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Interview!

#TBT - Jacqueline MacInnes Wood

Jacqueline MacInnes Wood
Jacqueline MacInnes Wood 2012 Credit: Gilles Toucas/Courtesy Of Bell-Phillip Television Inc

This interview originally appeared in the September 24, 2012 issue.

As Her On And Off-screen Life Revs Up, B&B’s Jacqueline MacInnes Wood Is Ready For The Ride

It’s not every day that you chat with an Emmy nominated daytime actress while she’s running errands around Los Angeles on a black Kawasaki Ninja 600 motorcycle.

“I’m on Sunset [Boulevard], sitting on my bike!” the actress laughs. “I’m definitely an adrenaline junkie. I love to go fast and anything that gives you that kind of fun high. There’s just something about it. It’s like a drug nobody could ever come up with. There’s something that just shoots through you and I love that.”

Wood’s four-year run on BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL has also been a rush. In 2008, the actress was cast as Ridge and Taylor’s mischievous daughter, Steffy — the role that first brought the Canadian-born actress to the States and has kept her busy on the front burner in a roller-coaster triangle with Liam/Hope for the past year. Wood admits she’s a lot like her alter in many ways and viewers got a glimpse of the similarities when Steffy showed Liam a wild night out on the town in L.A. recently. “I’m very close to Brad [Bell, executive producer/head writer],” she explains. “He sees my life how it is outside of the show, and my showing up on my motorcycle every day and saying, ‘Okay, I’m going off to DJ now!’ So I think that kind of inspired him with the storyline. It was really cool! It’s just another part of [Steffy and Liam’s] lives that people don’t often get to see. They’re getting closer because there’s no pressure, no agenda. Everyone else is pressuring Liam [into marriage], so it’s almost working in her favor. She still wants to be with him, but sometimes saying, ‘I respect you and I want the best for you,’ pulls them in even more!”

Wood credits her adventurous spirit, in part, to her father. “I was always a tomboy,” she shares. “I started riding dirt bikes when I was younger, like when I was 4 years old, because of my dad and I’ve been riding ever since. He did the dirt-bike thing when he was younger. Looking back at old photos, I can’t even imagine — he’s doing all these jumps! My dad’s side of the family, even my older sister, we’re all into motorcycles. We do a charity event every year for my brother-in-law [the late NHL star Bob Probert] and we basically have thousands of bikers all together and we ride for eight hours. It’s a great ride and it’s cool that we can all do that together now. It’s my yoga now! I love my bike. I don’t have to answer a call phone and I’m just in the moment with it.”

She even briefly considered riding her motorcycle (and wearing pants!) to the Daytime Emmys this year after she was nominated in the Outstanding Younger Actress category, but a last-minute purchase of a gorgeous Roberto Cavalli gown won out instead. “I’m the kind of person who takes things day by day. I rode the motorcycle to the rehearsal and at that point I still didn’t have a dress!” Wood recalls. “So afterward, I shot down to Rodeo [Drive] and found this jersey [knit] style dress, which was cool because I could roll it up and put it in my backpack! I lucked out!” she chuckles. “My friends make fun of me all the time for going out in my bum clothes. I like to laugh at myself and I’m up for a challenge in that sense, but I’m very girly, as well. I have to wear jeans and boots for my bikes, but I love dresses and jewelry and all that fun stuff.”

Wood is grateful that being on a soap has given her the opportunity to explore other creative outlets, including her blossoming music career: She released her first single, “After Hours”, in January. “I’ve been really lucky that Brad has allowed me to work on other projects,” she says. “I’m back in the studio and I’m collaborating with a producer I know to knock two new songs out and hopefully get a music video going. It’s something I like to do for fun. I don’t see it as work; it’s more fun for me.”

JPI

As for her on-screen life, Wood’s Steffy has experienced more than romantic upheaval lately with the departure of Ronn Moss’s Ridge. “I already miss him,” the actress laments. “You don’t want to see somebody, especially someone who plays your father, walk away. I love him and hopefully I can work with him again in the future. He’s such a wonderful man. It’s heartbreaking, but I just want what’s best for him.”

Nonetheless, Wood is happy with where she — and her alter — are headed. “There are a lot of fun things in store for Steffy. She’s strong in a different way now and she’s always learning. And I’m really happy,” Wood smiles. “I’m thoroughly enjoying my life. I’ve been very lucky.”

SPIN CITY

Wood sometimes DJs around Los Angeles as DJ JacquiMac. She even got behind the decks during the Daytime Emmys afterparty. “That was a lot of fun!” she enthuses. “I’ve DJed since I was 17 or 18. I was doing it before I was acting. It was the thing that paid my rent. Most people are waiters or do the bartending thing, which I did, but I just realized that with the people I knew, I could do DJing, as well. It’s something that I love and when I booked the show, I knew I could merge the two together. I love dancing and getting out of my head and getting into the music, something I’ve done for years, but now I don’t have time!” she adds. “I’m more of a last-minute kind of person, so if there are people I know, I’ll go up and start spinning for fun. I just do not have time for a [regular gig] with my schedule. I wouldn’t sleep!”

JPI

JUST THE FACTS

Birthday: April 17

Hails From: Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Adventure Zone: “I would love to swim with the [great white] sharks in a tank. I would love, love that!” she enthuses. “I would like to go skydiving again. I have not done bungee jumping. The whiplash at the end kind of freaks me out!”

Comic-Con: Wood recently went to Comic-Con to promote her role in The CW’s ARROW, which premieres on October 10. “It was a blast. It was my second time. It’s all walks of life and everyone’s dressed up in these crazy outfits and having a ball.”

Going Global: Wood is an avid Tweeter who frequently responds to her international fans. “They make me laugh. There are always funny, witty or sarcastic jokes and it’s always great. I hear about other [actors] who get bashed, but it’s never like that for me. I reach out, too. One day, I had a late call time and I was just sitting by my pool tweeting away, chatting with fans from Indonesia to Italy to Jerusalem. It was crazy! I couldn’t even believe it. It’s very cool.”

DID YOU KNOW?

• Wood’s great-grandmother is a full-blood Cree Indian.

• Her favorite candy is Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

• Wood’s first job was “The Hair Girl” in a First Choice Haircutters national commercial in Canada.

• In 2009, she starred in Disney XD’s original TV movie SKYRUNNERS.

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