Marisa Ramirez isn't your average soap princess. With eyes that could melt the snow in Montana (yes, they just got a batch), and the spunk of a wildcat, Ramirez is taking the roof off of the ABC daytime drama "General Hospital." This former MTV host and international model talks about her first day on "GH," why mega star Will Smith bought her pizza at 3:30 in the morning, and how she overcame her intense shyness.
Bel Of Them All
Ramirez and I meet at the Wyndam Bel-Age Hotel in West Hollywood, Calif. Catching the last rays of a fading summer, we sit poolside and sip Cokes. The 23-year-old is stunning. Her turquoise sequined knit top and Puma jumpsuit seem to be a metaphor for how her Hollywood life fits into her down-to-earth style: Perfectly. I calculate how many people could wear that outfit and get away with it. I come up with about three. Ramirez wears it like she's wearing her recent good fortune, with confidence. She's all smiles about her new role as bad girl Gia Campbell on the long-running daytimer "General Hospital." "It's good training for me. It's something totally different that I never expected I would be a part of. I'm learning a lot," she tells me. As is the mark of daytime television, Ramirez had to jump right into her role. "It's crazy. Sometimes you'll get the scripts the night before and you're trying to memorize it and you don't have time to go over it with the other actors," she says. Ramirez was also expected to know the "GH" storyline that her character was being written into. But she'll be the first to admit that she didn't really watch the show before landing the gig. Of course, she knew she was stepping into a television dynasty. The fictional town of Port Charles has launched the careers of more than its share of Hollywood players including '80s pop star Rick Springfield, comedian Tom Arnold, Emmy winner Tyne Daly, "MacGuyver's" Richard Dean Anderson, Mark Hamill, Demi Moore, Richard Simmons, John Stamos and Janine Turner. The daytime drama has also guest starred such luminaries as Julio Iglesias, Milton Berle and Elizabeth Taylor. Despite the show's legacy, Ramirez says that working on the legendary show didn't make her nervous. "I wasn't intimidated, which is kind of a first for me," she says, referring to the shyness she's worked to overcome for years. "I think the way I've grown since modeling, it just kind of comes naturally as things start to go. So, this is the next step. I realize it and just kind of go with it," she says. "Besides," she tells me laughing, "they all thought I knew exactly what was going on."
Jump Start
"My first day on the show, I was hiding in an alley and playing the blackmailer and picking up the money in the alley. Both of the guys, Jacob Young, who plays Lucky Spencer, and Coltin Scott, who plays Nikolas Cassadine, kind of jumped me," she says describing her "GH" debut. "I came home with bruises and fingerprints all over my arms," she says. But she tells me that besides getting a little beat up the first day, she still was thrilled to be on the famed set. Ramirez also enjoys playing the role of bad girl Gia Campbell because she gets to play someone who is the opposite of who she really is. "I was always 'Miss Goodie Two Shoes,'" she says. Ironically, some traits from her character have lapsed into her real life. Ramirez says that playing Gia has given her more confidence and helped her to "express herself." Although I don't think we'll see Ramirez blackmailing any of her friends anytime soon.
Getting To Know You
"I went to an all-girls school and everybody thought I was stuck-up," Ramirez says. "I was so shy and quiet, but I was so nice once you get to know me." "That's why I started modeling, because I wanted a reason to get out of school," she tells me. When she was only 13, a picture of Ramirez ended up at a major Los Angeles modeling agency. Then the young woman soon found herself working as a successful model. "I wanted to go everywhere. After I graduated high school, I went to junior college and then decided I wanted to travel," she says. She got her wish.
The now-seasoned traveler lists some of the places her modeling career has taken her: Singapore, Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong, and Italy. But she says the life of a model soon wore thin and she found that she preferred a more down-to-earth lifestyle. "I like to go to the movies, make cookies, make dinner, and play dominos," she says. "I was traveling and having a good time. But at the same time I wasn't meeting really genuine people and I didn't want to turn into that, too," Ramirez says of her life as a model. So, she returned stateside and to her home in Los Angeles. It was on the advice of friends that Ramirez went in front of the camera again. But this time, it was a TV camera. "I was becoming less shy and people would say, 'You should be on MTV.' And then I thought, 'OK.' I auditioned for a guest spot on 'USA High' and had fun and liked it," Ramirez says. Her "USA High" spot on the cable-TV sitcom led to other guest roles on the daytime dramas the "Bold & The Beautiful" and "Days of Our Lives." Ramirez also stayed busy shooting commercials and working in music videos, but just not any music videos. She appeared with Lenny Kravitz in "American Woman," Jordan Knight in "Give It To You," and yes, everybody's favorite boy band. "I worked with the Backstreet Boys before the U.S. knew who they were," she tells me about her gig on the video "As Long As You Love Me." She also raves about working with mega star Will Smith on his "Wild, Wild, West" video. "He's so nice," she says. "He ordered me pizza at like 3:30 in the morning which I thought was so sweet." Unfortunately, as is the way in showbiz, much of the footage shot during Ramirez's five days on the set of the "Wild Wild West" video ended up on the cutting room floor. But Ramirez's big break came when she began co-hosting the MTV show "Senseless Acts of Video." Although she enjoyed herself, she left the show because she feared for her personal safety. The reality TV show encourages viewers to videotape weird and risky stunts. "That show was out of hand and crazy and I was scared something was going to happen to me," she says, only half-joking. While MTV scrambled to find other projects for her, Ramirez signed with "General Hospital."
It's A Parent
Ramirez heritage is a beautiful blend of "mostly Mexican-Irish and American Indian," she tells me. The eldest of two children, her parents were divorced when she was very young. "My parents split up when I was four, all the conversations (between them) went through me," she says. Ramirez says that acting as the go-between forced her to grow up pretty fast. Then when Ramirez was 19, an amazing thing happened. "Fifteen years later (my parents) started talking again, and got married again, and got pregnant." She shows me a picture of her little brother. "He's a year-and-a-half," says the big sister proudly. Her little brother is probably proud of Ramirez, too. It's no secret that her stock is skyrocketing in Hollywood. Fans of GH are going mad for Gia Campbell and tuning in en masse to see her. And something tells me this is just the beginning for her.