Although I've never met Julie Pinson in person, you wouldn't know it after speaking with her for the very first time. We developed such a rapport so quickly that I soon felt like I was catching up on old times with an old friend instead of conducting an interview. She is funny, outgoing and her warm personality even stretches across telephone lines. Enjoy this one on one chat with Salem's infamous Billie Reed and what Pinson wants for her.

The question on the mind of most of Pinson's fans is whether or not she will be getting a story soon. "I sure hope so," Pinson laughs, "That would be real nice. She needs her own guy. They need to bring on someone new just for Billie, so she can have a fabulous love affair and get away from the Bo's and the Steve's. I mean it's fun anyway, even just work. I love working with James Scott (EJ) and working with the girl that plays my daughter (Rachel Melvin; Chelsea). It's always fun. I enjoy going to work and just doing anything is fine with me. However, I would love a story of my own." I'm hard-pressed to come up with ideas for the character of Billie, but for Pinson, the story pitches are coming fast and furious. "You know, Kristian Alfonso (Hope) and I were on the set talking about, 'We should open our own detective agency and get back to kicking ass.' Wouldn't that be fun?" Pinson shares, "Because then they could like hate each other but have to work together. I think it would be really fun, with our animosity towards each other, and we are somewhat friends and we support each other but we still don't like each other. I think that would be a really fun story."

That's not to say that Pinson always agrees with the direction that her character sometimes takes. "I love Billie, she's fantastic," Pinson says, "But I also, as an actress, would like to see Billie get away from these love triangles and the writers keep putting her in these situations, and it's no fun for the audience because the audience knows that Steve is going to be with Kayla forever. The audience knows that Bo and Hope are going to be together forever. So why tease the audience by trying to throw in a third person?" One scene Pinson wasn't too sure about was when Billie found herself in the arms of her daughter's boyfriend, Nick. "That was a hard story for me to wrap around," she says matter-of-factly, "I just never really understood why Billie would do it. I mean, she was drunk. Great, I understand that. But it never really made sense to me. But I think that we did a good job with what we had." Billie's reaction to being dumped by Steve also had Pinson a little mystified. "That was one of my arguments with the powers-that-be, is Billie and Steve never even slept together. So why is Billie so distraught over this guy? So I had to try and play it like... he was the straw that broke the camel's back. When is Billie going to get an opportunity to have her own guy? When is it going to be her turn? When does she get to be happy? She's always had so much bad luck in love, she always picks the wrong guys!"

"I'd like to see Billie get back into law enforcement," Pinson continues, "I want to see her go on some adventures. It was so much fun when I first came on the show, and everybody was on the island, and we all had to rescue everybody from the Dimera's and I was kicking butt and fighting with all the bad guys. I love that stuff and I love when soap operas show women in a very powerful position, as opposed to being hookers or something like that. I just like it when soaps empower women. And that's one thing that I'm not crazy about that Days of Our Lives has done to Billie. There are a lot of beautiful, single women out there who love being single and there is nothing wrong with it. And I don't like the fact that they always make Billie sound like she has to have a boyfriend or she has to be in love."

But Pinson clearly holds Billie near and dear, as she does her previous role as Eve on Port Charles. "She was the first character that I ever played," the actress smiles, "And I had a lot to do on Port Charles. I always had good stories and I always had cute guys to mess around with! I loved them all, from Kin Shriner (now Scott on General Hospital) all the way to Thorsten Kaye (Zach; All My Children, ex-Ian), it was really great. And Eve was close to my heart. And I think that Eve had a lot of story arc. You know, she went from being the bad girl to being the good girl. She just had a lot more to do." Pinson also developed close friendships with her Port Charles co-stars that continue to this day. "Jon Lindstrom (ex-Kevin) and I are very close. We're very good friends. We speak at least once a week or so and we see each other all the time," she notes, and adds, "Of course, Kin Shriner. He and Billy, my husband, are really good friends."

Speaking of Billy, I ask Pinson if her hubby will be joining her on the cruise and she tells me, "I get to go on the cruise with my best friend Sherri, who was also my maid of honor at our wedding. So Sherri and I are going to go... And you know what I've noticed? Alicia Minshew (Kendall; All My Children) and I are the only girls!" Also aboard will be Austin Peck (Brad; As the World Turns, ex-Austin), "My other brother. I love him and I can't wait to see him. I hear he's doing really well over there on that show." In the meantime, Pinson's other half will be at home with their "kids," a border collie mix and a Yorkie, when he's not working on the set of Young and the Restless as Ben. Oh and then there is Tommy, the yellow tabby. Originally Pinson's cat, that all changed when the feline clearly fell in love. "He loves Billy," Pinson laughs, "Ever since Billy and I got married he has been Billy's cat. He follows Billy around the house. He sits with Billy wherever Billy sits. I feel a little slighted!"

As for Pinson's future, she is still looking forward to that juicy story, whatever and whenever it may be. "I would like to think of Billie as more like one of the characters on Sex and the City. You know, independent, her own job, smart and kicks butt!"

Thank you so much to Julie Pinson for conducting this interview and to Cindy for setting it up.

Photos courtesy of Julie Pinson Online.