This Interview was conducted in DECEMBER 1999 and is an Almost Human exclusive. ALMOST HUMAN's DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: You settled into your role as Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald so seamlessly. Were you a fan of soap operas before joining Passions? LINDSAY: I had watched Days of Our Lives for a little while because my brother and his friends were really into Days of Our Lives. I wanted to know why so I started watching it. Other than that I've actually never watched soap operas. I've never been home to be able to do so. DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: Did you always want to become an actress? LINDSAY: Yes. I remember when I was fourteen. I had the wonderful opportunity to do Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. I remember going on stage opening night and instantly knowing that that's what I wanted to do--that I wanted to be a performer. It was like the most incredible experience, seeing all those people, you know, watching, watching a show. I'll never forget that feeling. That's what's inspired me to become an actress. DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: Having been nominated for your first award as Outstanding Newcomer in Daytime, are there are any scenes on Passions that you would consider to be your strongest work to date? LINDSAY: Yes. Actually, in a month from what's happening right now, I feel that I've had my best work. It was a scene with Ethan and my mother. There's a major tragedy--a death happens. I feel responsible for this death. It's New Year's Eve. I really feel very impassioned that particular evening on Passions.
LINDSAY: Yeah, I really do. I feel that it's not just about Ethan. It's more about the discovery of the relationships between herself and her family. You know how sometimes when you get involved with a person and you tend to let go of your family by accident? It kind of just happens that you get so involved with a person that you're in love with that nothing else matters or that you don't really listen to your family. You take it in but it's kind of like one ear out the other. I think that Theresa is so in love with Ethan Crane that she doesn't stop to think. But, we all do that and she's seventeen years old, you know? I think that she's growing up. I think she's learning. I play this character every single day and I want her to learn. I want her to grow because I would want to learn and I would want to grow. I want to be a better person. And because I play her all the time I want Theresa to grow. I want her to become a better person, because she's a good-hearted girl. She's really honest. She loves her family. She's in love with Ethan.
DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: So what would you like Theresa to accomplish, other than adding a hyphenate Crane to her lengthy name? LINDSAY: Well, there are a few things. On a personal level, Her growing up, her hitting that age of maturity, of learning about life and that it's not all happy. I want her to realize that there are there are a lot of problems; that there are a lot of responsibilities. She always likes to see the good, the positive, in people. And it's a wonderful trait. I admire Theresa in so many ways. I think she's such a good person. I love the fact that she only wants to see good in people. But then there is reality that serious things are going on. There are murders in the world. There are people starving in other countries. I want her to go through the pain, to grow up. I want her to be a better person because she has such wonderful abilities and is a wonderful girl. As far as Theresa's occupation, I would like her to really work on her fashion career. I would like her to study it. As a person, I think that eventually she's definitely going to have her own business maybe her own, Theresa Lopez Fitzgerald, TLF, clothing Line--because she loves it and studies it. She studies the magazines. She always has the new hairstyles, she's always got the little choker necklaces on, and she knows the latest colors. I think she's very in tune and very educated in that particular field, and I hope that she will work hard at it and make her own-- make her independent, not dependent on other people. DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: Thousands of females would like to know if Ethan, Miguel, and Luis are truly dashing off screen as well? LINDSAY: I think that all three of them are completely wonderful human beings and even hysterical. Ethan, Travis Schultz, is hysterical. He is a very funny and a good person. He is a very caring person. I can say it about all of them. They all have wonderful hearts. They all come from good places and they're all a pleasure to be around. DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: Do you have any fond memories of your first day on the set? LINDSAY: My first day. I was so nervous. I was really, really, really, really nervous. I didn't have a lot of dialog the first day but I kept repeating [what I did have] over and over and over again because I didn't know if I was going to remember it when I got out there. I just kept trying to stay focused and relax myself. I kept saying: "Okay. You can do this. Relax. Relax. Relax." It was really a scary feeling but it was fun. It was so surreal. It was like one of the most surreal experiences that I have had. DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: Was it a lot different from the first time or the many times that you have premiered on stage? LINDSAY: Yeah. It's different because there isn't that personal connection. It's not so intimate. The TV isn't as intimate as being on stage. Being on stage you know if you screw up, you screw up in front of thousands of people and you have to cover yourself instantly. But on TV it was more like: "Oh, man. I messed up." On stage it's like: "Oh, I messed up but keep going."
LINDSAY: Yeah!! I would love that. I would love to pursue my singing career but it's really difficult. It's very challenging with the show because I don't have a lot of time. But whatever I can do I'm trying to do it--trying to make it happen. DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: So what are some of the things that you're doing to help develop your musical career as well? LINDSAY: Well, I'm working with a well-known record company right now. Everything takes a lot of time, but we just recorded a couple of songs. Also, when I was in New York [for the Macy's Day Parade] I was so inspired, from being in New York, that I wrote my first song. DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: Oh, wow!! LINDSAY: Yeah. That was just a wonderful feeling. I'm really happy with the song. I continue to work on my craft outside of the acting portion of my life. DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: Is song writing something that you hope to continue to do as well? LINDSAY: Yes. Absolutely. I have written melodies and lyrics on tracks before but I've never actually sat down and told somebody or explained to somebody what I feel in a way that can be transformed into a song. DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: That's something that you had the opportunity to do in New York? LINDSAY: Yeah. My best friend owns a studio there. In New York, I had this sudden urge to write a song. Something came over and I felt like I could really write a song. I could really tell him what I'm hearing so specifically that it could actually be created. DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: Whose acting did you really admire when you were growing up? LINDSAY: I would definitely say Natalie Wood, Judy Garland. I feel I owe them a lot of credit for how I am as an actress, because I really studied them. I did the musicals. I did Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. I was very fortunate to play Maria in Westside Story. I learned from them since I never studied acting. I had two classes when I moved out here. I never, ever studied acting. I just watched their work. When I was picked to do a show I would just sit and rewind and rewind and rewind until I felt like I knew who the character was and what the person was about. Then I made it my own. DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: So you only had two acting classes before you started? LINDSAY: Yeah. It was funny, because I was an observer in the classes. I didn't even participate in the classes. I just wanted to watch. I find that I learn a lot by watching, by studying other people. DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: What singers have most influenced your singing? LINDSAY: I like people from any fashion. It's such a range. Mariah Carey has always been one of my favorites and Tori Amos in the completely opposite direction--Tori and Alanis Morrisette. I just think are amazing writers and musicians. DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: So how did you get into singing in the first place? Did you always want to be a singer? LINDSAY: No. I didn't. I had no idea I was going to be in the field until a friend of my mother's told her that I should be in beauty pageants. My mom 's friend said, "Oh, she's so pretty. You should throw her into beauty pageants. She'd win." I was like ten years old so at that time it was recreational. It wasn't anything serious. But, I really liked them. I really found that I could learn from them. You really need that confidence to walk on stage. It sounds so weird to just go up there and walk around and smile at the judges, but you really do need self-esteem. You need confidence to portray your security as you walk in front of hundreds and thousands of people, and they're judging you on your appearance and how you radiate yourself. I think it was a really, really wonderful experience to be a part of beauty pageants. And then, there was a talent portion (laughs). I thought I'd dance because I used to free style in my living room all the time. I used to put Janet Jackson in and free style around. God, it's so embarrassing. I used to dance like all around the living room by myself. So my mom's like: "You can't go up there and dance. I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know what's going to come out of you. I can't let you do that." My mom's like: "Just sing." I was like: "You know, I don't sing but who cares?" I was at that age where it was just for fun. It was all for fun. I sang like Tiffany's Could Have Been and Whitney Houston's Greatest Love of All. I didn't win anything. I kept losing and losing. I won "beauty" and I kept losing singing. Then I came across a choreographer named Gary White. He needed a girl to sing during the costume changes on the show he was working on. What he did was put movement in my work. One day he brought me "Home" from The Wiz to learn. He sat down and word for word he described what the song was about--from his heart. It really moved me. I really felt this honest connection toward the piece. I think part of it was the way he was. He opened up his heart to me. After that day I won every talent part. Every time I sang Home. I never won "beauty" again but I won talent every time. I owe my singing career to him. Unfortunately, he passed away a few years later from AIDS at a very, very young age--in his late twenties. DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: That must have been a totally moving experience for you. LINDSAY: Yeah. It was. He was a wonderful human being. I'm really glad that I met him. DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: So do you have any advice that you would give to struggling wannabe thespians? LINDSAY: Yeah. Keep trying. Keep going for it. And alongside of it, keep working and keep auditioning. Discover yourself as a person. I think the more you know about yourself the better actor you can become. You can channel where you're feeling and what you're feeling, the more specific you are as a human.
LINDSAY: Oh, my gosh!! Are you kidding? It was so amazing! It was the most amazing experience. I was waving at thousands of people on a special holiday. It was so wonderful. You could just feel the love in the air. It was just a wonderful day. I went with Jesse, who plays my younger brother. It was really nice to go with him because he plays a family member on the show and I feel very close to him in real life. He reminds me so much of my older brother it's like frightening. I was definitely nervous and very excited. I could have been in that parade forever that day. DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: Now, considering you're one of soaps most beautiful women, do you have any cosmetic tips for the thousands of teenage girls who wish Ethan admired their eyes? LINDSAY: Call up my makeup artist on the show (laughs)? Honestly, she does an amazing job.
LINDSAY: Actually, I use Bag Balm. It sounds really gross. It's funny because I just told Travis, who plays Ethan, the other day. His lips have been really chapped. What do I do? Break out the Bag Balm (laughs). Seriously, he really liked it. It's used for cow's udders. It's in this green jar. I know that sounds totally disgusting but my grandma turned me on to it. I use it for dryness. It's really, really good. I use it to keep my lips really moist, I use it on my cuticles, and I use it after I pluck on my eyebrows to keep the redness and the irritation down. Bag Balm, that's my secret. DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: So, what will it be for Y2K? Will you be hiding under the covers? Or watching fireworks galore? LINDSAY: I'll be watching fireworks. I'm going to be with some of my Passions buddies. DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: You're not concerned about the Y2K millennium crisis? Maybe packing water bottles or hording extra food? LINDSAY: No. I don't know what's going to happen but think it'll be okay. DAYTIME SOAP OPERAS: Well, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with us.
LINDSAY: My pleasure and thanks for tuning in to Passions. |
