XJJohnson/jpistudios.com
DAYS’s Ros Gentle in and out of character (r., with Stacy Haiduk, Kristen).
Ros Gentle has brought the Woman in White, aka Kristen’s long-believed dead mother, Rachel Blake, back to the land of the living on Days of our Lives. It’s only Gentle’s second stint on an American soap — she previously played a judge on Young and Restless in 2023 — but she’s had quite a career in the genre back in her native Australia, having starred on Prisoners, Neighbours and Home and Away. Soap Opera Digest caught up with Gentle about her role on DAYS, her penchant for playing crazy characters and more.
Soap Opera Digest: The Woman in White is a rather unusual character, and was first played by Pat Delaney from 1995-96. How did you landing the role come about?
Ros Gentle: I got an audition through my manager. I did a self-tape. At the time, it was only going to be three shows, maybe four. Then when I got in there, it turned into six. Then it went to 10. Then it went to 14. It was one of those things where you thought, “Oh wow. How wonderful.” A very good friend of mine that does all my readings with me for my auditions was up for the role, too. We have the same managers. She got an in-person callback, and I didn’t. So I thought, “Oh well. At least my friend got it.” The very next day, my manager called and said I had [the job]. So it was a funny experience of, “Oh, I lost it.” “Oh, I got it!”
Digest: What were you told about the character going into the job?
Gentle: I was told absolutely nothing, really. I had to do all my own research. I sort of read ahead [in the scripts] and thought, “Oh, she’s the mother of one of the leads.” Then I looked back and found all this history online that was so convoluted. I couldn’t believe it! She’s a little bit mad. She’s been back at Aremid for a while now and hasn’t told anyone. She’s lived in this haunted house. It was very, very strange. I thought, “Okay, if they haven’t seen her for a long time, she can be a little bit different now.” She’d been in the sanitarium in Paris for some years, so, you know, she could come out however she came out. I wasn’t so worried about getting her right, if you know what I mean.
Digest: After finding out about Rachel’s backstory, were you eager to delve into her?
Gentle: I love getting to play a little bit crazy characters. They’re sort of where I fit well. My first job out of drama school was in a show called Prisoner Cell Block H. I think that’s what they called it here [in the States]. It was like the ’80s version of Orange Is the New Black, [set in] a women’s prison. I played a character with multiple personality syndrome. She was a prostitute, a librarian and a socialite. That was how I started my career. I seem to excel at those roles that have a little bit of an edge and a little bit of crazy. Although me, as Roslyn, I’m really quite a conservative sort of normal person.
Soap Opera Digest: How did you feel about her signature all-white wardrobe?
Ros Gentle: To be honest, I spent 30 years in a spiritual practice that wore white every day. I was with a group of spiritual people who practiced meditation. I’d be up at 4 o’clock every morning meditating. I’d be at class at 6 o’clock. I would go to India every year. I’ve been to India 25 times. So I was in a very, very intense spiritual practice where we all wore white. I just thought it was the universe having a little laugh at me.
Digest: Your first scenes were with Finley Rose Slater (Rachel). Did debuting opposite a child make it easier, harder, or no difference at all?
Gentle: I love working with kids, actually. I was a primary school teacher. That was actually was my first job out of school. I didn’t start acting until I was 26. I also have siblings, so I’m really easy with kids. I love working with them, because I feel like I can get something more natural out of them. Finley was lovely. We had a good time. She was very sweet and she’s a very good little actor, so I could really talk to her. She really knows how to work as an actor, so she was an easy one. We had a few jokes on the set and were playing with the [stuffed] snake, just to make her feel more comfortable. The scenes were fast, and she had them down; she had all the lines down. She didn’t fumble anything. She did what she was told, and she was directed well.
Digest: What can you share about the big reveal scene you had with Stacy Haiduk, where Kristen recognizes you as her mother?
Gentle: Stacy is fabulous. She and I were probably closest on the set, because we sort of were in the same dressing room area as well. She was just down the road a bit, so to speak, so I’d pop in and we’d run lines and talk. It was good, because we did work out a few little things [before we did that scene].
Digest: Was it easy for you two to form a mother/daughter bond quickly?
Gentle: I think it was, because we just got on really well. It felt very real, it felt very strong, because we had bonded a bit before that, even though most of my work was with Tamara [Braun, Ava], who’s wonderful, too. Everyone was so welcoming, and Stacy was fantastic. She told me where to go to eat, what to do, and which doors to take, because I kept getting lost [at the studio]. I’d go through the wrong door and think, “Where does this take me?”
Digest: I take it you also enjoyed working with Tamara?
Gentle: She was very sweet and very helpful in the first part before I even got to Stacy. She was great because we had a lot of very physical scenes. She would help saying, “Just do this.” She was good at knowing what works camera-wise for the set that she was so familiar with and all that sort of stuff. [Moving her around in a wheelchair] did present some problems. We ended up having to skip entering sometimes and just starting at the door. The room was so tiny that it was hard to get around everything. But once once the chair was rolling, it sort of kept moving.
Digest: You’ve done soaps in Australia. Did your past experience make doing an American one easier?
Gentle: They’re not quite as [fast-]paced as these. I mean, 10 shows a week is a lot. They moved fast, but I don’t think they moved as fast as DAYS. So I don’t think [that experience helped]. It’s been quite some time [since I was on an Australian soap], but I do remember there being a lot more on-location stuff. There’s no on location stuff here that I’ve seen so far, at least on DAYS. You never get out of the studio. You’re in the studio for pretty much the run of your scenes and then you’re done. It’s quite difference in that sense. But mostly it’s been 40 years since I’ve done soaps. I’ve done films and episodics here, although I did one one day on The Young and the Restless.
Digest: What do you recall about that experience?
Gentle: I played a judge. One of the scenes took about 11 minutes and, thank God, most of the dialogue was with the wonderful Michelle [Stafford, Phyllis, whose character was accused of killing Jeremy Stark]. She did everything in one take, including that very long [scene]. I died when they said, “Okay, moving on.” [The American soap production process] really is fast. You just have to commit and go for it.
Digest: All and all, what is your take on this Rachel Blake/Woman in White character so far?
Gentle: I love her. At times I thought I wasn’t putting enough crazy in there, but I think the script sort of did it for me. So I thought, “I’ll just play it straight and let the script do it.” And it did.
HOWARD WISE/JPI
Trial By Fire: Gentle dipped her toes into the daytime waters when she appeared as a judge on Y&R in scenes with (from l.) Lauralee Bell (Christine), Michelle Stafford (Phyllis) and Vail Bloom (ex-Heather) in 2023.
XJJohnson/jpistudios.com
DAYS’s Ros Gentle in and out of character (r., with Stacy Haiduk, Kristen).
Ros Gentle has brought the Woman in White, aka Kristen’s long-believed dead mother, Rachel Blake, back to the land of the living on Days of our Lives. It’s only Gentle’s second stint on an American soap — she previously played a judge on Young and Restless in 2023 — but she’s had quite a career in the genre back in her native Australia, having starred on Prisoners, Neighbours and Home and Away. Soap Opera Digest caught up with Gentle about her role on DAYS, her penchant for playing crazy characters and more.
Soap Opera Digest: The Woman in White is a rather unusual character, and was first played by Pat Delaney from 1995-96. How did you landing the role come about?
Ros Gentle: I got an audition through my manager. I did a self-tape. At the time, it was only going to be three shows, maybe four. Then when I got in there, it turned into six. Then it went to 10. Then it went to 14. It was one of those things where you thought, “Oh wow. How wonderful.” A very good friend of mine that does all my readings with me for my auditions was up for the role, too. We have the same managers. She got an in-person callback, and I didn’t. So I thought, “Oh well. At least my friend got it.” The very next day, my manager called and said I had [the job]. So it was a funny experience of, “Oh, I lost it.” “Oh, I got it!”
Digest: What were you told about the character going into the job?
Gentle: I was told absolutely nothing, really. I had to do all my own research. I sort of read ahead [in the scripts] and thought, “Oh, she’s the mother of one of the leads.” Then I looked back and found all this history online that was so convoluted. I couldn’t believe it! She’s a little bit mad. She’s been back at Aremid for a while now and hasn’t told anyone. She’s lived in this haunted house. It was very, very strange. I thought, “Okay, if they haven’t seen her for a long time, she can be a little bit different now.” She’d been in the sanitarium in Paris for some years, so, you know, she could come out however she came out. I wasn’t so worried about getting her right, if you know what I mean.
Digest: After finding out about Rachel’s backstory, were you eager to delve into her?
Gentle: I love getting to play a little bit crazy characters. They’re sort of where I fit well. My first job out of drama school was in a show called Prisoner Cell Block H. I think that’s what they called it here [in the States]. It was like the ’80s version of Orange Is the New Black, [set in] a women’s prison. I played a character with multiple personality syndrome. She was a prostitute, a librarian and a socialite. That was how I started my career. I seem to excel at those roles that have a little bit of an edge and a little bit of crazy. Although me, as Roslyn, I’m really quite a conservative sort of normal person.
Soap Opera Digest: How did you feel about her signature all-white wardrobe?
Ros Gentle: To be honest, I spent 30 years in a spiritual practice that wore white every day. I was with a group of spiritual people who practiced meditation. I’d be up at 4 o’clock every morning meditating. I’d be at class at 6 o’clock. I would go to India every year. I’ve been to India 25 times. So I was in a very, very intense spiritual practice where we all wore white. I just thought it was the universe having a little laugh at me.
Digest: Your first scenes were with Finley Rose Slater (Rachel). Did debuting opposite a child make it easier, harder, or no difference at all?
Gentle: I love working with kids, actually. I was a primary school teacher. That was actually was my first job out of school. I didn’t start acting until I was 26. I also have siblings, so I’m really easy with kids. I love working with them, because I feel like I can get something more natural out of them. Finley was lovely. We had a good time. She was very sweet and she’s a very good little actor, so I could really talk to her. She really knows how to work as an actor, so she was an easy one. We had a few jokes on the set and were playing with the [stuffed] snake, just to make her feel more comfortable. The scenes were fast, and she had them down; she had all the lines down. She didn’t fumble anything. She did what she was told, and she was directed well.
Digest: What can you share about the big reveal scene you had with Stacy Haiduk, where Kristen recognizes you as her mother?
Gentle: Stacy is fabulous. She and I were probably closest on the set, because we sort of were in the same dressing room area as well. She was just down the road a bit, so to speak, so I’d pop in and we’d run lines and talk. It was good, because we did work out a few little things [before we did that scene].
Digest: Was it easy for you two to form a mother/daughter bond quickly?
Gentle: I think it was, because we just got on really well. It felt very real, it felt very strong, because we had bonded a bit before that, even though most of my work was with Tamara [Braun, Ava], who’s wonderful, too. Everyone was so welcoming, and Stacy was fantastic. She told me where to go to eat, what to do, and which doors to take, because I kept getting lost [at the studio]. I’d go through the wrong door and think, “Where does this take me?”
Digest: I take it you also enjoyed working with Tamara?
Gentle: She was very sweet and very helpful in the first part before I even got to Stacy. She was great because we had a lot of very physical scenes. She would help saying, “Just do this.” She was good at knowing what works camera-wise for the set that she was so familiar with and all that sort of stuff. [Moving her around in a wheelchair] did present some problems. We ended up having to skip entering sometimes and just starting at the door. The room was so tiny that it was hard to get around everything. But once once the chair was rolling, it sort of kept moving.
Digest: You’ve done soaps in Australia. Did your past experience make doing an American one easier?
Gentle: They’re not quite as [fast-]paced as these. I mean, 10 shows a week is a lot. They moved fast, but I don’t think they moved as fast as DAYS. So I don’t think [that experience helped]. It’s been quite some time [since I was on an Australian soap], but I do remember there being a lot more on-location stuff. There’s no on location stuff here that I’ve seen so far, at least on DAYS. You never get out of the studio. You’re in the studio for pretty much the run of your scenes and then you’re done. It’s quite difference in that sense. But mostly it’s been 40 years since I’ve done soaps. I’ve done films and episodics here, although I did one one day on The Young and the Restless.
Digest: What do you recall about that experience?
Gentle: I played a judge. One of the scenes took about 11 minutes and, thank God, most of the dialogue was with the wonderful Michelle [Stafford, Phyllis, whose character was accused of killing Jeremy Stark]. She did everything in one take, including that very long [scene]. I died when they said, “Okay, moving on.” [The American soap production process] really is fast. You just have to commit and go for it.
Digest: All and all, what is your take on this Rachel Blake/Woman in White character so far?
Gentle: I love her. At times I thought I wasn’t putting enough crazy in there, but I think the script sort of did it for me. So I thought, “I’ll just play it straight and let the script do it.” And it did.
HOWARD WISE/JPI
Trial By Fire: Gentle dipped her toes into the daytime waters when she appeared as a judge on Y&R in scenes with (from l.) Lauralee Bell (Christine), Michelle Stafford (Phyllis) and Vail Bloom (ex-Heather) in 2023.