Martha Byrne Weighs In on Lily
On our most recent trip to Oakdale, Soap Opera Weekly grabbed a few minutes with Martha Byrne (Lily) in the ATWT green room to dish dancing, girl time and what Angelina Jolie has to do with diet cookies.
Soap Opera Weekly: How was it doing Holden and Lily’s dancing storyline?
Martha Byrne: Very brief! Thank God. It was painful — only because I am not known for any of my dancing. I have to say Jon (Hensley, Holden) worked really hard. He worked a lot harder than I did. I was in real denial about it (laughs). But I think it was cute. It was really sweet.
Weekly: So, Holden was renting dance movies while Lily was in a coma?
Byrne: I think so — with the children, with all the children that we have. I never see them, but that’s okay. I got lucky. I got good kids.
Weekly: Off-screen and on-screen. How’s your newest addition, Annmarie?
Byrne: She’s wonderful. She’s had her 6-month birthday and she’s very happy and loves her brothers (Michael, 8, and Maxwell, 4) and she’s the easiest baby. She’s a pleasure. It’s nice to have a little girl time. My husband says he can see us going to get our nails done together and shopping. I’ve been surrounded by testosterone for so long that it’s nice to have a little girl to play with and balance the playing field a little.
Weekly: How has it been playing Lily’s concerns about her post-pregnancy weight?
Byrne: It’s good. I like it a lot. It seems very familiar. The writing is appropriate. What I like about it is that not only am I aware as Lily trying to be protective of her relationship with Faith, but as parents, you say things and you don’t realize the impact it’s putting on your children. So, even in the times where I would think, “Well, Lily wouldn’t say this in front of Faith,” I try to say it in a way that shows Lily doesn’t really get the influence she’s having on her daughter. And it’s making me more aware in my own life about what I say in front of my children as far as weight goes. Obviously, in my own life I’m trying to lose weight and get in shape. The other day, my little one saw there was a cookie and he was like, “Is this a diet cookie?” So he’s aware, but he doesn’t really know what it means. I’m trying to be more conscious of what I say in front of them. It’s made me more aware of those things. And it’s good.
Weekly: Do you think it’s a timely issue?
Byrne: I think it’s very topical with what’s going on in the industry and the world and imaging and all of that. It’s everywhere. Every time you open up AOL, it says something about “How do you lose weight?” or “How do the stars lose weight?” or “What diet are they on?” or “She’s 80 pounds!” What irritated me the most is when Angelina Jolie had just had her baby. It was eight or nine weeks afterward and there was some picture of her in a black dress with a caption like, “Is she expecting again?” Maybe she’s breast-feeding her child and she doesn’t feel like starving herself for the media?! It’s everywhere, it’s absolutely everywhere, so I think we’re telling the story the right way. I wouldn’t say Lily is Mother of the Year to begin with, there’s too many issues there, but I think it’s good.
Conversation
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