HopeNewest cast member, Kimberly Matula (Hope) discusses her first day at work, taking over a role and her love for bookstores.
CBS.com: So I'm curious off the bat - do you go by Kimberly, Kim, Kimmy? KIMBERLY MATULA: [Laughs]
Kimmy -- that brings back so many middle school memories. I go by Kim;
most of my friends just call me Kim. It's weird, in I think third grade
someone started calling me Kimmy and I got stuck with Kimmy all through
high school and I tried to shake it and I couldn't. Kim, I guess, is
what I try to go by, unless I'm in trouble, then, it’s Kimberly Marie.
CBS.com: Is that from your parents? KIMBERLY MATULA: Oh yes. [Laughs]
CBS.com: Tell me about your first day on the set? KIMBERLY MATULA: I
was so nervous yet so excited that I was finally there. It still hadn't
hit me that it was a permanent job - that it wasn't a guest [starring
role] like I'm used to. I got on set and everyone gave me hugs and was
welcoming me and was so, so nice and that made me feel a lot better.
You know I went to the set and walked around and explored and it really
sunk in that I was going to be working here everyday and that's
exciting to me; it was a good day.
CBS.com: How was the process from audition to starting work? KIMBERLY MATULA: You
know it was really fast. From the time I found out that I had booked
the role I started shooting four days later. The audition process was
also fast; I only had two auditions so it was probably two weeks -- the
whole process.
CBS.com: Who was the first cast member that you met? KIMBERLY MATULA: Let's
see, I'm trying to think...meeting my show parents Katherine Kelly Lang
[Brooke] and Ronn Moss [Ridge]. I met them on set in the living room
and I remember them coming in on set and I was so excited and they took
me in and really looked out for me during my first few days.
CBS.com: What attracted you to the role of Hope?
KIMBERLY MATULA: Hope is, you know, she's similar
to me. She really is. She's not this crazy wild girl, she's very down
to earth and I really like that about her. There's not a mean bone in
her body. She has no malicious intent and you know soap opera
characters can be real catty but she just wants to sit and talk things
out; she wants to make sure that everyone knows 'this is the issue and
I'm here to help solve it and how are we going to solve this' and I,
myself, avoid confrontation at all costs, I don't like it at all so
she's kind of like that and I really like that about her.
CBS.com: Were you given any backstory on Hope even though they have aged her? KIMBERLY MATULA: She
was a little girl of maybe six or seven and they basically grew her up
overnight and came down the stairs the next morning as me. I didn't
really have a backstory of her. The show told me who her parents were,
who my sisters and brothers are, basically I learned my family line but
that's about it. Not a whole lot of how my character was portrayed.
CBS.com: Do you enjoy having more creativity has an actress to mold the character? KIMBERLY MATULA: Oh
yeah it gives you a lot of creative freedom and I think it would be
much harder if I was replacing someone who was my age because then you
would have to take on the characteristics of that person so I like that
even though I am replacing an actor on the show I still have the
freedom to put my own spin on her.
CBS.com: Who have you worked with so far?
KIMBERLY MATULA: Everyone. I worked a lot with
Ronn and Katherine. I've worked a lot with Heather Tom (Katie) and
Jacqueline MacInnes Woods (Steffy). My character lines are a lot with
those four.
CBS.com: What do you hope for Hope in the future? KIMBERLY MATULA: She's
got some really interesting storylines that are going to happen and I
think that she's going to learn a lot about herself. She's still a
gullible young girl, she's still in high school, so I think she's going
to grow up and learn how the world really works.
CBS.com: You only moved to L.A. 10 months ago? KIMBERLY MATULA: I moved here January 31, so when I booked the job it was 10 months.
CBS.com: So you’re about to come up on your anniversary? KIMBERLY MATULA: I know. It is!
CBS.com: What a whirlwind year it's been for you - some people wait years for a break like this. KIMBERLY MATULA: True.
I got really lucky and it doesn't feel like I've been out here for a
year, it feels more like a couple months. But I think a year in my
head, and that seems forever. Time has really flown by and I feel like
I've accomplished a lot and I'm really lucky that has happened. I feel
like I was supposed to be out here. I’ve been very lucky!
CBS.com: Tell me about yourself, you grew up in Texas. KIMBERLY MATULA: Yes
I grew up in Fort Worth, Texas and then moved to Bedford when I was
eight. I got into acting at the age of eleven or twelve when a friend
of mine asked me if I wanted to make a home video and I said yes. We
filmed it, wrote it and acted in it - it was so silly but so much fun
and I just decided that I wanted to do this.
CBS.com: Did you do any theater in high school? KIMBERLY MATULA: Oh
yes. I love theater; I would really love to get back in theater. All
throughout high school I did theater and I was Vice President of my
thespian group my senior year. Being on stage and doing those shows was
such a good feeling.
CBS.com: What do you like to do in your free time? KIMBERLY MATULA: When
I have free time. I love that I don't have much free time right now and
that I am so glad to be working! When I have free time I do a lot of
painting. I'll create a space in the living room and turn some music on
and just start painting. I love going to the movies and when I really
have free time I love going to bookstores, I can spend hours in a
bookstore and be a happy clam.
CBS.com: Did you ever watch B&B before you joined the show? KIMBERLY MATULA: No,
but I really wished I had. When I was younger, my mom would watch All
My Children and General Hospital and so I would watch those with her
when I was little and as I grew up I was always in class when soaps
were on so I never had a chance to watch them.
CBS.com: You just started airing this week, have you had any fan or family reactions to your performance?
KIMBERLY MATULA: All my family and friends are so
excited for me and they are all watching it and I haven't gone on the
message boards to read anything because I feel weird about that so I
don't know how they are reacting. I've gotten a lot of Facebook friend
requests from fans who have seen me and that's really great and I love
that.
