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With two upcoming movies, one in production, and a made for television movie due out in 2009, on top of her regular day job on ABC’s General Hospital, Claire Coffee (Nadine) sure has a lot on her plate.
With two upcoming movies, one in production, and a made for television movie due out in 2009, on top of her regular day job on ABC’s General Hospital, Claire Coffee (Nadine) sure has a lot on her plate.
Though she was new to daytime, she was no stranger to working on the entertainment industry. Prior to joining the cast of General Hospital, Claire had extensive list of acting credits to her name, having guest starred on numerous primetime series and made for television movies. Her interest in acting began as a young child, where she honed her skills as a theatre actress. Claire continued her studies at Northwestern University, majoring in Drama and Theater.
Claire debuted on General Hospital as quirky Nadine Crowell in 2007, coming to Port Charles after her sister Jolene (Amanda Baker), had fallen into a coma after terrorizing the hospital staff and patients during season one of General Hospital: Night Shift. Over the past year, Nadine found herself in a storyline with the resident Prince of Port Charles, Nikolas Cassadine (Tyler Christopher). Their relationship began after Nikolas’ fiancée Emily Quartermaine was brutally murdered by Diego Sanchez, the Text Message Killer. After her death, Nikolas began “seeing” Emily due to what was later revealed to be a brain tumor. Throughout the ordeal, Nadine showed her concern for him, relating to him on a personal level. Overtime Nadine fell in love with Nikolas, despite his subtle and not so subtle rejections. It took realizing what life could be without Nadine to make Nikolas realize he cared for her more than just a friend. This past Wednesday, the two took their relationship to the next level when they made love.
Nikolas and Nadine’s story has been mostly about Nikolas’ residual feelings for Emily, although recently the writers have begun to give more attention to his feelings towards Nadine. “The storyline has been building over a year now, so i think the writers are invested to some extent, but they are also finding lots of fun road blocks for Nadine and Nikolas along the way… it’s hard to tell if this will be a long term romance or an interim affair. Tyler has been fantastic at helping me learn the soap ropes! He is such a pro,” Claire told TVSource Magazinein an interview conducted this past weekend. “Nadine and Nikolas were both a bit lost at the same time and that brought them together. They have such different backgrounds and they are both so fascinated with each other, deepening this connection.”
Claire’s also been able to show a little of her comedic side on the show with Nadine getting herself involved in situations she probably shouldn’t. Currently she’s also found herself in the middle of the counterfeit drug storyline, interacting with GHnewcomer Jason Cook (Matt Hunter), Sebastian Roche (Jerry) and Nazanin Boniadi (Leyla) and vets like Kin Shriner (Scotty) among others. “The drug storyline has been great in introducing me to Port Charles and some of the legacy characters of the show. Jason loves to improvise, so working with him is always fun. Kin is a riot. Tons of energy and so much history with the show!”
{tab=Biography} Name: Claire Coffee
Birthday: April 14
Hometown: Marin County and Salinas, California
College: Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois); Majored in theater
{tab=Upcoming Projects} Remarkable Power (Film)
Wednesday Again (Film)
All About Steve (Film)
This Might Hurt (TV Movie)
{tab=Just The Facts} Ringtone: Just a standard ring – I have a blackberry
Music: All kinds of stuff! Right now I am obsessing over Death Cab’s Transatlanticism and Plans (older albums) I love the New Pornographers, Joanna Newsom, Billy Bragg and Ryan Adams.
Inspiration: Anyone creating something from nothing
Favorite author: Tom Perrotta and Philip K. Dick
Favorite color: Orange and yellow
Who do you hang out with from GH: A lot of us get together frequently! The youngsters, mostly at Bradford’s house!
Do you watch GH: I do watch GH! I have to keep up. I used to watch a while ago – I loved Lucy and Kevin {/tabs}
Interaction with other characters is always something actors want for their character instead of always being in scenes with the same characters. Claire is no different. “I really love Megan [Ward] – she has been such a mentor to me off the set, but I haven’t had any interaction with her in storyline. I would love the opportunity to have a run-in at Crimson!”
Although Nadine has no other family members in Port Charles, it hasn’t deterred the writers from mentioning family elsewhere. Claire seemed hopeful when asked about more family coming to town for her character, “I hope so! I would love any sort of family connection.”
There’s also the implication that Nadine is not as innocent or naive as she leads everyone to believe. It has been implied Nadine has lost someone she deeply loved. Could there been more to Nadine than meets the eye? According to Claire, such a story could very well be on the table, “That’s the plan. I haven’t heard anything from Bob or Jill just yet, though.”
Many daytime actors spread their wings and work on outside projects during their time on soaps. Claire, too, has dabbled in other things outside GH, including hosting an improv at ACME Comedy Club in LA most recently. “I’ve always loved comedy – I think it’s my strength.” Claire’s been able to showcase that strength from time to time on GH, seeing as how her character continues to get herself into awkward situations.
“My first roles in town were comedic, actually. My agent also represents one of the company members at ACME and they were looking for host. I was THRILLED to step in and would absolutely love to do the show again! The show will be posted online very soon. I’ll have a link from my website.” Though she misses working on stage, she’s found a soft spot for improvisational comedy. “I do miss theater, but after 20 years on stage, i have been really happy to work in film and television in the past 6 years. The theater I’m interested in now is improv and sketch comedy. I’ve been working with a few companies around town, so that might be where you will see me next!”
Always busy with work, on GH, on stage or working on a movie set, Claire somehow finds the time to relax and she has somehow found the time to enjoy the rewards of cooking.
“I love to bake, but I can’t have sugar because I’m super sensitive to migraines. I have all sorts of crazy alternative sugar recipes with agave nectar and fruit sweeteners and things like that. One of my favorites is so simple – almond butter with agave nectar, bananas and cocoa powder. Mash it all together and freeze it for a few hours. It turns into the richest, fudgiest brownies ever! Aside from that I LOVE cheese in all forms, pork chops, short ribs, eggplant, brussels sprouts and any kind of fish. My favorite recipe is for goat cheese mashed potatoes with shallots. Giada De Laurentiis is my favorite food network cook.”
Don’t think all she does is cook and eat when not working at the studio, “I love hiking, writing, hosting girl wine parties and experimenting with my new video camera. I also love shopping for furniture and old books.”
As many online fans know how addicting the online communities can be, Claire is one of many actors who have created a way fans to stay connected with her. With a newly created website and a message board community, Claire visits her message board regularly to see what her fans are talking about. She also hosted chats with her fans at the message board when time permits. “I really shouldn’t, but I do pop in every now and then if a big scene has aired and I want to see how things are playing – especially since Nadine is so quirky and she keeps landing in such trouble.”
{gallery}interviews/claire_coffee:250:151{/gallery}
Claire’s OFFICIAL Message Board can be found here. Claire also has a MYSPACE page – and an official website – http://www.clairecoffee.net
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