Catching up with...Vanessa Marano (ex-Eden Baldwin, Y&R, 2008-10)

An actress since she was 2 years old, Vanessa Marano had already amassed an impressive resumé of stage, film and prime-time TV credits when she was encouraged to make a career pivot to daytime.

- Devin Owens

Just The Facts

Birthday: October 31

The Best Thing About A Halloween Birthday: "That always got me an extra piece of candy when I was trick-or-treating."

Born In: Los Angeles, CA Middle Name: Nicole

Sounds Fishy: Her first film role was lending her vocal talents to the animated movie Finding Nemo.

Sister Act, Too: Little sister Laura Marano is also an actress.

Relationship Status: Single and "healthy".

Claim To Fame: She's best known for playing the unpopular April on the popular GILMORE GIRLS.

Pet Peeve: "Right now I'm in a constant debate with myself about whether or not I should get a dog. Katie Leclerc, my old co-star from SWITCHED AT BIRTH, I've been dog-sitting her adorable Australian shepherd named Joey and I've always been a big dog lover."

"I had never done a soap before and my mom [Ellen Marano], who was an actress in her 20s and had been on old-world soaps like SANTA BARBARA, said to me, 'It's the best training you'll ever have in your entire life," she explains. "I'm all about working, so I was like, 'Why not?"

" Marano first hit up Y&R, where she auditioned for the role of Abby, who was being hyper-aged to a teenager, and recalls, "Of course, I wasn't hired for that because the fabulous Hayley Erin got it, but at that time they were going to bring on a new Eden and they said, 'We see you as her."

" Marano said yes and she became the second actress to play Michael Baldwin's little sister. It wasn't long until she learned that her mother was right about the benefits of soap work. "There was all that memorization, not only of your lines but remembering blocking as well," she points out. "It was like being thrown into the deep end but I thought it was really fun.