| This month, we spoke with Kim Zimmer of "Guiding Light" about her life as a soap opera star—and her life at home.
Zimmer plays Reva Shayne Lewis Spaulding Lewis Cooper Lewis on the soap opera "Guiding Light." Zimmer started as a soap opera actress in 1978, and has played Reva, a character she created on "Guiding Light," since 1983 - aside from a brief hiatus from 1990 to 1995. She won three Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1985, 1987, and 1990, as well as two Soap Opera Digest awards. The accomplished and critically acclaimed actress took some time to speak to us about her work as an actress, a wife, and a mom. HMS - You are a very busy woman, in addition to your job on "Guiding Light." How do you balance your home and work life? Kim - The schedule we're on at "Guiding Light" now is that we have two separate shifts. We have a morning shift and an afternoon shift, which makes it easier to have a normal life. There are days when I have to be in at 7 o'clock in the morning, and I can be done as early as 10:30 in the morning. Then, there's another shift that allows you to have the mornings with your family. HMS - Do you enjoy surfing the Internet? What are some of your favorite websites (other than Home Made Simple, of course)? Kim - I do. I make all my airline reservations on the Internet. I enjoy that. Other than that, I'll go to spa websites and dream. I can never find the time to actually go to a spa. HMS - What are some of your favorite activities to do with your family? Kim - We travel a lot. We love to ski. We're definitely outdoors people. We play tennis together as a family. All my kids play sports, so my husband and I spend a lot of time at athletic fields. I'm a real sports mom. HMS - Balancing your career and a family indicates that you are probably a pretty organized person. Do you consider yourself an organized person? If so, do you have any organization tips you could share? Kim - I wish I had organization tips that I could give people. Everybody always asks me why I don't hire an assistant, but I'm not that kind of a person. I like the disorganization I have in my life. I do have organization skills when it comes to doing the laundry, getting it ironed, and putting it away. That's probably the most organization I have in my life. HMS - Do you have any simple tips for cleaning around the house? Or tricks for saving time? Kim - When I cook, which is rare, I clean as I cook - as I dirty things. My husband will make the most amazing meal, but everything is left to clean after the meal, and you don't really want to do it. So as I'm cooking, I clean; I stay on top of it. That's a good tip - to clean as you go. HMS - Where is your favorite place to sit back and relax in your home? Kim - We have a sunroom, which is also our TV room. We only have one television in the house. It's kind of a rule. So when there's something on we want to watch, that's usually where we all congregate. That's also where I do my ironing. HMS - What is your favorite room in the house to clean? What is your least favorite? Kim - I guess my favorite is the kitchen, because in my house, the kitchen is the most organized room. So that's my favorite room to clean because everything has its place. My least favorite is probably my bedroom, because I have no storage. HMS - How do you make your house your home? What elements or design touches do you like to have to be comfortable? Kim - Personal touches. I think the biggest thing in my life is that I insist that every room in my house can be lived in. When I grew up, we had one room in our house where kids were never allowed. And we used it once a year - at Christmastime. Our furniture is very casual. When people come into our home they always comment on how comfortable it is. They don't feel like they can't sit on a piece of furniture. When the kids are off living their own lives, I will probably have white furniture. I've always wanted to have white furniture, but white furniture you can sit on. HMS - Do you have a favorite meal to cook for your family? Can you share a recipe? Kim - When I cook, I like to cook breakfast. If you know you're going to have French toast, a helpful hint - and some people might find this a little odd - is to leave the bread out the night before so it hardens a little bit. They say it absorbs the egg better. Then I use cinnamon and powdered sugar. HMS - Do your children like helping you around the house? And if so, what do they help you with (such as feeding pets, helping you cook)? Kim - If I ask them to do something, they'll help. They have to pick up their clothes and put them in the laundry basket. My mother would ask me to clean my bathroom, and then she would go in and clean it herself. I find myself doing the same thing; my children do it halfway, so I end up having to redo it myself. HMS - How has your career benefited your home life? Would you say your career has made you a better mom? Kim - Daytime television is great because you're not traveling. I'm home every night. I would like to think that I'm a really good mother, but I think my choice of career has made me a better mother. I've stayed in daytime because it affords me the opportunity to be home for special events and not be off in Africa shooting a movie. HMS - What is the best advice someone has given you? This can be advice on your career, in life, or as a mom. Kim - Don't go to sleep angry. You'll wake up a lot happier. HMS - What advice would you pass on to other working mothers? Kim - Just don't give so much to your career. It's easier said than done, but your home, your children, your husband - that is your life. Your career can come and go, but your family, if you take great care, will always be there. HMS - What do you love about acting on a soap opera? Is there anything you dislike? Kim - I like the stability. I like knowing what my schedule is going to be ahead of time. You can really schedule things with your family when you know you're going to have four days off. And I also think career-wise, it's challenging. I'm challenged every day. This isn't really a dislike, but there are days when you have a dialogue writer who doesn't know the show as well as the others, so you get dialogue that is uncharacteristic of your character. Some of us have been around long enough that we know the characters so well that we can tweak the lines. HMS - You portray a newswoman on TV. Is this a career you would have pursued if you weren't acting? If not, is there another occupation that interests you? Kim - Not so much a newswoman. I've been asked to go into development for talk shows, but I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready to interview other actors who were doing movies that I probably could have done. Maybe later down the road. |