http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/aug/26/int...webtcpalmcommu/NEW YORK — Q. Do you get recognized a lot on the street?
A. It depends where I am. I could walk around in the middle of Times Square and no one would recognize me, and then I could go to the gym and four people could. They always recognize me when I don’t want them to — like I’m sweaty, I’ve just run four miles!
Q. Many entertainers say they like the anonymity of New York — residents are blasé about seeing famous people.
A. I see Kelly Ripa walk around here all the time, because they shoot right there. And I see Jerry Seinfeld and a lot of different people. The thing is, with a soap actor they feel like they know you, because you’re in their living room every single day. They go through all these emotional things with you. So I think we’re more approachable, whereas a big movie star is a little less approachable. With a soap star, they scream out your character’s name all the time.
Q. Do they expect you to be Kendall?
A. Sometimes. I say "First of all, I’m not pregnant. Secondly, I don’t have children And third of all, I hope I’m not as much of a bitch as she is!" But Kendall is much nicer these days.
Q. It’s been more than five years since you got this part. How have things changed for you?
A. I’m much more comfortable with it. I was a mess in the beginning; I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I was like, "This is really hard!" We have to learn 30, 40 pages a night. You don’t get a lot of rehearsal time. You show up and you’re expected to make this interesting writing work. But now that I know my character, and I know what makes her tick, and I put so much of me into her, I enjoy her. I enjoy playing it so much more now.
Q. You were president of the drama club at South Fork High School, and acted at Indian River Community College. So you were one of those "drama kids"?
A. I was a drama kid, totally. I did tons of musicals — singing and dancing. We did "My Fair Lady" at the Lyric Theatre — it was my first professional show — and my pants fell down in the middle of the show. I was doing high kicks, and I guess the hook on my big dress came undone and the whole thing fell. My parents were in the audience! It was a very memorable evening.
I stopped right in the middle of the IRCC musical theater program because I was doing commercials in Miami and I kept having to miss school. So I ended up moving further down south, doing commercials and theater.
At the time, I either wanted to move to New York or California and be an actor. For a long time, I wanted to do Broadway shows, because I was singing and dancing. Then I thought, "I’d love to do TV." Then, "Oh, soaps are sorta cool, because it’s a constant job. You get to work every day." Of course, ultimately I would love to do film.
Q. Don’t some actors think of daytime drama as a little less than movie or stage acting?
A. When I was 19 I thought, "It would really be cool to live in New York City and work on a soap." Because I grew up watching soaps and I thought it would be glamorous and fun to wear the pretty clothes and kiss the cute boys and laugh and cry. I remember saying to my mom, "What a great starting place for me." I didn’t know that I’d be on one.
I feel like I’m at the place I want to be, and I’m sort of ready for the next step. A have a good chunk of time left, but it’s going to be tough — when my contract is up, I have to make a choice whether I’m going to stay or not. Right now I feel like I’d like to try other things while I’m still young enough and energetic enough to do it. I’d just like to play another character — different TV shows, theater, I don’t care. I’d love to sing and dance again. I just want to do something else.
However, if they are writing this amazing story for me, and we reach some negotiation where I can do both ... where I can work less, still tell my story but do other projects, I feel like things can be worked out.
I know that I don’t want to do soaps the rest of my life. But I’m trying to be thankful for it, because I’m in the best position I could be in on that show. I’m really lucky — they’re writing for me and giving me what I want.
I’m so worried people are going to think I’m not grateful when I say I want to move on. The story I’m telling now is the best story I’ve ever told in my 5 1/2 years on the show, and I’m so grateful that I’ve been given the chance to play this character. So in that respect, my life is really good.
Q. Many actors go to New York to be famous, and fail. Why wasn’t that the case with you?
A. I think because I knew what I wanted, from when I was very young. I was always taking acting classes and singing classes. My parents always supported me. I remembering being on the stage in high school, thinking, "This is what I was meant to do."
I lived here for a while before I got "All My Children." But I remembered my dad always saying persistence, persistence.
Q. Tell me about Annie Schwartz, your drama teacher in Stuart. She was a mentor for you, wasn’t she?
A. She cast me in my first musical at South Fork. She cast me in the lead of "Once Upon a Mattress," and I said I didn’t know if I could do it. She said, "Yes you can, you’re perfect for it." I rehearsed and rehearsed, and she was always there saying she saw something. I don’t know what she saw.
In time, she was bringing me to all these drama competitions. She would help me with the monologues, and really groomed me to take the next step and be where I am today.
Some people have luck — they give acting a try and they become a movie star. But I think you really have to have people support you — your parents. A teacher. A director. Somebody who just teaches you the right way to do it, and has faith in you.
Q. Can you cry on cue?
A. If I took a second right now and got real quiet, probably. In terms of acting — lately, yeah. All I really do is think about the story I’m telling and make it real to me. And if I make it real to me, it’s really easy to cry. I think the majority of us can cry like that these days. I just think about the emotions, how the situation makes me feel. And I’ve played Kendall for so long, I feel her pain. With her sick children and all the things that have gone on in her life. I have a little place inside of me now that I go to when I have to. It’s scary sometimes, because I have to go to a really sad place, but that’s being an actor. I know there’s sadness inside of everybody — it’s just allowing yourself to go there.
Q. How did you get on "All My Children" in the first place?
A. I auditioned for "All My Children" before I even moved to New York 11 years ago. I had a manager who said, "You should do soaps." He flew me up to audition for them, and I was horrible. I was 19; I had no training. And the woman, Judy Wilson, said, "You’re not ready. But I’m going to keep calling you because I think someday you will be."
And over the course of about five years, she would keep calling me in for auditions. And I would get very close, I would screen test, and one day she said, "I have a part that I think is perfect for you."
She didn’t tell me what the role was. She just said it was a really fun, sassy, spicy role. She didn’t tell me it was Susan Lucci’s daughter. She didn’t tell me that a previous actress had played her. She just said, "It’s a great part for you. Come in and have attitude, and have fun with it."
It was very hard in the beginning. It took me a long time to find my way. And once I did, I fell into a groove. I still have good days and bad days. Believe it or not, it’s a tough job. Because we have to make this writing work. And it’s a new script every single day. But it’s fun.
Q. How do you know Kendall is a popular character? Do they write more scenes for you, or do more fans show up at personal appearances?
A. I think both. They’ve been writing for me nonstop for five years, and I’ve seen other characters come and go. And the actors are lovely people. The producer says, "Listen, they like writing for you. So you’re doing something right, kid."
Q. Do you think you might get your script one day, and they’ve killed you off?
A. No. And I know that sounds horrible and pompous. The only reason I say that is because I play Susan Lucci’s daughter, and there is stability in that. And now that my character has had two children, and she has a husband, I have so many links, family-wise on the show — the more links you have, the stronger you are. And the harder it is for them to kill you!
I feel like now that I have these two little babies on the show, they can’t kill me. I’m a mother now!ETA: If you click on the link there is a link to a video of Lish sending greetings to FL.