One on One with General Hospital's Lesli Kay

In June, Emmy-winning actress Lesli Kay hit Port Charles like a ton of brick red press-on nails. After a long absence, Lois Cerullo -- the Brooklyn spitfire -- was back in town, still sounding like one of Joey Tribbiani's kid sisters, and still refusing to let anybody push her around.

Lois has always been the quintessential survivor -- smart, street savvy, and not the least bit impressed by other people's money or mob connections. For Lesli Kay, the invitation to join General Hospital -- and finally play a strong woman -- represented a welcome change. After seven years of delineating the constantly victimized Molly Conlan McKinnon on As the World Turns, she couldn't wait to step into Lois's stiletto heels and play somebody who didn't apologize all the time -- and who wasn't a poster child for all the wrong moves you can make with a guy.

She knew that winning over the GH audience wouldn't be easy -- stepping into recast territory never is. (Lois's originator, actress Rena Sofer, had been a fan favorite.) Nevertheless, from the minute the new Lois stormed into the Quartermaine mansion like gangbusters this summer -- and slapped her astonished ex-husband Ned in the face! -- fans knew that the arch angel of Bensonhurst was back... better than ever! In fact, Lesli's performance has been so dazzling that even diehard fans have accepted her Coney Island credentials and lined up for the roller-coaster ride.

SoapCity: What made you decide to leave New York and As the World Turns, and relocate to the West Coast?
Lesli Kay: I had a lot of time off As the World Turns last year -- I was pretty sick with a joint disease -- and I got to thinking about where I wanted to be in my life and what I wanted for my family. My hubby [Keith Coulouris] got a job in L.A., making movies for this great company that has money and wants to make psychological thrillers. He would have had to turn that opportunity down because we did not want to live bi-coastally. So I thought I have to do something. I've got friends at ABC, people that I know there, and we [started] contacting each other.

SoapCity: What was your immediate reaction when you heard that General Hospital wanted to recast the role of Lois?
Lesli Kay: I just said, "You know, I think this is my part, I think this is it."

SoapCity: Fortunately, ABC thought so, too. Still and all, it must have been a little scary -- changing jobs, moving your family to Los Angeles, leaving friends and colleagues behind.
Lesli Kay: I just felt that if it was meant to be, it was meant to be. I had to take a leap of faith at this point in my life. I'm not getting any younger, and my husband had an opportunity for a job, and we couldn't pass this up. So I went and I spoke to Christopher Goutman, my executive producer at As the World Turns, and he in turn spoke to CBS and Procter and Gamble, and everybody just agreed that it was okay for me to do what was right for me.

SoapCity: It sounds like they were very supportive.
Lesli Kay: They were. They've been really good to me. I was just very lucky, because often shows look out for the show first, as well they should.

SoapCity: What was the hiring process on GH like? Who was your screen test partner?
Lesli Kay: I screen tested with Wally Kurth [Ned], and I know that I've got some guardian angels upstairs. There were five other very competent, very good actresses up for the same part and I was just given the part.

SoapCity: How do like working with Adrianne Leon, who plays your teenage daughter, Brook Lynn?
Lesli Kay: She's one of the people that I'm closest with. She spends the night at my house and hangs out with me. She's part of my family already. She's such a lovely person and so gifted that I'm in awe of her. She's just phenomenal -- and she's only 17. Originally, I think she went in to read for the parts of Georgie and Emily, but this role is perfect for her, so everything works out the way it's supposed to.

SoapCity: You were also close with Kristina Sisco, who played your daughter Abigail on As the World Turns.
Lesli Kay: I've been lucky twice, working with kids who are phenomenally in touch with their emotions. Kristina Sisco, who was also a teenager when she started on World Turns, was great. Now I have it again with Adrianne. Truthfully, you can get some bratty, know-it-all jerk, I mean it could happen, but it hasn't happened to me yet.

SoapCity: GH fans really seem to like the Lois/Alcazar storyline, even though Lorenzo Alcazar doesn't seem like Lois's type at all. It's a surprising match-up.
Lesli Kay: Whenever anybody says to me, "Why would Lois be with Alcazar? I say, "Wouldn't you?" I just feel like Lois came to a point in her life where she thinks love is gone for her -- it's never going to happen again -- and someone like Lorenzo makes her feel pretty good about herself, with the exception of right after they had sex. [After they made love, Lorenzo coldly told Lois to get dressed and leave his apartment.]

SoapCity: But then he apologized for acting like a jerk.
Lesli Kay: The apology scene was something you wouldn't expect from somebody like him. I think that makes him even more interesting and sexier. If Lois hadn't seen his reaction when his niece Sage died, I don't think she would be drawn to him. I think she always found him attractive, but she's [wary] of guys like him and would never get involved.

SoapCity: You mean because of his background as a drug dealer and a thug?
Lesli Kay: Yes. I think at some point in her life, she was probably attracted to Sonny, too [but she never acted on it]. That's why Ned was such a good guy for her; they're so much alike. But sometimes it's compelling in soaps -- and in real life, too -- to watch people get together who aren't the cliché, right-for-each-other couple. I think it's almost more interesting to see [the attraction between] people that shouldn't be together, like Luke and Laura. He was her captor, he raped her and they fell in love.

SoapCity: Lois's speech patterns seem to come easily to you. Is it because you spent a lot of time working in Brooklyn during your seven-year stint on As the World Turns? [The ATWT studio is located on East 14th Street in Brooklyn, not far from Bensonhurst where Lois grew up.]
Lesli Kay: You got it, baby! I think I was born to be a Brooklyn person. I love Brooklyn. My husband thinks I'm nuts, but I actually miss it. I love the people there, I love just walking in the neighborhoods. I don't know. There's some quality about people from Brooklyn, they don't take any garbage. I guess I was sort of subconsciously doing research all those years, but who knew? I didn't know that I'd be playing this role. It's funny. Some of my best friends in L.A. are from Brooklyn, and there's a woman on the set named Sandy whom I love; she works behind-the-scenes in production. I've given her the job of being my dialect coach. I told her, "If you ever hear me saying something way off-base, you have the right to come and tell me." When I first started, she'd come out on the set and [give me some pointers], but lately she says that I'm on track, everything sounds really natural.

SoapCity: Was it hard taking over an established role and making it your own?
Lesli Kay: You know that's the fun thing. When people ask me, "Is it hard filling those shoes, is it tough?" I say, "This is a different Lois." I mean it's the same person, she comes from the same place, but she's been through lots of things that people haven't seen in the last eight years. Now she's the mama of a teenager. I look at my own life, the difference in me now from before I was a mom, it's quite different. [Lesli's son, Jackson, is almost five.] So that's been kind of nice because nobody's had to compare [the previous Lois's] relationship with Brook Lynn to my relationship with Brook Lynn. This is all me.

SoapCity: The Lois/Brook Lynn dynamic is very different from the Molly/Abigail dynamic on World Turns.
Lesli Kay: Very different. Molly was a teenager when she gave her child up for adoption; she missed out on Abigail's growing up. They got to know each other later, so Molly had a lot of guilt, whereas Lois doesn't have any guilt about raising her daughter, except that maybe she's kept her away from her father. That's the only guilt [operating] there. Any parent has a certain amount of I-wish-I would-have-done-this, but that's not guilt, that's just did-I-do-the-right- thing? As Lois says, "Don't ever apologize for being who you are."

SoapCity: How do you like living in Los Angeles?
Lesli Kay: The lifestyle is very different. I lived here once before in my life, but I never lived here with a four-and-a-half year old and a happy marriage and all that stuff. So it's different in a good way. I love the weather. I love being able to drive to the grocery store, get all your groceries and put them in the car. It's just an easier life. Kids in New York are inside most of the year because it's cold, and they're used to spending time in bookstores and libraries. Out here everybody's outside all year, so it is quite different, but you know it's great. I always say I can be happy in a shoebox. I can be happy anywhere, I'm just that type of person. So anywhere that's best for my family is best for me.

SoapCity: Do you keep touch with any of the As the World Turns people?
Lesli Kay: I just spoke to Tom Eplin (ex-Jake) and I talk to Michael Park (Jack) all the time. In October, I flew back to New York in October for Martha Byrne's (Lily) St. Jude event. I thought it was an important thing to do for her. I don't think I've ever missed a St. Jude in seven years, not even when I was pregnant! Also, I left New York so quickly when I got the job on General Hospital that I feel like I didn't get to say good-bye properly to a lot of people, so coming in for St. Jude gave me a chance to do that. My last day on World Turns was a Monday, May 24, and my first day on General Hospital was the following Monday, the 24, so there wasn't much time for good-byes. The night of the Daytime Emmys® [May 21] was actually my last night in New York, and I thought I'd be at the after-party hugging and kissing and saying goodbye to everybody, but we were moving out to L.A. the next morning -- we were flying out at 7A.M. -- so we had to leave pretty early... And as far as keeping in touch with World Turns people, I talk to Christopher Goutman constantly. He's one of my dear friends, a comforting, a good person to have in your life, he's just really supportive.

SoapCity: Which actors on GH have become your work buddies?
Lesli Kay: I'd say it's Wally Kurth, Ted King [Lorenzo] and Adrianne Leon, those are the main people in my storyline. Also, Rick Hearst [Ric]. Jackson and Keith and I went to his house for Labor Day; he's just been really nice to me, and I love his wife. There were a ton of kids there. Rick and his wife, Donna, couldn't be lovelier... And Nancy Lee Grahn [Alexis] has been very helpful. She lives near me and she has a daughter who's a little older than Jackson. She's helped me out with pediatricians and all that stuff.

SoapCity: Can we assume your Emmy made the move with you to California? [Lesli received a 2001 Daytime Emmy as Outstanding Supporting Actress for her role as ATWT's Molly.]
Lesli Kay: But of course. It's about a year younger than my son; it's his little sister till we have another baby. It's up on a shelf with some books. We don't really have a great spot for her in this rental house, but she's doing all right, not collecting too much dust. She's well fed and still very sharp.

SoapCity: Some insiders are already predicting that your portrayal of Lois Cerullo might land you another Emmy nomination.
Lesli Kay: I think accolades are great, but truthfully, at this point in my life, I do what I do because I love it, and I hope that people like it. I love working on General Hospital. The actors are superb, Jill Farren Phelps is such a good executive producer, and she's been wonderful to me. The writers have been great, too. I just feel very fortunate. I feel like I've been given a huge gift, being able to play a new character, especially a character like this. She's so much fun and it's always a challenge, because Brooklyn isn't something that Middle America can relate to easily. A lot of people haven't been there; they don't know what Brooklyn is like, so [my job is] to make Lois someone that people can relate to as a mother, as a human being, as an ex-wife, as a single woman in her late 30s, out there in the world, raising a teenager, maybe trying to find new love.

SoapCity: After five months in Los Angeles, are you starting to feel like a Californian yet?
Lesli Kay: Well, I actually have a California license plate and a California driver's license now. For a while there, I used to think, "If I get pulled over, I'm going to jail! [ABC] will have to come bail me out, so I can do my scenes today!" Thankfully, I didn't get pulled over and now I'm legal. I'm a legal California alien.

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