Salem District Attorney Melinda Trask and antagonist Kristen DiMera are on other sides of the law, but they may have more in common than people realize. Recently, their respective portrayers, Tina Huang, and Stacy Haiduk sat down with Soap Hub to talk about the differences and similarities between their characters.
Stacy Haiduk & Tina Huang Talk Melinda & Kristen
“Our characters are both unapologetically strong,” Huang offers. “We both go for what we want. We’re women who know what we want. [Kristen and Melinda] have a mutual respect for each other even though they’re rivals. There’s a really good relationship between them. There’s symbiosis. They need each other.”
“I think [our characters] are very similar,” concurs Haiduk. “Everyone’s done bad things. We just do them smart!”
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Going for What They Want
While Kristen will withhold a life-saving orchid to get what she wants and Melinda will aggressively pursue cases with her eye on winning a conviction, they share similar motivations. “We live in the ‘gray’ area,” Huang points out. “We’re staunch believers [in what we’re doing], but we’re coming from a case of vulnerability.”
Kristen is known to make demands — like when she was holding the orchid over Brady’s (Eric Martsolf) head. “But those demands come from love,” Haiduk argues. “They’re not demands of money or anything other than Kristen wanting her family back — Brady, her daughter. As a mother, I’d fight to the ends of the earthy for my daughter. I bring that to Kristen. She’s doing things that may look bad on the outside. I actually don’t think characters are ‘bad.'” Huang adds: “We’re bad-ass bitches with hearts of gold!”
What’s in the DVR of Tina Huang
While Huang is not a real-life lawyer, she says she’s a big fan of both scripted and real-life legal programs. “I’m addicted to courtroom dramas,” she says. “As an actor, I like to study human behavior. Sometimes, you can’t believe the things that people will do. It was interesting to watch the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial.” The TV attorney also has some favorite movies about the law. “I’ve seen A Few Good Men and, also, My Cousin Vinny for the comedy,” she says.
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