Ashley Jones (Bridget, B&B; ex-Megan, Y&R) says that growing up in Houston, TX as the daughter of a minister was not as repressive as some might think. "Sometimes, I might say my childhood was sheltered and sometimes, I might say perfect," explains the actress. "But it was very happy. My father is a minister with the Church Of Christ and it was all I knew, so I didn't compare it to anything else. The church was my extended family and I was very close to my aunts, uncles, cousins and my grandparents. It was just one of those big, Southern families."

Of course, there's always the urban legend that P.K.s (preacher's kids) are usually rebellious. "My parents would probably say that I did rebel," Jones chuckles. "But I was always a good student and had great friends. I never tried to sneak off with my boyfriend in the middle of the night or anything like that. In my memory, I pretty much abided by all the rules, although I did give my parents some trouble. I'm the oldest and I think the first child is always hard for any parent."

Surprisingly, Reverend Jones didn't have any problems with his daughter's acting aspirations. "It happened so naturally for me," she explains. "I did a lot of print modeling work and commercials and we actually traveled doing that when I was very young. That was fun, sweet stuff, but then I started doing theater and I wanted to do acting more and more. We weren't so much a cultural family as just exposed to a lot of different things. I played the violin and was in ballet. I really got into theater and I was always doing a play."

It was during one of her performances in the local theater that Jones got discovered. "Someone saw me in a play and wanted me to audition for a movie," she recalls. "So I was flown out to L.A. with my mom for a screen test and while I was here, I auditioned for other stuff. I was here for three-and-a-half days and got two of the three things I tried out for. It was a nice fluke. So, my career always seemed like such a natural progression that it never required a family meeting to discuss whether or not I was going into the entertainment business."

It was during filming of THE FIRE NEXT TIME with Craig T. Nelson that Jones, then 15, remembers her brief stab at independence. "My mom was with me and I became snippy and prissy," she laughs. "I thought I was above and beyond my parents' rules and guidance. But that didn't last very long because my mom nipped that in the bud pretty quickly."

Now that she's entrenched in the racy world of soaps, what do her parents really think of her sexy scenes? "I actually have to warn them when those come up," she smiles. "I really respect their opinion and call them constantly to ask them what they think. My dad will give me notes on if what I did looked natural or not. My parents are incredibly supportive, but they also are much more concerned with my life as a whole and not just my career. They're thrilled that I went back to daytime because it's the closet thing to a 9-to-5 job that you can really have in this business."