SOD/SOW:Abby returns!

Jennifer’s daughter returns to Salem this week, played by newcomer Kate Mansi.

"Abby surprises her," previews Melissa Reeves (Jennifer). "She has no idea that Abby is coming to live with her. So Jennifer opens the door and Abby is standing there and they both just cry and yell." Abby immediately weighs in on the situation with Jack. "She’s a free spirit and totally confident and she’s like, ‘You need to leave Dad. He’s a jerk," says Reeves. "She’s pretty spicy and Jen is like, ‘No, he’s your father and you have to respect him. This is how he’s always been. I know him and you know him.’" Then she meets Daniel. "She’s like, ‘Daniel, he’s cute. He saved your life,’" adds the actress.

Mansi is already loving her alter ego. "Abigail is amazing," she raves. "She’s really sassy and feisty and I definitely have a little of that in myself, so it’s fun. She’s 19, so she’s going through some of the growing pains of trying to find her way between being a girl and a woman. She’s finishing up college and she’s also dealing with a lot of family issues with her mom and dad being away, so I think she’s progressively getting stronger."

Abby crosses paths with Chad this week and sparks fly. "Casey [John Deidrick, Chad] and I have a lot of fun together," Mansi enthuses. "I met him when I tested for the show last summer, I think, and when we tested together, we had a great chemistry and a really quick banter. I was like, ‘I would love to work with him,’ and that didn’t work out. Then I came back on the show and he saw me the first day and was like, ‘Oh, my gosh. I can’t believe it. You were my favorite.’ Casey brings a lot to the table comedically as well as dramatically, and I feel like we both challenge each other, which is a really good thing to have with someone you work with. I feel really blessed to have that natural chemistry with him."

Mansi first airs on March 2.

Kate Mansi begins airing as Jack and Jennifer’s daughter Abigail on March 2nd. Mansi is very excited about taking on the role, and says that everyone was very welcoming. “The second that I stepped on that set, it was like I was with all my old friends. Everyone treated me like family,” Mansi said. She says that she had her lines memorized a week before her first day at work because she believes preparation is very important for an actor. “I felt it gave me the freedom for the character to sort of bleed through. I was so nervous. I wanted to run my lines with Missy, but I didn’t want to seem too forward and ask her. The second I was in the makeup chair, she said, ‘Hi, Kate. You wanna run lines?’ I said, ‘Yes, please!”’ She has worked mostly with Melissa Reeves who she calls “extremely talented” and “such a mom.”

Abby is a bit different when she returns. Mansi believes she is going through some growing pains and is drawing a line in the sand that wasn’t there before. “She’s a little older, and she’s crossing that line between being a young girl and a woman,” Mansi says. Abby is struggling with her immense love for her dad, and all that hurt that’s coming from his broken relationship with her mother. This also fractures her own relationship with her mother. She wants her dad to come back, and she wants a sense of family.

When Abby first sees Jennifer with Daniel, she is taken aback by the hot guy in her house. On one hand she wants her mom to be okay and move on, but deep down she needs her parents to be back together. When she sees Daniel and Jennifer hugging, she’s both alarmed and excited that her mom might be moving on. She thinks this might be enough to jolt her dad back into the picture when he realizes he doesn’t want to lose Jennifer.

Mansi refers to her character as “Abigail” and says that’s how it appears in the scripts. Mansi likes this because she feels it’s representative of her shedding her younger naivete. She’s a lot more world experience now and can truly live up to the name Abigail.

I really hate they’re going to have Abby cheer her mom on to be with Daniel. Jack would never leave his family like this! Plus, Abby’s always been a daddy’s girl. Stupid writers…