Like many of her Sunset Beach castmembers, CRISTI ELLEN HARRIS (Emily Davis) is now turning her attention to life after daytime. "I'm back to auditioning for an array of projects," the down to earth actress shares. "Such is the life of a working actor."

But first, the actress has the final episodes of Beach to wrap in a couple of weeks. The canceled soap last airs on December 31. "We feel good knowing that we put together the best show we could," she sighs. "And we plan to work our hardest right up until the finale."

For the Georgia-born Harris, it seems like yesterday, make that May of 1998, when she was cast as Randy Spelling's (Sean) on-screen lifeguard pal and resident good girl Emily. "I was hired and was asked to go to the Daytime Emmys the same day," she says, smiling at the memory. "That day, I was told I had to come up for a fitting and do six episodes in two days... It was overwhelming. My head was spinning, but it was wonderful. I knew that literally if I could stay on the show, and not just last a couple of weeks, it would be a most wonderful experience. It has been."

Harris landed on the Aaron Spelling- produced soap after appearing on episodes of Full House and Growing Pains and working as a Wilhelmina model in New York. Her appetite to be a thespian was whet while taking acting classes in between modeling gigs. Actually, her initial yearning to be an actress came years before while visiting her brother Jeff, an assistant director, on the Chicago set of "The Kid Who Loved Christmas," a movie that starred Sammy Davis, Jr. "I thought, 'This is a life that looks like a lot of fun,' recalls the actress. "I saw the glamour and the fun of it obviously, but I saw a lot of hard work too and it still looked like a lot of fun."

"[Years later,] when I was in New York taking acting glasses, I realized how much I really enjoyed acting," the actress continues. "It started to grow on me and I've always loved movies. I've always loved to escape with romantic comedies and just loved to be taken away... I just thought, 'What could be better than to play all of our your life and pretend to be different people. To fall in love and out of love.' ''

As Beach's Emily, she has gotten to do just that. "It's a great way to spend your life, meeting new people all the time," notes Harris of the actor's life. Moving around a lot as a child proved a good preparation for that life. Her father worked in the airline industry, so she's called Hawaii, Colorado, Illinois, New York and California home.

"It taught me a lot, like how to get along with people and the importance of adapting to new environments," Harris says of her younger years. "It comes in very handy in my line of work. You are forced to fit in and forced to get to know people quickly."

Meanwhile, the actress is putting down some serious roots in L.A. Her daytime job has enabled her the opportunity to buy her first home, a condo. She moves in soon, relieved that her days as a renter are over. Meanwhile, the single actress is keeping her eyes open for Mr. Right. "When you're on a show, it takes so much time and when you're wrapping up a show, it takes even more of your time because you are also looking for your next job," she muses, adding with a giggle. "So if I was to have a boyfriend right now, I don't know where he'd fit into my life... But of course, if I was to meet Mr. Right, I wouldn't turn that down."

Now just days from her wrap date at Beach, Harris is naturally feeling a bit philosophical about things. "I'm definitely not a 9 to 5 type person," she notes. "I'm content with the profession I chose... My mom and I had been working for so long on my career and she helped me out so much when I was younger with trying to go for it...When I got the soap opera, it was such a payoff for us." Sadly, now it's time to move on.

Below, Harris talks about the soap's cancellation, recalls her last day of work with her leading man and previews Emily's grand finale.

DIGEST ONLINE: What are some of the lessons you learned working on daytime, not only about acting but about show business, especially in light of the show getting canceled.
HARRIS: You always have to try your hardest so you don't have any regrets. We worked so hard on the soap opera -- we run lines constantly and are so into our show -- I think if we hadn't tried and done so much work to keep it on the air, then we would have to regret it. But I honestly feel everyone did the best job they could possibly do. That is one thing [so important in soap opera], to really know what you want out of a scene and know what you are going after and never get too settled into the routine so you lose sight of what you are there to do.

Also, you always hear this about some TV show [casts]: that they are like a family. But at Sunset Beach, it is so true. Everyone really watches out for one another. I've met so many people that I know I will know forever. There are wonderful people here. I think that is the hardest thing, to know we are not going to see each other every day. We'll have to work out our schedules to see each other.

DIGEST ONLINE: Yes, the Sunset Beach cast seems close-knit.
HARRIS: We always go out to dinners or clubs or to lunch. If someone has gotten a job, we are so supportive of [that person]. For example, Randy [Spelling] and Kam [Heskin] went off to film a movie in Florida with Dennis Hopper. So last Tuesday was my last day of working with Randy, and Kam's last day was last Thursday. We bought a cake and had it in the make-up room and sang them silly little songs and stuff, but the thing is that we are very happy for them. I think that is one thing you don't necessarily see [elsewhere with other shows, and that is], the camaraderie and support may not be there. It is at Sunset Beach. It's such a shame that we are losing our jobs. But perhaps when a castmember goes to a different soap,they can perhaps bring that camaraderie and spirit and sense of family to that new show.

DIGEST ONLINE: What was the last day working with Randy like for you?
HARRIS: It was horribly sad. It was very hard for me, maybe harder for me than for Randy because he was the first person that I ever did a scene in daytime with. I also screen-tested with him. He was the most supportive person of me and everything I was going through and in trying to adjust. To say good-bye and do those final scenes was quite difficult. It was wonderful because they did write us great material. I'm very excited. The scenes that you will see that will be the final scenes of us are really amazing. It was very hard, there were a lot of tears. I have to say that. Off-camera, there were plenty of tears from me too.

Randy was always so encouraging. He kept telling me to relax and Timothy Adams [Casey], with whom I often had my initial scenes, was so sweet too. He said to me on my first day, 'Cristi, just relax, you know how to act and you know what you're doing, now just relax and do it.' [Laughs] It was so easy said, but it was very hard to do.

DIGEST ONLINE: So will there be a happy ending for Emily?
HARRIS: Let's just put it this way, I know she will be finding out a lot of things and I don't know if she will find out in time. I'm sure things will unfold and she'll get to the bottom of everything, but the problem is I don't know if she will actually achieve it before she loses him.

DIGEST ONLINE: Hmm, can you give us any hints about the finale?
HARRIS: To be honest, they haven't told us a lot. I know with my storyline, I'm hoping for a happy ending. I don't know if it will be an expected ending or not, but I'm hoping it will be happy or at least just.

DIGEST ONLINE: What did you like most about being on a soap and your character?
HARRIS: I love that Emily is a nice person. I adore that, because I think that there are not that many nice people who are portrayed on TV. And also, there aren't always that many nice people in the world. The wonderful thing is that she's a very nice, honest and sweet person. She spoke how she felt. Even though she wouldn't always stand up for herself or even though she was very naive, -- that was Emily's downfall -- but Emily always found the silver lining in everything and that is a wonderful thing to see.

DIGEST ONLINE: I used to cover The City for Soap Opera Digest. The soap also got canceled, but as many of the actors found out in a matter of time, where one door closes another door opens. Maybe you will end up on another soap or in romantic comedy?
HARRIS: Exactly. I hope so. I know that the nature of the business is that there are times when you work and times when you don't work. But you just have to have faith that the right project will come to you. Being on Sunset Beach could not have been a more wonderful experience for me and a great learning experience. I can't say enough about being on Sunset Beach. I figure since we are coming to an end, it is meant to be. I have so much confidence that everyone will have so much success. I'm not too worried about my fellow castmates, I know that they will do well.