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Crossover Steps

Soap Opera Digest: How did you get the job?
Marnie Schulenburg: I went in for a general meeting with Mary Clay [Boland] in casting to talk and to get to know each other. I was joking about how I live in Queens and it’s an hour-and-a-half subway ride because you have to go all the way from Queens to Manhattan to Brooklyn. She said, ‘Why don’t we just do a reading since you came all the way out here?’ So we did a scene together and then she called Chris [Goutman, executive producer] and he liked it. They mentioned that they were bringing back this character, Alison, who had been on the show two years ago and that I looked like her, so we ended up moving on to a screen test. Digest: Who did you test with?
Schulenburg: Grayson [McCouch, Dusty]. Digest: He’s a good screen-test partner.
Schulenburg: That’s what everybody says [laughs]! They said he’s really nice and he’ll make you feel really comfortable and he has great chemistry with everybody. And he was a really nice guy, too, so he made it less nerve-wracking. Digest: When did they tell you that you got the part?
Schulenburg: I think four or five days later. The main reason we had to do a screen test was because it was my first job for TV/film, the L.A. people had to have some sort of test to see if I could do the part. Digest: Had you ever watched soaps before?
Schulenburg: I really got into SUNSET BEACH, actually. That was probably my most favorite one. And then when I was in high school, my friends were addicted to GENERAL HOSPITAL. Digest: Were you looking for a soap job?
Schulenburg: I’m pretty much open to any sort of acting. I have a lot of musical theater in my background, but I was going on a lot of TV/film auditions, just interested in meeting as many people as possible.Digest: What did they tell you about Alison?
Schulenburg: I didn’t get to know too much about her, actually. I think they did it on purpose because obviously, they wanted me to make the character my own. I know that they’re definitely going in a different direction with her because it has been two years and she’s definitely grown up a lot and been through a lot more since she left the show. Digest: She certainly has — she’s doing porn now!
Schulenburg: I think that will be a shock to some people. They told me that she enjoys flirting and she has a certain control and sexual appeal so she can get her way, especially with men, and she’s a vivacious character, so I knew that from the screen test.Digest: When did they tell you that you’d actually be debuting on YOUNG AND RESTLESS?
Schulenburg: Before Christmas break. But everything was still in the works the week before I left. It was exciting because I’d never been to Los Angeles. Digest: It must be disconcerting to start a new job somewhere other than where you’ll end up working.
Schulenburg: I don’t have too much to compare it to. But because when she left the show she had gone to Seattle, picking it up in L.A. kind of made sense. Digest: What was it like shooting L.A. DIARIES?
Schulenburg: It was amazing. It was such a high because it was like the finalization in my brain that this is what I’m going to be doing, thank God, for the next couple of years. I’d never done something so extensive. It was a very intense process, but wonderfully fun, with great people who were just so caring and compassionate toward me and my situation, being so new. They treated me like a professional and like a friend. They made me feel so comfortable in the process.

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