Exclusive Interview with Patrika Darbo, Your Favorite 90’s Show Character

<p>You&&num;8217&semi;ve seen her act in some of your favorite shows bringing her exuberant personality to the screen&period; &nbsp&semi;Amongst her many roles&comma; some of the notable include a stint on Step by Step&comma; a longer tenure with the top rated soap opera&comma; &&num;8220&semi;Days of Our Lives&period;&&num;8221&semi; &nbsp&semi;We caught up with the one and only Patrika Darbo where she gave us an inside look at her TV role experiences&comma; tips and tricks to memorizing lines on very intense jobs such as being in a soap opera and we uncover what she is currently working on&period; &nbsp&semi;Read all about it below&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Many of our readers grew up watching shows like Step by Step&period;&nbsp&semi; We know you were on a few episodes of that show&period;&nbsp&semi; What was that experience like&quest;&nbsp&semi; How did you get that role&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I had done a film called Daddy&&num;8217&semi;s Dyin&&num;8217&semi;&comma; Who&&num;8217&semi;s Got The Will&quest; and was put under contract at ABC&period; Shortly&nbsp&semi;thereafter Miller&sol;Boyett hired me for a new sitcom called for <em>Step By Step<&sol;em>&period;&nbsp&semi;I did the whole first season of the show&comma; playing the role of Suzanne Somer&&num;8217&semi;s character&&num;8217&semi;s sister&period; &nbsp&semi;Peggy Rea&comma; who played our mom and I suspected we would not be back for the second season as the producers were really working on the kids&&num;8217&semi; story lines&period; &nbsp&semi;We were right&period; &nbsp&semi;One day I walked into the beauty salon located in the renovated garage off the kitchen&comma; and I never came back&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;12390" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-12390" style&equals;"width&colon; 594px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-12390" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;blog&period;feelingthevibe&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;12&sol;463677668&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Suzanne Somers and Patrika Darbo in Step by Step" width&equals;"594" height&equals;"405"><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-12390" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">STEP BY STEP &&num;8211&semi; Pilot &&num;8211&semi; Shoot Date&colon; September 20&comma; 1991&period; &lpar;Photo by ABC Photo Archives&sol;ABC via Getty Images&rpar;<br &sol;>L-R&colon; PATRICK DUFFY&semi;BRANDON CALL&semi;CHRISTINE LAKIN&semi;PEGGY REA&semi;PATRIKA DARBO&semi;SUZANNE SOMERS&semi;JARRETT LENNON&semi;STACI KEANAN&semi;ANGELA WATSON<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>What is your best memory of working on Step by Step&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I would have to say&comma; getting to work with Patrick Duffy and Suzanne Somers&period; &nbsp&semi;They were huge TV stars at&nbsp&semi;the time and they were a pleasure to work with everyday&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>When did you know you wanted to become an actress&quest;&nbsp&semi; How did that come about&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>My mom said I came out of the womb acting&period;&nbsp&semi; I participated in acting in Girl Scouts&comma; church&comma; school and college&period; &nbsp&semi;When you work in theater&comma; you often wear multiple hats besides that as an actor&period; &nbsp&semi;I ended up but sewing costumes&comma; building sets&comma; lighting the stage and everything and anything&period; I learned it all&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>If you weren&&num;8217&semi;t acting today&comma; what would you be doing&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Lordy&comma; I don&&num;8217&semi;t even want to think about that&period; &nbsp&semi;Early on&comma; I was a credit manager for over 20 years and only acting part time&period;&nbsp&semi; Even if I hadn&&num;8217&semi;t become a full-time professional actress&comma; I would be doing it part-time and probably holding down that credit manager job&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Tell us something that most people don&&num;8217&semi;t know about you&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I&&num;8217&semi;m adopted&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>We know that you were on Days of Our Lives&period;&nbsp&semi; We saw a picture of you with Eric Martsolf who we have interviewed before&period;&nbsp&semi; What is it like working on a soap opera vs working on a TV sitcom&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Oh&comma; I thought you were going to ask what it&&num;8217&semi;s like playing with Eric&excl;&excl;&excl; &nbsp&semi;He is lovely&period; &nbsp&semi;Soap Operas are tough because there is a lot of memorizing&period;&nbsp&semi; Actors on soaps are virtually doing a movie script a day and there are not a lot of do-overs so you have to get your lines and blocking right&period; &nbsp&semi;Sitcoms are a different beast&nbsp&semi;altogether&period; &nbsp&semi;On a sit-com&comma; you get a script on Monday and they block you&period; &nbsp&semi;On Tuesday you get a new script and they block you again and rehearse you&period; &nbsp&semi;The same things happen on Wednesday and Thursday&period;&nbsp&semi; Then&comma; Friday is tape day&period; &nbsp&semi;You come in to rehearse&comma; go to hair and make-up&comma; do a camera block and start taping&period; &nbsp&semi;Finally&comma; they bring in an audience and they tape the same show again&period; You then have dinner&comma; hair and makeup touch-ups and new notes with new script pages for the second show in front of the audience&period;&nbsp&semi; At this second show the producers and writers will surely give you&nbsp&semi;even more notes and changes&period; &nbsp&semi;As you can see&comma; there is a lot to taping a sit-com&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;12391" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-12391" style&equals;"width&colon; 600px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-12391 size-full" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;blog&period;feelingthevibe&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;12&sol;CJudA77UAAAsoGX&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Patrika Darbo and Eric Martsolf" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"600"><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-12391" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Patrika Darbo with Days of Our Lives actor&comma; Eric Martsolf<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Did you watch soap operas&quest;&nbsp&semi; If so&comma; which ones&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Dark Shadows was really the only soap opera I watched when I was younger&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>What is your best memory of working on Days of Our Lives&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As a plus sized woman&comma; my best memory was being accepted by the audience&comma; the cast and my darling friend and stage husband&comma; Kevin Spirtas&period;&nbsp&semi; Kevin and I had such fun together&period; &nbsp&semi;Ken Corday&comma; the producer and the writers gave me a wonderful character to play and they are still letting me come in from time to time to bring Nancy to life&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>What is the toughest part of being on a soap opera&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I would have to say it is all the&nbsp&semi;memorizing and how fast we have to shoot&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>What interests and hobbies do you have outside of acting&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I love playing golf&comma; reading&comma; sewing and hanging out with my husband and&nbsp&semi;friends because I have always been a very social person&period; &nbsp&semi;I also spend a lot of time participating in animal rescue and charities helping our veterans and children&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>We see you&&num;8217&semi;re in a new show coming up&period;&nbsp&semi; Could you tell us a little bit more about it and what your role is&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I&&num;8217&semi;m working on the Emmy winning internet series&comma; The Bay&period;&nbsp&semi; I play Mickey&comma; &nbsp&semi;a local restaurant owner where everyone comes&period; &nbsp&semi;I recently lost one son to a car accident and the other one is facing jail time&period; &nbsp&semi;I can&&num;8217&semi;t say too much more about the storyline&period;&nbsp&semi; I also just did a film for director&comma; Michael Feifer called Stolen from the Cradle and I have an American Dad episode airing soon&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>What do you think of the social media trend and the way in which actors interact with their fans&quest;&nbsp&semi; Have you embraced it&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I have embraced it but I&&num;8217&semi;m not sure what I&&num;8217&semi;m doing some of the time&period; &nbsp&semi;I have to say that I am having a great time&nbsp&semi;learning about social media&period;&nbsp&semi; I&&num;8217&semi;m on FB&comma; Instagram and I tweet and re-tweet&period; &nbsp&semi;I just found I Go Live&comma; so we&&num;8217&semi;ll see what happens with that&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter wp-image-12392" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;blog&period;feelingthevibe&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;12&sol;PatrikaHigh-by-Russell-Baer-2-copy-680x1024&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Patrika Darbo 2016" width&equals;"425" height&equals;"639"><strong>What type of music do you like&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I love Country&period;&nbsp&semi; And as an actor&comma; I love all the Broadway musicals and I do love the oldies&&num;8230&semi;Elvis&comma; The Beatles and Michael&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Do you play any musical instruments&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Yes&comma; I am very accomplished at one instrument&&num;8230&semi;The Spoons&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>What type of advice would you give to young people wanting to break into the acting world&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>First and foremost&comma; get your education&period;&nbsp&semi; It&&num;8217&semi;s a tough business&period;&nbsp&semi; You have to know how to read&comma; have a extensive vocabulary and have another job that pays the bills until you make it&period;&nbsp&semi; If it&&num;8217&semi;s your dream&comma; go for it&period;&nbsp&semi; It is hard work&comma; but if it&&num;8217&semi;s in your soul&comma; go for it&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>What types of tips and tricks do you use to memorize your lines&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I read them over and over and over and over&period;&nbsp&semi; I also like to write down the words and then I own them&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>How do you de-stress&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I love playing golf and going to Burke Williams Spa for a soak&comma; steam and massage&period;&nbsp&semi; Sometimes just a long walk with my dog can help me de-stress&period;&nbsp&semi; Also just knowing I&&num;8217&semi;m healthy&comma; have great friends&comma; family and a supportive husband keeps me from stressing out&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>What is your favorite TV show right now&quest;<&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;I love Blue Bloods&comma; Grey&&num;8217&semi;s Anatomy&comma; Scandal and The Walking Dead&period; &nbsp&semi;Although with The Walking Dead&comma; I have to watch it with my finger on the remote to fast forward through the really scary or brutal parts&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Do you have any other upcoming projects you&&num;8217&semi;d like to tell our readers about&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As I already stated&comma; I was lucky enough to do a voice on American Dad and I shot a film called Stolen From The Cradle&period;&nbsp&semi; I&&num;8217&semi;m not sure when American Dad will&nbsp&semi;air or when Stolen From The Cradle will be released&period; &nbsp&semi;I also just got nominated as Co-Governor for the Performers at the Television Academy&period; &nbsp&semi;My Co-Governor is Lily Tomlin so I am excited to work with Lily and get to know her better&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>How can people find and connect with you online&quest;<&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;I&&num;8217&semi;m on Facebook&comma;&nbsp&semi;Patrika Darbo&period; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;instagram&period;com&sol;patrikadarbo&sol;">Instagram as&nbsp&semi;Patrika Darbo <&sol;a>and you can tweet me <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;twitter&period;com&sol;patrikadarbo">&commat;patrikadarbo<&sol;a>&period;&nbsp&semi; I don&&num;8217&semi;t have the messenger app&comma; but if you FB and leave a message I always answer&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;schema&period;org&sol;Person" itemscope itemprop&equals;"author"><div class&equals;"saboxplugin-tab"><div class&equals;"saboxplugin-gravatar"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;wud&period;tpx&period;mybluehost&period;me&sol;website&lowbar;9bd75fcc&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2014&sol;08&sol;FTV-Favicon1&period;png" width&equals;"100" height&equals;"100" alt&equals;"Feeling the Vibe" itemprop&equals;"image"><&sol;div><div class&equals;"saboxplugin-authorname"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;feelingthevibe&period;com&sol;author&sol;feelingthevibe&sol;" class&equals;"vcard author" rel&equals;"author"><span class&equals;"fn">Feeling the Vibe<&sol;span><&sol;a><&sol;div><div class&equals;"saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop&equals;"description"><p>Editor of Feeling the Vibe Magazine&period;  We have all the scoop on the latest celeb news&comma; makeup tutorials&comma; and so much more&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div><&sol;div><div class&equals;"clearfix"><&sol;div><&sol;div><&sol;div>

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