Catching up with Eileen Davidson

Fan favorite Eileen Davidson has fans of two soaps clamoring to see more of her. In an interview with soapcentral.com's Lynda Hirsch, Davidson talks about ad-libbing, her poker face, and if she'll return to Y&R.

Days of Our Lives' Eileen Davidson (Kristen DiMera) is on her way to pick up her fourth grader from school. As usual she is polite and fun, but being on time for her son is her priority. She is just off the airing of her "this has got to win" Days of our Lives episodes. They were the episodes where Kristen's duplicity was revealed.

The episodes were taped months ago, but she remembers the work that went into them. "I literally had 40 or 50 pages of dialogue a day. I was always carrying this massive number of pages. Actually, I still do. Things have not slowed down."

With DAYS now filmed like a movie, with scenes out of sequence, she reveals that she taped the scenes where Brady finds out about her treachery before the Marlena scenes. "When you do that it is sometimes hard to know where the emotion is going," she reveals.

In the scene with Marlena, Kristen calls her a bitch. "It was appropriate in that scene. Sometimes I think the word is used in a script when it is not needed. If I think it is not right for the moment, I won't say it... It is like life, sometimes a cuss word is fitting, sometimes its not."

Davidson met her current husband Vincent Van Patten when he had a short-term role on The Young and the Restless when she played Ashley. I interviewed him at the time. He talked about wearing a disguise when he was underage so he could play poker at one of Los Angeles' gambling joints.

Van Patten, who has hosted several seasons of the televised The World Poker Tour taught Davidson how to play poker. "He was a good teacher. I have lasted hours in tournaments. Sometimes, I wished I hadn't. If you do not make it to the end, it's not good. You can play five hours and not make a dime."

Poker players have something called a tell. It is like a tic that other poker players use to see if the opponent is bluffing. "I have some tells. Some of them are false tells. So what another player thinks is giving something away is the opposite," Davidson says.

Hosting the tournament kept her husband away for stretches at a time. She says, "It is not that often. The season is from March through September. It worked. Thanks to the show, we spent time in Venice, Paris, the Caribbean. That is nice."

Davidson has always been a powerhouse. From designing clothes to writing books she always has something to keep her busy. Her niece Devon Martt, a fashion designer, approached her about designing clothes together. Davidson liked the idea and formed a clothing company called Femmeology.

Davidson cowrote her first novel with author Robert J. Randisi, a mystery set in the soap opera world titled Death in Daytime, released in October 2008. She followed it up with three sequels: Dial Emmy for Murder (2009), Diva Las Vegas (2010), and Swinging in the Rain (2011). All the books got good reviews and were easy reads.

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For now, the Energizer Bunny that is Eileen Davidson is slowing down on projects outside acting and motherhood. There have been rumors that Davidson might do double duty on Days as Kristen and Y&R as Ashley. Her castmate Wally Kurth is playing Justin on Days and Ned on General Hospital.

Davidson says, "I would consider doing both shows. It depends on how heavy my schedule would be on each show. As an actress, I would love it. I have formed great relationships with actors and crew on both shows. It is a matter of having the time to do justice to each character and show"

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