Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Former Roanoker makes soap debut
Ashlee Holland plays Crystal the Psychic on "Days of Our Lives."
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Photos by Sam Dean | The Roanoke Times
From left, George Miller, Adrian Wade and Al Holland Sr. cheer as Holland's daughter Ashlee wins the reality show "I Wanna Be a Soap Star" earlier this year. The top prize was a 13-week contract role on "Days of Our Lives."
Friends and family of Ashlee Holland watch her compete on the reality show "I Wanna Be a Soap Star" at her parents' home in Northwest Roanoke.
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For the past five months, the "amaaazing" life of Ashlee Holland could have been written for TV.
The former Roanoker appeared on a reality show, beat out nine other contestants and won a role as Crystal the Psychic on "Days of Our Lives."
She gets her script and is headed to a session with her acting coach and where does she park? Right outside a fortune teller's parlor. She has a few minutes, so she pokes her head in to meet the psychic.
"Her name is Crystal," Holland said in a phone call from Burbank, Calif., where she had just wrapped up her last shoot of the year. "I'm not telling a story at all."
But no need to consult the cards, Holland is ending the year on a hot streak. She makes her debut on "Days" today -- opposite actress Deidre Hall, who's been on the soap since before Holland was born. Winning SOAPnet's "I Wanna Be a Soap Star" show earned Holland a 13-week contract, but then "Days" offered her one for three years. Holland accepted.
"It's been amaaazing," the 28-year-old said.
It's been hectic, too. For work, the William Fleming High School grad has been commuting across L.A. to NBC Studios, home of Jay Leno. In five days, she shot material for seven episodes. Work days could last 16 hours.
She took the advice of her critics on "I Wanna Be a Soap Star," who said not to overact. She did sessions with her acting coach to develop Crystal -- a character who carries secrets about the families in "Days" fictional land of Salem, she said.
Her check-in with the real-life Crystal the Psychic steered her performance away from the hocus-pocus of hotline fortune tellers, too, she said.
Holland's debut today will be followed by an appearance on Friday's episode, with more in the new year. That gnawing anxiety that comes before TV appearances is back, she said. This time, the devoted fan base of "Days" will be watching.
And what does Holland foresee?
"I would love to host something," she said. "It just all comes with time."
