~TALK TO ME TUESDAY-MAY 5, 2015~

                                    MY INTERVIEW WITH MARIE WILSON

Hi Marie and thank you so much for joining us on The Spiel!

Tell us about your appearance on Days as Bree.

It’s been fun portraying such an ambiguous character, and working with Daniel Cosgrove and Kristian Alfonso has been an amazing experience. EVERYONE at the studio has been so welcoming :)

What else are you working on at the moment?

I just wrapped on a short called “The Last Word” which is about how one family dealt with a deaf child and society's different opinions on how to deal with it in the ’70’s.

What made you become an actress?

It was a natural progression from modeling into commercials into television….I just did what I enjoyed and ended up where I did.

Favorite and least story line that you have ever worked on?

There were so many favorites!!!!…..I really enjoy storylines where there is a lot of action/mystery and the storylines that involve being outside when it’s below freezing are a little challenging for me :)

Guilty pleasure?

….always chocolate….

Favorite thing to do when you are not working.

Depends how intense my work schedule has been…..always like to escape into nature on hikes or read a good book or get a relaxing massage…..just some time to myself.

Thank you Marie!! It was a pleasure to have you here! All the best to you!! 

~TALK TO ME TUESDAY-APRIL 28, 2015~

                    ~MY INTERVIEW WITH THE BEAUTIFUL CADY MCCLAIN~

PHOTO CREDIT: COURTNEY LINDBERG


Hi Cady! Thanks for joining us and Welcome to The Soap Spiel! I have read your book, "Murdering My Youth". Congratulations on it. I am enjoyed it whole heartedly and highly recommend it. Thank you for sharing your story. Here is a link for those who have not read your book. http://www.amazon.com/Murdering-My-Youth-A-Memoir/dp/1497356946



 Thank you for reading my book!


 What has your experience been like so far on Y&R?


 working on Y&R has been a blessing so far as I've got to work with all the heavy hitters and been able to hold my own. Even Eric Braeden who said, "You're good!" What is your favorite thing to do for fun? my work is actually my fun. Writing, making films, acting is all very fun work to have. I also am a home cook, and enjoy cooking for my husband for fun and as a way to relax.


 Do you still speak to your castmates over at AMC?


 I do keep in touch with Jill Larson, James Patrick Stuart and Michael E Knight. We all get together every once in a while and "do lunch."


 Would you ever consider writing for a soap because you are a natural!


 I've thought about writing for a soap but it's a very specific ability with various levels: script writing, breakdown writing, etc. It didn't turn out to be something I pursued but I sure have a lot of appreciation for it.



   Thank you so very much for joining us Cady! All the best to you!

~TALK TO ME TUESDAY-JANUARY 27, 2015~

                                                MY INTERVIEW WITH THE BEAUTIFUL BARBI CARUSO

                                                            (PRODUCER, PHOTOGRAPHER)

Hi Barbi and thanks for joining me on The Spiel!

Hi Lisa, thank you for inviting me.

Tell us a little about what you are working on at the moment.

We just started pre production on our new soap opera Winterthorne.

What is your guilty pleasure?

I love a great meal! When Michael and I can get a day off together we love to go out for Greek food. I also love random things like watching Law and Order Criminal Intent and Charmed reruns. I'm also a notorious sucker for taking selfies with my dogs. 

What do you like doing more? acting, producing, directing, photography?

I'm not an actress, I enjoy the behind the scenes more. I love photography. That's  my passion. Also I love producing. It's kind of my everyday life. I like to organize things and make things happen. Most of all I love that I get to create with my husband, Michael. We're a great team. Some husbands and wives aren't able to work together, but in 10 years we have never had that problem. I always look forward to working as a team!

Congrats on Winterthorne! How much will you be involved ?

Michael and I are the executive producers. Once he writes the show, just like DeVanity we go into production mode. We share many different hats. Set design, costume design, talent coordination and sound are all things I am involved in during production.

What is your favorite thing to do when you are not working?

I'm a huge animal lover and advocate, I spend my time with volunteering at a dog rescue called Love That Dog Hollywood. I help with the adoption events and most of all I take photos for all the dogs needs homes to help them get adopted faster. I also go to shelters and take photos of the dogs that needs most of the help. In a perfect world I wish they wouldn't need my help and there would be no homeless dogs. 

Thanks Barbi! Pleasure to have you here!

Thank you so much for having me

~TALK TO ME TUESDAY-DECEMBER 2, 2014~

                                   




                                       MY INTERVIEW WITH SHARON GABET
                                                  (EX-RAVEN, EDGE OF NIGHT)

Hi Sharon!

Thank you so much for joining us on the Spiel. Congrats on the birth of your new grandchildren. Tell us about that.

I'm in Seattle as we speak with my daughter, Jasmine and her husband Mike. The twins were born at 32 weeks and have spent 5 weeks in NICU. It's been so hard on Jasmine going back and forth to the hospital to see them. One of the twins, Abigail, is coming home tomorrow! The other, Vivien, hopefully will be home Friday or Saturday. They are both about 5 1/2 lbs. So precious and sweet! I've gone to the hospital twice to help with feedings and to hold them. I was a mother-baby nurse for 10 years and can definitely help my daughter with these babies. I'm staying for a couple more weeks to help her get a routine going and teach her what I know about baby care. I wish I lived closer, but I don't know about Seattle... It's cold and wet. I'm a California girl now. 

Are you currently working on anything?

I'm finishing a play called The Night Shift about my nursing experiences and dealing with autism. I plan to submit it to a few play write festivals next year where I would get a chance work on it with actors on stage. This play will be a chapter in my next book called A Wounded Healer. It includes some fiction - short stories - and poetry. I am planning on getting certified as a Kundalini Yoga instructor to add to my Yoga certification next year. 

How would you compare the soap genre now from when you first started?

I think soap opera, as I knew it, is pretty much dead. Daytime, anyway. Night time TV has taken soap opera, put a lot of money on production values and continued the "story telling" with some wild, futuristic or horror flavors. Zombies, vampires, multiple dimensions, resurrected dead... but still our stock soap characters and relationship dramas continue.

What is your advice for up and coming actors?

Learn your craft. Go to school. Take classes and get experience. Have a way to support yourself so you aren't stressed out looking for acting work. Then know that you are special and unique and don't let anyone tell you different. Everyone gets a shot if they hang in there long enough. Be ready for your shot. You want to take it and run.

How can your fans keep in touch with you?

I have a Facebook page. Sharon Rose Gabet. I post a lot of pictures and interact with my friends.

Guilty pleasure?

I do love good red wine. Really good red wine. It can get pricey, but I savor every sip! And now it's supposed to be healthy. Dark chocolate and red wine. I could live on that.

Thank you so much again Sharon! It was certainly my pleasure to have you here!

SHARON AS RAVEN WITH LARKIN MALLOY WHO PLAYED SKY WHITNEY

~TALK TO ME TUESDAY-NOVEMBER 25, 2014~

MY INTERVIEW WITH JOHN GABRIEL

(EX SENECA, RYAN'S HOPE)

 

 

 

Hi John! 

Thank you so much for joining us on the Spiel.

Are you currently working on anything?

Lisa,

I'm currently working on a new show that I will be performing at The Metropolitan Room in New York City on January 10TH, AT 7 p.m.

I will be introduced by my good friend Charles Grodin.

How would you compare the soap genre now from when you first started?

I have not kept up with the soaps on the air now so I really don't know how they compare to my experience on Ryan's Hope.

What is your advice for up and coming actors?

As far as advice is concerned, I've found that every successful actor that I know has taken a different path. Get involved with a reputable acting class and act. Be prepared when the opportunity comes. And understand that rejection comes along with being an actor. I've known so many talented people that couldn't handle the rejection. If you can be dissuaded from the acting profession then it probably wasn't for you. Follow your passion.

How can your fans keep in touch with you?

I guess the best way to contact me is through Facebook

Thank you so much again John! It was certainly my pleasure to have you here!

Warmest regards,

John Gabriel

~TALK TO ME TUESDAY-NOVEMBER 18, 2014~

                                   MY INTERVIEW WITH SARAH HESTER

                                    (BECCA MALONE, YOUTHFUL DAZE)

Hi Sarah! Thanks so much for joining me on The Soap Spiel!

Thank YOU for having me! 

For those who may not know, tell us about your character on Youthful Daze

My character Becca Malone is one of the most interesting characters I have ever played! She has so many different layers and it's been such a blast discovering her and who she really is. Becca comes to season 2 with evil plans in mind. She grew up in unfortunate circumstances and developed a cold heart from it. She is out to make money and doesn't care who she hurts on the way. However, season 3 you see a whole new side to Becca. She starts to show the softer side and starts to break a little. You also see how much she depends on the love and affection of men to fill voids. I can't wait to explore her more. Another fun little fact.  My really life mom gets to play Becca's mom on the show! That's super exciting. Also, Brittany Underwood who plays Sheila has been one of my best friends for about 3 years! :)  She's amazing!  

What has it been like to be on such a hit web series/soap?

It's honestly been such a blast! The cast and crew have been amazing and everyone works so hard. Bryan James has created a really amazing thing. It just keeps growing and touching different people. It's an honor to be on the show. I've been learning a lot from working on this show and for that I am so grateful! 

What do you like to do for fun?

I am a huge music fan. Pretty much all music but mostly rock n roll! I go to a lot of concerts and shows.  I love going out to dinner with friends, wine tasting, Disneyland, working out, visiting my baby niece :), hanging with my family, I could keep going on, I love fun and try to always have fun! Even if it's just dancing and singing in my apartment haha 

Would you ever consider a daytime soap?

I would LOVE to be on a daytime soap. I've auditioned for General Hospital before.  Hopefully Youthful Daze can help launch that into motion :) 

Any advice you have for up and coming actors?

It is not easy, but man is it worth it! Always stay true to yourself and true to your morals. Love yourself first and foremost. This business tends to knock you down, but you have to know your self worth and believe in yourself. It's so important to surround yourself with positive and supportive people. Acting classes are amazing. Staying in them to constantly work out those acting muscles is very important when you can. Always love what you do. 

Thank you again so much for being here! The pleasure is extremely mine. All the best and continued success to you!

Thank you!

~TALK TO ME TUESDAY-NOVEMBER 11, 2014~

                                             MY INTERVIEW WITH BRAD EVERETT YOUNG

Hi Brad and thank you for joining us on the Spiel!


Hey there! Thank you so much! Totally honored and appreciate your support for the Dream Loud campaign more than I can even say!

I am so impressed with your photography. What made you become a photographer?

Thank you! Again! I seem to say that a lot! I always try and remember that 'Kindness Is Timeless,' so, I'm always saying Thank You! It's a crazy business we work in, but I always try and take time let people know I'm grateful. 

So glad you and others are enjoying what I'm doing for the Dream Loud campaign. It's meant the world to be able to give back to the arts & to receive such support for it. I've been obsessed with photography since I was a young kiddo. Whether I was getting yelled at by my parents for using up all the polaroid film running around the house taking pics, or going through dozens of rolls of film photography was always there. When I'm 900 years old I wanna be able to look through pictures and reflect on everything. In college working on the college magazine & paper took that obsession to a whole new level. The crazy ideas for shoots just rushed in and I couldn't shoot enough. I'd have these insane ideas and friends would look at me like I was equally as insane when I would ask them to be part. lol But then we'd take the pics and we'd all step back and say 'oh shit!' I loved that it was something that I loved doing so much that could get such an over the top reaction. :) Upon moving to LA I continued photography in the beginning taking pics at premieres and events, but soon after acting took over and there wasn't enough time in the day for it all. Over the years I've enjoyed acting and everything involved in it very much, but I missed photography so much. I still took so many pics, but not the way I used to. When I got the idea for the Dream Loud campaign it gave me just cause to jump back into photography full force and it's been the most creatively fulfilled I've felt in a long time. It's felt like I reopened every window and door in the house again. 

Tell us about the Dream  Loud campaign.   

http://dreamloudofficial.com/

I grew up with the arts. It was the original obsession for me. I was always drawing and painting. It became my primary focus through all of my school years. I was so excited to get to that class and create things. It was a great escape. No matter what was going on the world it was all forgotten during that time. It ultimately was what inspired me to go to school. So when I learned how many of the schools were dropping / losing the art & music programs due to budget cuts it broke my heart. I knew I had to do something but didn't know what. Should I start a blog, write an article or fight each school individually? Everything I thought of just wasn't enough and was too much to take on by myself. So, I figured what better way to get the word out than to enlist all my actor friends that I've known over the years living in LA and their friends to help. By myself I knew it'd be hard to get attention to tell people about the schools losing the programs, but if I photographed my friends in the over the top shoots I loved to do as an advertising campaign I could get them to the website where they'd learn about what was going on. I focused on my friends on daytime soaps first because I knew many parents watched them who had kids in schools, and many of them weren't aware what was going on with the art & music programs in their kids schools. Parents don't go to PTA meetings the way they used to, so I was hoping learning about the issue would encourage them to do just that. Slowly it's happening. I'm getting messages from parents telling me they attended their kid's PTA meeting just in time as they were about to drop the programs. Others had already suffered the loss and they were able to get the programs reinstated or were fighting to get them back. I get tagged in pics of kids with the Dream Loud logo written on their hand saying their parents got their art classes back or they gave them paint supplies or put them in piano lessons. It's meant the world, and has encouraged me to keep going and make the campaign as big as I can till everyone knows about it and takes part. 

I'm not Superman and I can't save the world, but I do want the next generation to know that art & creativity is more than taking pics on their iphones for instagram. That's fun and all, but there's so much more. It's going to be a journey, but it's worth it. Art & Music classes do more than just teach art & music. They teach the brain to think outside the box, to be creative, to want to get out there and want to do / see / experience things. Art & music inspires so much, and I want the next generation to have access to that inspiration and do great things with it. 

Any photo session stand out in particular?

They've all been amazing and left lasting impressions. They're not your typical photo shoots, so there's a lot of crazy experiences that come along with them. As we're doing these over the top set ups we're laughing and carrying on. It's so much fun. Humor and laughter is the most important things to me on a daily basis. Being able to laugh as we're shooting stuff adds a whole other level to it all and makes it even more worth it. You have to laugh every day. It's mandatory in my book. 

I LOVE to put people in elements that they're not used to or take pics they've never taken before. I love creating a set up that allows the viewer to wonder what the heck is going on. I want the viewer to be challenged, to used their creativity to complete the story or to imagine what is going on in the picture. I want those double takes. At this point everything has been done. It's hard to really shock anyone anymore, but I enjoy trying and it's fun to go along for the ride with great friends! :) 

What do you do when you are not behind the camera?

Gosh, so much, but there's never enough time in the day. I'm still an actor #1. That's always been my original passion. I filmed a pilot for HBO last fall that wasn't originally picked up, and they've just approached us again to re shoot it, so I'm very excited about that. Which means I have to get myself back in the gym. I can't hide behind the camera anymore. lol I've been able to be part of some phenomenal projects as an actor. Been able to meet so many people, experience things that seem so surreal, that many people would think are just crazy. It's definitely an insane business to work in, and I look forward to it every single day. It's always different.  When I'm not doing all this I'm totally a movie / tv fanatic. Nothing like escaping the world for a few minutes and getting wrapped up in a great film or tv show. Have great friends, and that's what it's all about too. Love spending time with as many as I can and well, laughing. :) 

******

Thank You from the bottom of my heart Brad!! All the Best to you!!