INTRODUCING?
MARY BETH EVANS
From the ATWT Web Site
April 6, 2001
A round-up of answers to the usual questions from one of As the World Turns’ newest cast members, Mary Beth Evans, reappears in Oakdale as Sierra Montgomery on Tuesday, April 10.
Entering a brave new world:
“I had never seen As the World Turns before [joining its cast] and so I just came on last November and did my thing…I always forget that people see the show. I always think that you just come [to a show], you do it, and nobody ever sees it! A friend of mine in California said, “Oh, I’ve been watching As the World Turns my whole life and you are perfect for Sierra.” I was thinking, “Oh, Good. I hadn’t even associated that I should have looked to see who played her before.”
Sierra, smile:
“What has been so great for me about this character is that they have written her so multi-faceted. I have mother scenes with my son; I have daughter scenes with my mother; I have this broken romance thing with Craig; I have scenes with the other woman, her husband…It’s just been so much fun because they have given me so many different levels to play. Sierra is a caring person who wants to do the right thing and wants her loved ones to do the right thing, so she has come to town to fight for those causes. I think she’ll leave having made an impact.”
Bridging the Brooklyn gap:
“The thing about [the people on] this show that I have found is that they are all professionals and they are all so normal. They are such great actors — you just get in here, do the work and go. When I was here before, I was a little more nervous — it was new — but I’ve been very comfortable. I’ve felt really great.”
It’s like riding a bicycle – only the pedals occasionally get stuck:
“The hard thing [about returning to daytime] was learning all the lines again because when you are doing it every day or a couple of times a week, your brain’s just sort of geared to that. I think it takes longer to memorize when you don’t do it all the time. There’s a definite rhythm to a soap opera and the way the lines are written. For some reason, it’s easier for me to memorize a soap script than lines for an audition, which may be three pages, but I can’t memorize it for the life of me.”
Last exit to Brooklyn:
“Doing the show [at the end of last year] was my first time in Brooklyn. In fact, I got the time wrong yesterday when they picked me up. The driver said he almost left without me and I was thinking, if he’d have left, I would not have a clue how to get here. I’m always looking down when he’s driving, looking at my script or whatever. I just thought, ‘Oh my God. Well, I guess I’ll just get a cab. Cab, can you take me to East 14th Street somewhere in Brooklyn?'”
Recharging the batteries:
“I went back to acting school. I hadn’t been in twenty years. Daytime has its own certain rhythm and style and it was nice to be able to do other things. Everybody in the class has to be a working actor, so it’s just a big group of professionals who are in there really trying to make changes in their craft. I also did some home show kind of things — cooking, gardening, a house beautiful show — just things that I wanted to do because I have a big interest in them. I just wanted to goof around a little bit.”
Being on the 10 Most Wanted list:
“Soap Opera Weekly got so much mail [about me following their feature on the actors who are most missed on daytime]. It’s a funny thing because, like I said, I don’t think anybody ever sees what I do. Soap fans are amazing fans. They follow you forever. Of course, they always want me to go back to Days, but they don’t really care, either. They just want to see me on daytime. They seem to like the persona or something, which is sweet. I think they know from reading interviews that I am a very honest and normal person. But I really have a different life than this.”
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