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| DR Exclusive Interview with Kate Mansi and Blake Berris | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 2 2014, 05:32 PM (15,699 Views) | |
| lysie | Jun 2 2014, 05:32 PM Post #1 |
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Daytime Royalty had the opportunity today to speak with Kate Mansi and Blake Berris about their new play, If All the Sky Were Paper, and about Days! For more information about the play, go to http://www.lexikatartists.com/if-all-the-sky-were-paper.html How did you both get involved in this production? Kate: My mother is producing the play as part of Lexikat Artists. She told me about it a while ago, and she said that it really moved her just hearing about it. When she started to get involved in it, the interesting that caught her attention was that the play wasn't specifically political. It’s more showing this very real humanistic element of war that I think people don’t really see that often. It has a sense of humor, and there’s forgiveness and loneliness, and I think those are the stories we sort of miss. We tend to go towards these horror elements which are definitely there and present, but I think (this is shown) in a much more haunting way because you're seeing it through the eyes of a real person, and it’s much more relatable. It caught my mom’s attention. She wanted to help them stage this reading at the Kirk Douglas Theater. Blake and I have worked together on Days obviously, and I just have such respect for his craft. I think he’s so talented. It kind of all pieced together, right? Blake: Kate recommended me, and then the casting director and the director and your mom, the producer reached out, and we started talking. It all kind of fell into place. The play is about letters sent during wartime. Does someone read the letters and you act them out, or do you read them? Kate: It's a staged reading. Someone is a narrator who is representative of Andrew Carroll, the author, and then as actors, Blake, and myself, and Laura Dern, and all these people that are reading take on the characters of the people that have written the letters. So it's like (the play) Love Letters, except for war. Blake: That’s exactly right. Can you give us an example of one of the stories in the letters? Blake: Well, what I think is cool about the play is that every letter is like a time capsule. It’s different than historical fiction where there’s a playwright who is reimagining what someone who had written a letter might have said. These are actually letters from that time period, so it really is a glimpse into the way people thought, wrote, and related to one another in each of the various time periods, the various wars that the play delves into. So there’s everything from the most horrific elements of war to people being like, “You know, it’s kind of boring out here!” to “Are you cheating on me?” It’s every facet of what somebody might be going through during wartime. Kate: Yes. You said that perfectly. I think that what’s really interesting for me in a lot of the letters I’ve read, even not the ones I’m doing myself. It’s interesting to get behind the psychology. They don’t see themselves as being big heroes, and I think that when we take them off that pedestal for a minute and see that they’re real people having real humanistic elements of fear and insecurity and vulnerability and bravery inside. I think it’s a really interesting story, and one that hasn’t really been told, but should be. Is there any military history in either of your families? Blake: Yes. Both of my grandfathers served, and my mother’s father was actually taken captive in Germany during World War II. Actually, my dad was in the army after he went to UCLA. Kate: I never knew that! Interesting... my story is kind of the same. My grandparents.... my father was drafted but couldn’t actually go because of health reasons. I think that definitely helps color the story for us. Is this your first large scale theater production? Kate: For me, yes, it is. Blake: I’m trying to think. I’m definitely a theater kid, like I grew up doing it. I did a professional production locally in Santa Barbara of the Sound of Music growing up. Kate: Who were you? Blake: Friedrich. I studied it in college, and there’s a pretty big playhouse at UCLA that’s a sizable theater, but I think the Kirk Douglas is the most prestigious venue I’ve set foot on. Alright, let’s move on to Days. Nick’s murder mystery wrapping up. What can you tell us about the end of this story? Kate: Is it out yet? Today and Friday Blake: Someone sent me a copy of the SOD article about it last week. I thought it was really the only thing that made sense. It’s always fun when they do a “whodunnit” or a “who shot JR” type mystery, but I think that was the only character that it truly made sense for her to have the follow through to do the deed. Nick had sort of psychologically trapped her to a point that that seemed like the only way out. Just knowing that it was going in that direction when I was still on the set, I think that was the right ending. Was it always going in that direction? Blake: No! I had to kind of do detective work on set to find out who the killer was. They weren’t being very forthcoming, and nobody knew who the killer was. I knew that I was going to die. Kate: But even that was a secret for a lot of the cast until the end. Blake: Our executive producer, Lisa, asked me, “Are you triple, triple, triple sure that you want to go? Because it might be for good. Wink wink.” And I was like, “Gotcha. You’re threatening to kill me!” But that’s what I needed to do, and I knew that I was going out with a bang. Gabi’s role in the Daysaster is also coming out now. Tell us about Abigail’s reaction to that. Kate: She’s always had a sort of a strange relationship with Gabi. Abby has the very strange friend instinct where she’s always sort of on to her, even with the Chad stuff. But she suppresses it because she wants to believe the best and she wants to believe that her friend is not who she really is. When she finally comes out with it, it’s shocking and devastating and kind of confusing because it’s not like once she finds out she has all this time to reframe her image of her best friend and who she is and then continue a relationship. She finds out and is sort of left by herself to process it in her own mind. That’s coming out in the next week, but what we really want to know is when the EJ/Abby reveal is coming out. Kate: What do you want to know? Is it going to happen? Kate: What do you mean? The baby? No. But what baby? Kate: Well because everyone on twitter is always asking if she’s pregnant. Yesterday I was running half marathon and I’m in the middle of my run and this lady runs up to me and is like, “So are you pregnant or not?” I was like, “What are you talking about?” I guess they never really followed through with that. I’m not. That’s the question I get asked the most on twitter. “Are you pregnant?” and I’ll be posing in a picture with a drink in my hand, and someone says, “You can’t be drinking, you’re pregnant.” First of all, that’s not real! But the EJ and Abby thing. You’ll have to stay tuned and see what happens. How it comes out is going to be a very big shock for everybody. What are your favorite scenes you’ve done at Days? Kate: That’s really tough. I think there are different subsets. Romantically, I really enjoyed working with Casey Deidrick because those were really tender, special scenes with Abby and Chad when she was losing her virginity, and kind of maturing and becoming a woman with him. I really enjoyed when Abby went a little crazy with Austin. I had a lot of fun with it. It had a lot of layers. You never know when that’s going to come back for her. That was my favorite. Blake: I really like the side of Nick that is calculating and manipulative and having to battle his own demons in the meantime. I liked the part where Nick was terrorizing Will. The first time around, when it was Chandler, we had some of these awesome back and forth scenes where he’s relentless, terrorizing this poor guy all building toward the catharsis on the island where it comes out that he was raped. I thought that was pretty powerful. You’ve also both had experiences with negative fan feedback. Tell us about that. Blake: Yeah. I get a healthy stream of fan mail. It’s sizable. It’s not small. It’s not overwhelming, though. I get kind of a sick pleasure out of it. It means that the story is resonating with people, and they care. I think it’s important for people to be invested in the show. It’s strange to me when they hate your character so much that they start associating you with the character. My favorite, and one of the strangest comments I’ve gotten, and it’s happened quite a bit is when people say, “You need to be fired.” And I just think that’s a strange reaction to hating a character. Not, “I hate your character and that character needs to go to hell” but instead “You the actor needs to be fired.” I really don’t take it personally. Literal mail? Blake: Oh. Mostly on twitter, but some of it is real mail at the studio that they give to us. So people do still do that. Blake: If you can believe it. What about you, Kate? Kate: I think that being indifferent to your character is sort of a death trap, so I think it’s good when people care enough to hate you or care enough to love yo. I got a lot of it with this whole EJ situation. It’s crazy. I posted a picture of a sunset once on my brother’s birthday and said “Happy Birthday” to him, and someone wrote “You whore!” and then went on about how I was destroying their family. My mom was new to Instagram, and she was like “What’s going on with your life?” So I had to sort of reframe that for her. I struggle with it because on the one hand, it sucks, but we give people this access to us, so I feel like sort of a fool complaining about it. Of course people have negative opinions, and that fine. It doesn’t affect me and the way I live my life, and I don’t think it should. So more power to you if that helps you to express that. Is there anything else you want to tell us about? Blake: I think we’ve covered it. But stay tuned... Kate and I are in the process of working out an event. We'll let you know details when we have them! |
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| fundays13 | Jun 2 2014, 05:42 PM Post #2 |
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Wow. Feel bad for kate that some mentally disturbed loser what call her a name for posting an insta gram picture during a family birthday wish. Pathetic. :shame: |
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| blueskies | Jun 2 2014, 05:44 PM Post #3 |
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"you whore"? lol, okay i have to say that's so ridiculous i may have laughed. but why bring up a baby? Maybe Abby IS pregnant? I didn't think so but now she has me wondering again. |
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| lysie | Jun 2 2014, 05:48 PM Post #4 |
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She thought that's what I was asking because that's what everyone asks. |
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| ShaneDOOLFan | Jun 2 2014, 05:50 PM Post #5 |
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well we cant forget about Stefano and the doctor's conversation. Wouldn't she be starting to have symptoms by now. Maybe they just filmed those scenes because Stefano had confirmation they were having an affair because EJ was with her? |
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| tomsawyer | Jun 2 2014, 05:54 PM Post #6 |
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Maybe stop doing it then? :shrug: Meanwhile, I loved BB's answer that he gets sick pleasure out of the hate. He should - it means he's doing his job effectively. Edited by tomsawyer, Jun 2 2014, 06:04 PM.
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| throughthehourglass | Jun 2 2014, 05:56 PM Post #7 |
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It will never stop scaring the shit out of me when fans can't differentiate between the characters and the actors. |
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| gailwinters | Jun 2 2014, 05:59 PM Post #8 |
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I kind of interpreted that as her saying that the pregnancy thing was dropped. Edited by gailwinters, Jun 2 2014, 05:59 PM.
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| specialcases | Jun 2 2014, 06:00 PM Post #9 |
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What year is this?
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Oh here it is! I just spent 35 minutes trying to find this in the Y&R section! |
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| SoapGal1 | Jun 2 2014, 06:06 PM Post #10 |
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She says in her response that they never followed thru with that & she's not. |
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| gailwinters | Jun 2 2014, 06:07 PM Post #11 |
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Blake Berris continues to impress me. I enjoy hearing/reading his thoughts. |
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| peaches179 | Jun 2 2014, 06:07 PM Post #12 |
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Nice interview, Lysie. Good to see Blake still getting work. I would love to see the play. |
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| blueskies | Jun 2 2014, 06:09 PM Post #13 |
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See I can generally laugh off the things at this level. When it gets to what Guy deals with though it really makes me nervous and uncomfortable. |
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| Restless84 | Jun 2 2014, 06:10 PM Post #14 |
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Well, the interviews keep asking questions about negative feedback. I thought she handled that very diplomatically. I'm definitely looking forward to how the EJabby affair is revealed. That was great interview. Good job DR! |
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| Vicky4Mimi | Jun 2 2014, 06:16 PM Post #15 |
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That's a great interview. I took the "I'm not" as in Kate herself wasn't pg and she can have a drink if she wants... She didn't say "SHE'S not" and she was referring to Abby as "she" in other parts of the paragraph. I think she is handling the ones JS calls "------- Idiots" in a very classy way. She seems like a sweet girl with a good head on her shoulders. I can't wait to see what shocking thing happens with EJ and Abby and I gotta say, I hope it includes a baby! |
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| shellyj | Jun 2 2014, 06:16 PM Post #16 |
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nice interview. thank you. the play sounds interesting. anyone able to go? |
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| throughthehourglass | Jun 2 2014, 06:17 PM Post #17 |
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Yeah, I feel bad for Guy. But it also makes me uncomfortable when someone calls KM a whore, because unless they think she is a whore, they're obviously referring to Abby. And KM and Abby are not the same person. Cuckoo. :peek: |
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| Vicky4Mimi | Jun 2 2014, 06:19 PM Post #18 |
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She is handling it so well! I would be tempted to be naming names and email addresses if I was her and was getting asked about the idiots all the time!! |
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| Weegie | Jun 2 2014, 06:21 PM Post #19 |
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I completely agree with you. That's how I interpreted her responses too. I'm really hoping she's pregnant too. |
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| Restless84 | Jun 2 2014, 06:28 PM Post #20 |
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As some of you may know I love EJabby, but I'm pretty certain KM meant Abigail is not pregnant. She said they never followed through with it.
Edited by Restless84, Jun 2 2014, 06:29 PM.
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