Brittany Snow says goodbye
to GL and hello to being a
normal teen again

By: Mark McGarry (Soap Opera Weekly)

© Soap Opera Weekly

     Most teens would live to go to school a few times a month and still get great grades, but then, Brittany Snow isn’t like most teens. The 15-year-old high school freshman has played bratty Susan Lemay on Guiding Light since 1998. While her friends coped with unsightly pimples and final exams, Snow – in TV land – dealt with the deaths of both her parents, as well as rocky relationships with her birth mother and step mom. GL put Susan through the emotional wringer. Snow isn’t complaining – in fact, she says she craves acting – but still, as she puts it, “I need a break, I just want to get back to a little bit of reality,” Snow’s last airdate is March 19, when Susan gets shipped off to Boarding school.

     “I was only going to class back home maybe five times a month,” Snow, who lives in Tampa, Fla., confides. “I wasn’t struggling, but it was very stressful. My teachers were kind of getting annoyed with my never being there. Even though they worked with me, I could tell it was hard on them, and it was hard on me. I need some time to be there and focus on one thing. I miss my home. I miss going to parties. I miss talking about gossip and going to school dances – little things like that.”

     Despite her success on GL (she’s considered a shoo-in for an Emmy nomination next month), Snow says she never considered dropping out of school to pursue her acting career. “First of all, I love school. A couple of people said, “You’re an actor. You’re not going to need to go to college.” From day one, my parents have told me, “Acting is great, but there are tons of actresses who don’t make it, or they do one hit show then can’t get anything else. You have to have an education, so you can do something else you love.”

     Ironically, Snow has done better in school than some of her classmates who are there every day. “I would leave, come back, take a test, and get an A. They would get a C, and be like, ‘She probably bribed the teacher or something!’ “ she says, laughing. “My friends, my real friends, they didn’t care. They missed that I [wasn’t there]. But I think the others had some idea that it was tough for me. I tried not to talk about [work] too much, so they don’t know exactly how tough it was.”

     Most of Snow’s New York friends were adults, but they never made her feel uncomfortable. “They treated me like an adult,” she shares. “I never got to do anything really big, because I had to come right home and do homework, study my scripts for the next day, and go to bed. My mom and I are big shoppers, so we hit Macy’s and Bloomie’s many times. I’m going to miss New York. My mom and I were talking about that today. I love it up here, but there’s no place like home.”

     As for who taught her the most at GL, Snow can’t narrow it down. “I’ve been on the show for almost three years – so many people have influenced me in so many ways,” she marvels. “I can’t even tell you how much I’ve changed since I first got on the show. Beth Elders (Harley) and I have mad so many in-depth talks where I’ve just been in tears. She knows everything about me. She said she was just like me. She was a child actress, too.”

     “Tony (Addabbo, ex-Jim Lemay) was there for me all the time,” she continues. “Grant (Aleksander, Phillip) is the most amazing actor. He taught me a lot about being natural. Beth Chamberlin (Beth) is the best advice-giver. Tammy (Blanchard; ex-Drew Jacobs) and Joie (Lenz; ex-Michelle) were wonderful.”

     But GL fans haven’t seen the last of Susan. According to snow, the show’s execs have left the door open for her return this summer. “I’m in awe that they’re doing this for me. I thought they were going to recast me,” she reveals. “This is the best possible scenario I could ask for.”

     “It makes sense that they’re sending Susan to boarding school,” she adds. “Susan’s dad just died. Beth is off with Edmund. [Susan] and Harley aren’t exactly getting along. Max is gone. Susan doesn’t feel like she has anybody there. She has this emptiness. At boarding school, she’ll meet new people and have new experiences.

     “It’s going to be really weird not acting,” Snow admits. “It’s my favorite thing in the world. Hopefully, I can get involved with the drama club. But I’m always going to know that I’ll be back, so I can work it all up and save it, and be really, really good during the summer.”