Bio

Screen Caps

Photos

Quotes

Articles

Support

Fan Art

Multimedia

Poll

Links

Home

Soap Opera Weekly, August 5, 2003

Leap Of Faith

Cynthia Preston may cut an imposing figure onscreen as psycho-path mobster Faith Rosco. But when she scurries into the General Hospital green room, sporting her characters black power suit and lace tights with white sneakers, the petite blonde is all bubbly charm and girlish giggles.

"I'm silly right now", Preston apologizes as she plops down onto a sofa. "Faith is fearless and daring: "bring it on, I dare ya!" Indeed, Preston's fine-boned face is animated and aglow, in sharp contrast from her icy, raised eyebrow attack mode. But don't be fooled. "I've played characters where the producers have told me that the crew was afraid of me," Preston warns "I will do anything."

And that's a good thing, because as Faith, she's had to - from run-of-the mill scheming to killing her own grandmother and pushing the pregnant Liz down a flight of stairs. "It's such a great opportunity, to play someone who is so extreme," the actress beams. "She's not your average bear. She's fearless, she has no boundaries, and she’s smart. She's not afraid to use her mind."

Others might say she's the craziest bitch on daytime. "People have said do you find that you're representing women badly by the way sex is used as a tool or the way she's free with her sexuality?" Preston shares, "They write in a way that's very funny, sassy and witty. She's so despicable, but she's unapologetic about it. She's a female character who doesn't need a man to tell her what to do, or what she wants - that is the best part about Faith."

Not that the actress shares her character's thick skin. "If I've ever done something bitchy or cruel, it was completely unintentional," she says earnestly. "I can't claim to be the perfect person but in high school I always thought what? I'm Nice. Why are they mad at me?" by and large, I tried too hard. Now, I chill. If they don't like me, I go, Well, I'm missing out on them and they are missing out on me, because everyone is amazing and beautiful and has so many gifts."

"It makes you wonder how someone with such a rosy outlook could tap into such a dark side. "I actually have had experience with someone who was mentally ill, delusional," Preston confides. "He absolutely had his reasons and his justifications for everything. He was also brilliant, but there is a fine line between brilliance and insanity. If you're that smart , you're a little wacko. That experience gave me all the background I need."

Preston also has the acting experience to rise to the challenge. "I have been doing this for 16 years and I've had the great luck to playing a lot of different characters," she reflects. Having appeared in series like Total Recall 2070, the upcoming indie film "The Event" and TV--films like Madonna: Innocence Lost, Proof of Preston's range was evident when she tested for GH'S late bouncy hooker, Summer (played by Brittney Powell). "They called me the next day and said, we went a different way, but we loved you. We want to create a character for you," Preston recalls. "I was like I will do anything. That was the greatest gift, to say, We don't know what it is yet, but we're going to come up with it."

Preston has benefited from similar good fortune through out her life, starting when she was a timid high school student in Toronto. ”I modeled before I acted. That also came to me, I didn't go to it." she explains. "I was ridiculously shy. If I walked down the hall in high school and these girls looked at me, I'd hyperventilate and have to go the bathroom and calm down. My mom suggested that I take a self-improvement course to get over it and it was a modeling course. The scouts came and offered to represent me. I went to Japan for six months and took other credits to make up for and graduated on schedule."

Preston's plan was to leave modeling behind, using the money she earned and go to college. “I said good bye to the modeling agency, the talent rep. They called later and said NBC is casting a movie of the week (Miles to Go, 1986), and they're having a hard time casting for a 15 year old daughter of Jill Clayburgh and Tom Skerritt. They think you look right and I told them you could act. Can you act? “I went, "I don't know." He goes well; try in the movie, the mother is dying of cancer. So I went in and I cried. I've always have been very sensitive, and I have a good imagination. I pretended she was my mother and I cried and said the lines. They called me back seven times and every time I cried. They hired me and flew me out to Montreal." "After shooting the movie, Preston was still determined to go to school. “I wasn't going to change my life. I went to my first day of the university and I was euphoric. I got home that night and got the lead in a film. So I thought, I can get my tuition back. I can go to school next semester. Do this film. So that's what I did. Then, the next semester I got another film. I did a supporting lead as my first job and then I got a lead , lead, lead, each time getting my tuition back. It continued that way until after about five years I went, well... I guess I am an actor." (laughs)

Coincidentally, Preston's husband of three years, Kyle Martin, fell into the entertainment industry, too. "When I first meet him, he was in aerospace," she shares. “About six months after we started dating he sent a resume to (virtual effects wizard) Stan Winston and they went, "we need a man with your skills" and they grabbed him right up. He designs animatronics and robotics."
A pairing that's anything but criminal. "I've been very lucky" admits Preston. "But I always capitalize on the opportunities." Something her resourceful character knows all about.