Who's The Girl

Marcy Rylan (Lizzie) rocks many different sides of herself
- Kambra Clifford (CBS Soaps In Depth 11/13/2007)
typed up by: ME :-) If you use, please credit!!


GUIDING LIGHT's Marcy Rylan (Lizzie) may be a lot of things, but one thing she swears she's not is a "star girl." In fact, becoming a celebrity in any sense of the word was the furthest thing from her mind when she landed in New York to become an actress! "It wasn't that I wanted to be a star," she says. "That is actually not what I wanted to do! [Doing things like] interviews and photo shoots wasn't even in my head. I wanted to be on stage and be an actress. It was more about wanting to be someone else; I want to get to be a lawyer, and I want to get to be a doctor, and I want to get to be a mom. That's where it was coming from, and then when I started to get work, all this other stuff came up, and I was like, 'Oh, wait!' I didn't get [the celebrity that would come with jobs[; it didn't set in. I'm an actor because I want to play other people, not to [be a star]."


Little Miss Serious
Though she may try to fight it, there's no denying it: Rylan is a star, if not for her completely approachable personality, then definitely for her serious acting chops. Fans can't help but be swept away by her portrayal of Lizzie and her infectious smile, a face that she surely doesn't take for granted. "I feel the need to give fans a lot of my energy when I see them," she says. "I wouldn't do it any other way. I make sure I'm on the whole time I'm there...but it's one side of me. It's the fun, energetic and hyper, 'Let's make this fun' side. I'm not putting on a show, but I think it looks a little bit like Lizzie to them. I play Lizzie pretty energetically, so I feel like they get to see some of me and some of Lizzie. There is a side of me that they don't see, though, a more serious side."

When someone so full of sunshine and smiles as Rylan admits to a serious side, it can be a little surprising. But her bit of seriousness trumps it all: She's a biochemistry major! "I really like science," she says with a laugh. "With chemistry, if you know the formula, you have the answer; there are clean, clear-cut answers to science. I like it because the one side of my life is so free, crazy and insane, and this is totally rigid and uptight. I don't have that anywhere else in my life, and it's kind of fun. It balances me out."


Making Headlines
Rylan admits that it can get exhausting to face people's expectations that all she is is a bubbly, carefree actress. But she likes to keep her private life, along with a small piece of herself, out of the media spotlight. In fact, the small world of soaps is one reason why she says staying in daytime for the rest of her career sounds enticing. "To be able to leave the house and do everything you want without having to worry about being stalked by the paparazzi sounds appealing to me," she says. "If the paparazzi were after me, I'd be the one with the middle fingers flying, and I'd be throwing stuff at them...and grabbing the camera and smashing it on the ground! You'd see me walking down the street being really happy, and then they'd jump out of a bush or something, and I'd be like 'Aaaarrrggghhh!' Then they'd get a shot of me with my arms in the air and my middle finger up, and the headline would read: GONE CRAZY, ON DRUGS! That's what would happen if it were me!"

If Rylan keeps on wowing everyone in daytime, it's a possibility that fame may find her whether she likes it or not! "Like I said, I didn't come to New York to be a star," she explains with an innocent smile. "I just came to be an actor, and whatever comes out of that, I will deal with."

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