Julie Pinson on ATWT, Web Soaps & Janet's Meatballs

We Love Soaps had the chance to catch up with AS THE WORLD TURNS Emmy nominee Julie Pinson in the middle of the recent Broadway Cares Flea Market event. She shared with us how she feels about her character's stance on abortion, her burgeoning interest in new media, and the secret behind Janet's meatballs.

We Love Soaps: Julie, it’s so great that you are here today. Is this a cause of personal importance for you?
Julie Pinson: It’s very personal to me. It’s a great cause, and I’m glad to be here doing anything I can do to help out.

We Love Soaps: We are really enjoying AS THE WORLD TURNS in recent months, and always love watching you. But it’s interesting how Janet has suddenly become more religious than we remember her being before.
Julie Pinson: Well, she is Catholic and they are now delving into that side of Janet. She an Italian Catholic, very old fashioned. The way she was brought up was very specific and she’s sticking to the teachings she learned when she was younger and it’s been really challenging.

We Love Soaps: How is it challenging?
Julie Pinson: Well, I don’t want to get into politics. [Pause] But I’m definitely having to delve into a deeper side of Julie Pinson as opposed to the Janet Ciccone side. And I’m definitely having to act. It’s one of those situations when you don’t really understand the cause your character is trying to put across, and you really have to go to a different place and try to make it work the best you can. As an actor you don’t always get to play things that are close to your heart. You sometimes have to go step off a ledge.

We Love Soaps: Have you had to do this on your other roles on PORT CHARLES or DAYS OF OUR LIVES?
Julie Pinson: Not like this. The closest weirdest storyline I ever came across was the vampire storyline of PORT CHARLES. That was just suspended disbelief for me on that one. But this is very interesting for me to play as an actor. Because I don’t agree with Janet. Let’s leave it at that without getting into a whole political discussion.

We Love Soaps: In what ways are you similar to Janet?
Julie Pinson: I’m fun. [Laughs] I think she’s easy going and pretty happy, positive person. She gives people the benefit of the doubt right off the bat. Like her and Craig, they’re friends because he’s never done anything bad to her so he has earned her respect.

We Love Soaps: How is it to work with Jon Linstrom on this show versus PORT CHARLES [EDITOR'S NOTE: Jon Linstrom plays Craig on ATWT, and played a love interest for Pinson's character Eve on PC].
Julie Pinson: Jon is one of my best friends in real life. We’ve been close since PORT CHARLES. We talk once a week, at least, even when we weren’t working together. It’s been fantastic, and I really would love it if they put us in a storyline together.

We Love Soaps: Do you cook as Janet does?
Julie Pinson: I sure do.

We Love Soaps: Do you make meatballs like Janet does?
Julie Pinson: I sure do!

We Love Soaps: One of the running jokes on our We Love Soaps podcast is how no one will eat Janet’s meatballs.
Julie Pinson: No one eats her food! Every thing is like, “Janet’s famous lasagna, Janet’s famous meatballs, Janet’s famous calzone...” Everything is famous.

We Love Soaps: Yet no one eats her food.
Julie Pinson: Exactly. But it’s damn good. I’ve eaten it on the set. The prop guys make it. It’s really good!

We Love Soaps: You have seen more relaxed and comfortable on this show than I have perceived you to be on other shows. Is that just me or is that true?
Julie Pinson: I think on AS THE WORLD TURNS they’ve given me a lot more rope. They’ve let me run with Janet and do whatever I want with her. They’ve allowed me to put more of myself in her. She’s not the victim like she was on DAYS OF OUR LIVES. They kept putting Billie with super couples. You can’t put her in between super couples. Billie is never going to win that way. She’s never going to win with Patch and Kayla. She’s never going to win with Bo and Hope. They never gave her her own guy. So it was boring for me to play. I was just Chelsea’s mom. So now I’m a mom again on this show but I have so much more of a life. I’m not just a mother, I’m a lover, I’m a wife, I’m independent, I’m a chef, a talk show host once in awhile. The writing on AS THE WORLD TURNS is so great, there’s really not much I can do to mess it up. It’s already so good.

We Love Soaps: What would you like to see happen for Janet in the future?
Julie Pinson: Well, without giving anything away, let me just say that as you know on soap operas it’s rare for you to stay with one person for a very long time. So if Janet were to split with Jack, if that were possible, it would be nice for her to go along the lines of a Craig or a Dusty. To mix it up a little bit, to have some fun with some different guys!

We Love Soaps: Roger [Newcomb] was also with you at Feed the Children, and I’m so impressed with how you commit yourself to helping others and doing this work.
Julie Pinson: Thanks. And if there are any animal charities out there, call me for those too! I love animal charities. They are close to my heart.

We Love Soaps: A lot of what we see for the future of soap operas has to do with moving to the internet. Is that something that interests you?
Julie Pinson: I honestly am not a big computer person. I don’t spend much time on the computer. I don’t do Facebook. I don’t do Twitter. I think it’s a really interesting way that soaps are coming across these days. I understand that Crystal Chappell is starting a new series?

We Love Soaps: Yes, she is starting VENICE The Series, all on the internet.
Julie Pinson: I’m really interested to see how that does. Are people really willing to watch on the computer? I mean, I have a big TV at home because my husband Billy Warlock has the big huge [TV]. And I’ve gotten used to it, I really like it. And if I ever watch something on the computer it’s kind of like [makes a not-good face]. So it’s interesting if people would rather watch on their computer. Is it because they have less time?

We Love Soaps: I think it’s really about convenience. People can watch it on their laptops, they can put it on their iPods...
Julie Pinson: For an hour?

We Love Soaps [Newcomb]: So far they’re only about 5-10 minutes.
Julie Pinson: 5-10 minutes? Wow!

We Love Soaps: But so were soaps when they started on the radio in the 1930s.
Julie Pinson: And so many people DVR their shows now, or tape them with their VCR, it’s still not really an hour.

We Love Soaps: But you might be up for trying it if it ever came your way?
Julie Pinson: Oh yes! Absolutely, sure. I just don’t want to leave New York, so, if it’s here I’ll do it. [Laughs]

We Love Soaps: Martha Byrne is actually starting a show here called GOTHAM The Series.
Julie Pinson: Martha is starting that? Martha, call me!

We Love Soaps: Michael Park will be in it, and we just learned Lisa Brown will be directing.
Julie Pinson: That’s great! So is that something you are interested in seeing?

We Love Soaps: In many ways, yes. What we see is that frequently the heart and soul of the writer’s story gets lost in network interference.
Julie Pinson: Right, they are the big parent companies that own the shows.

We Love Soaps: Often times writers want to tell different kinds of stories and can’t do it. But the internet really opens that up to become a writer’s medium again.
Julie Pinson: So they can do what they want? There’s nobody looking over their shoulder?

We Love Soaps [Newcomb]: It’s really opens things up. Crystal and Jessica’s characters could never be physical on GUIDING LIGHT, but we have been promised a kiss between them in the first 30 seconds of VENICE.
Julie Pinson: Wow, I’m missing so much by not going on the computer. I know nothing.

We Love Soaps: It’s very exciting, I think it will bring us back to the 70s and 80s when writers had much more involvement with storytelling.
Julie Pinson: But don’t you think our society was a little more conservative then?

We Love Soaps: Perhaps, but what they got away with on daytime, as far as telling real character based psychological dynamics in families and relationships like on RYAN'S HOPE, you just don’t see now.
Julie Pinson: Yeah, I know. I think that some of the writers and executive producers think that the fans want to see more action. But everybody always goes back to - no, it’s about families and relationships. And these people on soaps are now blowing cars up. And it’s action stuff left and right which I don’t think really works.

We Love Soaps: For me as a viewer it doesn’t. I just don’t feel anything when I see a tornado or a plane crash. That doesn’t do a whole lot for me. When I see Bob Hughes sitting in the middle of a shopping mall with ice cream dripping down his hand, that literally made me cry.
We Love Soaps [Newcomb]: And you cry when nobody eats Janet’s meatballs.
We Love Soaps: Yes, I cry when nobody eats Janet’s meatballs. So now that we’ve introduced you to this whole new world, we’re going to have to talk to you again soon.
Julie Pinson: You guys are going to have to let me know when it’s on. How am I going to find when Crystal Chappell’s show is on?

We Love Soaps: Go to WeLoveSoaps.net and we we will keep you informed.
Julie Pinson: And everybody out there watch Crystal’s show! Let’s get it going. Let’s keep daytime alive!