Meet PASSIONS’s New Drama Queen, Erin Cardillo (Esme)
Soap Opera Digest: What is your character like?
Erin Cardillo: I call her a psycho celebutante; like a Paris Hilton, but way wackier.Digest: Did you watch Paris so you could emulate her?
Cardillo: Not really. I guess Fancy is more like Paris Hilton and Esme is her socialite friend who is a real wack job in a lot of ways.
Digest: I take it you’re nothing like her?
Cardillo: I’m not [laughs]. But it was so funny because when I got the script, I immediately fell in love with her. She is in her own world. It was such a fun thing to explore.
Digest: Do you think the fans will love her, hate her or love to hate her?
Cardillo: I think they’ll love to hate her, especially if they’re rooting for Fancy and Noah because she’s messing things up a little bit. They are very resilient; they seem to always find each other again. Digest: The wardrobe of a psychotic celebutante must be fabulous!
Cardillo: I have a few really great outfits. I walked into the wardrobe room on my first day and was so excited. Digest: Do you have a favorite?
Cardillo: My favorite was my first outfit. It’s a long, sparkly skirt and little velvet vest. It’s really cute. 
Digest: What’s it like working with Emily Harper (Fancy) and Dylan Fergus (Noah)?
Cardillo: They are both so great. They couldn’t have been more generous with their time to go over things with me. They are really great people. It was great to work with them.Digest: Were you familiar with PASSIONS before you landed the role?
Cardillo: A good friend of mine used to be on the show, so I watched it when she was on. Digest: Who?
Cardillo: Her name is Deanna Wright, she played Kay. Digest: What is she up to?
Cardillo: She’s working a lot on all kinds of things.Digest: Have you ever appeared on a soap before?
Cardillo: I have not. They move very quickly. I’m used to episodics, TV and film, where you get a few more takes and do less in a day. It was different to do a whole show in a day. I did my nine episodes in a row, so we worked all day, went home and memorized lines for the next day and came back and did it again. It’s a lot of work. Digest: You were involved in a bath scene. How did that go?
Cardillo: I was so impressed that they actually built this huge Jacuzzi tub. It was really funny. I had lots of bubbles. It was very hot. They wanted to make sure I wasn’t cold in the bath, so the water was very hot. It was very realistic.Digest: Did you wear a bathing suit?
Cardillo: Yes!Digest: How did they make the bubbles?
Cardillo: Standard bubble bath. They had a hose plugged in where the air would come up like a Jacuzzi to make it more bubbly. It was very elaborate. Digest: What else are you working on?
Cardillo: I did an episode of WITHOUT A TRACE that aired in October. And I’m in the new Usher movie called In The Mix that’s coming out [around] Thanksgiving. It’s a small part, but fun. I’m actually working on a lot of my own stuff. I’m a writer, too, and I have a film that I wrote in post-production right now. I’m also working on a pilot that we’re going to start pitching soon. I’m exploring that aspect as well as continuing to audition. We’ll see what comes up next.Digest: All in all, how was your time on PASSIONS?
Cardillo: It was fun. I had a ball. They had me doing some really fun things. Digest: Would you want to come back?
Cardillo: I would love to come back. Esme leaves with a little bit of unsettled revenge lurking about.
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