This interview is from May, 2006. This is not the first time I have noticed that soap stars look nicer off the show, even the most gorgeous of them. I wondered all through this interview why Marina Cooper can't have this hairstyle and be this normal and adult. More what Alan Michael or Danny Santos would find attractive. Compared to Mandy, Marina looks like a child. She was beautiful to see, and was friendly and animated. She said she was "having a blast" on Guiding Light, and that they are "awesome, awesome people to work with. The cast and crew are just fabulous."


She told us she is from Beaverton, Oregon, and attended College in Ohio. She always wanted to go to New York. As a small-town girl she always wanted to live in the big city. She was scared, though, and asked her mom to come and stay with her for the first couple of weeks.

She has been in musical theater also, and is going to play Belle in Beauty and the Beast in Pittsburgh's Civic Light Opera, June 6 through 18, 2006. Host Ty Treadway pointed out that that is a very prestigious theater group.

Discussion turned to her recent Emmy nomination (the awards were still a week away at the time of the interview) and she was asked how she heard about her nomination. She said she was in bed in her pj's with her Toy Yorkie, and saw Frank Dicopoulos on television. Then he announced her name. She started crying tears of excitement, called her mom, and she reacted the same way.


She was asked about Marina's romance with Alan Michael, who years ago was almost her dad. She said she only found out about that two months ago at a fan event. A lady showed up with a scrapbook and pointed to baby Marina. "That's you." Then she pointed at Alan Michael, and at the current Alan Michael, and said "That's HIM." Mandy said they kind of live in The Twilight Zone on soaps.

She also ran into Melina Kanakaredes, who was shocked that her "daughter" was in an affair with her old boyfriend.


The subject of Marina being a cop came next. Lisa Rinna raved on about when SHE played a cop. She asked Mandy if she'd had to wear the hat. Mandy said no, but had to wear dress blues, even though she was supposed to be undercover. She said in the uniform she wasn't sure if she looked like a cop or a flight attendant. Rinna then ranted and raved about how she was a cop for six whole months, had to wear the hat, and almost lost all her femininity. I thought she wasn't going to get past it. I'm sure any women cops watching just loved listening to her.

Having successfully made the interview all about her once again, Rinna asked the oft-asked question about being a dancer, and about going on Dancing With The Stars. Mandy got the interview back by replying yes, she dances: ballet, tap, jazz and modern.


Mandy has two siblings, both younger than she. Her sister is in nursing school and her brother is studying criminal justice. He jokes that he would like to go through the Springfield Police Academy, it's so much quicker.

Her whole family watches the show regularily, and she calls home to tell them which shows to skip, so they don't get uncomfortable with the love scenes.

Mandy drew national attention at 18, when she was a junior, and was in a production of Jesus Christ, Superstar. She was to play Mary Magdalene. She was asked to sing one of Jesus' numbers at rehearsal, and thereafter was given that part instead. They were trying to do "gender-blind casting." He would still be a man, just played by a girl. She was attending a Jesuit school at the time, and when they found out about this they called her in and told her she couldn't do that.


She fought with them over it, and ended up on CNN. She said she has a strong faith life, and thought Jesus wouldn't care who was portraying him as long as His message was getting out. She feels that this whole experience was good for her as an actor. There is always controversy and disagreement in her line of work, and she learned to be strong and believe in what she is doing. "Then you go out there and show the world what you've got."



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