Both Zea and Schuldt had met while on the set on the NBC series Passions, where they played the roles of Gwen and original Ethan respectively.
On the new “Passions for Life” podcast, she said, “It has been great. We just started it and the first episode aired on Monday. The podcast is out and we have a lot to say about what was happening in our lives during that time. It’s really fun.”
“We are doing this podcast, because creatively, we really miss performing and connecting with people. We can’t go on set so this is a way for us to connect. Also, it has been 20 years since we did the show Passions, and now we can be honest about our experiences because so much time has passed. We are doing it for people who loved the show and hated the show, as well as for people who heard the show but never watched the show. We are doing it for fans of mine and fans of Travis’, and for people who have exhausted other podcasts and are looking for a new one,” she elaborated.
When asked how she handled being dialogue-heavy on Passions, she said, “You just get used to it. The brain is like a muscle and the more you do it, the easier it gets.”
Zea complimented the talented cast of actors at the time, which included McKenzie Westmore, who played her best friend Sheridan, and Eric Martsolf, who played the re-casted Ethan once Schuldt parted ways with the show. “Everybody was great. Working with Eric Martsolf was great too. While the experience was so long ago, the podcast makes me go back, dig up things from Soap Opera Digest, and reminisce. It helps remind me what was going on at the time since it feels like a lifetime ago,” she said.
She did The Detour for four years of her life. “In four years, a lot happened, so it was good, bad, ugly, flawed and perfect. It was all those things in one,” she said.
For Zea, life in quarantine for her family has been good. “I have been busy. I have a daughter and that takes up a lot of time. We are really lucky. It feels a little silly to complain when quarantine has been really rough for a lot of people,” she said.
On being an actress in the digital age, she said, “It is different, isn’t it? Now, people can dig up all your old work, which can either be good or not so great. There are some things that I would really like to bury, but it’s all out there. There are other things that I am really proud of like The Detour, which people may have missed the first time around but will discover later, and that’s really exciting. The digital age is the gift that keeps on giving.”
Regarding her daily motivations, she said, “The beginning of COVID-19 was really hard for me, creatively, for reasons that everyone can understand but I am getting back to it. Most people need to be inspired and what inspires a lot of people is experience, and being exposed to things around you.”
For young and aspiring actors, she said jokingly with a sweet laugh, “Don’t do it, find something else. I think it’s great if people want to put themselves out there. As long as they know that it’s nearly impossible. They need to understand the cold hard facts about the numbers working in entertainment. Go in knowing that, and then, give it everything you have.”
The advice she would give her younger self would be “to loosen up a little bit” because “things are going to be okay.” “It’s fine to just go with it,” she said.
On the title of the current chapter of her life, she said, “I’m a trapped in a Anton Chekhov play such as Three Sisters.” “The country is trapped in Three Sisters, and we are all hiding for the motherland, which is basically, restaurants,” she said with a sweet laugh.
In her personal life, she is the wife of Travis Schuldt and the mother of their daughter, Reygan. “I juggle a family life the same way everybody does, there is no secret. You just wake up and you figure it out, really. There are lot of logistical family meetings,” she said. “These days, there is not a lot of juggling to be done. I miss the hectic, problem-solving that goes along with that.”
She had nothing but the kindest remarks about Los Angeles celebrity photographer Bjoern Kommerell. “Bjoern is great. He is so good at what he does,” she said.
Zea defined the word success as “being able to live in a particular moment and be in peace with that moment.”
Their “Passions for Life” podcast is available on digital providers by clicking here, including Stitcher.
To learn more about actress Natalie Zea, follow her on Instagram and on Twitter.
