I would imagine there are a lot of people who dislike me," surmises Florencia Lozano.
She doesn't know the half of it. On the show for only eight months, her character, legal eagle Téa Delgado, has done the unthinkable: She has come between one of Llanview's first couples, fan favorites Blair and Todd Manning. On one hand, this is reason for the actress to be darned proud of herself; on the other hand, it's not a bad reason to worry, either. "If I thought about it," she allows, "I guess it would freak me out that so many people out there resent what I'm doing."
Frankly, she was as surprised, if not more shocked, than the audience when her alter ego wed Todd and moved into Casa Manning. "When Maxine Levinson [executive producer] said, 'You're going to be working with Roger Howarth (Todd) and Kassie DePaiva (Blair),' I thought, wow. I had so little to do with them beforehand, I thought, how are they going to get me involved there?"
"Hi Honey, I'm Homewrecking"
Perhaps an even more worrisome question was, how would Lozano herself fit in with a team that has worked together as long as Howarth and DePaiva? It turned out, Lozano had no cause for alarm. "They were pretty welcoming," she says. "I didn't get the feeling like I was breaking up something or that they weren't letting me in. And I think Roger likes to work with me, so that's good."
Lozano is aware that her leading man has a reputation for being a mystery to his fans. But she seems to have a good handle on his personality. "He's a pretty private person, and I totally respect that," she relates. "He's an actor who really likes to keep clear boundaries.
"But," she adds, "at the same time, he likes to joke around and has a good rapport with people. You know, they're long days on the set. You can't help but hang out and shoot the sh-- and make jokes. If you don't, your life would be hell."
Not-Me and My Shadow
When Lozano thinks about her alter ego, it's almost as if she travels to a foreign land. "Téa and I are very different as people," the actress points out. As if to illustrate her point, she arrives for a photo shoot sporting a halter top, loose-fitting floral pants and sandals-- an outfit Téa wouldn't be caught dead in.
"When I'm in those really tailored suits of Téa's, it makes me hold myself differently," reveals Lozano. "My hair and make-up, too, make me feel different about how the world views me."
In fact, asserts Lozano, Téa wears her power suits they like were suits of armor, her tough demeanor defending her from the world around her. "Ultimately, I think her edge comes from a really protective streak in her," she theorizes. "She's vulnerable, and that's why she needs that kind of edge, because she's scared of getting hurt."
Go Toward the Light, Téa Manning
Being married to Todd, Téa has every reason to be afraid. So it works out well that the other man in her life these days is Wortham Krimmer's salt-of-the-earth Andrew. It is the Reverend to whom she now turns when the going gets tough.
"Todd, and now Téa, have a reputation of being the dark side of Llanview," observes Lozano. "The penthouse is sort of this evil castle, and Krimmer calls Todd the prince of darkness. But quite frankly, it's fun to have that reputation. Someone said to me the other day, 'It must be fun playing an attraction to the minister and the devil," she continues. "And it is. I think that makes Téa's internal conflict really clear, that she's attracted to the light and the dark, and she feels a pull in both directions."
Lozano's dark side isn't so dark, but, she admits, she appreciates, and even has learned from, her charater's bold, take-no-prisoners attitude. "It's very liberating!" she says. "You can't always be that way in real life, but I have to say, I've been doing it more.
"I think people respect you when you're more direct with them. I'm always making mistakes or being too demanding. But it's okay to be a little pushy sometimes. It's like, okay, I made a mistake. But you move on."
One For Her Memoirs
Lozano has spent a great deal of time writing Téa's biography, both literally and figuratively. "I'm building up moments in her past," the actress explains. "Sometimes I'll write about it, sometimes I'll just daydream about it, trying to make real for myself an event that I talk about on the air."
Case in point: "This whole thing with the way Téa feels about Blair," she offers. "Téa sort of experiences a turnaround with her feelings. First, she was really compassionate with Blair and wanted Todd to reconcile with her. But then she realized that Blair is a snake and decided that she was going to protect Todd from Blair. And in order to justify that, I make up things about Téa's past."
So, in other words, as far as Todd's future is concerned, expect Téa's-- and Lozano's-- to be tied fast to it.