How has Chloe changed since you first started playing her? “The obvious thing would be she’s a grown woman now. She’s had children and been through a lot of life, love and loss. There’s definitely more wisdom to her; some episodes more than others. But she’s also now a grown woman with a career or multiple careers and a son. She’s matured and has a stronger sense of herself.”
How have you liked Chloe’s career turns over the years? “There’s never really been a strong focus on her career. So it hasn’t really mattered. Obviously, biasedly, I’ve enjoyed the singing a lot, because I really, truly enjoy singing. When there was Doug’s Place or that jazz bar, The Blue Note, that was cool. Right now, I’m a fashion executive. That’s awesome, although I don’t know what qualifications Chloe has for that. It doesn’t matter because it doesn’t support any of the story, but I’m happy to be employed. And now, as a fashion executive, I’ve gotten to dress a little more like a fashion executive at the office.”
What are Chloe’s strengths and weaknesses? “Her strengths are she is smart and figures things out really quickly. People sometimes forget that she was valedictorian [of her high school class]. There were a couple of years, though, that they made her not so bright, but that happens to all the characters. They kind of ebb and flow in that way. I also like that she knows what she wants. Her weaknesses are doubting her feelings, doubting who’s being truthful and who she wants. Currently, she seems stronger in that matter. She knows what she wants and is not living in the past. She’s not dwelling on what happened to Philip because there’s nothing she can do about it. She doesn’t know if he’s dead or alive or what happened to him. She has to move on with her life. She can’t just stay stuck in the same place.”
Who is Chloe’s best friend? “I would say Brady. Other than that, Nicole. I enjoy working with Ari [Zucker, Nicole] and they always seem to circle back to a really fun friendship for us. We discuss what’s going on. We try not to be judgmental of each other’s life choices or what is happening. Even if some time goes by, the characters always circle back and are like, ‘Hey, girl. How are you doing?’ It’s nice, because there aren’t that many female friendships. Usually on soaps, the women are fighting over a man, so it’s nice when they do write a true, fun friendship between women. And we, as actors, love doing it, too. It’s a nice change.”
Does Chloe have an archenemy? “I feel like other people have felt that way about Chloe, but she’s never put that much energy into it. Some people have done some really awful things to Chloe, stuff that was really unwarranted. Obviously, who comes to mind is Kate. She tried to poison Chloe. Victor is really her archenemy. They’ve never, ever gotten along. He’s always been truly horrid to her. At the forefront recently in the story, I would say Kristen. She’s been trying to terrorize Chloe for a long time now. It’s so funny, because Stacy [Haiduk, Kristen] and I love each other in real life. We’ll work together and scream at each other, and then be like, ‘Do you want to go to lunch?’ ”
Who is the love of Chloe’s life? “I want to say Brady, because they’ve circled back to each other many times, and they’ve been married. People aren’t a fan of her picking between Philip and Brady, but it seems that Brady was always it. Also, the supposed awfulness that happened between Chloe and Brady all happened off camera, so it’s hard to feel like there’s animosity. There’s so much bad stuff that happened between Chloe and Philip on camera. That becomes so much more glaringly obvious.”
What life events most affected Chloe? “Where do I start [laughs]? Being orphaned. Growing up in a foster home and then finding out who her parents were. Finding out Craig was her real father after thinking he wasn’t. Having leukemia. Then having a child, followed by prostitution. That was one of my least favorite storylines. She also gave birth to another child as a surrogate. There’s been a lot of stuff. Also, having Parker and thinking it was Philip’s child and being dumped by Daniel. Then it turned out that Parker was actually Daniel’s son after he left her. Chloe can’t catch a break.”
What do you most admire about Chloe? “Her wardrobe [laughs]. For someone who lives in an inn and is perpetually unemployed she really dresses very well. I’m kidding … kind of. Probably her tenacity and not giving up; always returning to be tortured some more. She came back to Salem and was thrown into a trunk of a car by Kristen. Chloe continues to stay the course and stay positive. In the real world, it would be really difficult to stay in a relationship or be with someone who was with a crazy person like Kristen. She tried to kill Chloe. She actually has murdered other people. That’s a lot of baggage to put up with.”
If you could go back in time and change one decision Chloe has made, what would it be? “Maybe not agreeing to be blackmailed into prostitution, or trying to kill Carly. There was a whole storyline where Chloe was wildly jealous of her. I don’t love those types of storylines where the women are so jealous that they want to kill each other. We could do better as women and not try to murder somebody who likes your man.”
What were the best and the worst times in Chloe’s life? “Personally, as the actress who lived through it, I really loved the high school years, even the Ghoul Girl stuff. I just really loved that SAVED BY THE BELL era, where we all sort of lived out high school on screen, first love and all that kind of stuff. It was really cool and kind of special. The worst times would be the prostitution and maybe that time period when all Chloe did was work behind the bar at Doug’s Place and had nothing to do. There was nothing for me. So I just basically stood behind the bar and listened to people’s problems.”
What would you pick as Chloe’s signature storyline from your time on the show? “The first thing that pops into my head is The Sound of Music, all the musical stuff back in the heyday when Brady and Chloe got to sing together. That really sort of defined her character. She was this opera singer and artist. She liked classical music and was someone who was different from everyone else. It’s the reason she was teased. I’ll always love that era. It was so cool. Any time they let me sing on the show I’m thrilled, even if it’s just for Christmas or something. That’s always been the standout. That’s the part of Chloe that people always remember and that I remember. That’s who Chloe is. It’s when Ghoul Girl shed all her black clothing. There were flashbacks of Chloe being abused in foster care. That’s why she started dressing the way she did, to negate attention off herself and to keep predatory behavior away from herself. I thought that was really sad, but the story made sense. There was a reason she was acting out in that way. It was because there was all this trauma [from her past].”
What comment or questions do you get the most from fans? “ ‘Is that really you singing?’ Or, ‘Are those really your eyes?’ Some people think I’m wearing contact lenses. They also ask about my eyelashes, ‘Are those fake?’ I’m like, ‘No. My kids have the same long eyelashes.’ ”
Me Vs. Her
What are the biggest personality differences between you and Chloe? “Being needy and needing validation and attention from a man. I’ve never really been like that. I’m not the damsel in distress is maybe a better way to say it. A lot of times, it seems like Chloe has been. Also, people have told me that I’m funny. My sense of humor is way more, I don’t want to say raunchy, but I’m a real straight shooter. And I would say that maybe Chloe’s not.”
Who has a better wardrobe? “Chloe, for sure, especially since and after Covid. I’ve completely given up on how I dress in life. I always say I dress like a 14-year-old boy when I go to work — joggers, sneakers and a hoodie. And I wear a backpack. Remember how somewhat glamorous I used to be? Now I wear a backpack and sneakers. I come into work and put on the dresses and shoes now, but not in real life. Chloe’s fashion-forward. I love what she wears. I’m so out of practice with wearing heels because we were all stuck at home for two years. I’ve just gotten used to becoming a lot more comfortable. My personal style has become a lot more casual.”
Who has a better home? “I do, for sure. I don’t live at the Salem Inn. I have a home and I love my house. We moved to Charleston, South Carolina. My favorite spots are the two porches we have in the back of our house that face all this land with beautiful water and oak trees with Spanish moss. Both have porch swings on them. We love to sit there and have a glass of wine or just sit there and talk and relax. It’s so peaceful and beautiful. We love it.”
How is your relationship with Eric Martsolf different from Chloe’s with Brady? “It’s not that different. I mean, we don’t make out in real life, but we love each other and have such a good time together. He has a great sense of humor. We always make each other laugh. What you see on screen mirrors how we feel about each other. We feel trust with each other. We have a lot of similarities. We both love to sing. We’re both musical theater geeks. We both have a stupid sense of humor. Grant [Bjorlin’s husband] loves Eric. They used to go golfing together.”
Who’s a better mom? “I definitely hope I’m a better parent than Chloe, who hasn’t seen Parker in a long time and then shipped him off to boarding school. If you talk to my husband, he’ll be like, ‘Can you stop being a helicopter parent?’ And he’ll make the sound of a helicopter. I’m not a helicopter parent. I just love them so much, and care so much, and want to make sure they’re okay. So maybe I do helicopter a bit, but not in a bad way. I’m super hands-on. My favorite thing to do in the world is snuggle with my children. We snuggle on the couch and watch PAW PATROL. We play together. We do arts and crafts.”
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