One on One |
Tracey Ross goes One on One
How did you get the role on Passions?
Passions had been calling my agent for a couple of months and I wasn’t interested in doing a soap. My agent approached me again in late April and told me they still hadn’t found an Eve Russell. We talked and I finally said okay. So, I went and they kept calling me back. And the next thing you know, probably because I wasn’t too anxious, I ended up getting the role.
What was your reaction when you found out?
It was mixed. I felt fortunate…but also trapped at the same time. But that lasted until I saw the first week of scripts, and saw that Grace would be going through the window, and I thought, “This is cool. This is going to be interesting.”
Why were you reluctant to do soaps?
My last soap experience was Ryan’s Hope and it was in its last two years. It was way down in the bottom of the ratings and was imminently going to be cancelled. I got there and it was just like arriving at a funeral. So, I felt like that’s what soaps were like. But now I’m here and I’m just loving it! I don’t want to be anywhere else.
Did you always know you wanted to be an actor?
Ever since I was seven! I was always writing and performing plays for my friends and family. I was always interested in performing.
You were Star Search’s first ever $100,000 Spokesmodel Champion! How did Star Search come about for you?
Star Search was a really easy show to get. When you think about it, there are no television shows that end by saying, “If you want to be on this show, just send an 8 by 10 photograph.” Star Search was the only show on television that did that! I sent my picture and next thing I know they were calling me. They asked me to be in the model category, even though I auditioned as an actress, because the actress category was filled. They said I could be in the model category that year or the actress category the next year, but there was no guarantee the show would have a next year. So, I grabbed the opportunity.
How are you enjoying exploring the secrets about Eve’s past?
Eve Russell and I are having a very rocky relationship right now. And we weren’t having a rocky relationship when I was everyone’s best friend, and the town doctor, and a great mother. But now that Eve is behaving in such a morally questionable way, I’m having a tough time with her. The minute I lit the match in Orville’s apartment, it’s been rough going for me. I’m willing to go wherever the writers and producers want to take her, but I’m just unable to understand someone who would behave that way. My own moral code will not buy that she set the fire to protect her family and her children. She’s being portrayed as a good person, who just did this one thing…but it’s really hard for me to reconcile those two aspects of her.
What would you like to see happen to Eve?
I’d like Eve to go to jail. What she did is a felony. I’d like to see someone else get arrested for setting the fire, and Eve have enough of a conscience not to let someone else go to jail. It may not be great entertainment, but I’m just thinking about it in terms of how she can be redeemed.
What kind of relationship do you have with your fellow Passions cast members? I love all the women and I have crushes on all the men! I don’t know how they got 22 people from all these different backgrounds and places, and there’s not one jerk, not one egomaniac…everybody is good-natured and kind-hearted and jolly. That’s one of the first things that made me think the show is really going to be a hit. Because I don’t think God, or fate, brought us all here together for something short and temporal.
What’s something people might be surprised to know about you?
I’m very maternal, although I don’t know if that would surprise anyone. I feel like I have a special rapport with all little kids. I can’t go past kids without smiling or talking to them.
What three words would you use to describe yourself?
Giddy, maternal, and kind.
What are you most proud of in your life?
My greatest accomplishment is how well I’ve raised my son. From the time he was in my tummy, I felt I made a covenant with God that I would take care of him and do it right. I’ve wanted to raise him as the kind of man that people could depend on, and that other men could look to in times of emergency or stress. I’m really proud of his conscience and his character.