GROWING UP SOAPY

With a Lifetime of Daytime Already Behind Them, These Lovely Ladies Continue To Grow Older Gracefully by Naomi Rabinowitz Additional Reporting by Randee Dawn Soap Opera Digest August 27, 2002 Crossing that bridge between adolescence and adulthood can be trying: You're too old to be a kid, too young to be a grownup, your body is going through changes and your life is full of new experiences. Now imagine having to endure this awkward age--on camera--while holding down a high-pressure job. As the following young vets attest, growing up on-screen is hard work; a clear head and a sense of purpose are what it takes to avoid becoming the next E! TRUE HOLLYWOOD STORY. Heather Tom (Victoria, Y&R), who joined her show at 15 in 1991, explains that it's important for child actors to actually want to be on-set. "I was young, eager to learn, and didn't feel like I was getting in over my head," she says. "I was happy to be working." "It was exciting and fun and a dream come true," echoes Judi Evans Luciano (ex-Paulina, AW; ex-Adrienne, DAYS; ex-Beth, GL), who was 18 when she began on GL in 1983. "I probably worked more on GL than any of the other shows I've been on, but I was given the opportunity, so I took it. I was very lucky." However, with opportunities come responsibilities. Both actresses her handed mature storylines that they had to make realistic. "I worried that it was too much to handle when Vicki got married [to Ryan] at 16," Tom recalls. "Y&R was great, though in that Vicki went through all of the things that you'd go through if you really were getting married at 16. So, it wasn't so hard relating to her." Evans Luciano had a more difficult time connecting with incest victim Beth. "I got a lot of background for the part," she explains. "From the research that I did, [incest] seems to happen to a lot of people that age and younger. It was tiring, and it was very emotional to play at that age, but GL did a great job writing it." Alison Sweeney (Sami, DAYS), who's been "growing up Brady" since 1993, when she was 16, related a bit too much to her character's bulimia story. "It took a lot for me to learn to separate Sami from myself," she admits. "[Executive Producer] Steve Wyman went out of his way to talk to me and my mom and reassure me that the storyline did not affect how the show felt about my body type. They wanted me to know that they thought I was pretty, no matter what." But even with that meaty story, a character's transition from kid to adult can be shaky. Erin Torpey (Jessica, OLTL), who joined the show at 9 in 1990, saw her alter-ego though a teen pregnancy and her baby's subsequent death, yet feels that Jessica is still regarded as a child. "They say we have to keep her a kid for as long as possible," she sighs. "I'd love for her to find a career and get out there herself." Tom believes that Vicki is sometimes written as too mature. "Most of the 'teens' [on the show] are actually older than me in real life, but I'm beyond the middle generation," she says. "It seems a little strange because Victoria's only 26. I think she seems a lot older than she is because she's been through so much." Sweeney, whose character was a teen mother, agrees. "I did have a bit of a mid-life crisis when the new teens came on the show," she chuckles, "but now I've accepted it. I have more grown-up storylines, so it's still fun." As for the stars' off-screen development, life often imitated art. "I was a late bloomer, so my character's first kiss was my first," reveals Tom. "The love scenes were very awkward, and thankfully, everyone was respectful and helpful. I grew up with her." Jessica had to grow up with Torpey when the actress went though a significant growth spurt. "I ended up growing eight inches in a year," Torpey laughs. "My mom was sure they were going to [recast] me, but instead, they made my character two years older. It leveled out, so now I'm the same age as her: 21." Sweeney had a harder time dealing wit the physical changes. The now-svelte actress confesses to being hurt by fans' comments about her weight. "It was tough to be heavy on-camera," she recalls. "At that age, I was so insecure anyway, and it was tough reading on the Internet about how fat I was and getting hate mail. One letter just said, 'FAT COW' in huge letters. Becoming a villain helped because I was able to separate myself from Sami. Then I knew the fans were really angry with my character." But even praise can hurt young actors, insists Evans Luciano. "When thousands of people tell you that they love you, it's easy to think that you're better than everyone else," she points out. "But you can't buy into your own press. You sweat and smell like everyone else." Tom, however, argues that all teens have to deal with pressure, regardless of whether they're in entertainment. "I don't feel like I missed out by not being in high school," she says. "I think that in a lot of ways, I was protected from stuff that girls go through when they have to deal with their peers." Still, that element of "normalcy" is what's kept these actresses from following the negative path of many other child stars. "Furthering my education has helped me," shares Tom. "I've been taking courses at UCLA for 10 years. It helps to do something outside of the business." "My parents have always been so great with me," praises Sweeney. "Even now, I know that if I tried to pull attitude with someone, I would be in big trouble!" And when push comes to shove, it's just a job. "I say to do it for as long as you love it, and when you don't love it anymore, you have to do something different," says Torpey. "Working on TV is not the be-all and end-all. It's not as exciting as people make it out to be." # Return to Press Index