My Day As a Soap Star'Good Morning America's' Marysol Castro Plays Herself on 'One Life to Live'
Marysol Castro played herself on "One Life to Live." (ABCNEWS)
By MARYSOL CASTRO
July 8, 2006 — I smell an Emmy. It's not every day a girl gets invited to the set of a daytime soap opera. In a moment of insanity, the good folks over at "One Life to Live" asked me if I would mind appearing in one of their upcoming episodes. Would I mind? I was thrilled!
Would I play a vixen? Would I play the victim? Do I wake up from a year-long coma to discover my fiancé is actually my brother?
"No, Marysol, we just want you to play yourself," said Frank Valentini, the executive producer for "One Life to Live."
How pedestrian.
Me? I'm boring. But put me in a room full of actors and the one and only Queen of R&B Mary J. Blige and I suddenly possess what so many people hope to have: "it". The it-factor that means you are spectacular, famous, a starlet, a diva or just a journalist playing the part of journalist on one of the longest-running soap operas ever. Okay, so I don't have "it," but for a few hours one Thursday afternoon in June I sure pretended I did.
Valentini met me in the lobby of the castle-like building on Manhattan's Upper West Side that houses the set of "OLTL". A friendlier person you will not find. He assured me I'd be great, and told me to just head over to hair and makeup.
I get my hair and make-up done all the time at "Good Morning America," so I was expecting no surprises on that front. I was secretly hoping they would give me false eyelashes, but unfortunately they didn't add a single lash. What I did learn was that the hair-and-makeup room is the craziest place in the whole joint.
Well, at first it was calm. The makeup artist strokes my cheekbone ever so gently as the quiet hum of the air conditioner lulls me to sleep. But then a tirade of actors came running in, scripts in hand, telling tales of gym regimes, fan mail, lunch orders and reality shows.
Shouldn't they be sitting there quietly, trying to memorize their lines? And, speaking of which, what are mine?
Luckily for me, I had the show's publicist, Lauri Hogan, to guide me through the labyrinth of of cameras, lights, catering tables, sets and extras, so I didn't get lost. She also brought me to see the real star of the day's taping: Mary J. Blige. On the show, Blige was performing at Antonio's famed Capricorn Lounge. I, playing myself, was going to said lounge to see her perform.
But I really am a fan of Blige and was very excited to have the chance to meet her. It turns out there is a friendlier person than Valentini, and that's Blige. We talked for probably three minutes but it felt like 45. Would she sing something from her first album? She laughed. Could I be her back-up dancer? Another laugh. Too bad I wasn't joking.
"All extras please stand over here," Alan Needleman, the show's stage manager, announced. "When I call your name please make yourself known."
The stage manager then went on to name everyone except for me. I knew it. I knew I had been duped into thinking this was my big break only to find out it was a joke. I approached Needleman with my tail between my legs.
"Um, you didn't call my name," I told him.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Marysol Cas-" I started to say.
"Oh, hi Marysol, no you're not on a stinkin' list. You're good. Just sit tight."
I wasn't on a stinkin' list. But I was good. So I sat tight.
The next hour was spent listening to a real-life mini-concert performed by Mary J. Blige. I, along with three other actors, sat at a banquette with faux champagne in real glasses as Blige belted out three tunes. Now that was a treat. I hardly felt like I was acting.
When the mini-concert ended, the stage manager cleared the set. My time had come.
My scene partner, Kerry Butler, who plays Claudia Reston, a hostess at the lounge, asked me if I knew my lines.
"Um, I didn't get a script," I told her.
Valentini came to the rescue.
"Yeah, so you girls just sort of adlib," he said. "Marysol you have a reservation, you come over here, Kerry, you recognize her from GMA, then you could say something funny and that's it. And can we get some more gloss for Marysol, please."
Okay. So I reached into the depths of my soul to find my inner Uta Hagen. I didn't exactly find her, but I did manage to mumble something. Thank God the real actress, Butler, helped pull the scene together. Moments later, the scene was over.
Valentini walked over to me, arms wide open, smiling ear to ear.
"You actually got a laugh out of me," he said. "You were great."
Well, you know, that's just how the pros do it. I told you, I smell an Emmy.
Marysol Castro is the weather and feature correspondent of ABC News' "Good Morning America Weekend Edition."
Link to article: http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/Entertainmen...7814&page=1
Link to video clip: http://www.abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2167939
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The episode with both Marysol Castro and Mary J. Blige will air on July 28th.