cbs.soapsindepth.com gives you a chance to ask questions of your favorite stars!
Dear Kristina, What is one good trait that both you and your character share? Jeff B.
Dear Jeff, Abigail's a very honest person, and I like to think of myself as an honest person. I really strive to be truthful and honest. I think it's just a really nice quality to have. People think that people step on you, but I think that honesty is a rare quality and a real trait that is very attractive to people. So I like that my character shares that, and I like to think that I have that.
Dear Kristina, Do you enjoy playing the sweet girl or would you like to be a bad girl? jess from philly
Dear jess from, I really do enjoy playing the sweet girl. Sure, I love some days to do something different, maybe play a bad girl sometimes. But right now it's working for me, and I kind of like being Abi.
Dear Kristina, I love your hair color. What color is it? Donishia J.
Dear Donishia, I guess the hair department would probably be best [to ask], but I think my hair color is called Chestnut. I think it's by Redken. This is not my real hair... no, it is my real hair. (Laughs.)
Dear Kristina, How did you get your job on ATWT? And what is your teenage life like now that you are on a daily show (like do your friends watch the show?)? Lizzy Johnson
Dear Lizzy, How did I get my job? That's a long story that's not worth telling. But, you know, by auditioning, like a lot of actors. And what is your teenage life like? That's a great question. What is your teenage life like now that you're on a show? It's completely different. And my friends at home, back where I grew up, watch the show. And a lot of my friends are in college, so when they don't have a class at 2:00 or 1:00, they watch it. It's funny. (Laughs.) But it's different. I don't feel like a teenager. I feel 25 years old. I feel like a working person. I have my own apartment, I have my own income, I tally up and pay my own taxes, I buy my own groceries. I do everything independently, so I feel as if I'm not dependent on anyone, and therefore, I feel like I'm the same age as Terri Colombino (Katie), or 25, you know... So it's so different. It actually came at a great time. I was 17, and I was ready to be independent, I just didn't have that sort of grace period with college. You've got a lot of responsibilities, but with greater responsibilities come greater things.
Dear Kristina, What do you think about Abigail's relationships with older men? I mean the first guy she loved was older. And now the most recent one was older. What are your feelings on that? Dani Dominick
Dear Dani, The best answer I can come up with for this is, I guess it's just her preference. (Laughs.) Some people like blondes, some people like brunettes, some people just like older men! (Laughs.) I don't know. It's kind of odd. But it's her thing. I don't like that. I don't think I could go for somebody 10 years older than me like Abigail. I like people around my own age.
Dear Kristina, I have been watching ATWT since Jake and Molly's wedding. I want to know what you feel is the best part about working on a soap. And, what advice can you give to someone like me who wants to break into soaps? I am only 13, but I really want to act! Elana
Dear Elana, The best part about working on a soap is having a steady income and not worrying about where your next job is going to come from. The good thing about it is that it's steady, and there's very few steady jobs in acting. And also having different material every day, a different story to play. And for someone who wants to get into the business, I'd say... really, it's a journey, so you have to start small. The more local plays you go do and the more things in your area, the more people you'll meet to go do local things in your state, plays and stuff. And the more people you'll meet there will catapult you and give advice. That's the way it happened for me. I just met so many people on a smaller level that gave me so much advice. And I learned about the business before I really got into the position where I had to come to New York to audition for soaps, movies, films. Before I got to the point where I was auditioning for major, major things, I learned so much about the business. That way, you learn that on a smaller level, doing local theater or looking at local talent agencies, and just working your way up from the bottom. Everyone's done it. As much as you tune in to ACCESS HOLLYWOOD or ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, and you see these breakout new stars, I mean, those poor actors have been working 10-15 years to get where they are. They don't just break out from nowhere.
Dear Kristina, Who is your favorite person to work with on the show? And why? Tracy Coley
Dear Tracy, Everyone's really good at what they do on our show. There's not anyone that's unpleasant to work with. I think I already work with the best people, in my story. I feed really well off Tom [Eplin] (Jake) and Lesli [Kay] (Molly) and Craig [Lawlor] (Adam), and even Carl [T. Evans] (ex-Nick). I love working with them. I mean, everybody else is absolutely wonderful. I just have the best of both worlds. The best cast and the best people in my storyline.
Dear Kristina, How do you get your hair to look so perfect? Ashley
Dear Ashley, [laughs] It's called an entire hair department! They hire a lot of people to make my hair look good! [laughs] It's so true. I always thought that actors were like a different breed of people and they just had the shiniest, smoothest, most beautiful hair, and their skin was always perfect and beautiful and they were born super-thin. [laughs] I always thought it was some rare, alien race or something. But there's like, 500 people working behind the scenes to make those people look the way they do.
Dear Kristina, How is it working with a veteran like Martha Byrne (Lily/Rose)? Do you get advice and feedback? (I know she also sings beautifully.) Lara
Dear Lara, Oh, she's wonderful. She's given me so much advice, first of all about life, because she's a great woman. She's also helping me with my CD and getting all that music stuff together. She was great in that area because she's done that. She's done almost everything that I've been doing, so it's really nice to talk to her.
Dear Kristina, If you could play another character on the show who would it be and why?
Mackenzie
Dear Mackenzie, Well, I'm kind of just satisfied with my character right now. I'm satisfied with Abigail. I don't think I'd really want to play anybody else. Reason being... because... the character is pretty much you, in that sense of a part of you that you can put in there. And I look at everybody else and I'm not... their type. (Laughs) It's different playing those kind of people... their roles. I guess because I've seen them do it. I've seen Martha play Rose, I've seen Lesli play Molly and Terri play Katie. I can't be like, "Oh, I want to do that." That's them. That's their thing. They've made that. I've made Abigail. I like her. She's nice.
Dear Kristina, What is your weirdest fan meeting, and what the weirdest thing a fan has asked you? Chris from Ga
Dear Chris from, I've been asked this before. I don't know. I don't really think I've even had one. Because I don't want to categorize fans in this like, weird group of people. I mean, they're just normal people who watch the show and enjoy it. So it's not like fan encounters that I have are weird. They're actually quite pleasant. I was just in a restaurant the other day, Sardi's in midtown, and this woman there... I was in the bathroom washing my hands, and she came in and she was like, "I watched you today." She was pregnant, and her due date was soon, and her name was... Lauren. Yeah. And she was just the most pleasant woman and had the most wonderful things to say. And I just love that. I haven't had weird encounters, I've had wonderful encounters. And even weird encounters are fine. Just because if people really enjoy the show, why slough them off as weird fans? They're not. They're normal people. They're pretty nice to me. Because Abigail has a sweet demeanor.
Dear Kristina, Is it hard to do the scenes where you and Lesli are arguing, because it seems that you both have a close off-screen relationship? And what is your favorite book? Luanne
Dear Luanne, Those are very hard scenes to do. I apologized to her before we did the scenes, and I apologized to her after we did the scenes. I hate arguing with her. It was so hard. But when they called action, I was totally there. And I went even further than I thought I would, as far as arguing, so when they called cut, I was just so embarrassed. I just could sense the entire crew and everybody looking with their mouths open, kind of shocked to see this side of me. My face turned bright red, and I wanted to crawl into a hole. Because I felt like I had just yelled at my mother in public in front of everybody. [laughs] It was really hard doing those scenes. I guess my favorite book would probably be the book I read the most - which is probably cheesy to most people - The Bible. [laughs] It's a great book, though! It has everything in it. Poetry and everything. [laughs] Faith is something that's really important to me.
Dear Kristina, Abigail and Adam make such a cute couple. Are you and Craig Lawlor good buddies off-camera, too?
Linda -- Canterbury, CT
Dear Linda --, Oh yeah, we are. I've been asked that before, but we have fun on-screen and we have fun off-screen. We get together and we jam with my guitar and his drums. He's still trying to get me to go dirt bike riding with him, but I'm not about to do that. He's a fun guy.
Dear Kristina, I must say I just love watching you on ATWT. I think you're a wonderful actress! I was wondering what it's like working with Tom Eplin and Lesli Kay? Are you guys close off-screen also? Christina Parker
Dear Christina, Yeah, we're very close off-screen. Everyone knows how close I am with Lesli. Most people don't see the side of Tom that we see, which is just a sweet, caring, generous man. He's a really great guy and we all have a lot of fun off-screen.
Dear Kristina, Is there anybody that you haven't worked with in the cast that you would really like to work with? Weston Mae
Dear Weston, You know, I haven't done scenes with Terri in a very long time, and I miss doing scenes with her. We hardly even see each other lately because she's always doing scenes with Simon and Dahlia, or even Craig. And I'm never with those people. I hardly ever see her anymore, it's so sad. Because we don't live together anymore.
Dear Kristina, Hi Kristina! Love your acting! My question is: Which actor/actress do you love working with most (on ATWT) and which actor/actress do you want to work with (dead or alive)? shireen
Dear shireen, I think I answered that before, who I liked working with. Same answer as before, everyone's really pleasant. Actor/actresses I'd would want to work with... There are so many actors in Hollywood, and actors in general, that I just respect. They are so talented at what they do, it's hard for me to rattle off some names. But I would really love to work with Robin Williams. He's an interesting guy. I would love to just meet him. And Michelle Pfeiffer. I just think she's so beautiful. And so underrated. I don't think people see how much talent she has in her. I think she's a great actress.
Dear Kristina, I am a college student, and have been hooked on your soap for the last few years. You are a wonderful addition. What's it like working with Molly and Jake? Oh, and do you ever get to see/spend time with Simon? He's so cute. By the way, your song was beautiful and so was your voice. You go girl!
Taylor Taylor
Dear Taylor, It's great working with Lesli and Tom [Eplin] (Jake) because they try to have as much fun off-screen as on-screen. So usually, what you see when you're watching us is their true personality. And I spend a lot of time with Paul Leyden because he's really good friends with Terri, and we all go out to dinner sometimes. And the great thing about him is that he's not just cute on the outside, he's got a wonderful heart. He's a very sweet guy, and I honestly predict that he will become a huge star. And I'm glad to say I knew him when.
