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Photographer: Birdie Thompson; Hair & Makeup: Allison Noelle
As you know, Cin [Ciara + Ben] has taken over the soap world. I know you said that you were surprised by their popularity, but do you think you’ve come to an understanding as to why they became popular so fast?
Totally! It’s the classic bad boy/good girl. Good girl reformed the bad guy. Everyone loves that. And we do have incredible chemistry. He’s an amazing guy. We’re great friends. So, I understand completely where the fans are coming from.
We don’t get slow burns in daytime anymore. It’s usually you meet, you date for five days and you get married. So, we definitely appreciate what is happening between them. Now, you said that you and Robert Scott Wilson are friends and that helps with the chemistry. Do you guys hang out off set? Has he included you in any of his ridiculously insane workouts? Because that looks terrible.
(laughs) No, we haven’t really had the pleasure of hanging out off set. We’re both really busy in our lives but we do spend a lot of time together on set. There are times where we have half an hour or something where nothing is really going on and we could be running lines but all of us are usually in the makeup room laughing and having the best time ever. And Fran, our stage manager, is on speaker like, “guys can you please quiet down, your voices are traveling into the studio!”
With you from New York and him from Boston, have you guys gotten into any sports related debates yet?
You know what, no because we’re fans of the same team. I am a terrible New Yorker for this but I just can’t be a fan. New York has two teams for each sport and they still can’t beat Boston! The Patriots just know how to play football. Tom Brady is so fine, and I appreciate him so much. I love the Patriots. So yeah, we actually bond over that. We bond over the fact that we’re both fans of Boston sports leagues.
Ciara often talks about how she doesn’t want to be a victim anymore or a doormat. Do you feel like that’s part of the reason why she’s become Ben’s biggest defender, because she sees him going through the same thing?
Absolutely. Absolutely. She sees a little bit of herself in him because even though it’s a different situation, the emotions were the same. The emotions are there, and she has bonded with him because she knows him. She knows the real him. The new reformed man that is. She gets it and she gets him and where he’s coming from. So, there’s a lot of support there.
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You said Ciara feels like she’s broken, and Ben is broken as well. What are some of the ways that they can or might go about healing each other?
They like each other’s company. They like the way they feel when they’re around each other because they don’t have to pretend. There are no boundaries. There’s no wall because they already know everything about each other.
They were forced to spend a lot of time in this cabin together and he overheard the fact that Ciara was raped, and he talked to her about it and he understood. He was the first person, I think, in Ciara’s life that didn’t pity her for what she’s gone through. And that’s what she’s been looking for because everyone looks at with those puppy dog eyes like, ‘Aw, I’m so sorry.’ She doesn’t want to hear that anymore. She wants strength. She wants stability and that’s what she got from Ben. And it’s reciprocated. So that’s what they look for in each other’s company and each other’s support.
A lot of things with Ciara and Ben’s storyline have been kind of serious. Last week there was this hilarious moment where Ben was in the background eating cereal. Do you feel it’s important to infuse the comedic beats into such a serious story?
(laughs) Absolutely! No one wants to cry for an hour! It’s always great to implement humor. The cereal thing was scripted but the way Rob was doing it had all of us dying! I saw some of the fans tweeting something like, ‘I don’t know how Victoria kept a straight face.’ I don’t know either! I must have a serious poker face because looking at it now, oh my God, it’s so funny! But yeah, it’s so important to keep the element of surprise when filming. You have to keep it natural and fluid. And if it’s not scripted then, you know, do it and it doesn’t work then we’ll re-shoot it. It’s always great to add elements like that in any scene. It was really appreciated and I’m very happy it was appreciated by the fans.
You said yourself, Ciara is a Brady, so your character is related to everybody! Are there any connections or relatives that she hasn’t filmed with that we should expect coming up? Because we’ve been dying to have a scene with grandpa Victor for months!
Me too! Let me tell you, I love John [Aniston] so much. He’s a phenomenal actor. A phenomenal man. And actually, I was talking about my stay in Greece in the makeup room and he overheard. I stayed in Crete, Greece, the biggest island. It’s the one that’s closest to Africa. And walked over and he said ‘Crete?’ I said yes. He said, ‘That’s where I was born.’ I said, ‘So was Zeus!’ But yeah, he was born and raised there and it’s hilarious because I just happened to be visiting there. I can’t wait to work with him. Unfortunately, we haven’t worked together yet. I also want to work with Camila [Banus]. I think that Gabi and Ciara would have an awesome friendship because they’re both spicy, fiery people, and they have that connection with Rafe. I feel like they would have a great friendship.
We absolutely love Gabi and all of her shenanigans. So, it would be awesome to have those two share scenes together.
She’s doing great right now. She’s killing it!
So, you have Ciara with Tripp and Ciara with Ben. Is there anything that you want to see for your character outside of her love life?
Yes! I would want her to like start a business or something. Maybe get an awesome job and stop living off of her grandpa’s trust fund. I want her to do something! And I want her to actually ride a motorcycle. I want to film a scene where I actually have to ride one instead of her just getting on and off it. I want to ride it so bad. I want an outdoor scene or something.
© XJJohnson/jpistudios.com
Name one thing that you think that you have in common with your character, and one thing in which you guys are polar opposites.
Polar opposites in that she’s disrespects her mother like that. I would never! My mother grew up in a time in Poland that was communist. She grew up in communist Poland and she had a very strict mother. I do NOT talk to my mother the way Ciara talks to hers. That’s the biggest difference. And then we’re similar in that we are both spontaneous and adventurous, I guess. And we’re both pretty positive people. Regardless of what she’s been through, she tries to maintain a positive attitude and that’s what I try to do day to day as well.
You’ve done a couple of Days of our Lives fan events now. How’s that experience been?
It’s been great. The fans are wonderful. It’s amazing to meet them in person and see the beautiful faces behind all the kind words. I appreciate that. They’re the reason why I get to do what I love every single day. They’re everything. We do it for them. So, I am blessed for any opportunity that I get to meet them and give back the love they give me.
Are there any funny stories or comments that they’ve had for you, or any ridiculous fan gifts that they’ve given you? Other than the neckties they brought for Rob.
Oh my God, I was just about to say that! There were like six children that came up with neckties and one of them said, ‘Can I take a picture of you pretending to strangle me?’ We lost it! It was so funny, but they were so sweet.
Days fans are dedicated.
Yeah, they are. The sweetest thing that they’ve ever given me though, a fan brought a book that he published. A book of his poetry for all of us to sign. We weren’t allowed to spend a lot of time with each person because there were so many people that needed to see us. They waited in line for so long and we needed to speed things up. But I opened it up and read a couple of the poems because I love poetry. I complimented him on it and I said great work. An hour later he came back with a copy for me so that I could have it and read it. And I turned around and I asked him to sign the copy. I was like, ‘Can I have your autograph on this? Because you’re the author. You published this, I need it signed by you.’ It was pretty good. I read it on the plane back, it was great.
STYLE TEAM
Photographer: Birdie Thompson // Instagram: @birds_eye_photo
Hair & Makeup: Allison Noelle //Instagram: @allisonnoellemakeup
I never stand raped crimes on soap operas. LnL on General Hospital is way better then Cin as a rape story on a soap opera. Not saying I’m a Genie Francis nor LnL fan either.
I thought this interview was written by CIN fan. Spot on lol. I think it’s important to remember that CINs popularity is on social media. It hasn’t done much for the ratings. General audience don’t seem to care for this sl overall. I would love to see more objective article on this subject. So the popularity pov can be viewed in another angle. Given that. Has CIN really done much for Days? That’s interesting thought.
Awe very interesting interview, Awesome Job Ashley.
I also appreciate the little Cin scoop ;) dun dun dun :))
Thank you so much for allowing us to get to know Victoria better. Loved the questions and the point on Ciara falling somewhere between heroine and vixen. This may be why I am so drawn to her both currently and in terms of her potential. I surely hope to see more of Victoria on Days.