GUIDING LIGHT’s he said/she said rape plot is one of daytime’s most controversial, but newcomer Alice Kremelberg (young Olivia) is taking it all in stride. Here, the high school student dishes about kissing scenes and her relationship with grown-up Olivia, Crystal Chappell.

Soap Opera Weekly: What acting had you done before GUIDING LIGHT?
Alice Kremelberg: Recently I filmed an episode for LAW & ORDER: SVU and I’ve done a bunch of educational films and plays at school. This is the first real professional thing that I’ve done.

Weekly: Are you still in school?
Kremelberg: I’m in 11th grade. I attend a performing arts school.

Weekly: Your resemblance to Crystal is remarkable.
Kremelberg: Even when I first started and didn’t know anybody, people would ask, “Are you playing young Olivia? You look so much like her.” It’s a great compliment.

Weekly: Has Crystal been helpful to you?
Kremelberg: She’s great to work with. She gives me good tips. She told me how she portrays Olivia, like Olivia’s kind of a rebel and moody sometimes.

Weekly: You’ve been thrown into some intense, emotional story.
Kremelberg: It’s a trip. I got the first script and it was only supposed to be one or two episodes. They kept on writing me in, and all of this stuff kept on coming. It was exciting to read everything and not expect what was going to come next.

Weekly: What’s it like working with TJ Linnard, who plays young Jeffrey?
Kremelberg: It’s great. He’s very sweet. My mom was there, so after we shot a lot of the kissing scenes, he’d apologize to her.

Weekly: Is your family enjoying watching you on the show?
Kremelberg: Definitely. I have all of my friends and my family members hooked on the show now. But I remember the first time we went to watch it, President Bush was on [pre-empting GL]!