Erin Torpey
		Keeping Busy Erin Torpey (ex-Jessica) talks about her big-screen debut, which had her working with some old friends!

	It’s been two years since Erin Torpey left the role of Jessica Buchanan on ONE LIFE TO LIVE that had kept her working since 1990, when she was just 8 years old. Since then, the actress, who has starred on Broadway in addition to her soap role, has been busy working on the film Dirty Deeds, which opened in theaters nationwide August 26th. Reliving The Past Described as a raucous teen comedy, Dirty Deeds is the story of a high school student, played by GILMORE GIRLS heartthrob Milo Ventimiglia, who takes on 10 challenges, to be completed between dusk and dawn on homecoming weekend. Torpey plays Jen, a cheerleader at the school. “My part is very clean,” laughs the actress. "She’s the popular bitch to begin with, but she turns nice in the end." Filming the movie gave Torpey the chance to reunite with some old friends, like Lacey Chabert (ex-Bianca, ALL MY CHILDREN). "I’ve known Lacey since I was a little girl," she explains. "When she was in Les Miserables, I was doing The Goodbye Girl." Charles Durning, who plays a security guard in the new movie, is another old pal. Torpey worked with the award-winning actor on Broadway in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. "He’s just the coolest." And then there’s Mark Derwin (ex-Ben), a buddy from OLTL — in Dirty Deeds, he plays Mob boss Vincent Scarno. "We hang out and play golf," the actress says. "I see him a lot here [in California]." A Different World Torpey says that one of the perks of doing Dirty Deeds was the extra time actors have for each scene. She remembers well her soap days, when even a second take was asking a lot. "That was great — they’d be like, ‘Let’s try that again,’ and I’d go, ‘We have another shot? You want to do it again? That’s awesome!' "I thought I was going to love it or hate it," the star says of the infamous slow pace of movie making, "and I ended up really enjoying it. [A friend] gave me good advice at the beginning. He said that if you’re bored on a movie set, you’re not doing your job. And it’s true, because there’s so much to watch and learn." Torpey also loved the close bond that formed between the actors on set. "You spend a lot of time with these people. It’s great, it’s teamwork — everyone’s in it to make the product good." Funny Girl A big fan of romantic movies, Torpey admits that teen flicks are not her top choice as a viewer. "I love romantic movies like The Notebook. But I did think that American Pie was funny." She hopes to do more comedy in the future and notes that she has a part in the upcoming feature, Fierce Friends — "the movie’s a thriller, but my part was the comedic relief. I don’t like watching [comedy, but] I love doing it. It’s what I really want to do." -Paula Rueger