Maurice is a good, good man. That is the most appealing factor to me -- the kindness and generosity of his heart. I mean, I could say all the obvious things about him, that he's sexy and has those deep dark eyes that are mysterious and warm. But his inside matches the beauty of his outside.

 

 

 

Alicia Leigh Willis and I [cracked up] the other day, but it had nothing to do with the scene. It's like being in church and you're not supposed to laugh, but something tickles you.

 

 

 

I'd definitely travel with Alicia Leigh Willis-- she'd be a blast. But she'd be surfing and I wouldn't be able to. I'd love to learn, but she'd have to have so much patience to teach me. And she's so good at it, too! We'd have a great time!

 

 

 

Me, Rick, and Alicia -- we go to lunch all the time. The moment I met Rick, he gave me a big hug and kiss. He's so warm and wonderful. He's just a great guy. His dressing room is across the hall from mine, and we had a lot of scenes together, so we became friendly. We keep our doors open, but I'm moving now because my sink exploded! But yeah, we keep our doors open; it's like a little dormitory. Good energy, good people.

The first time Rick Hearst saw me (with dark hair), he grabbed me, said 'Who's that girl?' and threw me up against the wall as a joke. I took that as a good reaction.

 

 

 

Cyndy (Cynthia Preston) said, 'Oh, I want to go to the pool.' Joking that I'd push her in, I said, 'You'd better watch out.' But I wasn't really planning on doing it! Later, after the present Cyndy brought was open, she said, 'Okay! Now I'm ready to go swimming!' And I said, 'So, go swimming. I know you want to.' She was fully dressed, and I took her arms and started to push her in. She didn't put up any kind of a fight. If she had shown one ounce of resistance, I wouldn't have pushed her in. But I knew she'd be a good sport about it. She actually wanted to go in and she said as much afterwards.

 

 

 

Maurice doesn't bullshit. He won't go and talk about something unless he means it and he won't defend anything unless he believes in it. So, the fact that he defended my position and defended me as a person...That really touched my heart.

 

 

 

I absolutely am not unhappy with Ted King. He's a wonderful actor. I love acting with Maurice Benard, too. Is Tamara upset about this pairing? No. Tamara likes good story. Tamara likes good actors to work with.

 

 

I really think that Vanessa is one of the most wonderful actresses I've seen. Her emotional range blows me away. I think she is so [bleeping] talented! Can you write that? And she's so gorgeous. And so compelling. There's a depth to her work that you want to know what is going on.

 

 

 

I do know that I have the greatest respect for actors on soaps now. Much more, I have to admit, than I did before. I have a great respect for actors on soaps who take their jobs seriously and deliver and raise it above the stigma that soaps used to have.

 

 

He's (Corbin Bernsen) a really nice guy. I’m looking forward to working together more and more. We've only worked together for three days, but it's been great so far. I'm looking forward to getting more into the characters' relationship. I'm especially happy because I know the fans have wanted this for Carly for a long time.

 

 

Ted King: First of all, she doesn't like tongue. [Tamara laughs, shocked]

 

 

I remember one day, Maurice walked onto the other set, he touched me and said, ‘Hey do your own thing. You’ve passed the test,’" she says. "That felt really good to hear. He has always said, ‘Forget what people are telling you about how Sarah did it. You make it your own.’ He’s been such a pleasure to work with. He loves and respects the craft of acting so much. I respect him tremendously. He has helped me grow. He has given me such a safe place to open up and show all those sides and all that vulnerability. I feel very blessed."

 

 

Q: How was the rest of the cast when you came in?

A: So supportive. So completely supportive. I worked with Maurice and the staff for a few days and they were wonderful because unlike any other medium, soap has so much dialogue. I came in and in the first two days, I had 23 pages the first day and 25 pages of dialogue the second day and it was mostly Carly running off at the mouth. It was like I was jumping in for a line here and there for a line. So, I had never had to learn so many lines before and they shoot so fast. One of the things that they do is that they shoot a script and a half in one day. They really supported me and took the time and said to the crew, "Wait a minute. Give [her] one second so we can go over all of this." They were very supportive and helpful.

 

 

 

Tamara Braun's newly darkened tresses got hardly a mention, much to the dismay of the actress. "When Carly walked in, Alcazar said something about her hair, but no one else got to say anything!" Braun jokingly scoffs, "Sonny didn't even say anything. I was like, "Maurice [Bernard, Sonny]. aren't you going to say something about my hair on-screen?" He was like, 'Nah, not with how I'm playing the story.' And I thought, 'Bit this is such a huge shock! Sonny would definitely say something ----even if it was mean!' Finally, I was like, 'Can you at least let Michael say something, like, "Mommy! What happened to your hair?" 'But nope; I got absolutely nothing (laughs).