Tracey Ross On Camp

By Robert Schork

 

One of the most endearing aspects of PASSIONS for its viewers is the show’s deft ability to poke fun at itself and often the whole soap genre, through its trademark mix of satire and farce.

But pulling that off so seamlessly is not always an easy task. While things have been in a more serious vein with her character and story for a while now, Tracey Ross (Eve) admits that interpreting how things should be played — i.e. straight or for laughs — can sometimes be a challenge for her and her castmates. "They tell us very little, and we do have five different directors, there's a director for each day, so from day to day it can be different," explains Ross. “One director may see it more one way and the other director may see it more the other, and try to guide you that way. Of course they have other things they're considering too, like how what you're doing is going to affect other scenes, so it's not just your character. But from the producers we get very little. We kind of figure it's almost like no news is good news. If nobody says anything, then you're doing it right. I guess we all just try to make the most interesting choices that we can. But again, when there are witches, Hell in the closet and demons flying around, does it really matter what you have to say?" jokes Ross.

"Where is continuity? If all of a sudden I appear in pigtails where yesterday I had a ponytail, I'd be like, 'Okay, so that's not good.' But [on our show] you can appear every time they see you in a different shirt, and it would just add to the camp of PASSIONS. That's the thing about camp: You can go as far as the network's censors will allow you."