Since bursting onto the daytime scene in Fall 2004, actor Tom Pelphrey has quickly become a fan favorite.  He's certainly one of the most popular actors to appear on Guiding Light in the last decade with his charismatic portrayal of the troubled Jonathan Randall, the abandoned son of GL heroine Reva Shayne and Prince Richard Winslow of the fictional island of San Cristobel.

Jonathan's story was as follows: During one of Reva's periodic bouts with soap opera amnesia, she ended up on the tropical island of San Cristobel, met and fell in love with the Prince, and conceived her fourth child, Jonathan.  Jonathan was first seen on the show in 1999, as an 8 to 9 year old boy, after Reva married her truelove Josh Lewis for the second time.  They honeymooned in San Cristobel and Reva's life there as Princess Catherine came to light.  She began to remember that she had to put Jonathan in hiding in order to protect him from Prince Richard's evil brother, Edmund, who wanted the throne for himself.

Cut to five years later in 2004, and Jonathan arrives in Springfield in his early 20s (it's a soap opera thing), hell-bent on revenge because the house that Reva kept Jonathan hidden away in came furnished with an abusive adoptive father.  Coming into town without revealing who he really was, Jonathan seduced and bedded his half first cousin, the virginal Tammy, then revealed to her that he was really her relative.

For the last ten years, popular actress Crystal Chappell has amassed a loyal fan following in her Emmy-winning role as the feisty anti-heroine Olivia Spencer on the daytime drama, Guiding Light.  Earlier this year, her popularity shot to new heights as Olivia became one half of the same-sex soap couple that fans have referred to as "Otalia," the portmanteau name for the characters of Olivia and Natalia (played by actress Jessica Leccia). 

However, earlier this year, CBS announced that it would be canceling Guiding Light due to low ratings, ending this long-running drama after 72 years on the air in both radio and television.  A few months after the April 1 announcement by CBS, Ms. Chappell released word that she would be moving to the west coast to reprise her first breakout role, that of Carly Manning (aka Katerina von Leuschner) on the serial Days of Our Lives, beginning in early October.

2009 has definitely been a year of changes and transitions for Ms. Chappell: an old job ending, a new job beginning, a new home, and a new venture.  In addition to returning to Days of Our Lives, Crystal has teamed up with her friends/production partners to create Venice: The Series, a new online serial drama  that is currently in its formative stages, but which has already attracted mainstream notice and press ranging from The New York Times to, well, us.

Last week, we spoke with Crystal Chappell about all of the above and more.  In this first chapter of our special serialized interview, we discuss her time on Guiding Light and her role as the multi-faceted Olivia Spencer.  In future installments of this interview series, we'll talk about her feelings about being back on Days of Our Lives and working once again with her real-life husband, Michael Sabatino.  We'll also go in-depth to bring you all the scoop on her upcoming buzzworthy project, Venice: The Series.

Our thanks to Crystal Chappell for speaking with us and to Cathie and the gang over at ccandfriends.com, and Crystal's publicist, Leslie Penny, for making this all happen.

US Townhall:  As an actress, what types of roles do you find yourself attracted to?  By the same token, what types of roles or stories do you NOT like to play?

CRYSTAL CHAPPELL:  I try to find characters that challenge me -- that force me to go to unfamiliar places.  Playing characters that are safe are not very interesting to me.

USTH:  Which actors and directors in primetime or film are on your wish list to work with in the future?  Put it out there in the Universe, and it may just come to pass.

CC:  I love Deniro and Streep, and I would love to work with Martin Scorcese.

USTH:  Describe the audition process for Olivia on Guiding Light (GL).  What were you told about the role, and how long was the role supposed to last?  Which actors did you read with?

CC:  I auditioned for [Guiding Light Executive Producer] Paul Rauch and [Procter & Gamble Executive in Charge of Production] Mary Alice ("Mickey") Dwyer-Dobbin and never read with any actors. The role was supposed to be for 3 months and the character was supposed to be killed off.  Fortunately for me, she lived.