ONE LIFE TO LIVE's Roxanne Stirs Up Trouble
Soap Opera Digest, November 13, 2001

    Give ONE LIFE TO LIVE enough time, and it'll get around to inviting you back - for Ilene Kristen (Roxanne; ex-Georgina, r.), it took only 19 years. Beginning this week, the actress who gained fame as Delia on RYAN'S HOPE (1975-89, on and off) shows up in Llanview as the woman who raised Natalie. And so far, it seems like mother, like adoptive daughter.
    "She's got a very hard edge," says Kristen. "I'll try to imbue her with some human qualities." So far, however, Roxanne is a bit of a mystery to viewers and the actress: "I don't know much of the back story. Acting, for me, is like an out-of-body experience - I learn my lines and let the character take over."
    Kristen's been known for the colorful, often troublemaking characters she's played, from Delia to LOVING's Norma (1990-91) and ANOTHER WORLD's Madeline (1995). It was Kristen's link to OLTL Head Writer/former AW scribe Lorraine Broderick that helped return her to soaps. "I think if Lorraine found a place she could put me, she would," offers Kristen. "I believe in a certain amount of fate, so I don't question these things."
    In between her soap time, Kristen has kept busy, appearing on such shows as LAW & ORDER and THE SOPRANOS and pursuing a budding singing career. Will she stay with OLTL's (so far) non-contract agreement? "No idea," says Kristen. "But I'd like to be there for a while. They need someone to very impolitely cause trouble."