Soap Opera Digest: Hello, Erin! Welcome to Y&R.
Erin Sanders: Thanks!
Digest: How's it been going?
Sanders: Good. I'm having a lot of fun, but it's harder than I thought it would be. It moves so quickly.
Digest: Have any of your co-stars been helping you get adjusted?
Sanders: Tracey [E. Bregman, Lauren] and Christian [J. LeBlanc, Michael] have been. I've been interacting with them the most since our characters are in a storyline together.
Digest: Did you know anything about Eden when you auditioned for the role?
Sanders: No. The audition sides had nothing about my character. Even when I started work, I was in the background for the first few episodes, so I really knew nothing about who she was. I just knew she was related to River in some way.
Digest: Did you expect the role to be so dramatic? You've had to cry so much on-screen.
Sanders: I definitely wasn't expecting that. The audition sides were light and fun. I had no idea that this was all in store for me. I'm pleased, though, because I love this sort of thing.
Digest: How did you react when you learned that Michael Gross (River) is your TV dad? Did you watch him on FAMILY TIES?
Sanders: I did. I was excited! He's a great actor and I'm having such a good time with him.

Digest: ZOEY 101 had much more comedy in it. Was it hard switching from that to something so dramatic?
Sanders: I actually made the switch early on because I originally was a dramatic actress. I'd only done adult dramas and this was the first comedy I'd ever done. But I had such a wonderful time on ZOEY. We were a family and it was a great learning experience. But it was the same sort of material every day and it's nice to get into something with a little more meat to it.
Digest: On ZOEY, were you surprised that it ended when it did?
Sanders: Not really because we'd planned from the beginning to do only four seasons. Everything was wrapped up in a nice way. I think it was time to move on. But it was still so, so sad.
Digest: ZOEY seems to air about 10 times a day.
Sanders: Really? I had no idea it aired that often. That's really cool! Towards the end of the series I got more fans of my character because she was a little less weird and they made her look and act a little more pleasant. It grew fans as it progressed. I think the quality of the show got better as it went on, which usually doesn't happen. We were all such good friends. We all still keep in touch.

Digest: Let's talk about some of the other shows you've been on. How was 8 SIMPLE RULES?
Sanders: Oh, my God, that was so much fun. All of my scenes were with James Garner [Jim], which was exciting. Unfortunately, John Ritter had passed on by that point, so I never got to work with him. I was always such a fan of his.
Digest: How about AMERICAN DREAMS?
Sanders: I was on one of the earliest episodes of that, so the show was brand-new and didn't really have a following yet. But one of the leads, Sarah Ramos [Patty], I went to acting class with her for years, so it was funny to come on the set and see her. I was like, "Oh, you're here!"

Digest: What led to you doing a soap?
Sanders: Honestly, I'd never thought of doing a soap before, but I go out for everything and it was kind of a surprise. I only did one callback, which was also a surprise to me. I'm lucky it's turned into what it has.
Digest: On Y&R, did it help to have another kid there in Kevin Schmidt [Noah]?
Sanders: Yes, he's a great guy.
Digest: And he was a child star, too.
Sanders: Exactly. But prior to ZOEY, I was used to being the only kid on set. But it is nice to have Kevin there, to have someone in my age bracket.
Digest: Since you began acting when you were so young, did you miss out on going to regular school?
Sanders: Yes, I was homeschooled all throughout high school. It's funny because [Eden] never went to a regular school, either. It was a weird coincidence. Also, she's a math whiz and was taught by her dad and in my real life, my dad's a math genius. And she's good at French and I'm taking French, too.
Digest: That is weird. How did you get into acting at such a young age?
Sanders: Believe it or not, it's from Girl Scouts [laughs].
Digest: Really?
Sanders: I'm actually still in Girl Scouts — I have been for at least 10 or 11 years — but when I was 9, I was selling Girl Scout cookies and I knocked on this one guy's door and I went on my whole spiel about the cookies. He said he thought I spoke really well and had a friend who worked at an agency and thought I should get into acting. So he gave my mom his friend's card and we met with him and that's how I got into it.
Digest: That's crazy! I was also a Girl Scout, but never had an encounter like that.
Sanders: I know! Its one of those stories you hear about where you're like, "No, that would never happen."
Digest: Did the guy even buy some cookies?
Sanders: Yes! I think he actually bought a few boxes [laughs].