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CBS.com: Did you have any idea that after your stint as teenage
clone Reva you would join Guiding Light full time?
Lenz: No, not at all. They called me in early September and they
said by the way...
CBS.com: ... Rebecca Budig [ex-Michelle] is leaving.
Lenz: They knew her contract was coming up and she was thinking
of leaving and so they said let's just check and see if Joie wants to
do it. I said yes, and it turns out that I was able to because... Actually,
they had asked me to come back as another character earlier in May or
June, but I was in Los Angeles shooting a pilot and I had to wait until
I found out from WB if it got picked up or not.
CBS.com: Is it different going from a short-term role to a key
character like Michelle?
Lenz: It is a lot of fun. Definitely challenging because they are
two completely different characters. Sometimes I will find myself falling
into old habits that I tend to use in both [characters] but I try to catch
it when I find myself doing something that I know Reva did. And then also
just working with everybody that I worked with before. I am actually in
scenes with Kim [Zimmer, Reva] and Robert [Newman, Josh] and Laura [Wright,
Cassie], and my dressing room is across from Robert's and Kim's and Laura
is right down the way. It's a big family. It is a lot of fun.
CBS.com: Are you still in school?
Lenz: Yes, I am.
CBS.com: How do you strike a balance between your two lives?
Lenz: Well, by the grace of God, that's how I do it. I go to school—I
have one class—a government class. My class is over at 9:45 in the
morning so I'll come home and usually I'll study my script for the next
day if I am working that day. I am only working 2-3 days a week. For the
most part, it is not too difficult to go hang out with my friends if I
want to on the weekends. I don't work on the weekends so I can go hang
out.
CBS.com: Is it tough to be a "normal" teen? How do your
friends react to your GL job?
Lenz: I wouldn't know how it is compared to a completely normal
teenage life because since I was 13 I have been doing this. My friends...
when everybody first found out, and I first went to the high school that
I am going to, it was kind of... it was something that was very interesting
to them and there were a lot of questions, as expected. But I think after
about a year, the novelty kind of wore off. And everybody is like "Hey
I saw you on the cover of a magazine. That's pretty cool." And that
is the extent of it. It's really nice.
CBS.com: It's like acting is your side job. That's what you do.
Lenz: I always use this analogy, because it is so true: I am an
actor. My friend plays soccer. It's the same thing. We both are doing
something we love. I get paid for what I do but it doesn't matter. God
forbid I say this, but I would be doing it for free because I love it.
If I could, I'd do this every day of my life.
CBS.com: You are not in a school play, though. You are on television.
Lenz: I did a school play. I did Cinderella a while ago and it
was a lot of fun to be able to work with all my friends and everything.
It was hard because I was doing the clone at the same time. But it was
a nice balance, a nice reality check to keep myself grounded.
CBS.com: How do you keep grounded?
Lenz: My relationship with God has really humbled me and kept me
grounded and kept me around the friends that I know are true friends and
I know are going to accept me for who I am. It doesn't matter what I do.
And if they disagree with something I do they are going to let me know,
but it is not going to affect [our friendship] in any way. I know a lot
of people who get sucked into the whole acting thing because it is so
appealing and something that is there if you yearn for the attention.
If I got fired tomorrow I know I would still have my friendship with God
and the friendships with my good friends. That is what matters to me.
CBS.com: It looks like you have a good rapport with Tammy Blanchard
[Drew] and with Paulo Benedeti [Jesse].
Lenz: It's great. It is so wonderful. I was really nervous at first,
I'll tell you honestly. I was afraid of replacing someone that they had
gotten used to working with. I was very uneasy about stepping into that.
I didn't know how they would react to that. I was coming in a few days
early just to get used to being on the set before I began working and
I went up to Tammy and she said, "Oh, I'm Tammy." And she was
really nice and she shook my hand and said, "I am so happy to be
working with you." I just took a big breath and thought "Thank
you, God." And Paulo's a riot. He's really funny.
CBS.com: And Ryan [Bill]?
Lenz: I don't know exactly what is going on there. They never really
discussed the fact that [Bill] kissed [Michelle].
CBS.com: The kiss was a surprise, even though fans have been expecting
it.
Lenz: I'm thinking to myself, it must be pretty shocking if your
best friend just kisses you out of nowhere. I can imagine that there is
a lot of sexual tension there. Or maybe not. I don't know how she feels
about it, because they haven't talked about. I think it is something she
doesn't want to deal with at this time. She's got Jesse, she's got all
this crap to deal with Danny. The last thing she wants to deal with is
him.
CBS.com: This murder mystery is very I Know What You Did Last
Summer-ish? Have you see the movie?
Lenz: I haven't. I can't watch horror movies. I have two sides
of it. The first side is more serious—I feel I don't need to desensitize
myself. Good acting as it may be, I just have a problem with that. The
other side is that... it scares me. I can't do it. I watched the movie
Malice the other night. It was a great movie. It was not a horror
movie, so I was okay with it, but even the whole mystery/suspense thing
gives me chills and I went to bed that night and I'm like "I wonder
if there is somebody underneath my bed?"
CBS.com: Rebecca was playing younger than she was. You are playing
a little older. Is that a stretch for you?
Lenz: I am an only child, first of all, so I was raised very independently
which I think is another reason why I don't get sucked into the whole
Hollywood acting scene. My mom raised me to be a very independent person.
Both my parents did. Also, because I have been in the business so long—I
was doing theater when I was seven and I started professionally when I
was 11—I was around adults a lot and for lack of a better word,
I grew up faster. Which is not necessarily a bad thing at all. I went
through my rebellious stage from 13 to 16 where my parents were pulling
their hair out and I was pulling my hair out because I was like "You're
so stupid!" [Laughs] You think you know so much more.
CBS.com: Well it sounds like Guiding Light is going great
for you.
Lenz: It is. And I am ready to handle it now. Even in March I was
thinking, "Gosh, I don't think I can handle school and this."
But my schedule is so light [now].
CBS.com: So it's an amazing learning experience...
Lenz: ... and fun! |