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One Life to Live's Jessica Kaye Talks To Soaps.com! Monday, May 11 2009

As the show revisits the storyline of the KAD, Soaps.com caught up with the new actress playing the role of Rebecca Lewis, Jessica Kaye!

Having studied at schools from New York to South Africa, Jessica told us a little bit about herself and what lured her into the world of acting. “I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and I grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota,” Jessica said. “I wanted to act since I was about five. I saw a production of “Midsummer Night’s Dream” and wanted to be up on stage with the fairies!”

Though One Life to Live wasn’t Jessica’s first acting gig, it was her first Daytime role, and over talk of her preparations for the role, and whether or not it was difficult to get into, Jessica clued us in on her experience by admitting, “Yes, it was actually hard to sort of climb into the middle of an intense and long running story. I got a little information about the core of the story from Sheryl, in the Casting Office, and then I tried to put the faces and the names together on the website. It was really fun, the more I taped, the more I understood the story and the people and how it all fit together.”

Jessica didn’t go to school all over the world for nothing, and her career now consists of not only being an actor but a producer and writer as well. These three professions tie in together, and Jessica shared with us just how! “I find that writing, acting, directing and producing all feed each other. Producing lets me understand just what it takes to make a film, so I can understand the medium as a whole better,” she explained. “I also get more experience on a set. Directing and writing are both really creative, they feed the creativity and the passion that I feel is necessary for acting. When I am acting I definitely just love acting. My real excitement comes from being in the moment and being creative with other people…”

The KAD storyline is made up of a vast cast of veteran actors, so, of course, we wanted to know if Jessica knew any of them before her time on the show, and if she had favorites while playing Rebecca. “I didn’t know anyone before the shoot, but everyone was so nice and welcoming!” Jessica admitted. “I really enjoyed some of my more intense scenes with Michael Easton [John McBain]… but everyone was really great.”

Jessica will be appearing as a bartender in the upcoming November 2009 film “Veronika Decides to Die,” starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, which she described as, “It’s a really interesting story.” She also gave us a peek into what’s yet to come for her in the future. “I am actually directing a short film at the moment that I wrote. I’m really excited about it! It’s a film without dialogue about a group of teenagers that go out into the night in search of adventure. I am collaborating with this great electronic musician named Kotchy who will be designing the sound and composing the music. We start shooting in a week!”

Having worked in many theater productions, when asked if she would be pursuing Daytime in the future, Jessica replied, “I really enjoyed my experience on Daytime and would love to do more.”

Soaps.com is thoroughly enjoying the KAD storyline, and Jessica in the role of Rebecca has topped it off perfectly! If you missed our previous interview with the portrayer of her onscreen love, Powell Lord, you can catch up with Sean Moynihan in the OLTL News Room!

- Amy Mistretta