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Zimmer Takes All
Whatever the stakes, GL’s Polarizing Star Doesn’t Do
Anything Halfway
Fun Facts::
Born on: February 2
Hails from: Grand Rapids, MI
She drives:: A toyota 4Runner
Must See Tv: Greys Anatomy, 24
Currently Reading: Richard North Patterson’s Exile
Cooking Speciality: “Asparagus overcooked in the oven
until its like french fries"
Children: Rachel 25, Max 20, Jake 17
There are those who say she’s refreshingly honest.
There are those who say she should keep her mouth
shut/ Whichever side you’re on, there’s no denying
that KZ’s comments tend to generate headlines and
hysteria. Here, she looks back on all her recent
controversies –and, true to life form, sticks to her
guns.
SOD: Over the years, you’ve had so many ridiculous
storylines. Was it a relief to get something realistic, like
the breast cancer story?
KZ: Well, it’s funny. From an acting point of view,
all of those stories were intresting challenges for
me. Even though they’re not what a daytime soap opera
should be-----walking through paintings and being
cloned and surviving a plane crash in the middle of
the ocean—I mean, it’s all ridiculous, but I have much
more trouble w/ the day to day story decisions that
change the focus of who the character is.
SOD: Like what?
KZ: Like not telling Josh she had cancer. Or the fact
that now that she’s survived cancer, she’s not
fighting to get Josh back. That’s what I’m talking
about.with those types of things I really have to just
swallow my pride—KZ’s pride—and get on with it. Just
suck it up and do it. And it’s hard because on the one
hand, I feel that need to protect the integrity of the
character. But on the other hand, I can’t, I
don’t......I’m not Reva Shayne. And I’ve learned that
I have to pick my battles wisely.
SOD: Still, at least you’re not playing that stupid
clone.
KZ: What I find funny about the stupid clone was that
they finally killed her, a lot of fans got mad.
Everyone hated the clone so [the show] killed her, and
then there was an uprising b/c they didn’t have the
guts to keep her alive.
SOD: What you have problems with the story, is the job
just a paycheck to you??
KZ: No. Seriously. Honest to God. [My character]
really matters to me. That’s why it’s so difficult for
me not to argue with [the writers] when I feel I need.
SOD: You’ve never phoned in?
KZ: Oh, of course I have. If I’m tired, I might not be
there 100 percent. But those days are few and far
between.
SOD: You had gut-wrenchinig scenes day after day for
literally a full year during the breast cancer storyline.
Does it make you mad when your acting your heart out
like that and then play say. “Yeah, but she didn’t
shave her head”?
KZ: Um....Um, yeah.
SOD: It implies that you’re not committed to the
story.
KZ: Right, exactly. And my answer to that is, I had a
hard enough time with people in my neighborhood who
thought I really did have cancer because of all the scarves
I was wearing. If I shaved my head, I don’t know if I
could deal with people assuming I was going through
chemo and me then having to belittle it by saying,
“No, this is just for a TV show.” That was my take on
it.
SOD: But there must have been an element of vanity to
it, as well. I’m sure you didn’t want to walk around
bald.
KZ: Well I cut my hair awfully short. I might as well
have been bald, to tell you the truth. But yes, there
was some vanity to it because, I mean, I’ve had skis in my
head, I’ve had ski poles in my head. I’ve gotten a lot
of dings on my head.
SOD: So you have a lumpy scalp?
KZ: Yes. My scalp would not be a pretty scalp. It just
would not.
SOD: Are you vain, in general?
KZ: Not really. I’m pretty low maintenance. I mean,
I’m vain about the fact that I’m overweight right now
and can’t wear clothes I want to wear. I’m not a size
6 anymore. But then again, I just turned 52.
SOD: You did have a facelift a few years back, though.
KZ: I’ll tell you what happened with that. I was at the
gym one day doing thigh lifts, and I happened to look
in the mirror and I saw jowls that were hanging below
my breasts. That’s why I did it. I did it because of the
neck area. The only way to take care of that is with a
lift.
SOD: You look the same to me, though. Was it worth
it?
KZ: Yes, because I don’t have the jowls anymore. Although
[the skin] is already loosening up again. I wish I had
some cranks behind my ears that I could turn to
tighten it again. That would be fantastic.
SOD: Were you bandaged up like a mummy?
KZ: Not really. I was basically healed up in 11 days,
very little bruising. It really was fine. The only
thing was, I’m a face sleeper, and because I had to sleep
on my back for a while, I got nervous leg syndrom,
which made me crazy.
SOD: Where did you get the facelift?
KZ: In L.A. I went there without telling my kids what I
was doing because I didn’t want them to think I was crazy.
They thought I was auditioning for things.
SOD: So after 11 days you just came home with a new face
and said, “Hi kids!”
KZ: Well, like you said, I looked the same. I just
looked refreshed.
SOD: Did the kids notice anything?
KZ: I’ll tell you what happened. The doctors left a
staple behind my ear, and we were in the car one day
and it started bleeding and my son said, “Mom, why
are you bleeding behind your ear?” And I said, “Oh
when I was walking the dog, a tree branch hit me.” And
then I thought, “This is ridiculous, I can’t lie to
them.” So I told them.
SOD: Have you ever had any other plastic surgery?
KZ: No. I mean, like what?
SOD: Um, liposucting?
KZ(laughing): No, lipo turns my stomach. And I’m a firm
believer that if I really wanted to get back into
shape, I could do it. I’ve just gotten lazy.
SOD: What about a breast job?
KZ: Nah. All I could have done would be a reduction or
a lift. And when you have large breasts to begin with
and you get a lift, it’s scary-looking. So it would
have to be a reduction then a lift, and again, I’m 52.
I’m not ready to write myself off, but I am who I am;
either you hire me or you don’t.
SOD: Speaking of beauty issues, don't you wipe your
own urine on your face?
KZ: That was a fad for me. It was something I did
because my German friend does it and she has beautiful
skin. But now that you mention it, I might start doing
it again because I got a lot of compliments on my skin
when I was doing it.
SOD: How long did you do that?
KZ: Religiously? About six weeks..
SOD: But I mean...
KZ: It doesn't smell! It really doesn't. And after you
do it you put all your regular moisurizers. You're not
just walking around all day with pee on your face.
SOD: Did Robert Newman [Josh] know?
KZ: Yes. You can ask him.
SOD: Was he ever like, "Can you wash your face before
I kiss you?"
KZ: Well, I do remember one time before a love scene
he said to me. "Did you do it this morning?" And I
said yes. And then he goes. "Did you put on
moisturizer?"
SOD: Do you ever feel like you should censor yourself?
KZ: ( laughing) Yes. But I can't change who I am.
SOD: Sometimes when you speak out, it snowballs into
something else, like when you refused to take the
salary cut at GL. All of a sudden, eveyone'es talking
about it-
KZ: And saying that I was responsible for people for
being fired. I know.
SODt: In retrospect, do you regret not taking a pay
cut?
KZ: No! God, no. First of all, most of the people who
were supposedly let go because of me are back on the
show and working more than they ever did before. So
those are just scare tactics by people who can still
afford to pay us all what we're worth. Who just for
some reason think they can get away with it.
SOD: The subtext of the controversy was that you
weren't a team player.
KZ: Right. And the thing is, I think what I did was
all about being a team player. Because what I said when it
was all happening was, until people like me say no,
it's not going to change. And let me just repeat,
while were on the subject, that this all happened when
I was in the middle of my contract, and a contract is
a contract. All those other people who took pay cuts
were at the end of their contracts. If [the show] had
come to me at the end of my contract and said, "Look,
we want you to stay, but you're going to have to take
a cut," maybe I would have thought about it. But they
did it in the middle, and it pissed me off. And so
when the time came for me to renegotiate last year, I
said to them, " I don't want an increase, but I don't
want a cut either, so now it's in your hands. Either
you want me to stay or you don't."
SOD: Obviously, you re-signed last year. For how long?
KZ: Three years, but I have the option of leaving
after each year.
SOD: And to be clear, you didn't take a pay cut when
you re-signed?
KZ: No.
SOD: So you're exactly where you were?
KZ: Yes.
SOD: In your heart, do you believe anybody got fired
because of you?
KS: No. In fact, I had someone inside the loop tell me
that there were eight actors who were targeted to be fired
before [notion] of pay cuts ever came into play. Not
fired, but taken off contract.
SOD: Is it true that when Micheal Zaslow [ex-Roger]
was on the show, his contract stated that his salary
always had to be at least one dollar high than yours?
KZ: Honestly, I don't know if there's any truth to
that. If there was, it never affected my negotiations.
What I was told---and I still don't know if this is
true--was that whatever they negotiated with me, if he
was making less, his salary had to go up. So whether
that was by one dollar or whatever, I don't know.
SOD: We're speaking before the Emmy nominations are
going to be announced. Do you expect to be nominated?
[Ed. note: Zimmer did receive one.]
KZ: I had fantastic material but know I could be hurt
by something I said last year, which was that I would
never let myself be nominated again if I won last
year.
SOD: What exactly did you say?
KZ: That if I won, I wouldn't put myself up for any
more nominations. But as an adjunct to that, I said I
wouldn't do it unless there was nobody else [at GL]
who was willing to step up to the plate and go into
the Lead Actress category. Why should we not be
represented if [nobody else is going to do it]?
Because there have been times when we had a lot of
people who went up for the Supporting Actress, but not
Lead. And I think Supporting Actress is a tougher
category anyway, so it doesn't really take guts to
move up to Lead. It just takes material. And there
were a lot of actresses this year who had the material
to go into Lead, but I did too. Unfortunately, I had
the best material I've had in 15 years, so how could I
deny the show and myself [the chance of] a nomination?
Digest: To be clear, there were more than two actress
at GL, who wanted to be in Lead this year?
Zimmer: Yes.
SOD: So, basically, you went back on your word.
KZ: Yes.
SOD: Why did you say that in the first place? Were you
just joking?
KZ(laughing): No, I was serious. I don't know why I
said it. I must have said it because I didn't think I was
going to win. But also, being nominated is kind of
nerve-wrecking and.... I don't know why I continue to
put myself through the aggravation every year. In some
ways, it would take more guts not to let myselft be
nominated. In some ways, I wish I could say, "Forget
it." But I do still enjoy going to the Emmy's, and
ulitimately it's a lot more fun when you go as a
nominee.
SOD: When you're nominated, do you care about winning?
KZ: Not really, not anymore. But it's still nice to
get the acknowledgement.
SOD: But isn't there a small part of you that wants to
beat Erika Slezak's [Vicki, OLTL] record?
KZ: Well, in my way it would be nice, but she has five
or six, so I'm never going to beat it. I mean I don't
have any desire to beat her record, but it would
be.......I don't know....I can't go there. I don't
want to say something else that gets taken out of
context.
SOD: Why do you think people cared that you changed
your mind about the Emmys?
KZ: Because it's me. Because I have a big mouth.
Because people want to catch me saying something
ballsy and then reneging on it. That's the problem
with being outspoken - you get caught at times. But
you know what? Bring it on. I don't care. The only
people that I really worry about pissing off are the
fans. Like I said before, everything I try to do
through my character is for them.
SOD: You know that sounds like a lie, right?
KZ: Yeah, I know. And there will bethose anti-Reva,
anti-Kim people who come out and say I'm sucking up.
What can I do?
SOD: Speaking of fans, did you know that on
KimZimmer.net, you can buy a Kim Zimmer throw pillow
for $18.99?
KZ: Oh , really? I haven't been on there lately.
SOD: And you can get a Kim Zimmer wall clock.
KZ: No!
SOD: And there's a Kim Zimmer barbecue apron.
KZ(shrieks w/ laughter): No, there is not! I thought
there was just, like a coffee mug and a tote bag.
SOD: Nope, there's a whole store now.
KZ: I love it!
SOD: But isn't it weird to think that somebody
somewhere is barbecuing in a Kim Zimmer apron.
KZ: And it probably has barbecue sauce all over it. I
love that.