The direction of Samantha's love life has been ambiguous until now, and it is still unclear whether she will eventually become involved in some kind of romantic situation with Ridge, Nick or some other man. In the meantime, Sydney Penny has been enjoying the process of constructing a context for her character. "There's this element of loneliness and something that's missing," says Sydney. "[A] missing chunk for her and she's come to California to where her childhood was, her happy days, her earlier simpler times, to feel again that carefree time and start over in a way. All these things are fascinating to me and Bradley [Bell, B&B's Executive Producer/Head Writer] and I have been talking about it a little bit and what did exist in her past and who is in her past and what had an effect on her."

Sydney explains that as an actor, there is a definite advantage to building a character's motivations. "It makes everything much simpler, because when a character confronts a situation, they have a basis for their judgment, why they do what they do," says Sydney. "It's never irrational or just off the cuff. No one ever behaves that way, so you're naturally having to ground their decisions and their choices in some type of reality which you're creating along the way. So the more homework I can do for myself on the front end, the easier and more organic and truthful it is along the way."

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