Coastal Dreams: The Web Drama You Won’t Want To Miss
NBC’s first online-only soap opera debuted October 2. Every Tuesday and Thursday for the following 12 weeks, new five-minute episodes of the drama featuring daytime beauties Danica Stewart (ex-Jessica, PASSIONS) and Kam Heskin (ex-Sheridan, PASSIONS; ex-Caitlin, SUNSET BEACH) is available at www.nbc.com/coastal_dreams, where you can also sign up to get text messages from the characters, read their personal blogs and check out their profiles.
Digest chatted with the actresses about their new roles.
Danica Stewart (Zoe)
Soap Opera Digest: Have you taped all 24 episodes of COASTAL DREAMS yet?
Stewart: Yes, we taped them in four days. It was the craziest four days ever. I was getting home and studying for the next day, going to bed and waking up so early.
Digest: Did you film it all on location or on a set?
Stewart: It was on location in Pacific Palisades [CA] at this amazing house. In the first scene, I’m walking in and the character, Zoe, is like, “Oh, my God! This is unbelievable!” But that was truly my expression when I walked in for the first time.
Digest: Did you know Kam from her days on PASSIONS when she stepped in for McKenzie Westmore as Sheridan?
Stewart: Yes. We never had any scenes together on PASSIONS, but we talked a few times because we would be on set at the same time. I always loved her. We always got along really great. When I found out she was playing my cousin on this, I was like, “That’s so cool!” She contacted me a couple of weeks before [we taped] and said, “Hey, do you want to get together and run some lines because we have so many scenes together?” I was out of town, so I never got to meet up with her, but it was nice walking into it knowing her.
Digest: Where were you when you found out you got the role?
Stewart: I went home and they called me and said, “Do you want this job?” They had to FedEx me the script. I was studying pretty much the whole time I was home because it was so much material.
Digest: Did you know any of the other cast members?
Stewart: Well, the hair and makeup girls, Amy Sparks and Natasja Hewitson, they were both my people on PASSIONS. It was so fabulous because Amy has done my makeup for the past four years on PASSIONS.
Digest: The filming must have been so different than taping PASSIONS.
Stewart: It was just like filming a movie, which was such a great experience. We got more takes and we all got our coverage and we had one camera instead of walking onto a set and having four cameras set up. I felt free to be able to do what I wanted and explore the character. What we filmed in four days was what we would film in one day on PASSIONS. But then again, with one day on PASSIONS, our cast is enormous, so it’s not all put on five people. It was really nice being on location. And I love Zoe. The second that I read the script, I fell in love with this character and really wanted to play her.
Digest: The trailer looks like the story takes a scary turn.
Stewart: It’s suspenseful. There’s a lot of cliffhangers, a lot of mystery.
Digest: How do you feel about it being an online show, as opposed to television?
Stewart: I’m really happy to be part of something that is so new. I really feel like this is going to be something of the future. COASTAL DREAMS is convenient to watch. It’s only five minutes. It’s not like you have to sit down for 30 minutes or an hour.
Digest: Have you seen any of the episodes yet?
Stewart: No, I’m like a fan waiting. I hope people watch!
Kam Heskin (April)
Digest: Tell us about the character.
Heskin: I play April. It’s her house that Zoe and her friend come to. She’s a little off her rocker, but has good intentions and comes from a lonely background. Her entire family is gone, her parents have left, so she has this handyman around the house that she’s fallen in love with and is very close to her. I think she’s afraid to lose anyone else in her life, so when Zoe shows up with her friend, it gets a little messy. April gets a little panicked.
Digest: Did the the five cast members bond over the four-day shoot?
Heskin: We really did, surprisingly, for such a short shoot. We would all hang out together between scenes. We’re all similar in age and interests, so that helped.
Digest: How do you feel about the show being on the Web instead of on TV?
Heskin: Television is always a fun place to be, but I think that the dot com stuff is where a lot of programming is going. It’s fun to be involved in one of the first projects, especially with a network that is really behind it.
Digest: And the filming was different than you’re used to for soaps.
Heskin: Completely different. It was literally like shooting an independent film renegade style, really quickly. That’s my favorite style of shooting. I actually prefer this rather than the normal soap setup. It’s great to be in the actual location of what it is instead of a set. I like the shooting out of order, and the multiple takes and close-ups and master shots because it allows you to play around and try other things. I’m really excited to see what happens with this. We are able to move a lot faster and have a lot more happen in our episodes. We had to pack a lot into those five minutes.
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