Disney/Christine Bartolucci
Mom’s The Word: Kate Mansi (Kristina, r.) is thrilled to be working with Eva LaRue (Natalia).
Kristina’s burgeoning romance with Blaze (Jacqueline Grace Lopez) is primed to get a whole lot more complicated with the arrival of Blaze’s conservative mother, Natalia, played by daytime vet Eva LaRue. While Kristina and Natalia may have a tense dynamic, Kristina’s portrayer, Kate Mansi, felt an instant kinship with LaRue. “Oh, my God, I love her,” Mansi raves. “I had heard that she was coming — someone said, ‘Oh, you’re working with Eva,’ and I said, ‘Oh, is that who is playing Blaze’s mom?’ And they said, ‘Yes, we love her! She was on ALL MY CHILDREN [as Maria].’ And then, wow, she just came in like such a freaking pro. She was so good. It was such a funny first introduction for our characters — it was written so well and it was so tense and uncomfortable, which was so fun for us. Right away, we were doing these funny one-liners back and forth [between scenes]. Like, Blaze said something like, ‘Kristina is more than my friend, she’s my partner,’ and then they’d call, ‘Cut!’ and Eva and I would look and each other and we’d be like, ‘She means writing partner,’ or she’d be like, ‘Yeah, yeah, she means producing partner, right?’ We were just dying laughing. She catches me in her daughter’s bed in her first scene, which is so awkward, and she walked in and has a sort of [mortified] look on her face, and I was like [adopts childlike voice], ‘Mommy!’ We were just being very silly, and then [when the cameras started rolling] she would snap in it and be totally in it. I caught myself, even in scenes, being like, ‘Oh, wait, I’m working!’ because I would just be watching her. She’s very mesmerizing. And we found out we have mutual friends, like Lizzy Hendrickson [Chloe, Y&R, ex-Frankie/Maggie, AMC]. So, yeah, I’m a big fan! She’s so talented and so funny and we really did just have a great time working together!”
