Overnite SISK-cess
It is 100 degrees and it feels like 115 in New York City, but Laura Sisk appears cool as a cucumber as she breezes into the restaurant located on Manhattan's upper west side. She is dressed simply but elegantly in a washed-silk shorts set; with her naturally wavy blond tresses and classic features unadorned with makeup, the Loving star is quietly striking. But after less than a minute into the conversation, it appears that Laura is anything but quiet.
Being caught up in "stardom" is not what this 22-year-old actress is all about. Candid and friendly, she chatters away over a hot bowl of pasta. "Laura would've opened her mouth a long time ago," Sisk says with self-possession, when asked how she would handle her character Ally's present predicament (in order to financially secure her baby's future, trusting Ally agreed to marry Cooper, the baby's father, and live with him in the family mansion, while her true love, Casey, must wait in the wings). "Ally lets too many people talk for her."
Indeed, while it may be a problem for Ally, speaking her mind usually comes naturally to Laura. "I'm very opinionated," she admits, good-naturedly. "I sometimes open my mouth when I shouldn't -- like on the show." Instead of being pompous, however, her strong opinions garner respect, as they stem from her passionate beliefs. Even within the first year on Loving, when an actor's fate can be especially tenuous, Sisk remained firm when her interpretation of teenage Ally tended to stray from that of the executives. "Sixteen year olds think they know everything," she says. "They act like snot-nosed brats." So when a director once told her: "I don't want to watch you -- you're reminding me of my daughter at home!" Laura looked him right in the eye and exclaimed, "Exactly!!"
Ironically, it was the inability to stand up for herself that almost cost Laura her dream. Involved in almost every social arena her Clinton, Maryland high school had to offer -- from cheerleading to softball to managing the football team ("It was the only sport I couldn't actaully play") -- theater remained Sisk's true love. She had set her sights on becoming an actress in eighth grade, but her hopes of studying acting after high school seemed impractical to her family. The products of traditional families themselves, her West Virginia-bred parents understandably wanted their daughter's future to be a stable one. Her older brother and sister and she were expected "to get married, have a family, and have security," Laura explains. Letting her desires fall by the wayside, the then 18-year-old settled for staying home and attending community college.
After about a year of "giving it the old college try," Sisk came to the conclusion that college wasn't really right for her. Deemed the "socializer of the school" by her dad, Laura had more problems with getting herself to class. "The only two courses I passed were human sexuality and radio, television, and film," she laughs, her blue eyes dancing. She decided to focus instead on another long-term goal: opening her own gas station. With several years experience working at her brother's gas station, in addition to earning the position of manager at a tanning salon where she had worked since she was 15, Laura's business sense was keen and she felt ready to go it on her own. She began taking modeling assignments and auditioning for local commercials in order to finance the operation.
But what started out as a simple money-making plan turned out to drastically alter the course of the the 20-year-old's life. When manager Linda Townsend suggested she include Laura among the videotapes of 30 others auditioning for Loving, Laura agreed: "I had been a fan of the show...I was a soap buff!" The call from the New York to come in for a screen test came soon afterwards, but realist Sisk looked upon the opportunity as a once-in-a-lifetime adventure more than anything else: "I brought my camera in with me because I thought, 'If I don't get this job, I'm going to have proof that I was here!'" Two days later she found out that all of America would soon know exactly where she was -- on their television sets.
"I just said, 'Oh My God!' I screamed and threw the phone," Laura recalls, her face glowing with the memory. In the days of too many actors fighting for too few roles, Laura knows that a dream-come-true story like hers in entirely unlikely. She is as appreciative of her good fortune today as she was two years ago. "I thank God every single day. I'm very lucky. I know I am."
Throwing security to the wind, Laura literally moved to New York overnight. Although Laura feels that winning the role was undoubtedly the most exciting thing thing that has ever happened to her ("no feeling could ever touch that --ever!"), she also admits it presented quite a challenge. "I was 20 years old. I had no friends, no family, nothing here," she recalls. "I was taken from a small town and thrown into a big city, with nothing but addresses... You learn a lot about yourself, and you do a lot of growing up... It was very hard."
A terrifying occurrence that Laura experienced two months prior to getting the part further complicated her move away from the comfort of her home and family. On a spring night in 1991, the actress unwillingly found herself the victim of what she interprets as one of the first in the series of our nations carjackings. Although approached by A Current Affair and other tabloids to share her story, Sisk chose not to share it -- until today, when she is able to speak about the terrifying event with SOU. "I was abducted at gun point," Laura begins. After driving home alone, Sisk had exited her car and was walking up to the front door of her house when a man approached her and immediately shoved a gun into her stomach, forcing her to get back in the car and drive up the street.
Sisk explains that, although the criminal was only interested in taking her car, he took Laura with him in order to delay her calling the police. "I was numb from head to toe," she recalls. "In the movies, where people scream and yell..." The normally vocal actress shakes her head: "You can't talk!" The man threatened to kill her if she "did anything stupid." After a few harrowing blocks that seemed to last an eternity, the criminal ripped her purse off her arm and forced her out of the car, where she ran to a nearby lighted house for assistance. Two weeks later, she recieved a call to come pick up her car at an impound lot in neighboring Washington DC: "I drove it straight to the dealership and got a brand new car!" she adds with comic relief.
Currently the criminal is serving a 35-year sentence. Laura later discovered that he was wanted for two other major crimes -- shooting a police officer, and rape. "Rape," she repeats softly, her face grim now. "I'm lucky -- I wasn't even touched." Sisk admits the experience terrified her; for some time she refused to leave the house alone. Even today, one effect remains: "I'm afraid to be in a car at nighttime." Surprisingly, the actress finds that she feels quite safe in New York City. "There's so many people out, 24 hours a day," she explains. "Hopefully someone will see and hear you.... I'm also more aware now."
The brave actress has refused to let the nightmarish event harden her. Instead of hatred, Sisk feels sorry for her assailant. "I wanted to talk to him," she reveals. "I wanted to find out why he did what he did. to tell him that there's so much more to life." While legal red tape made it impossible to do so, Laura at least has the opportunity now to speak to youths, spreading the message of the detriments of stealing and other crimes.
When the busy actress, who is unattached and "possibly" looking, finds a little time for herself, she loves movies, walks, parties, music, and running every morning with co-star and new roommate Amelia Heinle (Steffi). While in real life Laura and Amelia are inseparble, Ally and Steffi are preparing to do battle over Casey. Will it be difficult to play out such vicious scenes with her much-loved best friend? Laura shakes her head, excited about the challenge: "Our chemistry off-camera will makde the cat-fight scenes even better!"
Those dramatic scenes aren't the only ones she's looking forward to. Sisk reveals that Ally and Casey will finally have a love scene. Previously, any time the character was involved in a romantic situation the screen would fade to black, interrupting the scene abruptly; this device kept Ally "chaste" and the audience wondering only a little. Hence fans' confusion when the announcement of Ally's pregnancy followed a similar fade to black which had interrupted a shared embrace between her and Cooper. "They only saw Cooper and Ally kiss --- they never knew what happened --- and suddenly she was pregnant!" Laura rolls her eyes, smiling mischievously. "Only on daytime!"
She's come a long way and she knows it. As she pushes away her emptly plate, Sisk explains that she must leave to get ready for the airport; she and Amelia are flying to Nantucket for the weekend. But even when she is flying high, Laura Sisk has her feet firmly planted on the ground!
Soap Opera Update August 1993
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