INTERVIEW: Courtney Hope carries on B&B's Sally-Stephanie rivalry

Find out how The Bold and the Beautiful's infamous Sally/Stephanie rivalry has inspired the show's new Sally Spectra, Courtney Hope.

They say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but when you're talking about The Bold and the Beautiful's Spectra family, it's more like the poisonous apple doesn't fall far from the tree. And lucky for fans, the show's new Sally Spectra, played by former Quantum Break star Courtney Hope, is proof that the familial saying holds true.

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For the past couple of months, B&B viewers have seen the epic Spectra/Forrester battles of the 1980s play out with a modern twist. Just like the late Sally Spectra (Darlene Conley) and her zany crew ripped off Stephanie (Susan Flannery), Ridge (then played by Ronn Moss), and Eric's (John McCook) designs, the new Sally and her family -- Shirley (Patrika Darbo), Coco (Courtney Grosbeck), Saul (Alex Wyse), and Darlita (Danube Hermosillo) -- have been giving the Forrester clan the same headaches. And all of the fabulous, over-the-top, super dramatic material from the 80s has served as perfect inspiration for Hope as she sinks her teeth into Sally Spectra 2.0.

After landing the role of Sally's grandniece, Hope had a (designer) trunk full of research to do, and she started with classic clips longtime viewers most definitely remember.

"I went and watched a lot of the old stuff with Darlene and the whole Spectra group," she tells Soap Central. "I picked some things from the clips [to implement into the character] and then kind of made it my own. But I watched all the storylines from way back when and Sally and Stephanie's rivalry so I could pull some stuff from it."

And boy, did she! The fights between Sally and Stephanie's granddaughter Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) aren't just catfights -- they're lion fights. And it sounds as if viewers have plenty more Spectra/Forrester battles to look forward to, because Hope reveals family will continue to come first for her alter ego.

"Her parents ran off young, and her grandmother, who has been there for her and her sister, who's her staple, means so much to her, so I think now that she's had this transition of seeing the backlash of her decisions, I think family is even more in the forefront," Hope teases of the aftereffect of the family's latest rip-off scheme.

But will she really continue to put family first, even though Thomas (Pierson Fod) bailed her out of the trouble her family helped cause in the first place?

"Yes, because she realizes now how quickly you can lose something," Hope tease. "She's heartbroken [over some of her decisions], for sure, but I really think she wants to be an advocate for the family, for the closeness, and really fight for what she almost ruined."

Funny enough, the actress knows exactly what it's like to choose between love and something else that's super important. She and her boyfriend, General Hospital's Chad Duell (Michael Quartermaine), almost didn't get the chance to date each other.

"I tested for GH before I landed [my B&B role], and we met the week before I knew I was testing," she recalls. "We just kind of hit it off immediately, but it was like, 'Well, let's see what happens with my audition.' And then it didn't go in that direction, so we were like, 'Okay, now we can date!' [Laughs] Because you know the whole working thing and dating each other? So once that was over and I didn't get the role, I was like, 'Okay, let's do this!"

For more Sally Spectra fun, be sure to keep tuning in to CBS Daytime's The Bold and the Beautiful.

Are you enjoying B&B's Spectra 2.0 action? What do you think of Hope's Sally? Do you view her as a good girl or a bad girl? Why? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.

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