In landing the role of Y&R's Mackenzie, Rachel Kimsey knew she was receiving a huge break. Turns out she had to give up something to get it — her long, luxurious hair.

"It was a light, caramelly blonde and just past shoulder length," Kimsey recalls. "I've always had long hair, except for one short period of time. I took a job out of the country and was like, 'Forget it. There are monsoons in Taiwan. I'm not going to deal with it,' so I cut all my hair off. That's the only time I ever had short hair."

After winning the role of Katherine Chancellor's granddaughter, however, Kimsey had to change her look again. "It was one of those great questions: 'So if you have the job, would you be willing to cut your hair?' Let's see, a choice between five inches of hair...or the best job of my life! I'm going to go with, 'Sure,'" Kimsey laughs.

As the new kid, Kimsey has been busy introducing herself to the Y&R crew. In some instances, she's had to do it twice. "What's funny is that I met a couple of people when I was first here and when I came back, everyone was like, 'Hey, it's really good to meet you!' I was like, 'We've met. Hi,'" she smiles. "But my own friends didn't recognize me at first either."

So along with learning Mackenzie's history, Kimsey will be busy learning how to care for her new 'do. "It's so much harder to take care of. It's so much work," she reveals. Isn't it supposed to be easier? "Totally untrue. If it's guy short, it's easier, but this I have to do something with or else I just look..."

Not her best. "There are no ponytails. I'm discovering that bobby pins fall out at the gym. I'm learning all kinds of new things about being a girl that I didn't know," Kimsey explains. "My hair is stick straight. That's the problem. It would just hang. Not a good look. I'm still learning. Somebody told me I have to buy a flat iron. A what?

"I don't know what to do with short hair, but the hair department does!" Kimsey enthuses. "And I will learn."