What does happiness mean to General Hospital's Vanessa Marcil (Brenda Barrett)? Never again having to answer the dreaded question: "What is it like kissing Antonio Sabato Jr.?"

"That's the first thing people always ask me," she says, groaning. "I get so sick of that... What do you say? That there are fireworks or something? He's just a guy -- he is beautiful and nice, but he's just a guy."

But Marcil's not complaining -- and why should she? With the popularity and experience she's gained playing Port Charles' tempestuous teenage vixen-in-training, the 21-year-old beauty is sitting pretty.

A California native and the youngest of four children, Marcil grew up in Palm Springs. Although she's been performing since age 14, it wasn't until she had a few years of college behind her that she began to seriously pursue an acting career. Marcil got her big break while studying law at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, Calif.; an agent saw her performance as Maggie in a production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and signed her to a contract. That's when she decided to turn in her law books and take a shot at stardom.Her career choice, however, did arouse parental opposition. "My mother encouraged me," Marcil explains, "and has since the beginning. My father, a self-made millionaire who thinks everything is about money, was worried that I wouldn't make it. He wanted me to stay and finish law school."

But Marcil's passionate conviction triumphed, and several months later -- September 1992, to be exact -- she landed a contract with GH for her first television role.