Let’s talk about Willow’s epic fainting spell at the Metro Court pool. “Someone said to me, ‘Just go with it, you have to really fall.’ And, obviously, Maurice Benard [Sonny] was freaking awesome and caught me, because I really fell. He did a great job catching me and it was really fun.”
You really committed, replete with your eyes rolling toward the back of your head! “I feel like I’ve seen that when people faint in movies or television, so I just tried to do that. Laura Wright [Carly] texted me a photo when it aired, like a screenshot, from the fainting, and she was like, ‘This is funny. So glamorous!’ ”
Before she collapsed, Willow was having a pretty heated confrontation with Nina. There is some debate among fans about whether Willow is justified in popping off on Nina as much as she does. What do you think? “You know, I think we forget just how far back the tension [between them] goes. In that instance, Willow thought Nina had something to do with [the ELQ vote not going Michael’s way]. Everything that goes wrong in Willow’s life — well, not everything, but a lot of things — somehow leads back to Nina. It’s just piling up and getting worse and worse. So, I don’t know! I don’t think it’s necessarily cool, in a public place, for her to be freaking out on her, but I don’t think Willow was quite in the right state of mind and she suspected, ‘Oh, Nina, I bet you had something to do with this!’ Which, of course, she didn’t [laughs].”
The show hinted at the bad news Willow was about to get regarding her health with how sickly and purple your eye makeup was. “They did an amazing job! I had two women from the makeup department doing my sick look and it was amazing how creative they were in placing the purples and the blues. I remember FaceTiming my boyfriend at a certain point during the shoot day and he was like, ‘Are you okay?’ I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ I’d forgotten that I had that makeup on and he was like, ‘Wait, what is going on?!’ I was like, ‘Oh, no, it’s just makeup!’ ”
So he’s a better boyfriend than Michael, is what you’re telling me? Because Michael didn’t seem to notice! “Yes, that’s right! Right now, the score is one to zero.”
Speaking of Michael, he’s keeping something big from her, which is that he’s trying to take down Sonny. Do you think she suspects he’s plotting something? “I would think that Willow is at least a bit suspicious that something’s going on. It’s all sort of under the cloak of, ‘Oh, it’s work stuff.’ He’ll say, ‘It’s a work thing,’ and he’ll have to leave suddenly. And I think when you’re with someone day in and day out, you’d think, ‘Okay, there’s something going on here.’ The way he talks about Sonny, the way he talks to Sonny, it’s kind of become this all-encompassing thing and Willow has broached the subject with him carefully, like, ‘Hey, this isn’t good for you. You could end up doing something you regret.’ She feels like the situation is a little bit volatile and she has noticed a shift in Michael, but I don’t think she has any idea of the specifics or who he’s working with or what exactly he’s doing.”
Lastly, how do you think Willow is coping as she waits on her bone marrow biopsy results? “I think she’s frightened. Not just for herself, but for the baby she’s carrying.”
