Alicia Minshew – Beacon Hill

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) I have the first season of “Beacon Hill” streaming this past Spring. Now we are gearing up to shoot the second season of “Beacon Hill.” We’re in rehearsals now for “Surviving Sam” and we will be shooting that at the end of August.

Q) What can you tease will be new this coming season of “Beacon Hill?”

A) We were going to shoot it in the Fall, but they pushed it. We’re going to shoot a little later than expected, but I got to read Season 2. I think the difference between the two seasons is that Season 1 you saw a lot of my character and Sarah Brown’s character. In Season 2, you’ll see a lot of everybody. It kind of gives you a taste of everybody, their relationships and who they are. You see more of the cast and there is a major cliffhanger at the end of the season that literally made me drop my jaw. I just thought, “Wow!” It’s very political and it’s about these two families and these two women that love each other. There is kind of a bond that is struck at the end of Season 2, which I thought was cool. And the episodes are going to be longer. We had requests from several fans saying they love the show, but they were a little too short and wanted us to make them a little longer. So, Season 2 will have longer episodes, you’ll see more of the cast and something really cool happens! I’m excited to get to work on Season 2.

Q) Will we get to see anything about whether Sarah chooses Katherine or her girlfriend?

A) Yeah, actually you will! You will definitely get to see more of Sarah and Katherine together more and see how much they really love each other. You’ll see my character’s girlfriend Diane (played by Jessica Morris) interact with her current girlfriend. You’ll see that these two characters really care about each other as well. So, you’ll see the push and pull she is dealing with with both women, which I think makes it more interesting.

Q) Was there anything you added to your role that wasn’t originally scripted for you?

A) The scripts were really well rounded and great. I would say that since it was a webseries I would have maybe thrown in a curse word here or there, but the writers kept it conservative and classy. It’s kind of fun to test the waters and see what you can do when you’re online, but I think the script was so well done that I didn’t really have to throw in anything. There was a cute scene with Sara and Katherine in the beginning, which was kind of like their first little love scene. We kept it rather conservative, but just playful enough where we could have fun with it and each other while being somewhat subdued. We just kind of went with what was written. In that scene we kind of improvised with two people having fun in bed, but mostly we stuck to what was written.

Q) What is your favorite aspect to playing Sarah?

A) I like that she definitely has strength about her. Her weakness is dealing with her family and trying to make decisions for herself. I also like that she tries to lighten things up and has a bit of a sense of humor about her when she is talking with Katherine. It’ll be heavy and Sara will throw in a sarcastic remark. I like that she is able to lighten things up when it gets heavy with her sense of humor. It kind of keeps her not so serious all the time.

Q) Who can you tease will be guest starring in Season 2 of “Beacon Hill?”

A) I’m not quite sure who they will be adding to the cast, but when I read Season 2  there are definitely some new characters. There are definitely new characters that you see that are interacting with all of us. There will definitely be some fresh faces, but I don’t know who. I’m kind of curious myself.

Q) Is there anyone you are looking forward to having more scenes with in Season 2?

A) First of all, my pal Ricky Paull Goldin. He is a good friend of mine and we drove up from New York to Boston to work on the show together. We are old friends from “All My Children” and we didn’t get to have one scene together, but because he is a producer I got to be on set with him. I think it would be fun to have some scenes with Ricky Paull. I would like to have some more scenes with my brother, played by John-Paul Lavoisier. It’s such a great cast so I’d like to say I’d want more scenes together with Melissa Archer because of what a fun, feisty character she plays.

Q) You also are starring in the movie Desires Of The Heart. What were some of your most memorable moments from filming?

A) I filmed that last summer in Savannah, Georgia. It was one of the first jobs after “All My Children” went off the air. And it was nice because it was so different from the soap. It was a love story set in beautiful Georgia. I played an artist named Madeline who is from the South. She kind of falls for this handsome Indian man, played by Val Lauren. He is, to this day, one of the best actors I have ever worked with. He is so sexy and I had such a fun time working with him. We pretty much laughed the entire time we were on set for two weeks, sweating our butts off in Georgia. It just screened at the Cannes Film Festival in May. It’s making its rounds right now. Hopefully, it will get a distributor so we can see it in theaters, not just at film festivals. One of my favorite moments was just this scene where Val and I were doing a dream scene running on a beach. It was a gorgeous beach, early in the morning, but it was really hot! It was just supposed to be a romantic dream. We’re running and frolicking in the water. He’s picking me up and the whole time we were just saying the most ridiculous obscenities to each other to make each other laugh the entire time! You see this beautiful footage of us running along the beach, laughing and you have no idea what we are saying to each other (which is these horrible things). My shoot with him was pretty much like that the entire time because it was filled with laughter. I think that’s what makes a shoot fun, when you are just comfortable enough to make somebody laugh.

Q) You are a part of the social media site Twitter. What is it like getting that immediate fan feedback?

A) It’s fantastic! I have to say my sweet publicist from the get-go said I have to be on social media because that’s where you get the word out about your projects and interact with fans. I fought it. I fought it for a long time because even though I love interacting with fans and have a website, in general I’m a pretty private person. I fought it and in fact I am still not on Facebook. I thought, “Let me join Twitter. It will be easy.” Not only did I join, but I loved it! And I became addicted to it. I saw a lot of fans that I met at “All My Children” fan events. They were all sort of there on Twitter supporting me and that was nice. Then, there were new fans and fans of “Beacon Hill.” You feel the instant love and support from your fans. I think it is really great because I can interact with them. I can tell them about a project or they can talk to me about my work on “Beacon Hill.” I think it is a great way to sort of interact with your fans and make them know you care about them. I love it and I think it is great. It is just private enough for me, but yet I can still share things and interact with them. I’m definitely a Twitter chick. I think it is a genius idea and I am  glad they talked me into it.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) I always like to say in general that I really appreciate all the fans. Most of my fans come from the daytime community and there is really nothing like daytime fans. They have gone to see my films and follow “Beacon Hill.” They are just so supportive and I just want them to know that I really, truly appreciate it. I never take them for granted and appreciate their support with every project that I do. It means a lot. As “Surviving Sam” is coming up, I appreciate their continued excitement and support. I hope that they stick around because there is some really fun stuff coming up. It’ll be a nice way for fans to see me in a different light, something lighter and more humorous which is closer to who I am as a person. I’m just excited to share it with them and I hope they stay tuned and enjoy it.