So Grace has a husband that she doesn't remember. Did that storyline twist surprise you?

That they brought someone else in for me, yeah. And it was a great surprise because you have a whole other dynamic to play. It brings in my whole background, which is what I've been wondering about.

How do you think Grace will handle the revelation of a former husband?

I'm kind of hoping, and so far playing out, that I come from a position of some strength on this. I think that Grace and her family have been through so much lately. Also, some of her premonitions have been valid. When weird things start to happen, and you're proved to be right, it gives you a stronger position. It's not like Grace is some psycho. Weird things really do happen. She has to listen to her intuition and so does Sam. It's a stronger place to come from.

Over the past few months, since Ethan's paternity came out, Grace has become a lot more emotional and shown more of her backbone. Do you relish that change in your character?

Any time [the writers] give you another direction to go into, it's great. I think it came at a time when people had seen a lot of Grace happy. They were ready to see Grace's world rocked just a little bit. So it was nice to jump in that direction — to have things hit me in the face and not just be home baking tomato soup cake thinking everything's great, and not seeing all this stuff flying around. It has hit me in the face, and I have to deal with it.

The changes make Grace's world seem more realistic.

I found that what Grace was playing before was very realistic, in her love for her family and how much she adores her husband. But it's more difficult. It's a lot easier to be Susie Sunshine every day than to come in and wrench out these tears and gut reactions. But this is what we live for when we act — to play these tough emotions. If they took me back to happy Grace every day, I'd be thrilled too. It's just nice to have a range.

In the book Hidden Passions, Grace leaves home in one chapter. In her next chapter, Sam saves Grace from a smoke-filled studio, and she has amnesia. Over time, they fall in love. So the question is, when was she married to David?

I'm wondering the same thing! I'm thinking it's a small window. Even David has said that it was a short and passionate love we shared together. I think we fell in love, and it was like bang — it just hit us. I don't know what happened that took me away from David; to me, that's the big mystery. I can completely find space from when I left home, fell in love with David and got married to him — all that fits in for me storyline-wise. By why I left him and went to Boston, who knows?

Your character's family has a very mystical history. Did you have any interest in the supernatural before joining the show? Has it peaked your interest?

I didn't have a great interest in it, and I don't even know where some of my beliefs were in those types of things. But it's more of the creepy stuff that you don't want to deal with on a serious level. I'm always the kind that's a little freaked out by palm readers. It's intrigued me, but I've always been a little fearful of it. So I never really seriously followed it. I love movies about it. I just didn't want to go there in my own life.

Do people with self-proclaimed psychic abilities ever contact you?

I actually get quite a lot of [correspondence] like that. They ask me questions, and they wonder if I know the answers. I think, "Wait a minute, if you're the ones who know these things, why do you keep asking me the questions?" People are more interested in my TV family and Sam than the mystical stuff, [like] the Bennett family and the dynamic there.

You once played the dual roles of Grace and Faith. Do you miss playing two characters, and would you embrace the chance to bring Faith back?

I would like the chance to play them again now that Grace has been more defined. In the beginning, they were supposed to be confused for each other, so they really weren't great distinctions between the characters, and there wasn't a lot of background for them yet. Now that I know so much more about them, especially after reading the book, I would have to take Faith so much deeper into the whole witchcraft thing.

Passions does a lot of special effects. What's the strangest thing that has happened behind the scenes during a special effects-oriented scene?

I've had two big things happen when we were taping segments on Friday the 13ths. Two years ago when we were burning down Faith's house — and I never read my horoscope, but I read the Los Angeles Times horoscope that Friday the 13th — and it told me to beware of drastic things [that could] happen and to stay away from fire. I kept the horoscope, it was so spot on. We just had Friday the 13th again, and it was a big thing going on with David. So I think Friday the 13th is not a good Grace/Faith day. (Chuckles)

This question is from the TV Guide Online mailbox. I thought you could answer it personally: Could you please help settle a dispute? I think that Noah Bennett is a child away at boarding school. Others think that he is away at college. Which is it? Thanks!

He is the oldest child, and he's at college. I've had some people who just insult me deeply who say that David is actually Noah. I'm like, "You guys really need to work on your timelines. My son can't be that old!"

Who do you spend most of your time with on the set?

I see James [Hyde, who plays Grace's husband, Sam] quite a bit because of our storyline. He always makes me happy; he's such a good guy. And a lot of Justin [Carroll (David)]. We hang out quite a bit. Eva [Tamargo Lemus (Pilar)], Tracey [Ross (Eve)]; it's kind of who you work with. We try to get a girl thing going every once in a while. Last time it was Eva, Kim and Natasha, a girl from our makeup department. It was time for all the girls to go out and go shopping. A little cash therapy. And we get together for dinners and stuff.

Whenever I talk to members of the Passions's cast, they always stress the close-knit and family-like atmosphere found on your set. Would you agree?

It's so incredibly true. A lot of people say that, and you can see in their eyes they're only saying it because they are prompted to. We just adore each other. Everyone gets along; there is not a diva. And I've worked on shows that haven't been fabulous that way. That's why it means so much to me. Those of us who have been around a while say that we've got a great thing going here, so let's all just keep it that way. Nobody gets out of line. It's amazing. It's a great cast.

You came from primetime television. What were the biggest adjustments you had to make for daytime?

Going from six to seven pages to about 70. Especially being twins. It was a huge adjustment. And the time in which we shoot this is just incredible. In primetime you know your character and you know your lines and you come in and rehearse, then they light for an hour, so you can go work on it. You have much more rehearsal time than we get [in daytime]. And that's why I'm so proud of it: for what our actors accomplish, [and] for how much time you get to work on this. [Character actor] Miguel Ferrer is a friend of mine. I only get to see him a couple times a year. He's watched the show from the beginning, and he's always amazed by the work we do because he knows the timeline we're working in.

You once said in an interview that if you weren't an actress, you'd be a photographer. Is that an interest of yours?

I'm into all the little gadgets — and I kill way too much time on Photoshop tweaking things — but I love photography. My dad got me started when I was a kid. It's just something — I'm very image driven. I'm always the person who's saying, "Look at the light." Every evening, I can just sit out on my deck, be amazed by the light changes, and wish that I could only capture it in a photograph. And I keep trying.

What do you like to take pictures of?

I take a lot of pictures of my dogs. I'll just get inspired by a lot of different things. The last thing I went through was trying to take some landscape photography, which is really difficult to capture. And I don't even go near black and white. I used to think, if only I could be like [famed photographer] Ansel Adams. I go out and try to shoot black and white and everything just looks three shades of gray. I pretty much stick with color. I've gotten to travel a lot; I take a lot of pictures when I travel.

Have you ever thought of approaching a gallery to showcase your work?

I was looking at some of my stuff, and I have some great shots. But there's not really a theme, and that's kind of necessary, maybe not. You need one of the people behind the scenes who puts that kind of thing together. It would take a lot of arranging on my part though. Some of [the pictures] are in a drawer, some in books. But I'm starting to put some of my work up on my website. There are lot of pictures on it, a lot of behind-the-scene photographs from the set.

You also enjoy a good game of golf.

I played in Scott Hamilton's tournament which benefits Target House and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which does children's cancer research. Their success rate is just blowing everybody away, and they share all their information. It's just an incredible place. And Target House is long-term housing that's just beautiful for people and their children, and the whole family gets to stay together [during treatment] right outside of St. Jude. It's an amazing project. So I get to raise money when I play golf. It's really a blessing.

Your birthday is right around the corner, Aug. 1. Any special plans?

No. I don't know if I'm working... but I always say it's better to have birthdays than to not have one.

Maybe your husband will take you out.

He spoils me. He's very good at coming up with interesting things that I wouldn't come up with, so I'm sure he's got a plan. I've been kind of thinking of buying myself a piano. I tried when I was small. I hated my piano teacher, but I thought I might try again. I read this great quote about continuing to study no matter what age you are. It was, "Live as if you only have one day left, and study as if you're going to live forever." Continue your learning; it keeps you young. So I'll take up piano on my birthday. What the heck.

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