Her very adult job hasn't kept Alderson from embodying the loves and dislikes of an everyday kid. Her language is peppered with "likes" and "you knows"; a sentence can end with a youthful giggle. She loves to hang with friends and her little brother, and contemplates the difficulty of entering the fifth grade. Alderson has succeeded in keeping a healthy balance between daytime diva-in-training and perky pre-teen. Read on to find out how this talented, tiny actress got her big break and why she'd like to stay in the business for a long, long time. — Delaina Dixon

How old were you when you got started in the acting business?

I was about five.

And the first thing you did was on Broadway, right? Didn't you play Molly in Annie?

Yes. It was a lot of fun. The people that were auditioning me from One Life to Live saw the play. They said, "Oh my gosh, she's Molly." And they really liked the way I acted, and that's how I got it, because they knew how good of an actress I was, and they auditioned me. And I got it.

How old are you now?

I'm 10. I've been on One Life to Live for three years.

Where did you learn to act? Did you go to acting school?

No, I never took classes. It was just a natural talent that I had. And I definitely want to be an actress when I grow up.

Your character, Starr, has done some crazy things, like consulting a voodoo goddess to try to get her parents, Blair and Todd, back together. Why does she do all these things?

I think all that Starr wants is just a family, and she wants to be a normal kid. Obviously, she wants [her family] to be like her friend Susie's family. I think she's just a really sad kid who just wants her parents to be together. She does some things that are crazy, but the only reason why she's doing it is that she wants her mom and dad to be back together.

What has been the most fun scene for you to play?

It's pretty hard [to choose]. I mostly like the one where I got to do scenes with Asa, and I got to cut up all of Max's clothes. They didn't show me cutting them up, but I went upstairs, then came back downstairs and he asked, "Is it done?" and I got to say, "Yeah, I did it!" (Giggles)

You play opposite some of daytime's biggest stars: Phil Carey (Asa), Roger Howarth (Todd), Kassie DePaiva (Blair) and Erika Slezak (Viki). Does it ever get scary?

No, it's not really, because they are normal people. They are really nice. And Roger Howarth really likes me, which is good.

Both Roger and Kassie are parents in real life. Do they give you parental advice on the set?

Not really. I usually never do anything that would have to make them say something. I would never do the things [Starr] does.

You're a kid, but you're doing an adult job. How do you keep it that you're still a kid when you leave the studio?

I have a normal life, and it's so much better than the Broadway plays. I quit Broadway because I was homesick, and I didn't get to see my parents a lot because I was on tour. I was in a lot of different places, and my dad had to work at home. So he would just come to the nearest [performances], which wasn't a lot of the time, and I was just like, "I have to go home." Now, I get to go home every night, I see my family, I go to school — it's really great. If I'm on the set three days or more, they give me a tutor.

Erin Torpey, who plays Jessica, grew up on One Life to Live. Do you guys ever talk about what it's like to grow up on daytime?

Actually, we kind of have lived the same life. Her mother is very nice; my mom is very nice. She was in Annie when she was a little girl and was a teenybopper, and the same thing with me. And then she was in a play, and I was in a play. And then she came on One Life to Live, and I came on One Life to Live! So we kind of compare each of the things that we've thought about [growing up on TV].

Does she ever give you any advice?

Erin's mom never used to go on the set with her because she wanted her to interact with all the other actors. I would go off-stage and run to mom to ask, "How am I going to do that [scene]?" Erin said that you shouldn't do that, you should ask the actors and have quality time and get closer to them. Now my mom doesn't go up on set as much, but if I want her to, she asks, "Are you sure, Kristen?" and I say "Yes," and she's says, "Alright."

Sometimes it's nice to have mom around.

Yeah.

Your brother, Eddie Alderson, plays Matthew on the show. Do you ever help him out?

My brother is six years old, and I go over the script with him. If he forgets a line, I tell him, "Eddie, you've got to remember this and this and this," and then he says it over and over in his head. He's so cute.

Did your parents watch OLTL before you joined the show?

My mom, when she was a teenager, would watch it because all of her friends would watch it and that was her soap opera. When I got the part, she was so excited. And now that Todd, Blair and Starr's picture is up in Dorian's house instead of Dorian's, my mom says, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe that my daughter's picture is in [Dorian Lord's] house at the top of the steps!"

What will happen if Dorian ever comes back? She's not going to be too happy about that.

No, she's not. There was an episode where Blair knocked on the door and said, "See this property, this will always be Cramer material," and then she walked in and the picture was up there, and she said, "How could you Todd!" (Giggles)

Did you have fun when you got to dress up like Rae Cummings, played by Linda Dano, for the special Fourth of July episode?

It was so much fun. I would walk into the door and everyone was changed into [his or her] costumes, and I would say, "And who are you?" It was so funny. My costume was the same outfit that Rae had on. They bought the smallest size they could possibly get — which wasn't really that small — but then they altered it, and it fit me really great.

You said you'd like to be an actress when you grow up. Would you like to do movies or nighttime television? If you weren't an actress, what else do you think you'd like to do when you grow up?

I want to stay where I am because I really like this. I think I would like to sing if I wasn't really in the acting business. But I wouldn't like to get into Broadway again. It's a little bit boring because you do the same thing every night. When you're [in daytime], you never know what you are going to do next.

Who is your favorite actress?

Kassie DePaiva (who plays Starr's mother, Blair). She's a really good actress, and she's really, really nice to me.

Ten is a pretty big birthday, double digits and all. Did you do anything special to celebrate?

Yeah. I had a family birthday. Then I took all my friends from dance school to Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, PA. It's an amusement park. They wear old Amish outfits because there are a lot of farms down there.

What type of dance are you taking?

Tap, jazz, and this is my first year of ballet, but I don't like it. It's kind of boring. I only did it because it helps my turns; I wasn't turning that great. But it helps a lot.

What do your friends think of you being on a national daytime drama?

I don't like to be the type of kid who brags, so I don't bring up [being on television]. If they bring it up, then I'll go along with it, but shyly, because I don't like to say, "Oh my gosh, I'm on a TV show and this happens." But they're pretty cool with it.

What grade are you going into this fall?

I'm going into the fifth grade. Everyone says that it's the hardest grade, so I'm like, "Oh no."

What's one of your favorite things to do when you're not on set?

I play with my brother and my dog. I'm kind of like the only girl on my street, and sometimes we play basketball with the boys because we have a little basketball court. I don't beat the boys, but Eddie beats them, and they are as old as me! I have friends from school and dance school and I'll go over to their houses, or they come over to my house and go swimming. It's fun.