Courtesy/CBSDaytime

Soap survivor, mega-talent, Daytime Emmy winner, Eileen Davidson has had quite the last couple of years!  After being at one time fired by The Young and the Restless, and then making sporadic returns over the last few years to the number one soap opera, she is finally back on contract this year, and has returned to Genoa City on a more permanent basis in her role as fan favorite Ashley Abbott!

Meanwhile, over at Days of our Lives, after triumphantly reprising the role of evil Kristen DiMera in 2013, she won her first ever Outstanding Lead Actress Daytime Emmy for the role this past June!  Then, after taking time off to be with her family after her contract was finished, DAYS asked her to return again, where she is currently stirring up all kinds of trouble in Salem, as Kristen schemes for the heart of Brady Black (Eric Martsolf)!  In fact, it seems Davidson is everywhere these days, now doing double duty on the soaps, plus there are those continuous “reports” that she is also in the cast of the new season of the hit reality series, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, although still unconfirmed by the show, or Davidson, at this time!  Talk about a “Girl on fiyah”, Davidson is that girl!  With projects abound, beloved by her fans, and having all these professional opportunities colliding at this time in her life, it’s like a Cinderella story of it’s own for Eileen … and she has earned every bit of it.

On-Air On-Soaps sat down with the beautiful star in her dressing room at Y&R to get the dish on: Ashley’s return, if Stitch (Sean Carrigan) is definitely her new on-screen man, what kind of story she wants to see play out this time out, and more!  And on the Salem side, Eileen reveals what it was like to film that final key scene with James Scott (EJ), where Kristen injects her half-brother with some drug that could just resurrect him from the dead!  Plus, what she thought of the other men that have been in the eye of Hurricane Kristen on DAYS; Daniel (Shawn Christian) and Eric (Greg Vaughan), plus she shares her thoughts on reprising the role of none other than poor put upon, Susan Banks! Always forthright, funny, and oh-so-smart, here is our chat with Eileen!

MICHAEL:

What made you truly decide to come back to The Young and the Restless … except the obvious … a contract?

EILEEN:

Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com

I have said this before, I felt there was unfinished business with Jack (Peter Bergman) and Jabot, and everything.  I love working with Melissa Ordway (Abby).  She is a great Abby, and they have changed the character a bit, so it’s a better mother/daughter relationship the way they are writing it.  I was also ready to revisit the role, and they really wanted me back, and that helped!  So it was like, “You really want me back? Well, O.K.” (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Apparently your two main soap characters Ashley and Kristen have something in common! Ashley is sort of a chemist working in her fragrance labs and developing new wonder concoctions and Kristen knows how to find experimental and weird drugs to inject people! (Laughs)

EILEEN:

Yes, they are chemists in their own way.  Thanks for pointing that out.  People always ask me about the similarities and there aren’t any really, but hey, this could be the similarities… chemicals!

MICHAEL:

Since you were unceremoniously fired several years ago on Y&R, and now you are back on contract, does this feel like vindication in any way for you?

EILEEN:

Courtesy/Y&RPinterest

I don’t know if it feels like vindication, but in some ways its vindication and it’s a changing of the guard each time this happens.  It’s hard to feel vindicated when they are not here anymore.  It’s almost like its par for the course, and the fact that every time I have been let go, it’s worked out really well for me.  I can’t feel any need to be vindicated, because it was such a blessing. The first time I went over to The Bold and the Beautiful and had a great time over there. That’s a great show and greatly produced, and I loved the people. And the second time I went to DAYS, and however that transpired doesn’t matter.  Its incidental compared to the experience I had over there; which again was great people and I won an Emmy. So, how can I feel the need to be vindicated except for saying: “Thank you for letting me go?”  Seriously! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

It is interesting how life works itself out!

EILEEN:

Exactly! I could not have planned it any better. In the story I was given at the time, there was not very much happening for me on Y&R.  I was pretty much languishing in the hinter worlds, and then I was given this amazing story on DAYS, where I was able to express a part of my creativity that I never had before.

MICHAEL:

Are you concerned at all, now being back on Y&R, that you won’t end up having story yet again?  Did you demand to have a certain kind of story when you signed your new contract?

EILEEN:

You know, I am not concerned yet.  I will wait and see how things transpire.  I did not demand certain story. Again, I know how things change in this medium … so to demand one thing just doesn’t mean a lot in the bigger picture.  I think the writers have to feel inspired by you to write for you, and we will see. There are new writers again with Chuck Pratt taking over, and I have never worked with his writing before.

Courtesy/HallmarkChannel

MICHAEL:

Do you want Ashley to be “bitchier” this time?  It seems the writers are giving Ashley a bit of an edge now.

EILEEN:

They are writing her a bit bitchier.  She is stronger.  I mean, would you call her “bitchy” if she was a man?  I mean, if I was Ashton, and I was a guy, would you say, “Ashton, are you being bitchy coming back to the company?”  You come back stronger!  So I think now Ashley is more focused and she is stronger with some bitchy undertones, but it’s minor! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

What do you think about working with Sean Carrigan (Stitch)? And Stitch is a chemist now too!

EILEEN:

He is cute … and who knew Stitch was a chemist? (Laughs) Who knows what else he can do?

MICHAEL:

Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com

Did Ashley give him the job because she likes him and wants him, or did she truly feel the guy was qualified?

EILEEN:

No, no, no.  She is about business. The product she is working on is so huge to her that she would never hire somebody just the way their butt looks in tight pants.  Did I just say that? (Laughs) That was my outside voice. (Laughs) It’s really about Stitch being really good at what he did, and Ashley likes his energy.

MICHAEL:

So, this perfume sensation that Ashley has been working on is some sort of love potion! Did you know from the beginning what the secret scent was all about?

EILEEN:

I did not know at the beginning what it was … and they actually told me on set, because I needed to know what it was … so that I could play it and know how fabulous it really is! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Peter Bergman (Jack), Beth Maitland (Traci), and you, formed the nucleus of the Abbott family.  Over the years it seemed very clear, that the family was pushed aside by various writing regimes.   What are your thoughts on the shuffling of the Abbotts under the table, if you will?

EILEEN:

Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins

I think that was obvious, because the Abbotts were such a main family and a great family.  There were so many different dynamics … they weren’t a boring and a pedestrian soap opera family.  There is a great relationship between Jack and his sisters, and it’s complicated, and loving, and underhanded.  I think they are an iconic kind of soap family with all these different emotions going on, and just because of the changing of the guard, it kind of got cut up and mangled and struned aside.  So trying to pick up the pieces without our father was difficult.  I miss Jerry Douglas (John) all the time. He was a fabulous patriarch. We are trying to do the best we can without that, and having Peter here as long as he has been here, and Beth and me for as long as we started on the show together, is a great thing for all of us.  We love working together. We have grown up together. It’s wonderful.

MICHAEL:

So want does Ashley ultimately want … to takeover as CEO of Jabot?

EILEEN:

She wants to be Co-CEO.  I almost said, “She wants to be executive producer!” (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Photo Credit: Hutchins Photo.com

You mean you want to be EP of Y&R?  That’s next!

EILEEN:

They have offered me that job!  (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

We are sure that could be next! (Laughs)  After all, you are doing everything right now!

EILEEN:

I will think about it, but at the end of next summer. (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Wait a minute!  If you were the executive producer of a soap opera, what would you do with it?

EILEEN:

Oh, my God.  I don’t know and I have no idea.  I have no desire to do that.  I know many soap stars want to direct and for me that’s a, “No, thank you.”  I have no interest.   I find it fascinating, and I have tons of respect for those who do it, but it’s not for me.

MICHAEL:

Photo Credit: FlynetPictures

Do you think Ashley and Victor’s (Eric Braeden) romantic relationship is over, done, kaput, never to be addressed again?   Do you think Y&R would ever even considering revisit it, given that back in the day it was a classic moment on the show?

EILEEN:

I can never say, never.  I think they have been down that road, but if it’s written really great you can always go down that road again.

MICHAEL:

Switching over to Days of our Lives … we recently saw Kristen with a massive syringe in hand injecting a drug into a lifeless EJ (James Scott) in the morgue.  What did you think of that story point?

EILEEN:

I was only working on DAYS for two days a week with tons of shows in those days.   So, it was kind of weird and I was blind-sighted by it.  I then had to get into the spirit of it very quickly, and then I realized what it was.  I think it harkened back to the DAYS of old, under Jim Reilly (former head writer, DAYS) and I am all for that to a certain degree, because I think its fun.  I love that Kristen is doing her father’s bidding.

MICHAEL:

Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com

I loved that too!  And we, the audience don’t know what she did … if she resurrected him … or not?

EILEEN:
I guess you will have to wait until ten more years, who knows?  He could be Grandpa EJ if he comes back! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Did you ask the producers or the writers, “What the hell am I injecting into this dead guy’s arm?”  (Laughs)  Do you know what the drug was?

EILEEN:

I asked, and I do know, and I am not telling you! (Laughs) That would ruin all the fun! But, obviously if you are injecting a dead person with something, what do you think it means?  It wasn’t Botox he was getting! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Daniel Jonas (Shawn Christian) and Kristen have certainly got some heat building between them!  How has it been working with Shawn on your last visit to DAYS?

EILEEN:

Photo Credit: NBC.com

Shawn is a doll, and a love, and we had so much fun beating the crap out of each other my first few weeks back this last time to DAYS.  They definitely wanted to establish chemistry between these two characters: that kind of like angry, messed-up psychologically sort of thing!

MICHAEL:

Well … that always means two people will have sex on a soap opera!

EILEEN:

And in real life too!  Who are we kidding?  They had a natural chemistry between them, and it was fun to play, and work with Shawn in a different capacity then I had before.

MICHAEL:

Does Kristen have any feelings for Dr. Daniel?

EILEEN:

What do you think? I think she likes BRADY (Eric Martsolf)! But, you know, Daniel is there. (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Photo Credit: NBC

You came back for the three months this last time back to DAYS to reprise the role of Kristen. Was this time more difficult?  Last time out, you had major Emmy scenes, wonderful writing, and tons of stuff to work with.  This time back, did it feel more disjointed?

EILEEN:

You know, it couldn’t have been like last time. That was like “lighting in a bottle.” That one year I had on the show, they didn’t really know me as an actress, really.  I also didn’t know what I was going to do, and I thought I was going to be playing more of a Susan.  It was just kismet.  So that worked that time, and it still worked this time, but I wasn’t there enough to build a story, and maybe the story wasn’t as great as what I had done before, because I had already done that.  So, what are you going to do?  It was still great to come back and I still had terrific scenes. I had a lot of family loss during that time, and that sort of changed things for me.

MICHAEL:

That must have been so extremely difficult.  How you were even able to perform your scenes?

EILEEN:

It was hard.  It was really, really hard.  I was on both of these shows.  I was on Y&R and DAYS, the week my sister passed.  At Y&R, they had to post-tape.   I went back to DAYS, maybe four days after my sister passed, and I broke down in the make-up room.  I was just a mess, and I had a big monologue to tape.  I said, “I won’t be able to say this. I know the lines, but I don’t trust myself right now because my focus is all over the place.” They were kind enough to cut it, and they gave a lot of the stuff in the scene to Arianne Zucker (Nicole).  They worked with me over at Y&R too, and you do the best you can, and it was a double whammy.  I was excited about going back (to DAYS) and then life happens. It’s mostly then about getting through.  I don’t think it affected the performances.

Courtesy/NBC

MICHAEL:

Susan Banks finally came back on screen!   The reaction was interesting! Many DAYS viewers seemed to be new-ish, and don’t remember her!  They would say she seems so out of place, which was one of your concerns about ever reprising her again.

EILEEN:

The most intimidating thing about doing it again, was that when Susan came on to the canvas back in the 90’s, it was a natural progression of being on a show where Marlena (Deidre Hall) was being possessed by the devil. So, Susan wasn’t that weird, compared to that! (Laughs) Susan was pretty damn normal!  It was great story back then. This time, it was very scary, but I actually fell into a character a lot easier than I thought I would.  I loved the dynamic between Susan and EJ!

MICHAEL:

Did you laugh when you did those scenes?

EILEEN:

Yeah, but I really wanted to ground here in reality.  She had to be a real mom concerned for her child.

MICHAEL:

Courtesy/NBC

I felt bad for her!  EJ was so dismissive of his own mother!

EILEEN:

I know! And the fact that she knows he is embarrassed by her, and the fact that she still loves him and she has got her own life, it was kind of sad. Ultimately, it was a challenge to play that character again with James Scott and the underlying humor. I can understand why new fans would be going, “What the hell is that?” Also, what was fabulous was that a lot of the younger actors on the show when I was on-screen while taping it were asking, “Who is that actress?”  They had no idea it was me!  It was kind of fun, and it was actually what happened the first time I did it many years ago.

MICHAEL:

Susan was tamed down a bit this time.  That must have been a conscience choice?

EILEEN:

Oh yeah, I had to.   had to temper it, and it was also written by different writers. I am glad though.  If she just came in like before, they would have just hauled her off to the funny farm, if somebody comes in going, “MEAN …MEAN … MEAN!”  You know, it just wouldn’t work, although I did get to get a “mean” in there.  They didn’t write that! I just threw that in … I had to! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

How was it playing the scenes against yourself in the scenes as Susan and Kristen?  Did your friend Lisa, play the other character in the scenes against you?

EILEEN:

Courtesy/NBC

Yes, she did!  My friend Lisa, and I had so much fun, and she had to learn all the lines.  I could not have done it without her.  They don’t do a lot of those double screen things anymore, and it was a new thing for this director we were working with, I believe. Having Lisa know the ropes as well as she does, she was very concerned that her hair looked like my hair was.  We both knew what we were doing, because we had done it before, but it could have taken hours. However, I think because Lisa was so good at it, and she was just on it, and so concerned and professional, that we just whipped right through that stuff.  It was very stressful, and the fact that I had Lisa there made it a thousand times easier and better.  We went out afterwards and had a couple of drinks, and thought it was amazing that we had the opportunity to relive that and do that again, because it was in doing the character of Susan Banks, that we became very close in the 90’s … and we have been very close ever since.

MICHAEL:

Did you want Susan to be in the story longer … or… did you feel it was just the right amount of time? Short, but sweet?

EILEEN:

I don’t want to say either way, honestly.  DAYS did the best they could given the timelines and time constraints I gave them.  I can’t say if they could have written it better. or it could have been better, I really don’t know.  I think it was great that they wrote her in at all!

MICHAEL:

James Scott and you had such great on-screen chemistry as half DiMera brother and sister. You were there on James final tape day!  How was it?

EILEEN:

Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com

I was! You know, I have been doing this a longtime and I have seen a lot of people come and go.  I just wish James nothing but the best.  It’s time for him to fly and do his own thing, and I think it’s awesome.  James and I had a lot of great on-screen chemistry from the get-go.

MICHAEL:

Another DAYS leading man, Eric Martsolf (Brady), has such an affinity for you, too!  He publicly, at the Daytime Emmys when accepting his award, noted that you stepped-up his game and made him a better actor!  Quite the compliment from your co-star!

EILEEN:

Oh, I stated crying when he was accepting his Emmy and mentioned me.  I thought even if I don’t win the Emmy, I just got a massive award from him. It was pretty incredible.

MICHAEL:

So Kristen’s end game in her mind, is that she still wants to end up with Brady?

EILEEN:

I like that, and that’s what I feel that she just loves him so much.  No matter what happens, she just loves him!  I love that! (Laughs)  She gets like a little girl around him. She regresses.

MICHAEL:

Look at all the hot men you have had on that show! Then there was Father Eric (Greg Vaughan) and Kristen’s rape of him! What did you think about that story point when you heard it?

EILEEN:

Courtesy/NBC

When they told me about that, I wasn’t too excited.  The whole thing about “raping” is just gross, whether it’s a woman doing it to a man, or whatever.  I wasn’t super excited about the plot point, but I understand the importance of it for that story, especially now that I have done it and seen the story play out.   I mean, Kristen always has a reason for everything she does.  I can pretty much justify everything Kristen has done.  She has her own way of looking at the world and it’s her perspective. She gets it, and she’s not happy about it, but what are you going to do?

MICHAEL:

Y&R’s Ashley is not as amped-up a character like DAYS Kristen.  You had mentioned in other interviews that you would find it difficult playing Kristen at that high-intensity and to sustain her, day in and day out, without a major story to go with it.  Do you still feel that way? 

EILEEN:

It’s very tiring.  Now, I could be wrong, but I don’t want to see Kristen ending up just having coffee and being background for other actors who are now carrying story, where she is just putting in snide remarks here and there to people who are passing through the Horton Town Square.  Kristen is front burner, and she has an objective that she has to succeed, and she wants to win. It sort of dilutes the character if she is not driving story, because otherwise it’s not as interesting to me.  I would rather leave and come back and then “Boom”, rather than just hanging out and treading water.

MICHAEL:

Photo Credit: NBC

Jen Lilley (Theresa) and you are such fun on-screen together as evil adversaries!  How has it been working with her in that capacity?

EILEEN:

I love that Kristen and Theresa are two crazy women and it’s so much fun!  I like the way Kristen treats her like she is just a gnat! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

There are “rumors” that you are in the cast of the new season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills!  And these pictures of you keep popping up everywhere!

EILEEN:

I have no idea what you are talking about, and you know, they can Photoshop anything!

MICHAEL:

What have the fans been saying to you on social media about your return as Y&R’s Ashley thus far?

EILEEN:

So far, from what I have seen, the people are glad that I am back, and the new opening title sequence began to air on Y&R recently that included me.  I think the fans seem to like that, too. I think I am at the top of the opening.

MICHAEL:

Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com

Well, you know why? You’re a big star and the EP of the show! (Laughs)

EILEEN:

And … I am interning as well (Laughs)! Then, I thought I would get a job in the CBS commissary, too! (Laughs)  I can flip a good burger!

MICHAEL:

As the EP, head writer and chef of the CBS commissary … what would you really like to see happen for Ashley this time out?

EILEEN:

I would really like to see Ashley get into it with Jack, and he tries to undermine her and he gets underhanded, and she doesn’t put up with that.  I would like there to be some showdown.  I would love for Jack to use the fact that she was never John Abbott’s daughter.  He knows that, and I would love to play that.  If that were ever to come out, I would love it.  It’s a fantastic story point and nobody has ever gone there, but I don’t know if the character of Jack is that underhanded anymore.  I would also love Ashley to get in a triangle with Stitch and Victoria (Amelia Heinle).  I would love Ashley to fall for somebody she shouldn’t fall for, but maybe fall for somebody she doesn’t want to fall for.  She’s never done that before!

MICHAEL:

One of the great things about Ashley back in the heyday was that the character was a heroine to root for!

EILEEN:

That is why I would like her to be going through something like getting her heartbroken, but in a great long story arc, and then it would be about getting the guy back.  I think it would be your typical soap opera story, but done really well, as well as being something meaty, and juicy, and cool.

MICHAEL:

Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com

When I interview other actors in the genre, you can come up a lot in conversation, and especially they comment on how amazing you look!  What is the secret to “Being Eileen Davidson”?

EILEEN:

It’s smoke and mirrors … I really don’t know.  I work out a lot and I enjoy it.  I didn’t use to like it, I do now and I have to do it.  I don’t exercise a ton, but I do cardio every day, and I also try to do Pilates, or something.  I get a little Botox here and there, nothing major. I have never had a face lift.  I think it’s good genes, I guess.  You know, I feel like I am going to wake up one morning and the whole thing is going to be on the floor. (Laughs)  Gravity is not a kind friend.  I will tell my husband, “Maybe, I should get a face lift” and he says, “If you get a face lift … I will divorce you!”  I will have to hope he is out of town for like a month and then when he comes back my face will be pulled so tight.  I will go, “Hi, Honey! I missed you so much!  What? I had nothing done. What are you talking about?” (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Do you also play poker now that your husband, Vincent Van Patten is a major poker player? 

EILEEN:

Well, my husband’s show the World Poker Tournament does a tournament every year; and I went on a Caribbean cruise with him, recently.  Now, I am thinking about actively doing that, and becoming a dealer, too! (Laughs)

Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com

MICHAEL:

So, you will be dealing in Vegas at the Golden Nugget on weekends, after working at the commissary at CBS by day, while you are starring on two network soaps! Over-achiever! (Laughs)  Finally, where did you put the Emmy?  Do people stop by the house and want to take a picture with it?  Has winning the Emmy changed your life in some way?  It was one of the most amazing moments in your career.

EILEEN:

It’s in my office, and yeah, they do. They do want to take a picture with it, which I find so interesting.  But I have to say, it’s really awesome how people react to you getting an Emmy.  I had such a fabulous year of working, and it was such a great icing on the cake.  I love having it, and I love how I got it more than anything.  I love how it transpired.  It’s like something out of a fairy tale.