As PORT CHARLES' Erin Hershey Presley (Alison) and Kelly Monaco (Livvie) will attest, it’s a struggle living so far from the families they hold dear. Fortunately, having a surrogate sister in each other makes the distance easier. In this exclusive Soaps In Depth Q&A, the two on-screen enemies discuss what makes their real-life relationship special.
Soaps In Depth: What makes your friendship work?
Kelly Monaco: It’s a loose, open, laid-back friendship — I think that’s what works in a friendship: when you’re tight and you can get really personal and stupid and silly.
Erin Hershey Presley: Yeah, when you can get really personal.
Monaco: Like when I have cramps and I can talk about why. You know!
In Depth: In what ways are you different?
Monaco: I’m a vegetarian and she’s not.
Hershey Presley: Yeah, I like food. Kelly does, too. Don’t let her size fool you!
In Depth: Kelly, how long in advance did you know Brian [Presley, Jack] was going to propose to Erin?
Monaco: I knew quite a few weeks ahead.
Hershey Presley: Kelly messed with me a couple of times.
Monaco: I knew she was doing an interview with ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT as part of it, and I told Brian, "I’m going to mess with her. Watch!" I went up to her room and I was like, "Hey! That’s so [messed] up, man. You get to do that — that’s really cool. No one asked me to do any promotions!"
Hershey Presley: And Brian looked at you with daggers in his eyes! I remember thinking, "She must be really upset. Why would she even care?"
Monaco: Exactly!
Hershey Presley: Later, Brian was like, shut up — don’t even fight about it.
Monaco: And I totally played it off.
Hershey Presley: Yeah, that was funny — you totally got me!
Backstage At The PC Coral
In Depth: Have there ever been any on-stage mishaps that left you cracking up?
Hershey Presley: There’ve been so many that it’s hard to remember them all.
Monaco: Just silly stuff like walking into things, stumbling over each other’s lines. Erin is really clumsy.
Hershey Presley: I fall down a lot.
Monaco: Yeah, she walks into things. Actually I do, too. I’m not good with props. They call me "prop-challenged."
In Depth: Can Alison and Livvie ever be friends again?
Hershey Presley: I don’t think so.
Monaco: I think maybe yes, and I’ll tell you why. If these two girls were truly friends at one point, and if down the line it comes out that Livvie has a mental sickness like her mother and father, I think Alison is the type of selfless friend who would go through hell and high water to help someone out. And she has with Livvie already, even though she’s done so many terrible things.
Hershey Presley: Yeah, that’s true. I think Alison still loves Livvie, because otherwise, our scenes wouldn’t be so emotional.
In Depth: Do either of you have any strange habits? Idiosyncrasies?
Monaco: If you ever sit down with Erin and her hair’s not up, watch. She’ll start playing with her hair.
Hershey Presley: Nolan [North, Chris] told me it’s a sign of schizophrenia.
Monaco: Oh no!
Hershey Presley: And then I told my mom, who’s a nurse, and she goes, "Honey, he just plays a doctor. It’s okay."
In Depth: What’s the best gift you could give each other?
Hershey Presley: A plane ticket home.
Monaco: Ditto! Or I could get Erin the ranch in Tulsa that she and Brian want. I’d love to be able to do it someday to just give everybody exactly what they want.
Hershey: Or one of those hologram things where you can talk to your family and have them appear right in front of you. That’d be pretty cool.
"We’ve Taught Each Other A Lot"
In Depth: What do you admire about each other as actors?
Hershey Presley: Kelly’s a very, very strong actor. When we first came to the show, we both were pretty new and didn’t really know what to do. I didn’t even know there were three cameras!
Monaco: Oh no, I had no idea.
Hershey Presley: I think Kelly can be very strong with anger, but at the same time be very centered when she’s not necessarily projecting loudly. She can still be very stern and straightforward with her dialogue. She’s become a very, very good actress.
Monaco: Oh, that’s so sweet! I think we’ve taught each other a lot of things not only about acting, but about professionalism and even things as silly as studying and what needs to be done and just watching her… what she was saying about me, I could say the same about her. She’s been given these difficult, emotional, just tough scenes to play and I can see the progress in her more than she can in herself.
In Depth: What do you admire about each other as people?
Hershey Presley: There’s no guessing what Kelly thinks; what you see is what you get with her. It’s never like, "Oh, I wonder if she doesn’t like me." I admire that.
Monaco: I’ve gotta say the opposite about Erin. I admire her ability to put her own feelings aside. No matter what’s going on in her life or if she’s having a bad day, she’s always got a smile on her face. I admire that about her because that’s something I can’t do.
Kelly Monaco and Erin Hershey Presley
