YOUNG AND RESTLESS Where Are They Now?
Mitzi Kapture Donahue (ex-Anita Hodges, Y&R, 2002-04)
- By Naomi Rabinowitz
Soap Opera Digest: Hello, Mitzi, how are you?
Mitzi Kapture Donahue: Good, except it's pretty cold here [in Los Angeles]. It's been in the 40s.
Digest: Well, we recently had snow in New York. Anyway, I see you've changed your name slightly.
Kapture Donahue: Donahue is my maiden name. I wanted to go back to it, so I'm slowly making the transition.
Digest: It's a nice Irish name.
Kapture Donahue: Exactly!
Digest: I hear you have a TV movie coming out soon?
Kapture Donahue: Yes, it's called NIGHT OF TERROR and it's on Lifetime.
Digest: There are a couple of serious Lifetime fanatics in this office.
Kapture Donahue: Really [laughs]? That's great. I'm a fan of Lifetime movies myself. This a good one.
Digest: So are you the psycho or the victim in this?
Kapture Donahue: It's a thriller and my character [Jill] sort of has a breakdown when she finds out her husband's having an affair. So, she goes out and has a one-night stand and the guy turns into a major stalker.
Digest: Naturally.
Kapture Donahue: Naturally [laughs]. And he won't leave her alone. It's kind of like a cross between Dead Calm and Fatal Attraction.
Digest: That's awesome.
Kapture Donahue: It was actually one of my favorite things to shoot. We shot outside of Toronto and it was a nature [preserve], so there were waterfalls and rocks and an old mill with no ceiling on it there. I think it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.
Digest: What other projects do you have lined up?
Kapture Donahue: I'm working with three different writers on developing some television shows, which is exciting. We're partnering up. It's good. I've been very busy. I'm trying to recuperate from all of the pre-Oscar parties.
Digest: Which ones did you go to?
Kapture Donahue: I went to one at a place.... [where] there was a lot of press and I was supposed to be talking about the movie. I was only going to stay for an hour, but ended up staying for five because there were free facials and manicures, and they had makeup artists lined up. They had someone to do your eyelashes and you could get a Mystic Tan. It was unbelievable.
Digest: What did you do for the actual Oscars?
Kapture Donahue: I stayed home with my family and got a massage. It was fantastic. I left the TV on in the bedroom. It was weird to watch television while you get a massage, but it was fun.
Digest: How is your family?
Kapture Donahue: They're great. I'm a single mom with two girls. Madison is 10 and Emerson is 5.
Digest: Do they get along?
Kapture Donahue: They do. My 5-year-old is wanting to be like my 10-year-old, so she vies for her attention. The last couple of nights, they've asked if they could sleep together. My little one put on my older one's training bra [laughs]. I was like, "You don't need it." She wants to grow up too fast.
Digest: How did you decide on their names?
Kapture Donahue: They just asked me yesterday why I named them what I did. I told Madison I named her after Madison/Fifth Avenue.
Digest: That's like in Splash [where Madison the mermaid chooses her name when she sees a sign for the New York City avenue].
Kapture Donahue: That's right! And her goal in life is to become a clothes designer and live in New York. Emerson, I named after Ralph Waldo Emerson. I was thinking of naming her Emily, but so many people name their kids that. I liked the nickname "Emma" or "Emmy." With this name, you can still have the same nickname.
Digest: Let's talk about Y&R. How did you enjoy your experience there?
Kapture Donahue: I loved it. John Martin, who played my [on-screen] husband, Frederick, [and I are] great friends. He made it so much fun to come to work every day. Lauren [Woodland, ex-Brittany] was great to work with, too. The fans were really sweet and liked the idea that Anita had an affair with a 19-year-old [J.T.]. At least the women did, anyway!
Digest: Was it strange for you to do those scenes with Thad Luckinbill?
Kapture Donahue: People have asked me if it felt like I was robbing the cradle, but Thad is actually older than he plays, so it wasn't so weird.
Digest: I think many fans were envious of you for getting to kiss him.
Kapture Donahue: Yeah, he's a cutie-pie. It was nice!
Digest: Do you keep in touch with anyone from over there?
Kapture Donahue: John and I talk; I also talk to Thad occasionally. I say hello to other people once in awhile.
Digest: Which of your roles do you get approached the most often for?
Kapture Donahue: I do still get a lot of people about Y&R or SILK. It's funny because the SILK fans are more like people who have odd-shift jobs, like nurses or doctors, who'd get to watch it during breaks. When I go to studios, I always get a good parking spot because a lot of the security people watched it. With Y&R, a friend of mine was going on and on about the storyline and I was like, "You watch it?" and he was like, "No, my wife does." Yeah, right!
NIGHT OF TERROR premiers March 26 on Lifetime at 6 p.m.
