Actor Spotlight: Cathy Counts, Dr. Gail Monroe

Cathy Counts as Dr. Gail Monroe

If we were to look you up on a dating profile, what would your bio read?


What's a date? Similar to a fig or a prune.  Oh, I've heard of those. They run right through you, leave you totally empty. I'm really best on my own, fulfilled, contented, and blissfully self-contained, without being ravaged by dried fruit or having to suffer an evening imagining a  future of co-dependence and  compromise. But if you want to take me to a movie, play, comedy show, or restaurant with no intentions of latching onto me like a squid, I’m up for anything.
 



Tell us about your character in this season (in this same format).



Something got you down? Tell Doctor Gail Munroe all about it.  I'll find what's ailing you, whether it's physical, mental, or emotional, and I'll help you get through it.  Remember, keep your chin up and you'll feel a lot better about everything. Troubles are like dust kitties under the bed.  If you aren't aware of them, they won't bother you. If you do become aware of them, deal with them and breath a sigh of relief.
 



How did watching season one impact your performance in season two?



So many of the performances were excellent, and the production's values were so pleasingly professional and creative! I knew I could play my role with depth and delicacy, and my work would only be enriched by the treatment of the scenes.  
 



What projects are you currently working on or have you been working on since Ragged Isle wrapped shooting?



I am currently writing a novel which had been in the planning stages for several years, but I have just finished a prologue and four chapters this week while on vacation. I'm very excited about it, because the work is flowing and there really isn't anything that feels better to me than writing when the story and the characters are good. As for theater or film, nothing ahead.  The writing is taking precedence now.



What is your favorite behind-the-scenes moment during the production of Ragged Isle?


Oooh, I can't tell you, or it would be a spoiler!!!!   But it has to do with a honking big moon over the water at the boat yard, everyone wrapped up to their ears and wearing gloves on a super chilly August midnight, and one thin, fragile girl shivering in a blanket in a car, waiting for the big dunk in what had to be near frigid water.  I'll never forget it, the sight of her waiting, running lines, shivering, and waiting several hours more.  Oh!  And Rick using his the flashlight app on his smart phone for an additional light source during that midnight shoot.



What is your favorite thing about your character?


She's not afraid of anybody.


What do you and your character have in common?



We like to create a fiction of well-being around us, with a reluctant grounding in reality.



What do you and your character have least in common?



I am by no means a care-giver to anyone, unless you are a long-haired cat and you purr freely. Dr. Munroe is a natural care-giver and  prefers people to pets.



If you could play any other character on Ragged Isle who would it be and why?



I would like to be the Shimmering Mermaid of Death.  Oh, wait. There is no Shimmering Mermaid of Death. Well, maybe that smug FBI agent with all the eye-liner.  I look good in eye-liner.



We're not sure who survives the second and third seasons of Ragged Isle... any last words just in case your character doesn't make it?



I just hope I follow the Hypocratic Oath.  First, do no harm...