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ÿş<HTML><head> <title>KnS/Terri Colombino & Paul Leyden Press 2000</title> <style>  </style> </head> <body bgcolor="fffffb" body background="bg.gif" bgproperties=fixed text="#000000" link="#7B5115" vlink="6C6C6C" alink="E2B004"> <center><a href="index.html"><img src="logo.jpg" width="754" height="82" alt="Other Beautiful Things" border="0"></a><TABLE BORDER=0 CELLPADDING=0 CELLSPACING=0> <TR> <TD> <A HREF="index.html"> <IMG SRC="home.gif" WIDTH=57 HEIGHT=22 BORDER=0></A></TD> <TD> <A HREF="images.html"> <IMG SRC="images.gif" WIDTH=76 HEIGHT=22 BORDER=0></A></TD> <TD> <A HREF="media.html"> <IMG SRC="media.gif" WIDTH=155 HEIGHT=22 BORDER=0></A></TD> <TD> <A HREF="storyline.html"> <IMG SRC="story.gif" WIDTH=137 HEIGHT=22 BORDER=0></A></TD> <TD> <A HREF="press.html"> <IMG SRC="press.gif" WIDTH=45 HEIGHT=22 BORDER=0></A></TD> <TD> <A HREF="words.html"> <IMG SRC="words.gif" WIDTH=142 HEIGHT=22 BORDER=0></A></TD> <TD> <A HREF="links.html"> <IMG SRC="links.gif" WIDTH=46 HEIGHT=22 BORDER=0></A></TD> <TD> <A HREF="updates.html"> <IMG SRC="updates.gif" WIDTH=96 HEIGHT=22 BORDER=0></A></TD> </TR> </TABLE> -Terri Colombino & Paul Leyden Press 2000 -</center> <li><a href="#foreign">Foreign Relations (12/19/00)</a> -- <a href="sod12-00.jpg"> Cover Shot</a> <li><a href="#Ido">Simon Says 'I Do' to Katie (/12/19/00)</a> <li><a href="#yearend">Year-End Excerpts (12/19/00) </a> <li><a href="#1nightstand">Katie's New Man is Lily's Old Love (11/21/00)</a> <li><a href="#marryme">Katie to Simon: 'Marry Me' (11/21/00)</a> <li><a href="#nov">November's Hottest Stories (10/24/00) </a> <li><a href="#badgirl">Q&A with Terri Conn: Bad Girl (10/00) <li><a href="#hotstuff">Q&A with Paul Leyden: Hot Stuff (04/00) <hr> <a name="foreign"> <center>Foreign Relations (Soap Opera Digest, December 19, 2001) For Love Of Lily---And A Green Card! Simon Marries Katie On ATWT</center> "Nine months and a marriage already," laughs As the World Turns's Paul Leyden (Simon) about his character's impending nups less than a year after arriving in Oakdale. While, this may be a marriage of (in)convenience for Simon, it's a different situation for Katie, who's been trying to get hitched ever since the morning after their one-night stand which coincided with the arrival of INS agents eager to send the Aussie back Down Under. "It's crunch time between Simon and Lily," Leyden explains. "the INS have agents right on his tail. His visa's run out because he couldn't report while he was stuck on the island. So, they're banging on the door, basically, to deport him." He'd decided to head home, but Lily's recent declaration of love throws Simon. "That changes him straight away because this is the first time he's heard it from her." Enter Katie, oddly enough, to his rescue. "She knows that he's in trouble with the INS, and the only way for him to stay in the country is to marry her. And she really wants him to stay because she doesn't have anyone. Once again, no Margo, no Tom, no Craig, no place to go and no one in the town likes her. So, here's this guy who doesn't really know that much about her, who's charming and sexy and beautiful and kind of an outcast, too," says Terri Conn (Katie). "She's kind of his only friend in Oakdale," agrees Leyden. "And I think Simon really likes Katie. Not, obviously, in the same way he loves Lily, but she's good company, she's willing to help him out, which means a great deal, and she amuses him. She's helping him out as a friend, but she's obviously got her own personal reasons for doing it." Yeah, about those personal reasons...Katie has quite a history of attaching herself to man. "She lost her virginity to Simon. And there's an element of infatuation, which she already has a problem with, as we know with Eddie and Holden," Conn points out. "I don't think it's ever really about the person; it's just needing to be doing something, needing to be focusing her energy on someone else. She has this deep-seated need for someone just to love her and she does the stupidest things. It's really sad." But these are things that Simon will have to worry about on the honeymoon. With time running out on Wednesday, he lets Lily decide his fate. She's initially against the marriage---that is, until the INS agents show up and threaten to send her new love packing. Rather than say good-bye, Lily consents to the union between Simon and Katie---who Lily has just learned is the other woman he had sex with. "Sleeping with somebody else is bad enough, but then to find out it's Katie, it's like, "Could it be a worse person?" "But there's nothing she can do about it now," observes Byrne, who claims that Lily is just getting her priorities straight. "Her problem is Simon staying in the country. Katie's minor compared to that. Lily gets desperate, as usual, and says 'You've got to marry her now or I know I'll never see you again.'" While she stalls the INS, Katie and Simon run to the judge for the hasty ceremony as a stunned Tom and Margo (who show up in a fruitless effort to talk some sense into Katie), and Bryant and Jennifer (corralled as witnesses by the bride) look on. "It's so fast, it's hilarious," chuckles Conn. "It's probably the quickest ceremony in the history of weddings," agrees Leyden. "Then, just as the judge pronounces them man and wife, the INS bursts in and says, 'We'll be watching you like a hawk. Any slip-up and you're screwed, basically.'" The dubious agents also have a few surprising ground rules for the unlikely newlyweds. "That's when Lily's heart sinks and Katie's soars," grins Conn. (Caption with photo - "Katie claims that she's doing Simon a big favor, but Lily knows the blonde is big trouble.") -- Jennifer Lenhart <center><a href="press00.html">Go To Top </a><hr> <a name="Ido"> Simon Says "I Do" to Katie (Soap Opera Weekly, December 19, 2000)</center> Katie's dream -- and Lily's nightmare -- comes true this week when Katie and Simon get married on As the World Turns. Ironically, it's Lily who helps the duo say "I do" when she stalls the INS agents so they can wed, which will keep Simon in the country. "Lily says at the last minute, 'Just do it. Just stay. You can't leave me. I'll never see you again.' That's why Katie and he get married," explains Martha Byrne (Lily.) Still, all is not lost for Lily. "Much worse things have happened to her and she has survived," Bryne says with a sigh. "Her life is just a circus. This is actually a minor adjustment compared to other things that have happened." Lily gets another jolt when she discovers that Katie was the woman Simon slept with the night of Craig's party. "She's not in tears; she's a woman," cites Byrne, applauding her character's reaction. "She handles it like a grown-up." However, Katie's ruthless pursuit of first Holden and now Simon makes it tough for Lily to congratulate Simon's bride. "It couldn't be a worse person for Lily," Bryne says with a laugh. "Lily shoots her down like, 'I know what this is about. We're not even toe to toe.'" But Lily must be sure not to underestimate the new bride. "The girl has plans," warns Byrne. "She's really falling for Simon." -- Tonya Lensch <center><a href="press00.html">Go To Top </a><hr> <a name="yearend"> Year-End Excerpts (Soap Opera Weekly, December 19, 2000)</center> HIT Newcomer: Paul Leyden Not since Paolo Seganti's Damian have we seen Lily's head so effectively turned away from Holden. Fans are split on who Lily should choose, which speaks volumes about Leyden's (Simon) chemistry with Martha Bryne. He also has shown surprising sparks with Terri Conn's Katie, proving that the Aussie newcomer has more going for him than just a nice body and a sexy accent. G'day, indeed. HIT Welcome to the Dark Side: Katie Luckily for ATWT fans, Katie has a lot more in common with sinister brother Craig than with goody-two-shoes sister Margo. She was just another soap opera Pollyanna until she fell for Holden and hooked up with Henry. Those efforts crashed and burned at the Endicott Awards, but Katie bounced back, a vixen on a new mission -- to marry Simon. Terri Conn's tender scenes with Paul Leyden have showed us a different side to Katie: After all that scheming and plotting, she was just a young virgin with a crush! -- Tonya Lensch <center><a href="press00.html">Go To Top </a><hr> <a name="1nightstand"> Katie's New Man is Lily's Old Love ... Katie and Simon team up! (Soap Opera Update, November 21, 2000)</center> New Alliances Misery loves company! Once all is said and done, no one will be able to testify to this adage more than Katie and Simon. The hard-on-their-luck singles just cannot seem to move on with their lives (and obsessions) and forget the unattainable Snyders -- Holden and Lily, respectively -- to seek out more appropriate soulmates. After all, both are attractive and intelligent partners with whom any candidate would be fortunate to pair up. Instead of doing the right thing, however, Katie and Simon participate in the one action that would necessitate more harm than good in their already volatile lives. A Night to Remember In an effort to assuage the compounding rejection and "loser" mentality that now throbs throughout their hearts, Simon and Katie engage in one night of salacious foreplay and passion! Afterwards, Lily informs Simon that she is entertaining the idea of "exploring" her connection to him. Will this Aussie's man's momentary indiscretion cost him the woman he truly loves? The Set-Up After donning a fabulous costume to wear to Craig's Halloween party, Katie is told by her brother that her invitation did not get lost in the mail -- she wasn't on the guest list. Meanwhile, Simon is busy getting hismelf kicked out of the affair after planting one of Mrs. Snyder! Suffering from a severe case of Charlie Brown's "blockhead" syndrome, Terri Conn (Katie) says that she and her fellow outcast decide to have "a little party of our own." Alcohol, always a great catalyst for spontaneous lovemaking on soaps, permits Simon and Katie's inhibitions to fall to the wayside: "It's an exciting twist," believes Conn of the two's lovemaking. "Simon keeps saying all these things aboout how he finally found this woman he adores and will love for the rest of his life, and now he can't have her. It gets to Katie." She wonders why Lily gets all these wonderful men? Why can't Katie have one? What Lies Ahead Adding fuel to the fire is that Simon learns that he has just deflowered Katie, when she is given a pink slip by Craig for her poor work ethic. "She doesn't care at this point," says Conn of Katie's unemployment. "If there wasn't the prospect of having Simon or someone she would freak out!" So, is there a chance that Katie could become a mommy give the unplanned act? "No!" laughes Conn. "She hands Simon a condom." But this may not mean the end of all her problems or schemes, because now Katie holds knowledge of deadly secret (for Simon!) as a bargaining chip. Will she use it? Says Conn: "Of course!" <center><a href="press00.html">Go To Top </a><hr> <a name="marryme"></a> Katie to Simon: "Marry Me!" (Soap Opera Weekly, November 21, 2000)</center> Katie hears wedding bells when she offers to help out her Aussie lover, Simon, this week on As the World Turns. But will the bells toll for him as well? After Simon finds Katie sleeping in the garage, the little schemer is forced to confess that Craig kicked her out. "Craig was her last hope with family and friends, and she doesn't have anywhere else to go," sighs Terri Conn (Katie). When Katie later observes Simon with Lily, she springs into action to keep her soon-to-be-deported loverboy in the states. "Katie -- who needs to be in everyone's business -- calls the INS to find out how he can keep from getting deported," Conn explains. "Of course, they don't help her, so she goes to Tom and finds out that the only way for him is to marry a U.S. citizen." The wheels start turning, and then Katie presents Simon with her solution to his problem: They'll become husband and wife! But does Katie have deeper feelings for Simon than she cares to admit? "I think Katie has A.D.D.," responds Conn with a laugh. "She needs to be doing something big all the time; she's a drama queen. I am sure some of it still has to do with wanting to keep Lily and Holden apart, and she knows that Simon wants that also. Losing your virginity to someone makes you feel the need to be attached to them somehow. I don't think she knows what she's doing; it's just her need to have someone around and involved in her life. He needs to stay in the country, and she needs a place to stay, so it's 'You help me, I'll help you.'" (Caption with photo - "Katie has a most interesting proposal for Simon.") -- Tonya Lensch <center><a href="press00.html">Go To Top </a><hr> <a name="nov"> November's Hottest Stories (Soap Opera Digest, October 24, 2000)</center> As the World Turns -- "November sweeps is going to be kicked off by a lavish Halloween party, [after] which a lot of lives will go in new and exciting directions," says Executive Producer Christopher Goutman. Rose/Holden/Lily/Simon: "We're all aware of Lily's attraction to Simon as well as her devotion to Holden. That conflict will continue. Something will happen to Simon that will also complicate Lily's ability to commit to him and him to her. Rose's attraction to Holden will continue and vice versa," explains Goutman. And finally, "Katie will have a very interesting effect on the Rose/Holden/Lily/Simon relationship. It will be a real surprise and a lot of fun for the audience." <center><a href="press00.html">Go To Top </a><hr> <a name="badgirl"></a> Q&A with Terri Conn: Bad Girl (Soap Opera Digest On-Line, October 2000)</center> Katie arrived in Oakdale as Margo's sweet little sister, but that didn't last long. She was determined to work her way up the ladder at WOAK - and Katie didn't care who she stepped on in the process! It's no wonder that fans were thrilled when Katie finally had to face the music! CBS.com caught up with TERRI CONN, the sweet young actress behind Katie's wicked ways. Terri chatted about Katie's latest situation - and possible new love interests! CBS.com: Fans reacted strongly to the Endicott Award scenes where Katie was exposed. What was it like playing those scenes? Terri Conn: Good! It was very nerve-racking. I mean, I was so excited that it was written so well, and [what] everybody's been waiting for happened so dramatically. I was nervous because I knew that it was important. I wanted it to be so good because the audience has been waiting for so long for that to happen. So I put a lot of pressure on myself, but I think it worked out because I feel good about how [the scenes] came out. CBS.com: When everyone turned on Katie, did you take it personally at all? Conn: At the beginning, when Katie first starting turning [bad], I started taking it personally, just the way that people reacted to her. I was kind of resisting playing it really nasty because I kept thinking, "Well, I would never do that" or "This doesn't make sense." And it's just because I was feeling it was me, and it was not me. But I've gotten over that over the past year, I guess. I don't feel that way anymore at all. I wanted them to really nail me so that I could be really upset, and it worked. I mean, even the extras were so good that day. I looked out while everyone was yelling at me and everyone was just staring at me so stunned, and it really felt like I had done something horrible like she did. So, it was good. CBS.com: What would you like to see happen now that Katie is out of WOAK? Conn: Well, I'd like to see her become a stronger person because of this, learn from the mistakes and still be cutthroat, but not so immature about it. I'd like to see her fall in love because that would soften her up a bit, but I don't want to see her too soft. I still think she's better off as a bad girl. [Laughs] CBS.com: Craig has taken Katie under his wing. What does Katie hope to gain from their renewed relationship? Conn: I think she's just never really felt like she fit into the family because she was a late in life child and everybody already had their lives going when she came along. So I don't think she's ever felt like she had her place in the family. When he helped her out in that situation, it was like a new beginning, like, "Yeah, somebody actually cares about me no matter what I do, which is what family's all about." But it hasn't been working out that way because he's not treating her so well. [Laughs] And she's not treating him so well, either. CBS.com: How do you like working with Hunt Block [Craig]? Conn: He's great. He's so much fun. It's weird because the day that I first met him is the day we shot the stuff that aired after the Endicotts, where we're back up in the hotel room. I was kind of nervous because we have to have this brother/sister relationship, but [Hunt and I] had never met. But I think it came across really well, and for some reason I think we have really good chemistry as brother and sister. There's that feel there, which is weird because I've never had a sibling, so I don't really know what it's like. But I really like working with him because there's that feel to it of family. CBS.com: The Katie/Carly rivalry was set up instantly. What is it like working with Maura West? Conn: Yeah, no kidding! Oh, she's the best. I love working with her. I was so excited when I found out that I got to work with her because I've always admired her work, and she definitely makes it easy. Working with [Maura and Hunt] makes it a piece of cake. [Laughs] And I like what they're doing. Had [Carly] not been Molly's cousin, I think they actually could have gotten along. She could have been a good friend to Katie, I think. CBS.com: Could you see Katie becoming involved romantically with anyone on the canvas right now - besides Holden? Conn: Not really. CBS.com: Do you think Katie's over Holden? Conn: I think she's in denial. You know, not thinking about it and saying, "I'm over it, I'm over it," but I'm sure the minute she sees him it's going to be a different story. You know how we do that! We think we're so strong, and something happens and it all comes rushing back in. You can't just put those feelings aside like we all wish we could. You have to deal with them. CBS.com: There was a Simon/Katie scene at the bar where the two commiserated about Holden and Lily. Could you see Katie falling for Simon? Conn: I don't know. I would love to have a friend in him, and maybe work together with him and then maybe fall in love. That might be an interesting twist. CBS.com: Chris and Katie were friends way back when. Do you see those two ever getting romantic? Conn: I would like to resolve that relationship, maybe show a story of a friend trying to get back to a friendship after one person was betrayed by the other. It happens a lot in real life. People do stupid things and you have to get back to the core of why you were friends in the first place and build that trust back again. I think that's an interesting story. And I would like to delve into that with him. I don't think it should just be left hanging. Do I think they could fall in love? I don't think so. [Laughs] But you know, weirder things have happened. CBS.com: Fans loved the Katie/Henry scenes, as I'm sure you have heard many times. Conn: Yes, I loved Henry and Katie, too. CBS.com: Since Henry will be sticking around Oakdale, dare we hope for some more of those scenes? Conn: Definitely. Well, we did some more just the other day. I knew that [Trent Dawson] was coming back, but I didn't know that I'd be working with him. And I still don't know if I'll be working with him that much, but I saw his name and my name on the script together, and I got so excited. In the scenes, Katie's not so excited to see him, but& [Laughs] He is my favorite to work with. I have grown so much as an actor working with Trent. He's so good and he makes so much out of every scene. I just love working with him, so I would love for Katie and Henry to hook up. I mean, that's even more bizarre than Chris and Katie, but I think it would be really interesting. It could work. CBS.com: You've done a lot of episodic television spots. How is daytime different? Conn: Well, the television show [Breaker High] that I did was almost as quick and fast-paced as a soap because we did three episodes in a week, whereas normal sitcoms do one a week. We didn't perform in front of a live studio audience, as a lot of sitcoms do, so I didn't get to experience that. Although I've done that on some guest star work, which is really fun. That's the closest I've gotten to theater and it's amazing. I love it. But it's really not that different. It's actually a lot more sitting around and waiting because the soap schedules are so organized and set up so that you get all your scenes done in the morning and then you're gone, or you come in later and you get them all in the afternoon and you're done. So, it's different in that respect, too. But the people and hanging out and stories and working together, that's all the same - and that's my favorite part. CBS.com: Were you a daytime fan before you joined the show? Conn: Yes, I was a Young and the Restless fan, and I still am. CBS.com: Didn't you appear on Young and the Restless at one point? Conn: Yes, I actually did. That was my first job when I moved to L.A. I played a model for Jabot. It was one day with Dru and Malcolm, who I was so excited to work with. [Shemar Moore] was so sweet. I remember because I was so nervous. I had watched that show since I was pretty much born, so I knew everyone and everything about it. I think I had like four lines, but he was so nice and he made me feel comfortable. CBS.com: Did you relocate to New York for this job? Conn: Yes. CBS.com: You're from New Mexico originally, and you also lived in L.A. Conn: Yes, I lived [in L.A.] for about a year and a half, and then I moved to Vancouver to film the series Breaker High. Then I went back to L.A. for six months and then I moved here. CBS.com: What do you miss about New Mexico? Conn:I miss the weather and the clear skies and the people and the relaxed pace. New Mexico is really special. It's called the land of enchantment, and it sounds kind of cheesy, but it is. There's something special and magical about it that you can't explain. That's what I miss about it. And I miss my family of course. I just feel comfortable there. I go back usually about twice a year - either for Easter or in the summer and for Christmas. And my parents try to get out here twice a year, too, but it's not the same as having them right down the street. CBS.com: Is Kristina Sisco [Abigail] still your roommate? Conn: No, we have actually both moved to the city and live alone [in different areas of New York City]. CBS.com: How do you like living alone? Conn:Well, I just moved in about three days ago, so it's good so far. I've just been painting and getting everything ready. CBS.com: What do you like the most about living in Manhattan? Conn: Oh, that's a toughie. I love everything about it. I really have gotten into living in the city and am not really looking forward to moving back to L.A., which is funny because it took me a while to get into New York and I missed L.A. a lot. I still do. My two very best friends live there, so it's kind of hard to be away from them. But in respect to how the people are and just the lifestyle and what's important to people, I definitely like it a lot better here. CBS.com: What do you do to relax? Conn: I love decorating and that's why I was really excited to move into a new place. I like to paint the walls different colors and make everything match. So, I've been really doing that a lot. It's a little bit stressful while you're moving, but it's really therapeutic. Environment's really important to me, so I like to do that. I love going to the park in the summer. I love going to the movies. CBS.com: Are you dating anyone? Conn: Yes, I am! His name is Arthur and he is fabulous. He's an actor and a singer. We met at a party the night before the Emmys. He's good friends with Don Jeffcoat [Joey, One Life to Live], so he was there with him. We just hit it off, and we've pretty much been inseparable ever since. CBS.com: Now, about Katie's love life.... Conn: Yeah, we'll see! <center><a href="press00.html">Go To Top </a><hr> <a name="hotstuff"> Q&A with Paul Leyden: Hot Stuff (Soap Opera Digest On-Line, April 2000)</center> It was a hot and humid summer day in New York City when CBS.com caught up with Paul Leyden for a getting to know you chat. Despite the heat, the Australian actor was personable and open about his mysterious role of Simon Frasier on As the World Turns, his co-stars, his family and his hopes for the future. CBS.com: How is it going at ATWT? Paul Leyden: It's going well. It's good because my schedule has kind of quieted down a little bit. Finally, I can just chill out and get to see the city and do some touristy things, which I haven't had a chance to do yet. CBS.com:Have you lived in the States before? Leyden: No, not before the show. This is the first time I've been over here. I came over in early January for the call back audition. This is it - the first time I've been to the States, and definitely the first time I've lived here. It's all very new! CBS.com: How do you like living in New York? Leyden: I think it's great. I love New York. New York is just everything it's cracked up to be - it's a big, bustling, energetic city and there's always something happening. Come summer, it's a little depressing that it's so sweltering hot and there's no escape. There are no pools around; the closest ocean you can swim in is about an hour away. I think that's going to get to me. It's one of those things that you have to adjust to, I guess. But apart from that, I'm having a great time in New York. CBS.com: How did you land the role? Leyden: I was back home in Melbourne doing an audition for a new primetime series. I was on about my third call back for that when my agent called up and said they want you to put an audition down for a CBS TV show that's shot in New York. I said, "That sounds pretty cool." I had no idea what the show was. I had a feeling it was a soap, but I wasn't sure exactly. So I did the audition at a studio back home, and my agent sent it over and [I] thought nothing else of it. I didn't really care what happened. [Laughs] You know, because I was booked out anyway [with the local show]. Then this job came through; they wanted to fly me out for a call back audition. And that's when everything sort of took a new direction. All the contract stuff had to be worked out before I was flown over because if I agreed to come over for the call back audition and if I got the job, then it was sort of a given that I'd take it. It's pretty hard making decisions about what you're going to do when you haven't even got the job yet. I decided that despite the fact that the show back home was going to be really terrific, to be given an opportunity possibly of working in the States and living in New York was too good to pass up. So, I came over for the call back audition, thought I bombed it completely, pretty much tripped over the carpet and hit my head on the furniture. [Laughs] I must have done something right...God knows what! I went back home and two weeks later, they called up and said, "Yeah, you got it." CBS.com: You screen-tested with Martha Byrne (Lily/Rose). What was your first impression of her? Leyden: She was great. I didn't know this at the time, but she had been trying to audition for this role for about nine months. She'd seen about 35 or 40 people who had to do the same audition scene and kiss her at the end of the scene. We were the last lot of Australians that they had flown over. So, I think she was at the end of her tether with the whole audition process, but she was so professional and really giving. She was terrific. And she's a great kisser! [Laughs] CBS.com: Simon is very mysterious. What can you tell us about him? Leyden: Well, I'm kind of learning about him everyday as well. Because we don't have a breakdown of what's going to happen to the character or the story more than a week in advance, you kind of just continually learn about the character you're playing day by day. He did start off quite mysterious and, obviously, as a bit of a con artist trying to weasel his way into Lily's life somehow to track down this diamond. I guess that was his main priority. But as the weeks go by, that's becoming less and less important as his relationship with Lily grows into one of great affection, I think. [She's] someone that he really enjoys being around, someone who can handle him and sort of give it right back to him as good as he gives. You know what I mean? Every single time I'm on the floor playing this character, I'm learning so much and trying to take risks with the character, trying to make him fairly bold. Obviously, some of them pay off and some of them don't. That's what's good about this medium of TV, you do it, it's over, then you go on to the next [scene] and you try to make up for something that you didn't like in the last scene. That sort of got off the question a little bit, didn't it? [Laughs] CBS.com: Were you given a lot of background about Simon coming in? Leyden: No. When I got the job, I had to fly out of Australia as soon as the Visa came through, which took about a week. They FedExed about three scripts. I flew in on Wednesday morning. I got into New York at about two o'clock in the morning. I had a meeting with [Executive Producer] Chris Goutman at about 9:30, and I was on the floor shooting by about ten to ten. [Laughs] So the background information I got on him was during that twenty-minute conversation with Chris. I don't think they really knew where he was going or what he was going to be doing because the storyline was only in the beginning stages. I think a lot of what they initially had planned for this character may have changed as the story has gone along. As I said, I'm kind of learning everyday and not really knowing where the story is going. Once we get off the island and back into Oakdale, who I'll be involved with, I have no idea. Every single day is kind of flying by the seat of your pants a little, but that makes it exciting at the same time because you don't plan too much. You don't have any idea in your mind of what you want to do. You just kind of play each moment as it comes. CBS.com: Do you know anything about Simon's relationship with his sister Celia? Leyden: Again, no background information. We have no idea where we come from. [Laughs] It's all a little bit up in the air. It's sort of what you make of it on the day. I think Fiona [Hutchison, Celia] obviously had her ideas about their relationship, so it seemed pretty dysfunctional. I don't think they get along. Something happened in the past for them to be sort of mortal enemies. CBS.com: It seems like you enjoy working with Martha. Leyden: Oh, I love it. It's a great job; it's a terrific show. I think there are some really fantastic actors on the show. Out of all daytime soaps, I think this is one of the better-acted shows on TV. To get the opportunity to work with Martha is fantastic. Not only do I love working with her as an actor, but she's a great personality. She has made my transition to New York 100 times easier than it could have been. She's great. We get along like a house on fire. We have a very similar sense of humor, which is a pretty dirty sense of humor. I can't speak highly enough of her. She's terrific. CBS.com: How was it to work with Martha playing Rose as opposed to Lily? Leyden: It was great because it was probably a little more Martha than Lily. [Laughs] You saw these flashes come through in Rose and you're like, "That's just like talking to Martha in her dressing room!" I love working with Rose because I can see how much fun Martha was having with it as well. I can't wait to work with Rose again because [Martha] has delineated those characters so well. They're two such different people that when I finally got to work with Rose, it was seriously like working with a different actress. Lily and Rose are just kind of worlds apart. [Martha] has obviously done so much work, and it's really paying off in the fact that the characters are different. Which gives me something to work off, too. I don't have to pretend that I'm working with a different person, because it's really obvious that it is. CBS.com: What are your hopes for Simon's storyline? Leyden: I don't know. I don't think that people on screen know who he really is. It's all a cover. Every time Lily tries to talk to him about his past life, he gets off it. No one's been able to get close to him. So, I guess my hope is that the relationship with Lily will bring something out in him. I think that will completely settle him as a person and make him kind of a more loveable character than he is now. CBS.com: You haven't had the opportunity to work with much of the cast. Who would you like to work with? Leyden: As I said, I'm working with Martha, so I have no complaints whatsoever. But I guess for the show and the storylines and to keep this character going, he's going to have to be integrated into Oakdale. If that's the case, I'd love to be involved somehow with Terri's [Conn] character Katie and Trent [Dawson, Henry]. I think add Simon into that mix and it can be kind of fun. [Laughs] CBS.com: We've gotten some letters saying Simon should hook up with Julia. Leyden: Oh, yeah. Again, I wouldn't complain if they hooked me up with Annie [Parisse]. That's fine. She's very cute. She's a great girl. CBS.com: What do you do when you're not at the ATWT studio? Leyden: At the moment, I've had a lot of people visiting from Australia. So it's been good to do some kind of touristy things and get out and about and kind of discover the city with someone who doesn't really know it either. When I don't have visitors in town, I pretend I'm a local and just do normal things - eat, sleep and go to work. When I have visitors in town, that's when I kind of get out and about and really explore the city. I've met some really terrific actors and filmmakers in town. I do a lot of writing. I've written a feature and I'm halfway through another one and I've just finished two short films. CBS.com: Have you always been interested in writing? Leyden: I've always had a passion for it, since I was way back in primary school. I didn't have the opportunity [to write] when I first got over here because I didn't have my computer. Since I've kind of settled here now and I got a laptop, I'm really right back into that now, which is good. It's another creative outlet from the show. I'd love to be able to get into some theater here and meet some people in the independent film scene because that's ultimately where my passion is - film. To be able to meet some great people in that field and work when I'm not on the show would be perfect. CBS.com: Tell me about the feature you just wrote. Leyden: It's kind of a psychological thriller. It's a young and funky, urban based psychological thriller, bit of a love triangle. It's like Fight Club meets The Game. CBS.com: That sounds cool! Leyden: It's pretty cool, actually. CBS.com: Do you go to the movies often? Leyden: I probably go to movies more than I should. Especially here in New York. All the big movies come out to Australia, but here you just have the opportunity to see a new film opening every week and it's great. I try to get to about two movies a week because I love seeing films, even if they're not that good. I love watching films and watching actors and what they're doing. It's good escapism for a couple of hours. Gets me off the streets! CBS.com: What is the best movie you've seen recently? Leyden: It definitely wasn't Mission Impossible II. That was really disappointing because it was shot in Sydney as well. The one that I've kind of enjoyed the most recently was High Fidelity with John Cusack. I had read the book beforehand and it was a really, really good, close adaptation to the book. I went and saw Shaft recently and that was fun. It was good to see an Australian actor like Toni Collette doing really well. CBS.com: I understand you dabble in music as well. Leyden: Yeah. Not to as great a degree as I used to when I was younger. When I went through secondary school, I played the sax and was in lots of bands. Then I went through one of those weird early twenties periods when you get involved in things you shouldn't and you run out of money. [Laughs] So, I sold my saxophone, which was a nice, beautiful, incredible instrument. It was a great, great saxophone. I haven't gotten around to buying another one since. That's another thing I want to do when I'm here. I play the guitar as well. I was actually going to do that this week, go out and get a guitar and take some singing lessons and get back into that side of things as well. If I've got the time, I might as well. I want to milk this city for what it's worth while I'm here. CBS.com: What is your favorite touristy thing that you've done since coming here? Leyden: Actually, it wasn't in New York. I haven't really gotten out of the city too much - I haven't had a chance - but I went up to Newport in Rhode Island and that was beautiful. A really, really beautiful spot. CBS.com: Did you visit the mansions? Leyden: Yes. I went and saw the Breakers, which I guess is the main mansion that everyone seems to visit there. It was the most incredibly built house ever. The fact that it was just their summerhouse was kind of freaky. [I was] just blown away by all of the ridiculous architecture inside. In New York, I love rollerblading around Central Park and down the West Side Highway into Battery Park. I get a real kick out of that. That's when I can stay on my feet. [Laughs] I love rollerblading around the city. It's a real good way to get around and it's a lot of fun. All the bars - you could probably go out every single night of your life to about ten different bars, and you still wouldn't even come close to discovering every new bar and restaurant and club in the city. It's quite amazing. CBS.com: Are you single? Leyden: Yes. CBS.com: Did you have a girlfriend back home? Leyden: I did. It's kind of difficult to maintain a relationship when you're 20,000 miles away and there's no foreseeable time that you're going to see each other. When I first got here, I was living with one foot in Australia and one foot in New York. And you can't really appreciate or enjoy where you are if you do that, because you're constantly going to feel homesick. So, I needed to kind of take my foot out of Australia and fully plant it here. Since I've done that, I've just gotten so much more out of the city and feel really relaxed. I met some great people and I'm really enjoying it. CBS.com: Do you have a roommate? Leyden: Yes, I do. I live with an Australian girl who's an architect. Ironically enough, she was a roommate of my sister's in Melbourne for about a year or so, and her sister is one of my sister's best friends. So, I didn't actually meet her until I got [to New York]. This apartment came up, and it was too expensive for me to have myself, and she wasn't happy with where she was living. It worked out well. CBS.com: You're one of five children. Are you the oldest, youngest& ? Leyden: Second. I've got an older brother who's a doctor, and then there's me, and then a sister who's in sports management, another sister who's in publications, like advertising, and a younger brother who studies law in university. CBS.com: Is everyone else still back in Australia? Leyden: Yes. Most of the family, mom and dad, my two younger sisters and younger brother are in Melbourne, and my older brother is married and lives in Sydney. CBS.com: Was it difficult leaving them all behind? Leyden>: Yeah. We're an incredibly tight family. There's nothing that our family doesn't share with each other. We're one of these kind of frighteningly tight knit groups. There's never really any fighting; we get along so well. Going out to a family dinner is kind of scary because we all kind of compete for the most attention. We have to purposely go to restaurants that are so loud that we kind of get drowned out. Otherwise, I think we'd get kicked out of most quiet restaurants. But it was really sad, actually, leaving them behind. I lived in Sydney for four years before I came over here, so I only saw my family back home every few months anyway. But I got to speak to them all at least once a week. So, it was really sad even being out of the country and knowing you could speak to them all really infrequently. Even though everyone's on the e-mail and I can e-mail them every so often to get the updates of what's going on. I still try to speak to Mum once a week. Mum freaks out if I don't speak to her once a week. [Laughs] CBS.com: How far is Melbourne from Sydney? Leyden: About an hour and ten minutes by plane. It's about a twelve-hour drive. CBS.com: Do you think Americans have some common misconceptions about Australia? Leyden: It's so far away; it's a twenty-five hour flight. That's daunting enough. I guess a lot of Americans don't even get out of America, so the last place they'd go is Australia because it's so far away. There's not a lot of exposure in the States to good Australian television, and you don't get a lot of our films on general release over here either. Which is a shame, because I think good Australian drama is as good as the good American drama. Our primetime shows can be just as good as NYPD Blue or Law & Order. It's just very Australian. I think a lot of people don't know that the majority of people in Australia live on the coast, that we don't all live in the Outback and ride kangaroos around. And we aren't all like the Crocodile Hunter, you know? I can't remember the last time I actually had to wrestle a crocodile or caught a brown snake in my hand. [Laughs] I've met people here [who've asked], "Have you stuck you're head in a croc?" I'm like, "Uh, no." People don't know that we live on the coast. Sydney and Melbourne and Perth and Brisbane, they're major metropolitan and cosmopolitan cities in the world. Especially Sydney and Melbourne. They're easily two of the most livable beautiful cities that I've ever been to. CBS.com: Where would you live if you could live anywhere? Leyden: Well, I haven't actually done enough traveling to know. While I'm here, now that my schedule has quieted a little bit, I plan on doing weekend trips here and there around the States, and just really make it a working holiday while I'm here. And get to Europe and do as much of that as I can as well. New York's an amazing place, but I don't think once I get to that point when I want to settle down and have a few rugrats whether New York is the place to really raise them. There's no place like Sydney or Melbourne to raise kids. Not that I really want to raise kids right now - I can't believe I'm even talking about kids! [Laughs] CBS.com: Have you been out to L.A.? Leyden: No, I haven't been to L.A. yet. I was actually planning a trip [there to] catch up with a couple of people I know out there. It'll be nice, I think, as an actor to see L.A. when you don't feel the pressure of having to go and find work. I've heard so many things. People seem to have a love/hate relationship with L.A. I think they love it when they're working and they hate it when they're not. It'll be nice to go visit the beaches and hang out a little bit when I know that there's not that pressure of going to do auditions, although I look forward to that opportunity as well. CBS.com: When he first arrived in Oakdale, Simon was pretending he was an architect. Did we ever find out exactly what he does for a living? Leyden: No. [Laughs] If you find out what he is, let me know. At the moment he's a bit of everything. He pretends to be an architect, so he could obviously pretend to do blueprints. He's an artist, so he can obviously paint portraits. He can crack safes, he can build rafts on an island, he can fish for food...I don't know. Whatever. I think he's one of those characters that are fairly easy to write for because it's like, "Okay, we need to build a sixteen-story skyscraper entirely out of bark. Yeah, I reckon Simon can do that." [Laughs] CBS.com: Maybe we'll soon find out that he's a neurosurgeon. Leyden: Yeah, exactly. You just have to suspend your disbelief sometimes. CBS.com: Have you watched the CBS TV show Survivor at all? Leyden: I have. I have to say I'm kind of addicted to it! [Laughs] CBS.com: You're not the only one! We got an e-mail the other day where someone was considering the correlation between your storyline and Survivor. Leyden: I think it's coincidental that [Simon and Lily] ended up there and Survivor has hit its peak. I don't think we're going to bump into too many of those guys [from Survivor] while we're out there! [Laughs] CBS.com: Have you been recognized walking around the streets? Leyden: A couple of times. Before I got my laptop, I was down at an Internet Café and I was e-mailing a friend back home. This girl came up to me and said, "So when are you going to finish painting Lily's portrait?" I was like, "Sorry?" I had no idea what she was talking about. She goes, "You're Simon, right?" She sat down and started to read the e-mail I was writing. [Laughs] CBS.com: Fans watch you each day, so they feel like they know you. Leyden: Yeah. That's the thing. Some of them don't delineate between you as a person and an actor and the character you're meant to be portraying. That's kind of frustrating. When you get fan mail saying, "I can't believe you're doing this. You must be a really awful person, Paul!" Do you not realize this is pretend? [Laughs] CBS.com: Have you been back home since taking the role? Leyden: No, no, no. I haven't had a chance for a 25-hour flight back home. And if I'm going to go back home, it's got to be for at least two weeks because by the time you get over jet lag and adjust back to the time difference, it's not worth going for anything less than a couple of weeks. I don't know if I'll get there this year. Depending on the schedule, I might try to get back for Christmas and have myself a couple more weeks of summer. If I do have only a week off, I may visit a place I've never been before. CBS.com: It's been nice talking to you. I wish you continued success on the show! 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