Brittany Underwood plays Langston on 'One Life to Live.' She is the girl who got Starr to steal spray paint from a store to cover up some grafitti. So far we have only seen Langston once (the role is recurring), but it looks like she will pop back up again soon...I have placed the small spoiler part in bold.

For a link to the article and pictures of the actress, here is a link to the article at the newspaper's website: http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...352/1150/NEWS01

06/16/06 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom

Mountain Lakes teen lands TV, movie roles

Actress enjoying a 'crazy' ride

BY TEHANI SCHNEIDER

DAILY RECORD

MOUNTAIN LAKES -- For 17-year old Brittany Underwood, the past year has been a whirlwind of auditions, callbacks and meetings with agents and casting directors.

The young actress has appeared in a Verizon commercial, guest-starred on a critically acclaimed NBC drama, and will be featured in an upcoming film set for release this summer.

On top of that, she also snagged a recurring role on a daytime soap opera and another movie offer.

Not bad for the recent Mountain Lakes High School graduate who began professionally acting only a year ago.

"It's been crazy," a bubbly Underwood said during an interview at her home. "It all happened pretty quick ... I hear stories of how people have worked for four or five years to get something big, so I feel very fortunate."

Her meteoric rise began two years ago, when she attended weekend acting workshops in New York City to hone her skills, said her mother, Martha.

Underwood made her stage debut at age 8 in a local community theater production, and followed that with many plays and musicals throughout middle school and high school.

But she was eager to try her hand at television and film.

"She always loved acting, singing and dancing," said Martha Underwood. "Her father and I were completely supportive of her."

In the summer of her junior year, Underwood heard a local radio station advertising an acting showcase in the city where finalists would audition for possible agents and managers.

"I heard about it on Z100 -- it was called New Stars Breaking into Hollywood," she said. "I thought, wow, I really want to do that."

Underwood found an agent at the showcase, and signed with a manager soon after. Her first audition was for the 13-year old title character of a Disney Channel series pilot called "Hannah Montana."

Underwood didn't get the role, but she wasn't discouraged.

"I knew there would be other auditions," she said. "I'm hopeful every time I go in."

Four auditions later, she scored a guest appearance on NBC's "Law & Order: SVU" where she played a 13-year old rape victim. She shot scenes both on the drama's set in North Bergen and near the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York.

"It was a good experience," she said. "But it was a huge deal at school. Everyone made a really big deal about it because everyone watches it. All of my friends were so supportive."

Gained exposure

While the role helped her stretch her chops and gain exposure, working alongside the show's veteran actors, Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni, was also a great experience for her, she said.

"They were both very helpful with the scene, with the terminology on set, just how things work," she said. But she admitted the experience was a bit unnerving. "It was my first time ever on the stage of a set."

Underwood followed up "Law & Order" with a Verizon commercial a few months later.

"We shot that in Argentina ... and it aired here for about a month," she said.

When Underwood returned from the commercial shoot, her father, Ron, greeted her with the news that she had received a callback for a new movie.

The film, "Margaret", starring Matthew Broderick, Matt Damon and Anna Paquin, began shooting in the fall of 2005 in Queens. In the movie, Paquin's high-school character witnesses a bus accident that she feels she was able to prevent, which sets off a chain of events related to whether or not the accident was intentional.

Underwood played one of Paquin's friends. "I have some lines ... and I think I'm in three scenes," she said. She was excited to work with Paquin, of "X-Men" movies fame.

"She was really nice, and down-to-earth," she said.

Next role

Most recently, Underwood won a role on ABC's "One Life to Live." She filmed four episodes in April, and was called back to film four more. But the part is the complete opposite of her innocent persona.

"I play a bad girl," she said, grinning. "I become best friends with the girl who's the star, and then I end up stealing her boyfriend."

The role also calls for another first for the young actress. "It would be my first on-screen kiss," she said, giggling. "I'd be fine with it."

Her mother, who would become more than a casual observer, also laughed.

"It's a different feeling, but I know she's acting," Martha Underwood said.

Underwood also recently received another film opportunity, to appear in "Dan in Real Life", starring Steve Carell.

"I got a callback for one of his daughters," she said.

In the fall, Underwood will be a freshman at Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y., where she plans to major in biology, and minor in theater.

"All the colleges I applied to were near Manhattan. I just want to be as close to the city so I can keep going for auditions," she said. "

No surprise

Underwood's rapid success comes as no surprise to her first theater director, Jan Hokenson.

Hokenson, a borough resident who directed Underwood during her years in the Mountain Lakes Children's Community Theater, said she expects great things from her former pupil.

"I remember when Brittany was very young, she told me how much she loved to be in the shows," Hokenson said. "She was always so enthusiastic and hard-working, and so gifted. I expect to see her name on a marquee someday."

I would be disappointed... if Ricky could act. I feel bad for Starr though, since he has helped her through a rough time in her life.

Aww..no! I don't care about this girl! I want Ricky/Starr.

small update...We will be seeing more of Ricky soon as he continues to be involved with Starr. The role will remain recurring, but we will be seeing more of him.

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Notice that in last Friday's (June 30th's) episode, they finally gave him a last name. When Todd was writing all the names on the list, he wrote down Ricky Diaz.