Noelle Beck was a junior at a Maryland high school for the arts when a New York agent came to her school to cast a role in a Sissy Spacek film. Beck didn't quite fit the part -- they were looking for a teen-age boy -- but she caught the agent's eye. The following year she came to New York to visit prospective colleges and, on a whim, called the agent. After her first audition ever, she landed the role of Trisha Alden on LOVING. She began working on her 17th birthday.

During her nine-year run on the ABC soap, which was set in a Pennsylvania college town called Corinth, Trisha evolved into a true soap heroine and, after hooking up with Trucker MacKenzie, became half of one of daytime's most memorable couples.

After she left LOVING in 1993 (she returned briefly in 1995), she starred in two short-lived prime-time shows: CENTRAL PARK WEST (1996) and TUCKER (2000). She has also appeared on SPIN CITY, SEX AND THE CITY and three of the LAW & ORDER series.

In August, Beck will celebrate her 13-year anniversary with her husband, Eric Petterson; they have three children: Forrest, 12, Spencer, 11, and Brock, 5. Soap Opera Digest caught up with the busy mom to reminisce about LOVING...

Digest: What do you remember most about your time on LOVING? You were so young when you started.
Beck: I know. A lot of things happened to my character before they happened to me, that's for sure (laughs). I remember how much fun I had. I made the best friends. The whole group of people at LOVING was like a great big family. It was a great way to be introduced to New York and to the world of acting. It was a blast.

Digest: Do you have a favorite storyline?
Beck: I would have to say when Trisha got married in Rome, because we went on location. [Costume designer] Bob Anton used to make me the prettiest clothes. He was such a sweet man.

Digest: The big, fluffy, pink dress. I remember seeing pictures of you in it and thinking it was so glamourous.
Beck (laughing): It's hard to look at that stuff now because it was all back in the '80s and '90s. When my kids look at it, they're like, "What were you thinking?" I say, "You'll be doing the same thing 20 years from now when you look at pictures of yourself."

Digest: You lived with Susan Walters (Diane,YOUNG AND RESTLESS; ex-Lorna Forbes Conway) while you were on the show.
Beck: Susan was like an older sister to me. She had been in New York longer than I had and was definitely more experienced with living here and getting around town. She was a great influence on me, but we didn't live together long -- pretty soon after she got engaged and married Linden Ashby (ex-Curtis Alden), then she left me (laughs).