Flag Waving:  Always in Style
Soap Opera Weekly - November 13, 2001

One flag has never been enough for Port Charles' Erin Hershey (Alison).  "My whole house is red, white and blue, American stars and stripes, and cowboys.  It's all American 'Western,'" Erin says.  "The quilt on my bed is a big giant flag."

Needless to say, when new friends visit her home nowadays they are quite impressed by Erin's decor.  "People think I'm so current, that I went out and did everything spur of the moment," she says with a laugh.  "But that really isn't the case at all."

Though not a U.S. citizen, Erin's co-star, Thorsten Kaye (Ian), admits that he feels like an American.  "I'm from England," Thorsten notes.  "I've always loved being here.  I've lived here longer than any place else in the world.  This is my home...it's not about passports."

To Thorsten, recent events in this country are all too familiar.  "Religious wars...Being from Europe, I've dealt with this for awhile," he notes sadly.

That said, the actor refuses to be afraid.  "I think if your number is up, it's up.  You cannot stop flying.  You just have to keep going with your life, try to get back on track.  Like Super Soap Weekend...I've heard people saying, 'Oh, it might be too dangerous.'  It's not.  It's not any more dangerous than it every was.  If we don't do what we've always done, which is live in this land in peace and freedom, then the terrorists have won.  They've won on a much higher level than the crimes they've already committed."