Q & A with Robin Strasser
(Dorian Lord Hayes, One Life to Live)

Robin Strasser can act. That's no secret to anyone who's watched her tear up the small screen over the last 32 years. And she can talk, too, which is no secret to anyone who's read an interview or had the pleasure of actually chatting with the diva. However, unlike many soap actors, she can also think. Not content to read her lines and go home, Strasser has devoted her energies to a variety of pursuits, most importantly educating women about menopause and women's health issues.

You can visit Strasser's web site (www.menopausesos.com) for more information about her Menopause S.O.S. project, and you can watch her unparalleled, nuanced work on OLTL if you need proof of her acting ability. But you'll have to read the following interview if you want to hear Strasser's thoughts — uncensored — on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.— Jonathan Reiner


What motivated you to undertake such a Herculean task and put together the Menopause S.O.S. project?

Exactly! [She laughs] That's what I know now — that it's Herculean. I knew it was a large undertaking but I didn't know it would take me four and a half years, cost as much money as it did and occupy all my free time. Initially, I had certain very serious challenges that I faced in perimenopause. The hormonal ups and downs were like an emotional roller coaster for me. My emotions being out of control and my ability to concentrate and retain short-term memory was difficult. It kind of panicked me. I started looking around for my solution. I have learned that even if you're asymptomatic you have certain issues to look at in terms of your health, your lifestyle choices, nutrition and preventative steps that you take, so you have not just a good middle life but an extremely healthy aging process.

When I had trouble getting information and was confused and overwhelmed, I said, "Gee, I really wish this information were on a videotape." And that gave birth to, "Well, maybe I'll make a video." And the other thing is, what if there is a woman who couldn't access the kind of people I can get a hold of here in New York? What if she can only get a 15-minute appointment with the doctor from her HMO? Or, what if she doesn't have any kind of coverage and has no one to turn to for assistance?

So I came up with the thought that this could be a service to a lot of women. And I went to a place of gratitude for where I was in life that I would be able to make this tape and fund it myself. And no one encouraged me. They said, "Women won't watch a video on that subject! They won't invest the time!" I said, "To learn about their own bodies and to get resources to empower themselves to become a healthy older woman?" And they said No! And that just ticked me off.

You interview many experts — how did you decide which specialists to include on the tapes?

I interviewed 120 people. I would hear about experts that were highly regarded, and it was just a lot of networking. I called everyone! I wrote what must have been a very convincing statement of purpose. There are good tapes available, but most of them are generated by people selling a product. So a lot of wonderful people who you normally couldn't get an appointment with made themselves available to talk to me.

What have you learned from all this?

The big issue is that every woman's experience is different. What works for me may not work for someone else. It's not a one-size-fits-all solution. No matter what anybody tells you, there is a deficit in women's health research across the board. Most of the research has been done on white male bodies. In laboratories, someone told me, they work on white male rats. Anybody in my opinion who tells you what to do has something they're trying to sell you.

This is a wonderful time for all of us to get involved in our bodies and our minds and not feel self-involved. I'm hoping to make my web site a repository for women to share their stories. I'm also encouraging women to keep a journal, and that includes women who are only in their 30s but are noticing changes in their cycles.

If they watch the tapes now they will be so prepared for that one-a-year doctor's visit. And I've heard time and time again from these respected practitioners that they welcome seeing that list of questions, knowing that the patient has come in prepared.

I think it's very interesting that you're catering to a segment of the audience that the soap advertisers don't want to target.

I hate to tell you, but menopause starts when you're in your late 30s... and the real solution to going into hormonal changes is to not arrive there depleted by stress, lifestyle and diet. I'm really hoping that a woman who is 49 and watching my tapes will watch them with her daughter, and she will get caught up in it.

I saw the tape... I loved the Chinese herbalist.

She's wonderful, and she's right downtown on Mott Street. Her name is Grace Ho and she works out of a storefront. Call her and she'll listen to your concerns. She just tells it like it is.

You know, I think, "If I were to get hit by a truck tomorrow, what would I like to be remembered by?" Well, I hope that some people who have seen the tapes, and my sons, would rally and see that this is distributed to as many people who want it or need it. My fervent hope is that this really helps make people's lives better.

You'll also be remembered for your acting, should a truck hit you.

Right, and now to get back to your question about 18 to 49: I know that's the demographic that they [want], however, I think that we are going to see a very immediate turnaround in that perception... the perception that 49 is a cut-off point. I would bet anything that if we see society try to minimize this population and ignore us, it's going to cost someone a lot of money. As I approach 60, if they keep shoving 17-year-old models made up, or 14 year-old models made up, I will walk 10 miles out of my way not to buy that particular designer.

Now I'm really going to get on the soapbox. Do you know that in societies where growing older raises your stock in your community, where you get more respect with age, where you know that your family will always have a place for you in its structure, there is no word for menopause. There are also far fewer instances of auto-immune disease.

Our society is like the opposite of eating its young — we eat our old!

I want to give up on the notion of the word young being a compliment. I know that I am not young. Don't tell me I look young. If you want to say that I look sexy or I look vibrant or I have a nice glow about me, I really can accept that and not be [bothered] the way I was 10 or 15 years ago. What is young? I'm going to start putting up pictures of older ladies who I admire the heck out of!

Speaking of women's health issues, how are the puppies?

They're gorgeous.

Was this your first time breeding dogs?

Yes.

Why did you decide to undertake such a task?

In the midst of perimenopause I was looking into a pet store window and I locked eyes with Scooter. The rest is history. She is a substitute daughter and I don't care who knows it. But I could not bring myself to have her spayed because of all the hormonal changes I was going through, the thought of having her uterus cut out... I just could not go there. But here's the caveat: It only took one second nine weeks ago in Central Park for an eight-month-old puppy to figure it out, and he mated with Scooter!

What? I thought this was a planned pregnancy!

No! My life flashed in front of me! It was a moment of passion in Central Park. He just came prancing up to Scooter like a goofy puppy and when I looked down they had done the deed.

And, of course, on soaps, it only takes one time!

Yes. She's been hanging around soaps too long. I read a book so I knew what to do. Erika Slezak (Viki) gave it to me, because she has bred her bearded collies twice, and Scooter has been a great mother. But I can't keep them.

Now all of this has come at a time when you're playing very heavy story. Did you run home at lunch to take care of the puppies?

Yes, but actually the week that they were born I only worked one day because Dorian was off in Switzerland visiting Cassie. That was also a very good way, plot-wise, to have Dorian out of town when Lindsay was under suspicion.

Now, you've been vocal in the past about some stuff involving Dorian.

Yes, I was very vocal about the very sudden killing off of a dear friend of mine, Stephen Markle (ex-Mel). I thought it was very harsh and sudden for the characters, but I will cop to the fact that it was devastating to me [personally]. Stephen was a friend, and I deeply, deeply love him, and I had to process the loss of him and the character of Mel and what I thought it would do to Dorian and our position on the show — and deal with my intense grief over losing Stephen. Yes, I felt... but you know, sometimes... is it Murphy's Law? When you work in a situation where you're locked in and then leadership changes, it's kind of inevitable that it might come to you that you're the stepchild. Mom or Dad just remarried and now you've got a stepparent who is going to shape what your life is like. I felt very scared about my own position as a performer on the show, and I was grieving. What I wish now... I know now, with my growth process, that I can't live or work feeling that upset or angry or neglected. Those were my feelings. I celebrate the fact that the show has hit No. 1 [among women 18 to 49]. I congratulate (executive producer) Jill Farren Phelps. I am a performer. My job is to take the material I am given and make it as good as possible and I think that showed, even if it was a story turn I wasn't pleased about. I don't think anyone can fault my performance. There, I said it!

[Editor's note: Strasser called me the next morning to clarify her remarks about the way she dealt with Markle's departure]. You have such a great story and are doing such fine work... do you ever look back and regret the fact that you made such a stink in public?

Those are very separate, and here's where I'm going with that: One doesn't like to be reminded of the fact that even actors who get recognized on the street and get asked for their autograph and are perceived as being in a very glamorous business are just employees. And it's inappropriate to get angry at decisions that your bosses make. And although I wouldn't use the word regret in that you can't change what you already did, I have looked for some growth and learning from this experience and I'm trying to be as objective as possible with things that go down at the show.

I think I'm a little wiser, I hope, and I look forward to doing more challenging work. I'm not sure actors should get approval of what their storylines are or where their characters go. It's nice to be listened to, if you have a problem. And that, I have to tell you, I have had from the beginning of this. Whatever difficulties there might have been, I've had very good access to Jill Farren Phelps or to the producer of the day. At one point I said to her, "I want you in the control booth. I like your notes." I think that enriches the process. I didn't want to come off as glib, because it's an important issue when you get publicly angry with the people you work for and with, and I think it's important to start to rebuild a bridge when possible.