October 2002 TVGuideOnline interview with Tracey Ross
Tracey Ross (Eve Russell, Passions)

Tracey Ross isn't concealing her joy over playing Eve on Passions now that her alter ego's past has resurfaced again to haunt her. Confronted by visions of what her present may have been if she and Julian had married, and by Julian's admission of his love for Eve years past, Ross is primed to embark on what could be Passions's most dangerous love triangle.

Armed with the knowledge of her character's history (thanks to Julian and Eve's seductive love affair chronicled in Tabitha's tell-all, Hidden Passions), Ross has formulated some unexpected rationales behind Eve's actions toward her husband TC, her children and Julian. Ross is revealing her secrets, right here on TV Guide Online. — Delaina Dixon

(TV) Recently, Eve envisioned what her life may have been if Julian had married her, and they seemed very happy together.

(Ross) I know, isn't it great?

(TV) When you read Hidden Passions, what did you think of Eve and Julian's storyline?

(Ross) It was a real short courtship. It was very steamy. I had a hard time in my mind getting Eve from the innocent college girl to the woman on the Studio 54 dance floor having sex.

(TV) Did the book's history influence how you had played Eve on screen up to then?

(Ross) Yes, it did change my mind. I was trying to make a smoother path on the road of her downfall. But I realized it was more immediate, wild and impulsive. It was very untamed and unrestrained.

(TV) Why doesn't Eve just admit her past to TC, since they seem to have such a strong marriage?

(Ross) She's really ashamed of those things. It's funny, I went to see the movie The Banger Sisters because it was about a woman who now has a whole different life and doesn't want to go back to her youthful, mischievous days. For Eve, just the mention of her past makes her feel so bad about herself. I think she had good reason to worry that TC would be upset. If she had been with any other man in the world, he could get over it. But I don't think he could live with the thought of Eve having orgies with Julian.

(TV) Is she afraid it would destroy their happy marriage?

(Ross) What she's come to view as happiness. I don't think she's all that happy in her marriage because there are those secrets from her past, the ones she has to keep locked down and away.

(TV) How does Eve really feel about Julian, especially after the dream sequence?

(Ross) I think she never got over loving him. They say the opposite of love is not hate but indifference. She's never been indifferent towards Julian. She's never gotten over the hurt and the longing and pain of loving him. Just like anyone who's gotten dumped by somebody, what you really want is for him or her to come crawling back and say how wrong they were and beg for another chance. To realize that they really loved you and made a mistake by letting you go is the ultimate triumph: They were wrong and you were right.

(TV) When Julian admitted he had loved Eve, did that confession open up her heart a little bit?

(Ross) It definitely did. I thought to play the day after that as if Eve had had really good sex the night before.(Chuckles) Remember in Gone With the Wind when Rhett Butler takes Scarlett up the stairs and they obviously have a good night, and Scarlett's smiling and happy the next day? Eve kind of got that type of vindication from Julian's words.

(TV) What would Julian have to do to win Eve away from TC?

(Ross) I don't think he could until she and TC ended, because she is as loyal as the day is long. I think it would take her secrets coming out and her being rejected by everyone, and Julian being there to pick up the pieces to make everything okay.

(TV) So there is a possibility that Julian and Eve could get together again?

(Ross) After the fantasy sequence, I saw how happy Eve was, and I realized that she's probably depressed and has been for years. What she's accepting as happiness isn't real. I don't think she's ever been that happy in her life as she was in the few moments in that fantasy. She doesn't even know that [her present life] isn't the way it's supposed to be.

(TV) Has ever been confirmed on air that Chad is Eve's son?

(Ross) No it hasn't. Back when Eve was checking Chad's DNA results at the hospital, Alistair had someone mess with the computer to change the results. And it sounded, from what Alistair was saying, that Chad is her son. But that's not to say that it is so, that's just what Alistair believes. It's never been a done deal.

(TV) So what is your take on who Eve's unborn child really is?

(Ross) I switch back and forth. I think if Chad is my son, then Whitney is not my daughter. But if Chad isn't my son, I've kind of got my eye on Jack, David's son. Maybe David did something, and the boy was delivered to him, and we'll find out Jack is Eve's child. With Grace thinking Jack's her son and if she lost him to me, her best friend, that would really be something.

(TV) Did everyone have a blast shooting those dream sequences?

(Ross) Andrea [Evans (Rebecca)] was so excited. It was the first time in her soap career that one of her characters had a job. I loved seeing Julian and TC joke and hug and be best friends. What more could you wish for?

(TV) Sounds like you had a good time.

(Ross) It was so fun. We had so much energy, and it was so nice to be happy. It was nice to be where there were no problems, and everything was great and there was no subtext of some misery yet to come. It felt like a tall, cool drink of water.

(TV) During the dream sequences and his subsequent confrontation with Eve, Ben Masters (Julian) delivered a very different performance than we normally see.

(Ross) Ben is everyone's favorite to work with. He's so amazing and so modest, you can't tell him what a great job he's done. He's the best at swatting away a compliment.

(TV) The scenes came across as a very real and grounded performance.

(Ross) Isn't Ben wonderful when he's completely sincere, and he's not any of that crazy Julian? I watch and I think when you see him at that moment, you forgive him for everything he's ever done. He's so amazing, I can't find the right adjective to describe him. All of them are overused. We have to come up with a new adjective to describe what a great person and actor Ben is.

(TV) That's quite the compliment.

(Ross) It's easy for me; I don't have to act like I love and adore him. I get to let my crush come out every time we're doing a scene. I always tell him, in the next life, he's mine. There was a screw up in this life, which someone has some explaining to do, but I am first in the next life, and everyone can just get behind me.

(TV) Now that your character is singing again onscreen, is that your voice behind those haunting melodies?

(Ross) I don't sing, but that was me. I actually recorded five songs a while ago. Usually, the show plays the "My Baby's Gone" song that Eve sang years ago, but now they are starting to play the others I recorded as well. And when I listen to them, with the music in the background, I think I sound pretty good. (Chuckles)