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KRISTIN TAYLOR/Ledger & Times
“All My Children” actress Chrishell Stause talks to an audience of mostly theatre and dance students at MSU’s Johnson Theatre on Monday afternoon. She returned to her alma mater for the first time since graduating in 2003 to share her Hollywood experience. |
Soap star is still ‘small-town girl'
By KRISTIN TAYLOR
Staff Writer
Chrishell Stause doesn't expect people to recognize her from “All My Children,” but she seemed flattered when people from her home in western Kentucky asked questions specific to the soap opera plot line.
A 2003 Murray State graduate and Marshall County native, Stause spoke Monday afternoon in MSU's Johnson Theatre for an informal forum which gave people a chance to ask her about her career and allowed the actress to share her inside look into Hollywood.
She also visited with four theatre classes during her two-day campus visit.
Stause has played the manipulative Amanda Dillon on the daytime series since May 4, 2005 - when Dillon returned to Pine Valley after a five-year absence. Previously, actress Alexis Manta played the character.
Stause lives in New York City, where she films the soap opera. It's also where she met her actor/boyfriend Matt Morrison, who was nominated for a Tony Award for his role in the operatic “The Light in the Piazza.”
“By no means is there fan fare when I walk down the street. That's ridiculous,” Stause told about 60 people in the audience Monday. “It's rewarding when someone notices, but I don't expect people to know. I don't expect people to watch.”
Under contract for another 2 1/2 years, Stause brings home a steady paycheck and is learning that acting for television is different than the stage performances she grew accustomed to while attending Murray State. Before graduating, she portrayed Cecily in “The Importance of Being Earnest,” Shelby in “Steel Magnolias” and Mina in “Dracula.”
Knowing she wanted to be an actress, Stause planned to go to UCLA to get an education while learning the Los Angeles ways. But then she learned how expensive attending the California school would be, so she settled for a couple years at Murray State. That turned into four full years and a degree before she moved to L.A. to follow her dream.
There, she spent a year auditioning for roles before she finally landed her spot on “All My Children.”
At first, Amanda Dillon was just a manipulative character, but since has evolved. Stause said Dillon still has an edge but some story lines have given the audience a reason to have some sympathy, especially after fans of the soap opera recently saw Dillon's mother, nicknamed “Janet from Another Planet.”
The show films a month in advance of what airs on ABC and the story line determines Stause's schedule. Her best off-the-screen friends are cast mates Alexa Havins (who plays Babe Chandler), Connie Fletcher (Erin Lavery) and Melissa Claire Egan (Annie McDermott). Then there's longtime soap star Susan Lucci, who Stause described as tiny, very funny and gracious.
Soap operas have a lot of emotion. Stause recalled the day she filmed scenes about the death of her television father. The on-camera mourning affected her off the set slightly - even though her head knows to separate it.
“Even though I'm acting, it's still me, but my body doesn't always get that,” she said.
Then there was the first day on her first professional job. Her wardrobe was scarce, as the limited clothing could be held up between two fingers. She bared much to the audience in her first on-screen introduction to the world. “I kept thinking, ‘Man, my grandma is going to see this,'” she said.
While making the transition from theater to television, she still holds dreams of returning to the stage one day, and she's thinking the transition might be a bit smoother. In TV, rehearsing for long periods of time isn't part of the process and camera close-ups catch more details than an audience would ever notice on stage.
So she dropped a hint to David Balthrop, who chairs MSU's theatre and dance department: There should be a TV elective that allows students to see themselves through a camera.
“I felt a little unprepared when it came to being on camera,” Stause told the audience of mostly students. “... You're going to hate your voice and the things you do, but it's worth learning.”
Off the set, Stause has rubbed shoulders with famous people at charity events - one of which was where she met Morrison more than a year ago.
“I am still a small-town girl, but I'll look over and say, ‘There's Katie Couric,'” Stause told her hometown audience.
So what does Stause miss from her western Kentucky home? Food. During her few days in town, she's eaten at O'Charley's and Chick-fil-A in Paducah, as well as Tom's Grille, Cracker Barrel and Los Portales locally.
During the forum, someone brought up another hometown actress, but Stause said there was no comparison to Murray native who plays Delinda Deline on NBC's “Las Vegas.”
“If she was here, the room would be packed. I'm not Molly Sims.”
Story created Nov 28, 2006 - 11:01:24 EST.
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