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."