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| Victoria Konefal portrays Ciara Brady on NBC’s “Days of our Lives”
Photo: Ray Gutierrez |
Our Actor’s Spotlight interview is with Daytime newcomer Victoria Konefal who plays Ciara Brady on NBC’s Emmy-winning soap which has just been renewed for Season 54. Konefal began her career on a number of projects including a guest-starring role on the ABC hit series “Modern Family” and starring in movies with Vivica A. Fox, Lesli Kay, and Jonathan Lipinski before settling into the drama that comes with living in the fictional town of Salem on “Days.”
TVMusic Networkcaught up with Konefal to get her thoughts on playing Ciara, working with TV Mom, Kristian Alfonso, Ciara and Claire, music and more. Check out the interview below:
TVMusic Network: Welcome to “Days of our Lives?” How are you settling in?
Victoria Konefal:Things are going great. I’m settling in fine. Every day I come into work it feels like more and more of a family. It’s a homey atmosphere. It is really a blessing to go to work every day.
TVMusic Network: Your show has a tight schedule. How are you adjusting to the amount of dialogue you have to learn each day?
Victoria Konefal: It was definitely an adjustment from what I was used to. I was used to filming movies where you get four to five takes per scene and soap operas are a completely different realm of work ethic. It’s a lot faster and everything…it’s like crunch time always. You know, I like to think of it as acting boot camp because it really trained me to get all my muscles working well.
TVMusic Network: Ciara is the child of a super couple as Bo and Hope’s daughter. Did you know the history of your TV parents and your character before you started?
Victoria Konefal: I did. Actually, my mom was a huge fan of “Days of our Lives” when she first moved from Poland. She moved from Poland when she was 19 and she watched the show every day. That’s how she learned English. It turns out that Hope and Bo were my mother’s favorite characters. So when I told her I was playing their daughter, she lost it. She was so excited for me.
TVMusic Network: What is it like working with Kristian Alfonso?
Victoria Konefal: Oh My goodness, it’s amazing! She is a real force to work with. She’s so professional. Just watching her work, I don’t want to use the words “star struck” because that’s not what it is. I’m in awe when I look at her and when I work with her because she gets the system so well. She’s been doing it for so long that it comes so naturally to her. I just think she’s amazing.
TVMusic Network: Kristian’s a prominent figure in Daytime. What have you learned about the industry from working with her so far?
Victoria Konefal: Just by watching her I learned that it’s always about the work and about the performance that you give. So all the other factors…they don’t really matter. It all boils down to what you give the audience.
TVMusic Network: Ciara and Claire (Olivia Rose Keegan) have a rivalry. You are family but there have great opportunities for them to be at opposite ends of a situation and have different points of view. What are your thoughts on their complicated relationship?
Victoria Konefal: There is a lot of love between Claire and Ciara despite all of the viciousness that has transpired between the two of them in the last few weeks. They are family and they were best friends so this new hatred they have for each other is a lot harder on them than it looks. On the outside, they are mean and catty towards each other but on the inside, they really do miss each other and they miss the friendship that they had.
TVMusic Network: You had some heavy scenes to play when you first came on with the story surrounding Theo (Kyler Pettis)getting shot. As an actress, how do you deal with having to change your emotions so quickly from scene to scene?
Victoria Konefal: That’s something that as an actress I’ve been learning my entire life. It’s more about establishing a good with the actor offset for me. Kyler and I sat down in his dressing room and talked about the scenes. We broke everything down and we really connected with it on a real level so that show’s through in the performance.
TVMusic Network: Is there someone on the show that you wish you had more scenes with?
Victoria Konefal: I would really like to work with Camilla [Banus (Gabi)]. I think that Gabi and Ciara would be really great friends. The writers could create a friendship with us especially since Gabi is Rafe’s little sister. That would give us something to bond with.
TVMusic Network: How do you pass the time when you have long days on the set?
Victoria Konefal: I hang out with all my friends on set. We hang out in the makeup room. We run lines or we go grab a bite to eat or talk about our busy lives. We hang out and eat pizza of Fridays. Nicky,[Shillace] the head of the makeup department, buys us pizza every Friday.
TVMusic Network: You may not have much time to watch much TV but is there a show that you binge or is Must See TV for you?
Victoria Konefal: “Friends” and “The Office” are those shows for me. I can watch each episode as many times as I want and I still laugh just as hard as I did the first time I saw them.
TVMusic Network: Do you have a favorite takeout order?
Victoria Konefal: I like Thai food. It’s my takeout order of the month I guess. I’ve had it so much last month.
TVMusic Network: What about music? What are you listening to right now?
Victoria Konefal: I love music. Ever since a young age, I could not sit still whenever I heard music playing. Right now I’m into Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and Demi Lovato’s pretty awesome.
TVMusic Network: Are there any recent concerts or live shows that you went to and had a great time?
Victoria Konefal: Actually Olivia Keegan and I went to Mike Posner concert at The Hotel Café in Hollywood. It was really fun. The Hotel Café is a small intimate venue. It was really nice to hear the music in such a small room.
TVMusic Network: If you weren’t an actress what do you think you’d be doing for a living?
Victoria Konefal: I’ve always been really interested in law and I’m a really quick thinker so I feel like I would be a great lawyer. That’s something I would be passionate about if I wasn’t doing this.
Catch Victoria Konefal as Ciara Brady on “Days of our Lives” airing weekdays on NBC.
