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Steve starts the show off by talking about their little brush with the law while driving at night on their comedy tour. The video of the incident can be found right here at Daily Drama.com.
Both Steve and Bradford had a great time traveling from state to state performing their holiday show and will be able to tell you about it all soon. They even have more dates scheduled for cities like Chicago, Milwaukee, Boston, Albany, Nashville, and Philadelphia. You can find a list of shows at Stonecoldandthejackal.com.
Kate Mansi’s Wet First Meeting With Bradford
Kate Mansi mentions that it’s nice to see Bradford dry, so they both explain that the only scene they ever shared is when Bradford’s Spinelli emerged from the Metro Court pool on Kate’s fourth or fifth day on GH playing Kristina.
In fact, Kate reveals that she heard the hair and makeup ladies talking about Bradford being wet again recently, but he doesn’t yet reveal what the upcoming scenes are all about.
Kate’s Switch To General Hospital
Steve recalls chatting with Days of Our Lives casting director Marnie Saitta when Kate first landed the role of Kristina. Marnie was not happy that Kate wasn’t returning to DAYS and lamented that they lost one of their best actresses.
Kate asks Steve how it’s going over on DAYS where he plays former Navy SEAL turned cop Harris Michaels. Steve now sees all of Kate’s old friends from when she played Abigail Deveraux DiMera off and on from 2011 to 2020, including Blake Berris and Galen Gering.
Steve and Kate even learned they have both lived in Calabasas, CA, which is where Kate grew up.
Kate’s Younger Years
Kate explains how so many kids in Calabasas went to private school but she chose a public high school because she was home-schooled off and on from fifth grade to ninth due to a back brace for scoliosis. She was ready to “re-brand” by high school so chose Calabasas high where she fell in love with theater.
She was a dancer at the time and the only way to get out early to take dance classes was to take a theater class. She credits her theater teacher for taking an interest and guiding her. Steve also gave credit to his school drama teacher for the same thing.
Bradford asks Kate how the scoliosis affected her dancing. She tells him that her mother, who was also a dancer, put Kate in extra dance classes to help strengthen her muscles rather than wear the brace. Since her parents were divorced, she also spent time with her father who wanted her in the brace. She credits the approaches both of her parents took with not needing surgery for the condition.
Kate’s mom was also a musical theater talent agent and represented both Eric Martsolf (Brady, DAYS) and his wife, and was the one who introduced them.
College Life With Kate Mansi
Kate loved going to school at Pepperdine University while admitting it wasn’t the typical college experience. It was a California experience with less Greek life than other schools. She tried to enjoy her college years but also spent a lot of it going to acting classes in Hollywood while majoring in public relations.
From her Freshman year on, she started auditioning and thought a guest role on How I Met Your Mother would be her big break, but it wasn’t. She also auditioned for soaps in both NY and LA and landed the role of Abigail soon after graduation.
Time For A Giveaway Break
Steve and Bradford offer a little break in the interview to tell you about prizes you can win if you go to DailyDrama.com/giveaway, including t-shirts, hats, and virtual meet and greets.
Kate’s First Days on DAYS
When Kate started on DAYS, she learned that you basically perform multiple genres in one episode, from high drama to hilarious comedy.
She remembers her first days as Abigail fondly, working with Gary Tomlin as her director. In her first scene, she had to hug Melissa Reeves who played Jennifer and Shawn Christian who played Daniel. Tomlin had to ask her not to have chemistry with Christian, who was dating her mother on-screen.
Bradford Missed Some Spinelli Moments
Bradford tells the story of Kate’s former DAYS co-star Blake Berris (ex-Nick, DAYS, now Everett) once pinch-hitting for him and playing Spinelli when there was a scheduling conflict due to a role on Homeland. It was Berris’s Spinelli who officiated Maxie (Kirsten Storms) and Nathan’s (Ryan Paevey) wedding.
Bradford had booked an episode of Homeland and needed to be in NY at the same time he needed to be on GH, so he spoke to Frank Valentini and eventually chose to do Homeland. The news became public so Bradford was then accused of breaking his NDA with CBS.
Kate’s Life As a Soap Recast
Steve acknowledges that being a recast on soaps has to be one of the hardest job because fans have a hard time accepting a new performer in a role. Kate already experienced this when she took over Abigail from Ashley Benson and even got death threats.
When she was offered Kristina, she felt funny being a recast because she knew Lexi Ainsworth, but she was also aware that Lexi wanted to pursue other interests. She didn’t want to know much about her character, including who her family was so she could come to the role fresh.
As they go over Kristina’s background, Kate points out that she plays Sonny’s daughter and Sam’s sister, but Sam and Sonny once had an affair. Steve goes on to relay the tale of Sam being pregnant with Sonny’s child and Jason pretending he was the father. He calls the scenes with the baby dying one of the best he ever did.
Kate Lands GH
Bradford thinks that Kate is cast perfectly as Kelly Monaco’s on-screen sister and Kate agrees. She is glad they finally have a sister groove after having to re-cast Molly a few times. Bradford thinks since both Kate and Kelly are not very tall that it works out great.
Kate tells Steve and Bradford how she learned she got the GH job just as another show she had filmed was premiering on Amazon. She chose to stick with GH because she knew a strike was pending and daytime actors would still be allowed to work.
Performing Goals
Steve asks Kate what her goals were as a dancer and she talks about how her mother warned her that her dancing skills might not lead her to the right shows. She knew she was never going to be a dancer with the New York City Ballet and that LA did not have as many dancing opportunities as it does now. That is why her mother encouraged her to act.
Kate also admits that singing and musical theater are not her thing and she is not sure if she’d ever return to dancing.
In Conclusion
While Kate admits she doesn’t want to get very political, she finishes the podcast by asking people to pay attention to the difficulties going on in the world, especially what is going on in Israel and Gaza.
Show Notes:
Keeping Up With The Stone Cold and The Jackal Holiday Tour – 1:00
Kate Mansi’s Wet First Meeting With Bradford – 2:07
Kate’s Switch To General Hospital – 3:33
Kate’s Younger Years – 6:47
College Life With Kate Mansi – 14:02
Time For A Giveaway Break – 17:00
Kate’s First Days on DAYS – 18:30
Bradford Missed Some Spinelli Moments – 20:25
Kate’s Life As a Recast Kristina 24:24
Kate Lands GH – 29:46
Performing Goals – 37:41
In Conclusion – 42:40
