Eden Riegel
		Making A Difference Playing daytime’s only lesbian has been more rewarding for Eden Riegel (Bianca) than she ever thought possible

	It took fans quite awhile to learn what secret ALL MY CHILDREN’s Bianca was keeping upon returning to Pine Valley back in 2000. And although Eden Riegel obviously knew that her character was gay prior to the big reveal on screen, she didn’t have all the information at the time of her audition. "They didn’t reveal it," she divulges. "It was only after I got the part and signed the contract that [former executive producer] Jean Dadario-Burke brought me into her office and told me the story. She had to make sure that I was comfortable, because nothing would be worse than to have somebody playing the part that refused to do it fully." "It Was This Big Build-Up" And what a story it was. But Riegel was not at all put off by her alter ego’s sexual orientation. "When they told me, it was this big build-up about Bianca coming back to town. It was like those old stories where you don’t want to tell a kid that the cat died, so you tell them that the cat climbed onto the roof, etc.," she recalls with a laugh. "So they brought me through the whole process and then they said, ‘And it turns out that Bianca… is gay!’ And I was like, ‘That’s it? Okay, I’ll do that!’" Part of the reason why Riegel wasn’t shocked when she was told the truth about Bianca was because her sister, Tatiana, is a lesbian. "I love my sister exactly the way she is and for everything that she is," says the actress proudly, "and I think that it maybe gives me a better understanding of the character that I play. She’s so into the storyline and supportive of everything, but [at the same time] it’s something that we can share in our relationship." "I Get Letters All The Time" For Riegel, seeing the impact that Bianca’s story has had on viewers has been the most satisfying aspect of her job. "It’s such an opportunity to actually reach people," she points out. "I get letters all the time from mothers who say that [the story] has helped them really bridge a gap between them and their child because they watched it together and it’s helped them grow closer. And young teens [write in and explain that they] were depressed and had withdrawn because they didn’t understand what was happening to them, but then they watched the show and realized that they weren’t alone. How amazing is it that you can reach out to the people like that? It’s just incredible." — Colleen Phan