Vanessa Branch (ex-Rebecca/ex-Paige, PORT CHARLES; 2002) couldn’t have asked for a better first-time experience in daytime than the one she had on PORT CHARLES. “It was brilliant,” she enthuses, “I loved everyone who I worked with, I loved playing the characters I got to play, the producers were wonderful … I just had a great time doing it.”The actress has had back-to-back jobs since leaving the PORT, including parts in feature films. “I worked on Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which was fantastic!” she raves. “It was really fun to do a period piece.” In the flick, Branch plays an English prostitute named Giselle opposite Johnny Depp. “He is wonderful,” she smiles. “He was just such a gentleman, and he’s so sexy!”Branch has recently wrapped up a few other movies, too. In the drama U-Boat, another period piece scheduled to be released at year’s end, she stars with William H. Macy. She also had a lead in the independent film Almost and is slated to work on the first Chinese-American co-produced film later this year, in which she speaks Chinese and English. “I already speak Chinese fluently, that was one of my majors in college, and I lived in China for a while,” says Branch. “So, this is something that I’m really excited about.”On the small screen, Branch is starting her second season as a recurring character on a hidden-camera show called OBLIVIOUS, on the revamped TNN, Spike TV. The actress also continues to be the spokesperson for Orbit gum. “There are three print ads out, and we’re doing another. Plus, we’re doing more commercials,” reports Branch of the marketing campaign-turned-phenomenon. “The producers wanted an authentic English girl, so they first tried to find someone in New York and then London. I’m surprised they couldn’t find anyone in England, but they couldn’t, so they came to L.A. and they found me!”
