Days' Katherine Ellis is Cleaning Up!


From Soap Opera Digest Online




JUST THE FACTS

BIRTHDAY: May 29 NICKNAME: Kate PETS: Shitzu named Tess. SCHOOL DAYS: Ellis begins her senior year of high school in September. ELLIS ONLINE: The actress played Judy Jetson in a TV commercial for American Online. THE BEAT GOES ON:Ellis is the proud owner of a purple and sparkled drum set once owned by The Steve Miller Band. DANCING GIRL: She once thought of becoming a ballerina. HAVE YOU BEEN RECOGNIZED YET?: "Not quite yet...But I haven't walked down the street with a mop in my hand." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Days of Our Lives casting call was a tall order: The soap was looking for a teenage actress to play Taylor, a strong-willed character working her way through college as a cleaning lady. The role called for the actress to work opposite one of the soap's hottest stars Jensen Ackles (Eric) and compelling newcomer Arianne Zuker (Nicole). But even though she's still in high school, Katherine Ellis didn't falter. (Heck, you think a Days audition is tough? Try taking a math final sometime.) Besides, Ellis has numerous TV credits (like NYPD Blue), a music video (Smashing Pumpkins' 1979) and several TV commercials behind her. Here, Ellis talks with Digest Online about life in Salem. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DIGEST ONLINE: Taylor's sister Nicole is now a hotshot model. Why doesn't Taylor ask Nicole for money instead of refilling the tissue dispensers at Titan? ELLIS: I think she has pride like anybody else. Even though she's a cleaning girl, she wants to work hard and make her own money to put herself through college. DIGEST ONLINE: Okay, so will the sisters be sparring siblings? ELLIS: I really think that they're like most sisters... there's that catty girl relationship. Even though they love each other underneath -- and it's probably way underneath -- there will be bickering back and forth. DIGEST ONLINE: What can you say will be Taylor's main purpose in Salem? ELLIS: I can only make guesses like anybody else. DIGEST ONLINE: What is it about Eric that Taylor is attracted to... his looks, for one? ELLIS: Well, he's absolutely gorgeous. She's probably never seen someone as good looking as him before. Also, he doesn't look down on her for being a cleaning girl. Even though he has all this money, he treats her as an equal and praises her from the get-go. That's something to look up to in anybody. DIGEST ONLINE: In a nutshell, can you recall the day you screen-tested? ELLIS: For some perculiar reason, the entire day leading up to it I was at totally ease. I got some enormous help from [outer] space or someplace. [Laughs] I was totally comfortable. I think Julianne [Morris, Swamp Girl] helped me get comfortable because she introduced me to everybody beforehand and made me feel at home. We knew each other before I got the Days job, because we have the same agent. She also let me use her dressing room, and we lit all these candles in there and kicked back. Not until after I taped the screen test did I get all this nervous energy. It was flutters of butterflies. Needless to say, I used that energy and went dancing that night, but beforehand I really wasn't nervous. DIGEST ONLINE: What is Jensen Ackles (Eric) like to work with? ELLIS: Just awesome. His acting is very realistic. He's also a very open person, and gives out very good vibes. He's the kind of actor who'll give reaction expressions even when the camera is off him to help the other actor in their work. DIGEST ONLINE: Before you got your soap job, did you watch any soaps? ELLIS: Funny enough, Days of Our Lives is the only soap I've ever watched and I've watched it since I was five years old. I really grew up knowing the characters and it was second nature to ease right [into the show]. DIGEST ONLINE: But meeting some of the cast members must have blown you away? ELLIS: For the most part, it seemed natural meeting these people. I thought I might be taken aback by them, but I felt like I knew them. Although there's one person... I haven't really talked to but passed in the hallway. DIGEST ONLINE: And who is that? ELLIS: Stefano [Joseph Mascolo]. He's so unique and interesting, such a character. You don't even if that's his real accent or not, that's how much he is that character. DIGEST ONLINE: What's your all-time favorite Days storyline? ELLIS: I thought it was very interesting when the show switched around Roman and John Black's identities... Of course, Marlena being possessed by the devil was up there. DIGEST ONLINE: Before daytime, you appeared in some music videos, in Smashing Pumpkins' 1979 and Rod Stewart's Leave Virginia Alone. So what was it like working with Smashing Pumpkins and Rod Stewart? ELLIS: I became good friends with [Pumpkins'] James Iha. He's one of the sweetest, most puppy-like people I've ever met. He's down-to-earth, kind and generous as well as a great musician... I didn't actually meet Rod. He was off doing his own [scenes] when I came in [to work]. I did see his little kids and they're the cutest bundles I've ever seen in my life. DIGEST ONLINE: On NYPD Blue, you played a worm-squishing girl who was killed by her boyfriend. But any light moments on the set with Dennis Franz and Jimmy Smits? ELLIS: Just like on Days, everybody was so nice and down to earth. I even taught Dennis Franz some ballet moves. He was cracking up. [During some down time], I got that man pla-a-ay-ying. [Laughs] As far as Jimmy goes, I just said hello to him when he flashed me one of his shining smiles. DIGEST ONLINE: You were essentially discovered while you were shopping at a boutique? ELLIS: I was 13 or 14. I had wanted to get into acting since I was 5. When I was 5, I remember wishing I could be one of the little people inside my TV. [Laughs] But my mom and dad wouldn't let me at the time because of the industry. [Years later], one day I was walking down the street. One of my mom's co-workers, who used to be an actor, happened to be sitting with an agent [from the Nina Blanchard Agency]. Eventually, the agent talked my mom into letting [her represent me]. I'm grateful now that my parents didn't let me [act] as a kid. DIGEST ONLINE: Well, it's a tough business. What is the hardest part about the business you've encountered? ELLIS: The hardest part of the rejection is when you know there's [nothing] you can do about it, like they based the decision on your physicality -- your hair is too short or you're too skinny or too fat or too tall. There's nothing you can do to change that other than go on a crash diet or buy a bottle of Clairol. Some actors find that rejection is easier to take than being told your acting is not good enough. But I believe that the acting can always get better, and it's just natural for somebody not to appreciate the level you're doing or that you might be having a bad day and can't get into the character. There's always room to improve on that, but when they knock down the way you look or walk, that's really tough. Back Soap Opera Digest at www.soapdigest.com