Buchanan rejoined the cast of ANOTHER WORLD in October 1994 in the role of Victoria Harrison. She previously portrayed identical twins Victoria Love and Marley Hudson from July 1991 to April 1994.
The transcript was edited for ease of reading and to correct typographical errors and was prepared in standard ASCII by emcee Lou MD:
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OnlineHost: Your Emcee for tonight is LindaSG.
OnlineHost: NBC Online welcomes Jensen Buchanan to the AOL Live Auditorium. Jensen Buchanan, rejoined the cast of ANOTHER WORLD in October 1994 in the role of Victoria Harrison. She previously portrayed identical twins Victoria Love and Marley Hudson from July 1991 to April 1994.
OnlineHost: Ms. Buchanan says it was really singing that led her to acting. On stage, Ms. Buchanan has appeared in the musicals "The Gondoliers," "The Sound of Music" and "They're Playing Our Song" at the Green Mountain Guild Theater in Vermont. Her additional theatre credits include "Pippin" at the Boston University Theater and "Babes in Toyland" at the Loom Theatre in New York.
OnlineHost: She has also studied at the Boston University Theater Institute and Circle in the Square Professional Workshop. Ms. Buchanan is no stranger to daytime television. She portrayed Sarah Gordon on "One Life To Live" and has also appeared on "All My Children." The actress, who has continued singing (soprano), has appeared with the now defunct Light Opera of Manhattan and performed in cabarets.
OnlineHost: Ms. Buchanan, who has blonde hair and blue eyes, is 5'4" and enjoys playing the piano, discovering new restaurants and all sports, especially tennis. She resides in Brooklyn, NY with her husband, Gray O'Brien (married 12-28-91) and her son John Conor (b. 4-24-94).
CSEmcee3: Hello Ms. Buchanan! Thank you so much for joining us!
JensenLive: My pleasure!
CSEmcee3: Let's see our first audience question:
Question: Hi Jens, It's me, Marie! :) Has Phelps taken over yet, and what's the mood over there?
JensenLive: I knew it! We're all sorry to lose John Valente because he was so loved personally and a great executive producer but we're all ready to move on now. And hope Jill finds a warm and inviting atmosphere. We met her briefly last week, and she seemed very positive and excited about new directions she wants the show to take. The rumour is she loves actors, so we're delighted!
Question: Will you be appearing at Hershey Park on June 4th?
JensenLive: Yes, with Paul Michael Valley and Joe Barbara.
Question: My wife and I love watching you on "Another World." You are fun to watch. Is there any future plans you have besides "Another World?"
JensenLive: I still have almost two and a half years on my contract. And at this point, with my husband in school and my one-year-old baby, I couldn't be happier at AW. I think I play one of the best characters in daytime and what the writers give me to work with is reason enough to stay.
Question: Hi, Jensen. Welcome to AOL! Now that you are a mother in real life, do you find yourself relating to the actors who play your children on the show differently?
JensenLive: Well I have new children on the show. :-) They're older, at least Steven is. As for working with the baby, it would have been a disaster if I didn't have any experience with Connor. Now I understand how tough little babies can be! And they're really nothing to be frightened of. I think it adds a whole new dimension to Vicky having two children.
Question: Will Vicky and Ryan EVER get married?
JensenLive: Your guess is as good as mine ;-) But the audience has been so patient and so persistent that I'm hoping a nice WARM remote is in my future! LOL!
Question: Whose idea was it to cut your hair?
JensenLive: After I had the baby, my hair hasn't been the same. I lost A LOT of hair! It was my idea . It's summer. I'm busier than I've ever been in my life and I'm so happy with shorter hair. I think it works for Vicky too. Her life is busier with children and I like to think she doesn't have the time to blow her hair out every morning. :-)
Question: Hi, Jensen. I'm so happy to see you here! Will you get to work with Judi more often?
JensenLive: It'll be interesting to see what kind of mark Jill Farren-Phelps will have on the writers. One thing that frustrates is the lack of long-term friendship on the show. It took Paulina and Vicky almost four years to become friends and I hope it's something the writers see through. I always want to keep the edge to our friendship but Judi's one of my favorite people to work with.
Question: Is Kirk going to turn out to be Ryan's son?
JensenLive: Again, your guess is as good as mine. The show is in transition with a new exec, and I really have no idea how stories will play themselves out. As an actress, I don't like knowing a future story. I figure that if I don't know what's around the corner in my life, why should I on the show.
Question: Hi, Jensen. Your press recently has been great. You sound really happy with the show. Does this mean an extended stay this time around?
JensenLive: I don't have any plans to leave at this point.
Question: You and Paul Michael Valley have such good chemistry together. Do you hang out together "in the real world" too?
JensenLive: Paul is my friend in the "real world."
JensenLive: We are both Mid-Westerners, and I think there's something in speaking that same language. We call it "cheese" language that comes through on screen. I'm very comfortable with Paul. I think he's a great actor and a great friend. And his fiancee's not bad either! :-)
Question: So, what do you like about being in a soap opera?
JensenLive: I like the ensemble spirit. I like the consistency. New material every day. It's really a challenging, rewarding and somewhat stable life for
an actor. Question: Jensen, you little rascal! You are certainly full of mischief but your intentions are always good of course. Would you ever do any of the things your character has done for your child and if so what would you do?
JensenLive: Oh yes, always good intentions! Hopefully, I would never come up against anyone as unreasonable as Grant .in my real life. But if I did, having a child of my own has taught me that you would go to lengths you never dreamed. What would I do? Hard to know. But really anything for those big blue eyes and those rosy red cheeks!
Question: What's your favorite storyline on AW?
JensenLive: Well, it was mine! (LOL) I loved the Grant/baby debacle. Anything that involves Mark Pinter I always love. Who could be better to hate?
Question: Jensen, I've read that you and Judi are good friends off screen. What do you and Judi do together when your not working ?
JensenLive: LOL Is that you, Judi?
JensenLive: Judi and I have been known to party with the best of them! I'll leave the rest to your imagination.
Question: Hi, Jensen. I'm from Appleton, WI and really enjoy your character on the show. Have you ever considered using your real son as Kirkland on the show?
JensenLive: Hello, Appleton! Just five minutes from my home town. I wasn't interested in using Connor. One actor in the family is enough. It can be very long hours, very harsh lights and I personally would rather have Connor at the park. When he was first born and I came back to the show, I brought him to the studio with me quite often. Now that he's bigger and walking, I think the outside environment and home is better. A television studio doesn't have a lot of windows and I really think working on a soap opera is a pretty adult environment. Still, there are some children who at a very young age seem to want to act and I have an enormous respect for the mothers, the fathers and the grand parents who cart them into the studio.
Question: How do you manage being a mom with a 1-year-old son and a front burner storyline on AW?
JensenLive: Well, I play one character now and that has helped. As hard as it is to be a working mother, I have again a lot of respect for the mothers that stay home. I know at the end of a hard weekend, I'll get a little break. It's those stay at home moms who don't get the breaks. I have a woman who helps me enormously and the show has been incredibly understanding and accommodating. I have a wonderful dressing room with a nursery attached for those times that I can't bear to leave Connor at home.
Question: Jensen, when you get time off, where do you like to go on vacation? Where is your favorite romantic vacation spot?
JensenLive: I love to ski, so we always enjoy vacations to Colorado. One of our great friends has a nice house in Vail and that is probably my favorite place in Colorado. Now that we have Connor, our vacations often involve grandmas and grandpas and so Gray and I spend a lot of time with family.
Question: Do the writers ever let the actors have a say so in storylines?
JensenLive: Our writers don't write in our building which is probably both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because we're not bugging them all the time :-) and a curse because they don't get a chance to know us day to day. Our story concerns go directly to the executive producer.
Question: Do you find it harder to play Victoria or Marley? How are they different and how are they the same?
JensenLive: Just to add to that last one, I think an actor or actress can sell a story. Make it happen if they want to or sabotage it if they don't. That's the truth. So in that sense, we have a say.
JensenLive: Back to Marley or Victoria. When I first started, I was much more comfortable playing Marley. She was more reserved and having played Sarah on "One Life To Live," Marley was an easier transition. Now, there's no one I'd rather play than Vicky. This character has pushed me as an actress. I constantly feel challenged and learn new things about her everyday. Vicki is so accessible to everyone. She says what we all wish we could.
Question: How do you really feel about having to down Vicky's junk food on air so often?
JensenLive: I LOVE IT! I never eat like that, but it's one thing I love to commit to. The more takes the better!
Question: Will "Another World" ever use your singing talents on the show even as much as singing a lullaby to the new baby?
JensenLive: I don't want to sing on the show. I just can't imagine the character Vicky having this hidden singing talent that she never showed off before.
Question: Hi, Jensen! Welcome to AOL! Is this your first time online?
JensenLive: I'm a member of AOL. Thanks to a very special friend and peek in on all you NBC message-board heads!
Question: What "dream" role in any movie or play would you like to play?
JensenLive: This sounds really gross but I'm playing her. The great thing about playing such a multi-dimensional character on a soap is that it's a new script every day. Sometimes when our pace slows down at work, I think to myself .I'd go nuts on a film where they do a page a day. We do 90 pages a day. I tend to like many of the parts Meg Ryan plays. But don't have one specific, although, I did always secretly want to be Julie Andrews in "The Sound of Music." Don't tell. :-)
Question: Jensen, you have a very unique name. Is there a story behind it?
JensenLive: Jensen is my mother's maiden name. She was one of three girls and there was no way for the Jensen name to be carried on unless one of the children's first names was Jensen. All family members were outraged! How could my mother name a child such a weird name? I hated it as a child, and wanted to change my name to Cindy, but I love it now.
Question: Jensen, your dialogue absolutely crackles! Is Jensen as tart as Vicky?
JensenLive: Tart--like sour...or "tarty" like bimbo? :-) Vicky's so quick. And I doubt I'm that quick. Plus remember. she's the one who says what we all wish we could, but don't.
CSEmcee3: We have time for one last question.
Question: I love the way you dress on the show. Do you have any say in what you wear?
JensenLive: Yes. I'd say it's a collaboration. I also love Vicky's wild sense of style.
OnlineHost: All good things must come to an end. Time is up for this event.
CSEmcee3: Thank you so much for being here this evening, Ms. Buchanan! And for sharing all this fun information!
JensenLive: What great fun! And I can't believe how fast it went. Don't forget I read the message board! Good night! See you in Bay City tomorrow!
CSEmcee3: Thank you for joining us, Audience! Good night everyone!
OnlineHost: Our thanks to Jensen Buchanan for appearing online tonight and to NBC Online for making this event possible. Thank you and good night.