:42 I'm hungry.
18:44 Sorry.
18:44 Uh I just went to a party and it was so weird.
18:47 It felt really I hadn't seen anybody in years cuz once
18:49 I left I really kind of closed the door on it
18:53 and I just didn't every time I posted anything
18:55 on social media I kind of got dragged back into it.
18:58 So, I kind of had to just like not post anything
19:01 and I kind of just stayed very much away from it.
19:03 You didn't develop friendships that I did.
19:05 You did.
19:06 I did.
19:06 But after I kind of said, I really just need to stay away.
19:10 Yeah.
19:10 Um and then so I went back to the party.
19:12 It was good.
19:12 I saw Kyle Richards and I saw Erica and Denise and everybody
19:15 and it was fun to see everybody and not be in it, you know.
19:20 So, it was it's it's an interesting phenomenon.
19:24 Well, your your name also uh and I feel like Kyle
19:27 may have done a Bravo con recently where they said who would
19:31 you like to have back and she mentioned you because um
19:34 your name does sort of circle back as being someone who would
19:38 be uh who people really want to see on the show
19:40 again and my friend Sam who's a devout housewives fan says you
19:46 were she said I think the problem with Eileen was that she's
19:49 too classy for that show or maybe that you didn't need the
19:53 it it Sometimes when I watch it feels
19:55 like people are looking for that viral moment
19:58 and it did and you're a real person.
19:59 The beast the beast was a royal royal
20:02 a viral momental moment and and the slap and
20:06 and to your to your point how dare she
20:10 because a beast come on.
20:12 And who would ever look at you and call you a
20:14 you know whatever she wasn't well
20:16 whatever whatever but you know it's it's
20:18 the craziest thing is that um it's still very
20:22 much a part of culture I mean it's it's a huge thing it's morphed like you
20:27 asked me before if it was scripted it's
20:29 this everyone is produced by a different company
20:32 so they're not all yes there's evolution there's other ones
20:37 um this one definitely was they give you an idea what
20:39 they want you to accomplish in an evening and you know,
20:42 well, this this should happen, but they don't at that time.
20:45 I can't say how it's done now.
20:49 Yeah.
20:48 Um, but I had no idea I was going to get wine in my face.
20:51 I had I would have handled it much I would have handled
20:54 everything much better if these things hadn't happened the way they did.
20:58 Um, yeah, it's pretty crazy.
20:59 You really don't know what you're in for.
21:00 I didn't.
21:01 Do you think that those shows get more respect than soaps these days?
21:05 More respect.
21:06 I don't know if they get more respect.
21:07 Um, it's just a whole different thing.
21:11 People always ask me what's easier.
21:12 I'm like, "Scripted, of course." I mean, yeah.
21:15 Yeah.
21:15 Right.
21:15 Oh, yeah.
21:16 I can't even imagine.
21:17 But they're similar in so far as I think
21:19 people are tuning in to see the aspirational um
21:24 clothing and jewelry and all that just the sort
21:26 of these sort of luxurious lives that the
21:28 Right.
21:29 Well, I think there was there was a part where Lisa Vanderpump
21:31 actually I said I'd got had she asked me what I was driving.
21:33 I said a Ford Flex.
21:35 She had no idea what that was.
21:36 I drove that same car here, by the way.
21:39 I'm holding on to it just for, you know, because um but yeah, I know.
21:44 It's like 25 years old.
21:45 I don't know.
21:45 Whatever.
21:46 Um so,
21:47 and she didn't know what it was.
21:48 No idea what it was.
21:49 No.
21:50 Which is funny.
21:50 Like, is that new?
21:51 Is that a sports car?
21:53 Well, it's also funny.
21:54 It should be called like The Real Housewives of Greater
21:56 Los Angeles because Garcel lives in Porter Ranch, right?
21:59 You know, it's not exactly Beverly Hills, but it's again,
22:01 it's an aspirational thing in the same way that soaps are, right?
22:05 Yeah.
22:05 If you want to sort of make the connection.
22:06 Do you think that's something you'd ever go back to?
22:10 I I listen I learned a long time ago not to say never,
22:13 but I I don't I don't see it.
22:16 They asked me to come back for a few
22:19 last year, but I just the money and the whole thing wasn't worth the emotional
22:25 thing for me.
22:26 I I'm not cut out for it necessarily.
22:28 The one thing I learned I learned so many things.
22:30 I learned so many things about myself and so many things about human nature.
22:34 what people will do to be famous.
22:38 Yeah.
22:38 And I've been I've been doing this since I was 20, you know, but wow.
22:41 It's shocking.
22:42 It's really shocking to me.
22:44 It really matters a lot.
22:46 Matters a lot because you can have so much money.
22:48 Like I was always asking like the producer.
22:50 I'm like, would they really do something like
22:52 that just because they want to be relevant?
22:54 He's like, I mean, I couldn't fathom that that I can't go into details, but
22:59 yeah.
22:59 No, I
23:00 I would be the same way.
23:01 I find that I find that pretty fascinating and depressing.
23:05 Yeah, it was interesting.
23:06 You would be good on that show too though in the same way that you were
23:09 as the voice of reason and someone who's
23:10 not desperate for that viral moment, you know,
23:13 cuz you were part of a viral moment,
23:14 but you weren't the one who was creating the
23:17 course of course.
23:18 But again, if it's worked for you and it works
23:21 for a lot of them and they've made amazing lives out of it,
23:24 so how can you judge it?
23:26 It's just you it's got to be a very personal
23:27 thing because I wouldn't tell anybody not to do it.
23:29 Other people I know have been asked to do it.
23:31 I said I would never tell you not to do it ever.
23:34 Yeah, they
23:35 But you're gonna have to figure it out as you go.
23:36 Yeah, they asked a couple of uh actors at Days and um
23:40 one in particular was asking me about it and I was like,
23:44 I think you should do it.
23:45 I think that um she had concerns about professionally about her acting career
23:50 and I was like look at Garcel's never been busier.
23:53 It will not hurt you
23:54 in that capacity.
23:55 I don't think Yeah.
23:56 What about personally?
23:56 Like how how did your husband feel about it?
24:00 He was so funny about it.
24:01 You know, he supported me and whatever, but he
24:05 even my brother-in-law goes, "What's the big deal?" I'm like, "Oh my god,
24:09 you don't what?
24:10 What's you know, what's the problem?" I'm like, "Oh my god,
24:13 you don't have these people there throwing things at you." Um,
24:17 but you they don't He didn't really, you know,
24:19 he was fine with whatever I wanted to do.
24:20 He was hilarious.
24:21 He was out looking at the drama.
24:23 Did anybody see that picture of him?
24:25 He went out to the garage to get a beer.
24:27 Oh, yeah.
24:27 Yeah, I remember that.
24:28 And he's fighting.
24:29 You can see him in the window.
24:31 Brandy and Kyle are fighting in my driveway.
24:33 And there's my husband.
24:34 His nose is smashed against the glass.
24:37 And I'm I see them.
24:39 Michael,
24:39 I see what they're filming.
24:40 I run through the house and I go, "Hey, you're on TV right now.
24:45 You're being filmed with your nose smashed against
24:47 the glass." And did he just go okay stories back?
24:52 Oh my god, that is so funny.
24:54 But and but you said your kids your kids were
24:56 sort of uh did they were they fine with it?
24:59 The older ones were fine, but they were basically going to college at that time.
25:03 Jesse was fine in the beginning, but he hit puberty towards the end.
25:08 And he would get asked, "Oh,
25:09 you're that kid from Housewives when he was in school." He go,
25:12 "No, I'm not." He would walk away.
25:14 No,
25:14 wrong person.
25:16 Wow.
25:16 That's the way to handle it.
25:18 Deny, deny, deny.
25:20 Wow.
25:20 No, he didn't like it.
25:21 So, and I had already always promised all of them
25:24 if anybody had a problem with it, I was gone.
25:26 Yeah.
25:26 And he did.
25:27 And it it became more and more apparent.
25:31 So, well, yeah.
25:31 Your priority,
25:31 they were nice about it, though.
25:32 They would say, "We won't use him.
25:33 We won't do that." Great.
25:35 Um, I asked you uh over text if you would do The Traders, and you said, "No."
25:40 No, I said, "I've never watched it."
25:42 Oh.
25:42 Oh, you would love it.
25:44 And you'd be amazing.
25:45 I know.
25:45 Lisa just did it.
25:46 She did great on it.
25:47 And it's also She did great.
25:48 And it's also it's a short commitment
25:50 to your point about not wanting to do something
25:52 probably be interested in something like that.
25:53 Sure.
25:53 Yeah.
25:53 You heard it here folks.
25:54 It's um they fly you to they fly you to Scotland for a couple weeks.
25:59 You get to hang out with Alen coming.
26:00 How do you know all this?
26:01 Cuz I I watch the show.
26:03 I have been trying to get myself on that show and if
26:05 you get on and I don't I'll be happy for you.
26:08 Wait, you get to go to Scotland?
26:10 Do I believe him?
26:10 Wait, you get to go to Scotland for
26:12 You go to Scotland.
26:12 You go to this castle in Scotland for 3 weeks and it's basically like
26:15 this uh it's a game of mafia basically where there's 20 plus people around
26:20 a table and they uh everyone's blindfolded and they pick three people to be
26:24 the traitors and everyone else is a faithful
26:26 and no one knows who the traitors are.
26:29 It's really fun and then you have to you know there's always a couple
26:33 of housewives and so there's always a an allegiance
26:36 amongst the housewives and the survivor folks.
26:37 It's a lot of reality.
26:40 Interesting.
26:39 It's really really fun.
26:40 Huh.
26:41 Yeah.
26:41 Okay.
26:42 Check it out.
26:43 Okay.
26:43 Okay.
26:43 I I went to Scotland a couple years ago with my uh bunch of my family members,
26:47 some nieces and stuff because we're from Scotland.
26:50 Oh.
26:50 And I mean, you know, a long time ago.
26:51 And we stayed at the Davidson Castle.
26:54 Wow.
26:54 There was a Davidson Castle.
26:56 Really?
26:56 Lineage wise?
26:57 Yeah.
26:57 Your family?
26:58 Yeah.
26:58 Well, Davidson.
26:59 Yeah.
26:59 Wow.
27:00 That's It was awesome.
27:01 We did a road trip, you know.
27:03 That sounds amazing.
27:04 To Loch Ness.
27:05 Shut up.
27:05 How cool.
27:06 I know.
27:06 Love.
27:14 Let's talk about your characters.
27:15 Well, let's talk about your YNR character.
27:18 Didn't you that uh Ashley Abbott, right?
27:22 Didn't she have dissociative identity disorder
27:25 briefly?
27:25 Yes.
27:26 Yeah.
27:26 And so, but you've got you've got
27:27 play two characters with mental health issues, right?
27:31 On days, didn't you have multiple No, wait.
27:33 No, you just play multiple characters.
27:34 Play multiple characters on days.
27:36 That's
27:37 We'll get to Thomas in a minute.
27:38 But I love how I read something you where you said that with Susan,
27:41 the teeth help you helped you find that character.
27:44 Yeah.
27:44 And for the nun, the ruler did.
27:46 Oh, yeah.
27:46 Because I was raised Catholic, but I was never hit by a ruler,
27:48 but my brothers and sisters were.
27:50 Um Well, talk because you were too good.
27:56 My brothers and sisters, I mean,
27:58 they are their dirty laundry, just not my own.
28:00 Um
28:01 well, back in the day,
28:02 they were older than me and they got hit by rulers
28:04 and as soon as they said I was playing a nun, I said, "Give me a ruler.
28:08 Oh my god.
28:09 And I found her.
28:10 She was very punitive.
28:11 Well, but but but talk about I'm sweating.
28:14 I'm sweating and I need a snack.
28:16 I'm sweating, too.
28:17 Don't smell my arm.
28:18 But talk about I was going to ask if I could.
28:20 I know.
28:20 I'm sure you're
28:22 This is getting weirder.
28:24 Okay.
28:25 Okay.
28:26 Um but talk about so much fun.
28:30 I want to hang out.
28:31 Can I come to Melville?
28:32 Talk more about to play peace.
28:36 I'm trying to I'm trying to get her to I want
28:38 to play I want to play over the house to play pickle ball.
28:40 Yeah, I know.
28:41 I got hit in the boob the other day.
28:42 So bad.
28:43 I have so many bruises.
28:44 It's like
28:45 I signed up for that tournament in Calabasas.
28:47 You did?
28:47 Yeah.
28:47 May second.
28:48 Shut up.
28:49 Uhhuh.
28:49 What tournament?
28:50 None of your business.
28:51 Um
28:54 it's pickled back.
28:56 Getting the train back for the Emmy won.
28:58 What?
28:58 For the Emmy one you did.
29:00 Is it an Emmy tournament?
29:01 No.
29:01 Oh, there's an Emmy tournament.
29:02 Okay, we'll talk about that.
29:03 Okay.
29:04 tell our audience um how when you talk about finding a character,
29:09 whether it's the ruler or the teeth,
29:10 like talk about talk about your process a little
29:13 bit and what that means of like how
29:15 sometimes there's something that can help ground the reality
29:18 of of a of a hyper realistic situation.
29:23 Go go.
29:27 Like I said, the ruler helped
29:28 the teeth because automatically I felt the craziness.
29:31 Maybe you could relate to this.
29:32 My family was pretty out there.
29:35 There was so many of us.
29:36 And there was a lot of comedy when I grew up.
29:38 A lot of comedy.
29:39 My sisters and brothers were hilarious.
29:42 I mean, hilar they put on shows and costumes and there
29:46 was a lot of lot of go a lot going on.
29:48 My mom and dad had great sense of sense of humor and so yeah,
29:51 it was pretty funny.
29:52 It was a show.
29:53 Yeah.
29:53 And it was high emotional either laughing or screaming
29:56 like my brother my sister would lock herself
29:58 in the bathroom because he was going to threaten
30:00 to put her in the pool before a date.
30:02 and he would get the screwdriver and slowly like the screws and he'd pull.
30:06 So there's a lot of drama.
30:07 So I I kind of cut my teeth on it.
30:09 So I really just like h speaking of teeth.
30:11 So that's like so when you had the the teeth
30:14 they just I just knew who she was immediately.
30:16 Plus at the time she was supposed to be overweight.
30:18 So they had like a suit that I was wearing as well.
30:20 I just kind of found this they wanted her from the south.
30:22 So she just kind of fell into place.
30:25 Yeah.
30:24 And then the nun.
30:26 And then the the guy Thomas I wanted a comb over.
30:29 I figure I could find him with a comb over it.
30:31 I dude now.
30:33 Uh
30:34 oh my god.
30:35 Also, just I mean you're but you're you're
30:38 the cuz I don't want to gloss over because we're having
30:41 a good time and that's great but but you're so good
30:45 and it's like those little things just create these completely distinct
30:49 and memorable and like fascinating characters and like how much fun.
30:54 Yeah.
30:54 Well, I always felt like I was a character actor
30:57 really trapped in a leading trapped in a leading lady,
31:01 but it was like I I much prefer that.
31:04 But it's also caused me to make some crazy decisions.
31:06 I mean, Thomas, the recent Thomas on the uh Was that your choice?
31:11 Was that what was that my choice?
31:13 No, I was forced into it.
31:16 No, I mean it wasn't it wasn't just the comover.
31:19 It wasn't just the comover, right?
31:20 This is on Days of Our Lives, everyone.
31:22 And let's remind because cuz you've gone from
31:24 and that's when it went on to peacock and they really went out there.
31:27 Big old swing.
31:28 Oh yeah.
31:29 But I I said I wanted the the hair on the chest.
31:32 So what does that say about me?
31:33 I mean I can't blame them.
31:36 I'd love to, but I can't.
31:38 But also to have a real moment.
31:39 And I feel like maybe I've said this on this podcast, but I don't know if
31:42 I don't think Should we start over?
31:44 Come back.
31:45 No.
31:45 No.
31:46 We're doing great.
31:48 I don't know.
31:49 Do you need a tissue?
31:50 I don't know anymore.
31:51 She's She's taking the pillow.
31:53 Come here.
31:54 Are you Are you Are you Are you um spitzing?
31:58 Probably.
31:58 Well, don't don't I'll put those in my shirt.
32:00 Um
32:02 No, I was going to say to have a real moment.
32:04 Um when
32:06 when a grounded moment a grounded moment when cuz we are a little off the rails.
32:10 Um when when we were both working on uh on the the Beyond Salem spin-off.
32:16 Yeah.
32:16 Do you remember a conversation that we had where you reminded
32:20 me that on my last day at Young in the Restless?
32:23 She Eileen said to me,
32:24 "This is going to be the best thing that's ever happened to you." And
32:27 I said, "Every time I've gotten fired,
32:28 it's been the very best thing that's ever happened to me."
32:29 And I don't think I remembered that until the follow-up
32:31 conversation because I was not in a place where I was.
32:33 You look like a deer with the headlights.
32:35 Yeah.
32:35 It was hard
32:36 when I told you that.
32:36 Of course, it was your last day.
32:37 And I'm like, "Really?
32:38 It's fine.
32:39 You're going to be fine." I was like, "Screw you." Yeah.
32:41 Um, but you were absolutely right.
32:44 Absolutely right.
32:44 And um you mentioned that moment several times.
32:48 It's really impactful.
32:49 So it was freeing, wasn't it?
32:54 Yes.
32:54 It took a minute to get there, but absolutely.
32:56 Well, there's no guarantees about it, but that's part of the whole experience.
32:59 Yeah.
32:59 And I have since used that conversation with other actors
33:03 who have found themselves in the situation I was in.
33:05 Now, I guess the question I wanted to know though was,
33:08 did you learn that lesson that you were
33:10 able to impart on me from your own experience?
33:13 Sure.
33:13 And 2006 I was let go.
33:17 Excuse me.
33:18 From Wer.
33:19 I remember.
33:19 And I had a three-year-old and a a 11year-old and a 13-year-old.
33:24 And it was just very I mean, somebody called me from upstairs and said,
33:28 "Ashley's going to Hong Kong." And I'm like, "What?" I had no idea.
33:33 And um yeah, that was crazy.
33:35 And then Brad Bell called me a couple months later and said,
33:37 "Do you want to come over to Bold and Beautiful?" And I was like,
33:41 "Sure." So then I went over there and that show was so terrific.
33:46 By the way, it's a dream to work on.
33:48 It's a beautifully produced show.
33:50 Everybody's so wonderful.
33:51 I I told, you know, Kelly, Kelly Lang,
33:53 I said, "This is like the best kept secret.
33:55 It's amazing.
33:56 I had the best time over there.
33:57 I worked with Ron Moss.
33:58 I worked with Kelly who was lovely.
34:00 She's she's a lovely um she's a lovely person to represent her show.
34:04 She's amazing." By the way, I don't know if everybody knows that about her.
34:08 She's she handles that mantle or whatever beautifully.
34:14 She's very welcoming.
34:15 She's very classy.
34:16 She invited all the actresses to do a a cooking thing at at the Four
34:20 Seasons in West Lake and we did a whole We made butternut squash soup.
34:25 Really?
34:25 Yes.
34:25 I'm sorry.
34:26 It didn't happen for you.
34:27 It hasn't happened for me yet.
34:28 No, but you know what?
34:29 Actually, I will say Brad Bell actually creates
34:33 um I mean Kelly is amazing and she also does represent the show very well.
34:38 I I agree with you.
34:40 Um she was very welcoming,
34:42 but I would just say Brad is you know it
34:45 starts from the top down and he really I remember
34:48 when I met with him he's like you know if
34:51 anyone's an here just tell me I don't want any here.
34:54 I was like, "That's so nice." You know, he just wants a nice group of people
34:58 and it is a really wonderful work environment.
35:03 So, I had a great time on that show, which I wasn't expecting.
35:05 I loved working with Ron, by the way.
35:07 And uh we had the characters had great chemistry and that was fun.
35:12 And then I'm back on the show and then I I This is a really weird story.
35:15 Should I tell it quickly?
35:16 Sure.
35:18 Yeah.
35:17 Okay.
35:17 So then I'm back on the show and then I was I've own and I've been
35:22 there for a while and they say so do you uh I get a call from Dave.
35:25 Do you want to come over and I'm like sure just I'd love
35:26 to come for a little bit just so it doesn't affect my day job.
35:28 They're like I'm thinking great you do both maybe.
35:31 Then I get a call up to the office two months later and they're
35:34 like we're letting you go from YNR but they want you at days.
35:38 I'm like I feel like a a baseball player.
35:39 I got no say in it.
35:42 Took a pay cut.
35:44 I was so angry.
35:45 This is this is the seed of the story
35:46 about you by the way does come back to you.
35:49 So I was so pissed off because I got no say.
35:51 I'm like I have to take it because I
35:55 I have a lifestyle that I'm contributing to children.
35:59 Um so I took it.
36:00 I was so angry and I would going to days of our lives with so much bitterness.
36:04 I had no idea what I was going into.
36:05 I didn't know who I was going to be working with.
36:07 I was kind of just given a take it or leave it.
36:10 And I then I watched Oprah.
36:12 I know, Oprah.
36:14 Gotta love her.
36:15 And she said, "When you're in life, if something happens,
36:17 just have no expectations." She had a guest on.
36:19 I think it was Super Soul Sunday.
36:20 Have no expectations and then you'll be surprised and it it'll be a blessing.
36:25 And I went, I can't go into this new job being so full of bitterness and hate.
36:30 Yeah.
36:30 So, I decided to go in completely free of it, any bitterness,
36:33 and just welcome the experience, see what was going to happen.
36:37 And it was honestly one of the best years of my life creatively.
36:42 I won my first Emmy that year.
36:43 Your first Emmy?
36:46 Yeah.
36:45 Uh, I worked with Eric Mart, who was a dream.
36:48 We had, by the way, I'm in the makeup chair going,
36:50 "Why am I working with this guy?" He's like younger than me.
36:52 I don't get the story.
36:53 I didn't know what I was walking into.
36:54 It was a great story.
36:55 Chris Whitel wrote it.
36:56 He was brilliant.
36:57 He wrote the whole thing with Kristen.
36:59 Seduces Brady, who's the son of John, who's her ex-lover.
37:03 She ends up seducing him, convincing everybody she's the good girl.
37:07 and then stabs John in the back.
37:09 It was brilliant.
37:10 Really uses the son to destroy the father.
37:13 It was Greek.
37:14 It was fabulous.
37:15 And I had so much fun.
37:18 Yeah.
37:17 And it freed me up just with everything.
37:20 And uh it was just a great great great experience.
37:23 Yeah.
37:23 That's great.
37:23 Yeah.
37:23 It opened up my life in many ways, my career.
37:26 Yeah.
37:26 No, that's a that's a great story and a great lesson in not being stuck,
37:31 right?
37:31 because uh I I think the the part of that that I was able to relate to is when
37:37 I first got there I think um having the expectation
37:41 and we've talked about this too that it was going
37:43 to be like the last place I was at and once
37:45 I sort of really disavowed any idea of it
37:48 being anything then other than just a new experience
37:50 then I really was able to fully commit to it.
37:53 Yeah.
37:53 But it is hard when and with these jobs it's hard when you're let go too you you
37:56 carry that sort of like why was I let go?
37:58 What what's what was wrong with me there?
38:02 Exactly.
38:02 Um but
38:03 you have to start fresh somewhere else.
38:05 But there's a the also we've talked about too the the place where you're
38:09 at in your life when the big milestones
38:12 hit and then saying goodbye to that is always
38:15 challenging.
38:15 But then you know what I always
38:16 reminded myself through all of these different journeys.
38:18 I never signed a contract that said you get
38:20 to play that character for the rest of your life, right?
38:22 And you choose when you leave.
38:24 That was never part of the deal.
38:25 Yeah.
38:25 So it's all just a blessing.
38:26 and in, you know, a more spiritual way.
38:28 That's true about everything in life.
38:29 Everything in life and about just enjoying where you
38:32 are presently and trying to make the most of it.
38:34 I have a son who's a soccer player and his team is going
38:37 through some changes now and and he's having a hard time and I'm like,
38:42 you always learn more about yourself
38:45 and you grow more when when you're challenged.
38:47 This is all like, you know, it's hard to see the forest through the trees, but
38:51 Yeah.
38:52 Yeah.
38:51 You've played Ashley Abbott probably the longest, right?
38:55 Yeah.
38:55 Yeah.
38:55 On The Young and the Restless,
38:57 what have you learned about yourself through
38:59 that character or what have you ever
39:02 learned anything through any stories or anything that you've told on that show?
39:08 Any of the stories?
39:09 Yeah.
39:10 I mean, I've told this before, but it's really it's a big one.
39:13 It's important.
39:14 Ashley um years ago had um a breast
39:17 cancer screening because it was breast cancer awareness month.
39:20 God bless the writers on the show.
39:21 They did a lot of topical stuff.
39:23 I'm not sure if they still do, but they did at that time.
39:24 And in the 80s they did AIDS and stuff of course.
39:27 So and my character had an abortion in the 80s.
39:31 Wow.
39:30 Um so they took on stuff and so Ashley
39:32 has she finds it and she has breast cancer.
39:35 So I'm doing the story line and she loses her hair and blah blah blah.
39:39 I started getting fan mail from women
39:40 saying that that story line saved their lives
39:43 because they went and had a screening and they found
39:45 a lump and a tumor and it their lives are here.
39:49 They're still living because of it.
39:51 And then you know the show is delayed like three years in Europe.
39:53 So I started getting letters 3 years later from these European women same thing.
39:58 So you realize that what you're doing I mean it's
40:00 entertainment and it's fun and everything and it's crazy and it's
40:02 a hoop but you really are helping people on a different
40:04 level that you can't even really begin to understand.
40:07 You know maybe it's not for us to understand
40:10 all the different ways we help.
40:11 But we help in many many ways by entertaining
40:14 getting people through difficult times kids through
40:16 difficult times in their homes their home life.
40:19 other I've heard from other people that said they were
40:21 in in abusive households and it was their one sanctuary,
40:25 you know, to watch us and to be entertained by us.
40:27 They felt safe.
40:29 We were predictable, you know.
40:31 So, there's a lot that you get out of it that you don't
40:34 even know and a lot that you're giving that you would never know
40:36 and in such a way, right, where it's um they're
40:40 they're generational, right?
40:41 And it's like you don't even just have the opportunity to have
40:43 that kind of influence over somebody over the course of a story line,
40:46 but it's a career, you know, that you've been playing this role for so long.
40:49 And I think it's more impactful because it
40:51 is someone that they feel like they know.
40:52 And if if Ashley
40:54 is telling me that I should go and get
40:56 a screening or that this is the right thing to do, then I will listen to her.
41:00 Yeah.
41:00 I think that's a difference with stories
41:01 on soaps because they do feel like they know
41:04 you more intimately than they do like if
41:06 you watch a series and it's only 13 episodes,
41:09 you don't feel as connected to those characters.
41:11 For sure as you do like in daytime when you get to see them every day.
41:14 Yeah.
41:14 Also, to your point, I also find that like when I'm sick,
41:17 I always look if I'm just in bed and I'm
41:19 like and I want to watch some comfort food,
41:22 I always go back to something I watch like Cheers.
41:24 I love watching Cheers when I'm sick because it's
41:26 familiar in a way that when I was a kid,
41:28 it was safe and security.
41:30 Okay, we have a hotline, a soapy hotline.
41:33 Okay.
41:33 Okay.
41:33 And fans uh write in on our Instagram
41:35 page and they have lots of questions for you.
41:37 I would like to say everybody's done a really good
41:39 job getting out of that that humor fest that we're in
41:42 and talking about like spirituality and fans and
41:46 yeah, we you know we like I said it's going to be a little bit like ADHD.
41:49 All three of us.
41:50 I know.
41:51 Also, it feels like um like a day on set, right?
41:52 Where we kind of spun off into space a bit and then we
41:55 have fun and have a good laugh.
41:56 Makes you feel good.
41:57 Yes.
41:58 Um, I have one from the fans.
42:00 Go ahead.
42:01 Okay.
42:01 Can you talk about your time on Santa Barbara?
42:03 Any fun stories or memories from set?
42:05 What was it like playing Kelly Capwell?
42:07 Oh, yeah.
42:07 That's a good one.
42:08 Lots of good lessons there.
42:10 Um, actually just driving in here, I was going, "Oh my god,
42:12 I used to shoot right tape right across
42:14 the street." And I was just thinking about,
42:15 oh my god, when I was taping Santa Barbara,
42:17 what was I what was going on in my life?
42:19 And so weird.
42:19 So yeah, um Kelly Cabwell had been played by Robin
42:23 Wright and um somebody else and I was taking over, which is so hard to do.
42:29 Tell me about it, girl.
42:31 God, the hate is real.
42:33 I mean, you know, so I had been uh
42:36 I had helped create but basically written an iconic role.
42:40 Bill Bell had created Ashley.
42:42 She was a tremendous role on YNR and everybody loved her.
42:45 I left somebody took over the role.
42:47 So but I was in the catbird seat.
42:49 I made that role.
42:50 I'm going.
42:50 Then I went over here.
42:51 Oops.
42:52 I went over here and I was taking over somebody else's spot
42:55 and it was difficult because you're trying to make it your own.
42:58 You you can't be like them, so you have to make it your own.
43:01 And there was a lot of resistance to that, you know.
43:03 Was there was there a gap in between when she was playing much?
43:06 Well, Robin, yes, but there had been somebody in between.
43:09 Um, but yeah, it was just it was I don't you know, it's not pleasant to do that.
43:14 So, I have a lot of respect for people that go
43:16 in and take over somebody else's role that's been established for a while,
43:20 right?
43:20 So, Oh, yeah.
43:20 It's hard.
43:23 Yeah, it's hard.
43:23 I mean, I I I'm very happy to have the privilege, but Yeah,
43:27 it is definitely different.
43:29 It's a whole different part of the experience of acting on a show.
43:31 It's It's a real different experience.
43:32 Was Santa Barbara at Burbank Studios?
43:34 Yeah, it was right across the street.
43:36 Crazy.
43:36 NBC though.
43:36 It was NBC.
43:37 Oh, I see.
43:37 Um, okay.
43:38 Another fan question is I also got to work with great people there.
43:41 Kim Zimmer was on the show.
43:42 Really?
43:42 A Martinez was on the show.
43:44 Nancy GR was on the show.
43:47 So many talented people.
43:48 Wasn't Justin D's on that show, too?
43:50 Yeah.
43:50 I wasn't on when he was on, but there was He was on that show.
43:53 Yeah.
43:54 So many Yeah.
43:55 really good actors.
43:56 Um you're known for playing intelligent, powerful, smart women.
44:00 Sometimes villainous women.
44:02 Um what is it about Ashley that resonates most with you?
44:08 She's a business woman, but she's fragile.
44:10 She has succumbed to gaslighting.
44:13 Oh, several times.
44:14 Um, so what is it about Ashley?
44:18 I think the fact that she appears that she has
44:21 it all together and she's incredibly vulnerable and very fallible.
44:24 That's what I've always found most interesting about that character
44:27 is that um, again, she was always her father's favorite or whatever.
44:32 But uh, she has a lot of problems obviously
44:36 and so many that still haven't been even touched on.
44:39 I mean, the the the multiple personality thing
44:42 was a small part of that, but I mean,
44:45 something happened way back when, so I find her fascinating still.
44:48 Yeah.
44:48 Because there's still so much to be told, you know.
44:52 Yeah, she's great.
44:54 Okay.
44:55 One more.
44:55 You have one more.
44:56 Okay.
44:57 Um, tell us about the soap opera mystery series you write.
45:00 Oh, yeah.
45:00 Oh, that was a while ago.
45:02 I wrote there's four of them,
45:03 so they're kind of all done, but there was with Penguin books.
45:05 I had a three.
45:06 Yeah.
45:06 I had a book deal with them.
45:07 So the but the um the scripts that you
45:09 write with your niece are not related to those.
45:11 Well, the first I can see why there's a confusion.
45:13 The first I kind of molded two of them together and wrote
45:16 a script called Dial Emmy for Dial M for Murder, right?
45:19 But it's based on two of the books.
45:22 Cool.
45:21 That's one that almost got made that didn't.
45:23 But we're Are you working on something right now?
45:24 Are you writing something?
45:26 Yeah.
45:26 Yeah.
45:26 I've kind of shifted over to horror and I have
45:28 something that's now got a director attached and we try.
45:31 Yeah.
45:32 We have some financing and we're for you to act in as well.
45:35 Yes.
45:35 This one.
45:36 Yes.
45:36 Another one that I'm writing.
45:38 No.
45:38 But is there are there two parts in the book?
45:41 Hey, listen.
45:43 Always.
45:44 Okay.
45:44 Um, can I play a sister?
45:46 Be careful.
45:46 Be careful what you wish for.
45:49 Well, we'll talk about it.
45:50 Hey, remember that conversation we had?
45:52 I just remember you saying that you were going to buy pickle ball.
45:55 Okay.
45:55 Um I I like doing things like that cuz you know you
45:58 get if you if it's a fun part, it's worth it.
46:02 Sure.
46:01 Yeah.
46:01 And just hanging out with friends, right?
46:03 Yeah.
46:03 Put a show on the garage.
46:04 That's what I call.
46:05 A what?
46:05 You're putting a show on the garage.
46:06 Yeah.
46:07 Yeah.
46:07 Yeah.
46:07 Um Okay.
46:08 I want to play pickle ball with you.
46:10 Hey, I want to go on the trailers with you.
46:11 I need a fourth on Sunday.
46:13 Weekends don't uh I have soccer with my son, but weeks, you know.
46:18 No, you're scared.
46:19 I'm scared.
46:20 I'm scared.
46:20 I'm a little scared.
46:21 Um Okay.
46:23 I We're We're going to make that happen.
46:24 We are going to play pickle ball.
46:26 Um and uh Do you play Rebecca?
46:28 I play tennis.
46:30 Yeah.
46:30 Oh, look at the way she said that.
46:32 Snoody.
46:32 Yeah, my husband used to be that way and I've seen him.
46:35 You know what?
46:35 I would actually like to play pickle ball, but I don't know how.
46:39 I don't know.
46:39 I don't You'll love it.
46:42 Really?
46:41 My husband was like a pro.
46:43 He was professional.
46:44 He was number 25 in the world.
46:45 He beat tennis.
46:46 He beat Mackenroe.
46:48 Yeah.
46:49 What?
46:48 Yeah.
46:48 He was on the tour for many, many years.
46:51 And now he's on the the pickle ball tour.
46:53 I mean, he's like, listen, he made fun of it.
46:55 He hated pickle ball so much.
46:57 He hated it.
46:58 He thought it was stupidest game ever.
46:59 Now you cut to him now.
47:00 He's like, Mhm.
47:02 We have a pickle ball court in our backyard.
47:03 Oh, he's a maniac.
47:04 Well, I want a lesson then.
47:06 Defin you'll follow.
47:07 I'll listen with the provider on a different day.
47:10 Well, I'm not that I didn't say I was good at tennis.
47:12 I just said I could play tennis.
47:15 Okay, we're going to play pickle ball.
47:17 Um, and you can watch any episode of Soapie
47:21 that you may have missed on the CBS YouTube channel.
47:23 You can watch our wonderful guest on The Young
47:26 and the Restless on CBS and on Paramount Plus.
47:29 And um, anything else?
47:30 Yeah, I thank you for coming.
47:33 Thank you for having me.
47:34 It was really fun.
47:34 It was so much fun.
47:35 It was a lot of fun.
47:36 And we're going to also I'm sweating.
47:37 I'm still hungry though.
47:38 We're going to figure out how to get onto the traders together.
47:39 And we will see you guys uh next week.
47:42 Thanks so much for being with us today.
47:43 Thank you.
47:43 Bye.