Erin Moore: A Soaps Kid Who's All Grown Up

She has some memories of interesting things from the set of the 1980s NBC soap "Santa Barbara," such as being chased around the room by Robin Mattson's character Gina! You might only barely recognize her now, but you certainly will remember her antics as a young girl. She's Erin Moore, and with her twin sister Caitlin she shared the role of Samantha Wainwright Capwell, the baby-contract kid of Julia and Mason Capwell. I had the pleasure of chatting with Erin Moore recently about "SB" and what she's been up to since her days on the latter part of show's run.

Born Erin Elisabeth Moore in Glendale, California, in May 1987, this sweet gal is still into acting, for one thing. She's about to graduate from UCLA with a major of English and a minor in theater.

"I have been active in theatre for the last several years, actually," she tells BRBTV, "and I would love to get back into film and television. Now that I'm about done with school, I'm planning to devote more time to that. I really love what I've been doing with theatre, though, and honestly I'd be happy just doing Shakespeare and musicals!"

(Hmmm ... sounds a bit like her TV daddy, played by Lane Davies, who's a very active Shakespearan, himself!)

Erin's actually been in a different kind of spotlight lately, too, in the recent news about actor James Franco's decision to pull out of his speaking engagement at this week's UCLA commencement ceremonies. Erin started the group that protested Franco's engagement, and she was included in the L.A. Times' coverage of the story. What began as a humble move on her part, simply to make the point that fellow student Franco was a peer, not a role model suitable for the speaking honor, sure got some ink.

Erin's twin Caitlin, meanwhile, just graduated from the University of Rochester with a dual major in Japanese and linguistics. She'll be pursuing a career as an elementary school teacher. The two girls joined "SB" as babies in 1988, though Erin stayed on a year longer, until the very end of the series in 1993. So from those highly formative years, what exactly does Erin recall?

"There are so many scenes that I vividly remember!" she says. "One in particular was an episode in which I was in the hospital and Mason (Gordon Thomson) got into a fight with a male nurse, who was actually played by my real dad! I was pretty confused as to what to think of my real daddy fighting with my TV daddy. Another scene that stands out is from an episode close to the end of the series, when I fingerpainted on Lilly's wedding dress and Gina chased me around the living room. I was genuinely terrified!"

Indeed. Little Samantha not only sabotaged the dress for Lilly's nuptials to Ted Capwell, a blessed event so highly tended by Lilly's mom Gina, the girl also tucked away the invitations that were supposed to get mailed!

Ahhh ... the joy of youth. ... Youth on a popular soap opera, that is.