Relaxed, tranquil, even a bit soft-spoken. That's Florencia Lozano's real-life demeanor, you can't miss it when you sit down to chat with her about the ONE LIFE that she lives as Llanview's embattled barrister, Téa Manning. As the actress welcomes you into her dressing room - a warm, cozy, little nook - immediately, you realize how far removed she is from that cold, almost lifeless penthouse that Téa calls home. How does the easy-going Lozano do a complete 180 and become a fast-talking legal eagle? Here are her big secrets!

Lozano's metamorphosis begins with the script, she says. "I try to learn my lines as many days ahead of time as possible. I can never spend enough time going over the words, literally just repeating them to myself, out loud - walking around during the day, at the gym, in the shower, wherever. I'm just making those words my own. After that's done, I can go back to the lines, and they're there for me," she explains. "I can't learn the script the same day. I get into trouble that way. It's like the words are just on my lips. They aren't really a part of my body." Then it's just the rest of Lozano's body that she has to worry about - like keeping oxygen inside it! "I try to remember to breathe," she admits. "Sometimes I find I hold my breath." Lozano isn't just trying to keep from fainting, though. "I try to prepare emotionally for the scene," she says, "by opening up my breathing ... relaxing, meditating, trying to put every other thought in my head away for a while."

Being There ... Once Lozano's mind is on her work, she starts using her imagination. "I do a lot of substituting," she says. "I think, 'What if Todd was a real person in my life?' The situations are so dramatic that in some ways it's easy to feel worked up. For instance, when Todd fell into the water, even though it was hokey, I tried to go there in terms of what would really happen. It's a challenge, but a good one."

Keeping It Real ... The pace of a soap and the material itself are sometimes so overwhelming that Lozano has had to develop a way to manage it all. "I try to keep feeding the fire, feeding some of the emotional stuff that Téa has to go through," she says. "It's tiring because, on some level, I have to go there. I feel sad. I don't know any other way to do it," she admits. "People always ask.. 'What do you think about that makes you cry?' Well ... things that would make me cry. It's hard sometimes, but it also feels good when I feel like I portrayed something honestly." And Lozano does know when she's on the money. She knows her character inside and out, and even has filled in some of the blanks in her profile. "I make stuff up," Lozano reveals. "For instance, I'll say, 'Okay, what did Téa do while Todd was at work?' Or I'll try to imagine Téa in her bedroom. They're just little things to try to fill in my life."

Just Act Natural... Although the script is the departure point from which all things spring in Llanview, not everything is on the page. "A lot of times," Lozano notes, "someone will make me laugh, and then my next line will be abou responding to that. Any number of things can happen, which are usually the best moments. But it's hard took, because I don't want to screw up my lines." When Lozano is working opposite OLTL spouse Roger Howarth (Todd) she never feels like she's just reciting dialogue.

"I feel like we're just talking, listening and responding to each other," she says. "And that makes it relatively easy to concentrate. I feel like we're connecting." Which is not to say that Lozano always feels like she's hitting 'em out of the park. "There are many times when I think I didn't get a scene," she admits. "When you don't feel anything, it's frustrating. I'm less hard on myself than I used to be because I realize how difficult what we do is," she notes. "But as an actor, you hope that you go in there and get caught up in the moment. I think, self-indulgently, that's why we become actors in the first place - to feel things."

After a year in Llanview, reveals Lozano, "I'm feeling more and more relaxed." Lozano says that leading man Howarth helps her nail down scenes. "He's not an actor who's in his own world," she observes.

Sideline Article - Privacy Please - Will success spoil Florencia Lozano's life? Imagine what life would be like if you were no longer able to go about your daily activities without being bombarded by the public. For some, that might sound somewhat appealing, knowing that you're a bona fide "star". But for this actress, it's not even slightly tempting. "I would imagine that it would stink," she says of the thought of losing her privacy. "I was watching a documentary about a big star - Madonna or somebody - and they couldn't do anything. It's like, 'What kind of life is that?' " But Lozano takes the notion one step further and ponders how one is still able to succeed in the profession. "If it's all about being a movie star, I wonder how good of an actor they can continue to be if everyone treats them like they're so different. And it's definitely a weird head thing to stay grounded in the fact that you're just a person," she adds. "I think that's a real struggle and a good one to fight."