by Janet Di Lauro

SOW: What do you remember about the day you met?

BB: I was one of the seven or eight guys screen testing for Nick. It was high stakes. A big deal. Definitely the biggest opportunity I've had so far in my career. I remember Rachel said, "Blake!"

RM: We were backstage and I said, "I really like that name, by the way."

BB: Then the stage manager started the countdown and I asked, "When do I go?" Rachel said, "Five, four, three...give it two beats and go." So it was like, "Nice to meet you!" and we had to make out and do a whole scene together. We had to kiss twice in a screen test.

RM: I don't remember.

BB: I remember.

RM: Blake was my favorite. I'm not going to lie. I liked his lips and his name, and he was good.

SOW: Did you hit it off instantly?

RM: I thought he was cool.

BB: We definitely hit it off, although it took us a while to figure out who each other was. Rachel showed me around and helped me out a lot. I didn't have any experience with soaps.

RM: I just remember my first day, and it sucked. I can't mention names, but there was someone who pressured me and I felt stupid for not knowing what I was supposed to do. Fortunately, I had Julie Pinson (Billie) take me under her wing. She showed me little things, like how to put your script together better. It's nice to have someone that's approachable.

SOW: Rachel, before Nick the geek came along, you'd been paired with the resident hunk, Max. Were you bummed about the switch?

RM: No, I was excited. I thought it would be an interesting dynamic. It was something different for soaps. It wasn't the typical storyline. And Blake has a different process; he brings something different to the table. It drew out something in me that I didn't know I had. We haven't fallen into the typical soap pattern. There's more comedy between our characters.

BB: There are more layers to Nick and Chelsea's relationship. Things just keep getting more complicated. We'll have moments that are intimate. Then, all of a sudden, we're arguing about something. It's pretty relatable.

SOW: Blake, one of your first scenes involved doing a bar trick with an olive. How hard was that?

BB: I had to put a brandy glass over an olive, then slowly start moving the glass around it. Once the olive started going around, hitting the side of the glass and moving up, I had to flip it.

RM: Tell the best part. I did it on my first try and Blake had to do it five times.

BB: Rachel said, "Oh, this looks easy." I was like, "It's not easy." Then she did it.

SOW: Was there a moment when you realized your screen romance was working?

RM: (laughing) All I can think about is that time we were doing the tutoring scene and the accident that made it so awkward.

BB: I don't remember.

RM: It's kind of silly, but when you're on soaps you're not supposed to kiss with tongue. When Blake and I were doing the tutoring scene, our characters were supposed to start making out. What happened is that Blake and I got into the scene, and we just started kissing how we would normally kiss, not thinking about it. We were kissing with tongue, when I went, "Whoa! What just happened? " I had the most organic reaction. It was totally awkward and so funny.

BB: Those are the types of things that take it from a scene to actually happening, which is the goal.

RM: It was like, "Well, we can't get much closer."

SOW: So that was a big moment onscreen and off?

BB: Yeah, I remember it said on TIVO, "Nick and Chelsea lip-lock for the first time."

RM: That's hysterical, I didn't know that!

SOW: What's been the fan reaction to your pairing?

RM: I read some message boards just to get some feedback and I got directed to this Chelsea and Nick fan page. It had all these threads about how much everyone loved us and how they were upset that we weren't getting more airtime, which is funny because we work a lot. There was even this petition to (HW) Hogan Sheffer. People were adding their names to it to have us on more.

SOW: DO fans ever send you things? Matthew Ashford and Melissa Reeves (ex-Jack and Jennifer) got M&M's and Kyle Lowder and Nadia Bjorlin (ex-Brady and Chloe) got bales of hay.

RM: No, not yet.

BB: That's when you know you've hit the big time.

RM: They could send us Chicks.

BB: Because that's what they call us, "Chick," for Chelsea and Nick.

SOW: Do the two of you hang out off screen?

RM: We go out to dinner, although I just do that as charity. He doesn't have any other friends, (laughs). Actually Blake has more friends than me. His phone has rung like six times during this interview and no one has even text messaged me. I have no one.

BB: Actually, we're both workaholics, so we rehearse a lot.

RM: I went over to his house one night to run lines after an event. We worked for three or four hours, and I'm not even exaggerating.

BB: We want our work to be the best it can possibly be.

RM: We're also very honest with each other, which is nice.

BB: We watch our scenes afterward and will be like, "We could have made a stronger choice there. Or, I didn't buy that."

RM: I don't even know how to describe our relationship. It's so weird. It's not like brother and sister. This is going to sound bad, but I talk to Blake like he's one of my girlfriends in the sense that there's nothing I don't tell him. There are times when I think, "He's a guy. Maybe I shouldn't have said that."

BB: I'm into being as open as possible. There's no reason to hold anything back.

RM: You're my people, Blake.

SOW: Aside from acting, what's the the number 1 thing you talk about?

RM: I guess that's where our relationship ends (laughs). We talk about boyfriends and girlfriends.

BB: Relationship stuff.

SOW: Besides the first kiss, have there been any other awkward moments? What about the episode where Blake had to parade around in his boxer shorts?

BB: That was funny. When we did the first scene, I just wore the boxers. After we taped it, they told me we were going to do it again. I was like, "Why?" (Executive Producer) Steve Wyman came up to me and said, "You need to put something on under the boxers, because somebody made an appearance that you probably wouldn't want to make an appearance."

RM: I was in my dressing room watching the feed because Blake had two scenes before I cane in. When he sat down, I was like, 'Whoa!" I ran upstairs to go tell him. Blake told me that he already knew. I didn't really see anything. But if you had moved the slightest to the right or the left...

BB: It was too close for comfort. You can't have that on daytime.

SOW: Since we're on a roll, any other embarrassing moments?

RM: Yes. We were doing a car scene and Blake had his arm up on the wheel. I turned my head and went to put my hand on his arm when my hand dropped. It landed on something that felt like, you know, I'm freaked out and said, "I am so sorry." I never get embarrassed but I was beet red.

BB: I looked at Rachel like, "What?"

RM: I said, "Nothing. I just thought that I had touched something." Blake said that I hadn't, so I was embarrassed about nothing.

SOW: Awkward moments aside, how do you like being Days' new young supercouple?

BB: It seems that's the direction things are going, and and I'm up for it. The rapport Rachel and I have feeds into that comfortableness and peace that Nick and Chelsea have with each other. It just works.

RM: Nick and Chelsea are different. They're not like other soap couples. Blake and I have done our own thing and we like it. Kudos to everyone involved.

http://z7.invisionfree.com/DaytimeRoyalty/...p?showtopic=973

I love these two together.They have a great rapport with each other, and really seem like their best friends off-set.

But, one question, who do you think was the DOOL actor that was pressuring Rachel on her first day?

How did I miss this boxers scene?

This is going to sound bad, but I talk to Blake like he's one of my girlfriends in the sense that there's nothing I don't tell him.

Mmm-hmmmm.

I love these two and I agree it's refreshing to see them working hard to keep improving. This is why I think Rachel always got more stories then Ashley. She is serious about her work and seems committed to staying on the show as long as she is challenged.

Rachel is a talented actress, and she loves the show she works for. I wouldn't say that is why she got more story than Abby ever got. Chelsea got more story because she was the product of a JER created couple (Bo and Billie). Reilly hated Jack and Jennifer, hence why Abby was only a supporting character to Chelsea.

They're so cute. lol It's great to see how comitted to the show they are, it shows a sense of maturity.