Over 25 years after making her first soap opera appearance on “Neighbours,” actress Cecelia Specht is back in the soap opera game.
The Smyrna-based actress made her debut as Dr. Lia Whitmore on “Beyond the Gates” on Feb. 13, and is poised for a juicy storyline. “Beyond the Gates” – the first daytime soap opera to feature a predominantly Black cast since “Generations” – centers around the wealthy Dupree family and their lives within an affluent gated community.
“Beyond the Gates” has garnered favorable reviews since it began in 2025, and recently was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series at the 2026 NAACP Image Awards – the first daytime drama series to earn that distinction. Specht was excited to be a part of the team.
“It was such a joy to go into work every single day because of that feeling of gratitude and the talent I knew I was going to get to work with,” Specht said. “The writing just kept me guessing, at the same time. I think the audience is really going to find joy with that.”
Rough Draft Atlanta recently spoke with Specht about her path to “Beyond the Gates” and her time in the Georgia film and television industry. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Did you always know you wanted to go into the movie and television business?
Cecelia Specht: No, not at all. From the age of 9, I knew I wanted to be a United States senator [Laughs].
Wow, that’s quite a turn.
Specht: I know – in a way! I was at UC Berkeley, political science, pre-law. I had my eyes on going to law school, and was studying for the LSAT to get into law school. I worked on political campaigns – mayorals, and congressional, and presidential. And I just was like, hmm – this isn’t what I thought [it would be].
Then, I actually got deathly ill. I had a 105 degree temperature – at 106, your brain boils. I had a red rash, like fire, all over my body. I went into the hospital for six days, and they never figured out what it was, but I almost died. And I thought, “Oh my gosh, I almost died. Well, what’s worse is if I would have woken up when I was 80 [and thought] what did you do with your life?”
I’d been taking an acting class for fun at the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival … I was like, you know what? I’m gonna call, right from the little hospital phone – the beds had phones in them. I called where I was taking the acting class, and I asked my teacher, how do you become a professional actor? He said, “Go to New York.” So, I auditioned for three schools – The Neighborhood Playhouse, the American Academy [of Dramatic Arts], and the Actors Studio. It was the first year [The Actors Studio was] doing a Masters of Fine Arts program. I got into all three. So, I went and then I got my MFA in the first graduating class of the Actors Studio MFA program. Brandon Cooper is three years behind me.
Amazing. I wonder if you were in any of those Actors Studio videos, like he famously is.
Specht: I am! [Laughs] With darker hair, but you’ll see me standing up saying, “Cecilia Specht, the actor’s track.” I’m on several of them, actually, because I usually asked a question every time. Those were wonderful, because we’d [have] four hours with those wonderful people. The first year, it was just, say, 60/70 students, and we’d get them to ourselves. Then they started inviting the audience in, and then we had other classmates. We were doing little hands-on workshops with Alec Baldwin, or Paul Newman. Robert Redford – I sat less than like, four feet away from, and was ethereal. Sydney Pollack and Sally Field, and Carol Burnett – I remember asking her a question. Glenn Close, I asked a question, and then when she stood up, she was shorter than me, even in four-inch heels. It was amazing. She had such a powerful presence.
I read that you were in the Actors Studio. How do you think that experience and that kind of preparation has shaped you as an actor, and your approach?
Specht: It shapes the way I approach my work, always – finding myself and the character, and the character in me, and bringing us together so that the words coming out of me make sense to me, therefore they make sense to the audience. Maybe I wouldn’t ever do necessarily what my character would do, but I have to figure out, well, what would I do? Like, for example, if [I] were going to play a murderer, what would make me kill? Maybe, if someone was abusing animals, I might kill that person – that whole idea of substitution and bringing your own self to the role, really helps me step in. Especially on something so fast-paced as a soap opera. You wouldn’t think method acting [would work], but in a way, you have to make strong choices quickly. That was the best way to do it, I think. I was really able to utilize my training with this role. Nobody was more surprised than I was, but I really found it helpful.
Yeah, I was looking through your IMDB, trying to get a sense if you’d done a soap before, and there have been some here and there.
Specht: This is the biggest. My very first acting job was in Australia on the Australian soap “Neighbours.” It was a beloved, beloved show, and it was very popular in England. I had a recurring [role] on that – brief recurring, three or four episodes. So it was interesting that that’s where I started, and this has been my most recent role. Of course, I did a day on “The Young and the Restless,” and three days on “One Life to Live.”
I’ve done theater, I’ve done national tours with plays, and television commercials. I love the theater, but I find if you’re a good actor – [laughs] I’ll pat myself on the back there, I’ll include myself – you really can learn and adapt to whatever, whether it’s a comedy or a dramedy or horror, etc. You can figure out that niche or style of acting if you’re a well-trained actor. Some people can do it naturally, I suppose. But if you’re a good actor, I feel like you can adapt. I mean, De Niro is an amazing actor. He does amazing comedy, which I’m sure surprised a lot of people. Not that I’m comparing myself to De Niro [laughs].
How did this opportunity for “Beyond the Gates” come about? What was the audition process like for you?
Specht: I think every actor in Atlanta wants to do “Beyond the Gates.” As a mature actress, I realized there were fewer opportunities. This came along in the second season. It was my first audition for them, and I thought, oh wow – it’s as if it was written [for me]. This is the exact kind of role that I feel like I excel at. They never tell you – “It’s a possible recurring” – so you never know. It might just be the one scene. It was pretty obvious by the scene that it wasn’t going to be just that.
It came just like any other audition, through my agent. But I knew it was special because of the specialness of this being the first new soap since 1999, and the all-Black cast. It’s just been nominated for an NAACP award for a daytime drama. It’s the first time a daytime drama has been included. So it’s very exciting.
You said this is the kind of role you excel at. I’m curious what you mean by that? What draws you to this role?
Specht: [She’s] an intelligent, mature woman with complexity, rather than just say, mom – which I’ll take too, don’t get me wrong [laughs]. But as opposed to just being there for another character to talk to, and be a sounding board, [she’s a] complex character, a mature woman who has a voice and has strengths, and is not just two-dimensional. It’s interesting that my storyline doesn’t hang itself on a romance either, which is kind of unique for a daytime drama – although, I will not be averse if you want to throw Grayson or Derek at me [laughs].
I know you live in Smyrna now – but you’re from California, and you went to New York. When did you end up in Atlanta? What drew you here?
Specht: I ended up in Atlanta because of the industry. I went to school in New York and met an Australian who was headed back to Australia. We were cast as husband and wife [in a show]. I went, there’s an idea. I followed him to Australia. I started my career there, and then we immigrated back together to LA about 20 years ago now, and spent 10 years [there]. But I got there in my 30s, and in LA, if you don’t get there until you’re in your 30s, you’re an old maid. [affects sarcastic tone] And if you were any good, you would have been there already. It was very difficult to get representation, although I talked myself into an office. I was getting about five, six, maybe 10 auditions a year, and booking. But what’s the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Girlfriends had been talking about how the Atlanta industry had been coming up and up, and my husband and I had just separated. I thought, there is nothing holding me here right now. I’m going to go try Atlanta now.
That was in 2017, when I moved here full time. I got an agent who looked at my resume and saw my training and respected me – even at my advanced age [laughs]. One of the top agencies in Atlanta got me auditioning right away. My first fall season here, I had more auditions than I did in 10 years in LA. So I said, “I’m staying in Atlanta.” There’s such a diversity of work and people and things to do here, so it’s really felt like home.
What’s the biggest difference for you among those different industries? In New York, LA, and Australia? What sets Atlanta apart?
Specht: What sets Atlanta apart, I have to tell you, is you really do feel a part of the community here, a supportive community. No matter if it’s experienced actors, less experienced actors, or even [crew]. You feel more delineation in roles, as far as crew and actors, in Los Angeles, has been my experience. Here, even the top executive producers and the production assistant, or assistant directors, or a one-line actor – you feel like you’re all in this together. You really do. Everyone is grateful to be working and everybody’s respectful of what each other’s jobs are and their skill set. That’s what really sets Atlanta apart for me. I felt that in Australia, but here it really, really feels like I can say, “Hey guys! Let’s put on a show.” You feel like you can communicate and talk to everybody. If you need something else, like if you went – I think I should have a ben. Guess what? Props has got you a pen right there. Or, I really think my clipboard would be different, and then all of a sudden they have it for you. Or, I want to talk to you about this line – the director is immediately there with the writer and the executive producer.
Although, my lines were wonderful. I feel like my lines really were written by a woman my age with experience. They don’t sound like anybody else’s dialogue, and I really respect that. I really respect the writers on this show.
Obviously, you can’t say too much, but what can we expect from your character on this season of “Beyond the Gates?”
Specht: You can expect a lot of juggling, a lot of web-spinning, a lot of conniving – using a lot of people who might have been longtime friends, but because of the position I found myself in after a lifetime of working on the right path, doing things the right way, a big rug is torn out from underneath my feet. I feel betrayed and desperate, and I then do a lot of betrayal myself. But keeping the plates spinning in the air – you don’t know who I’m going to draw into the web next, quite frankly. I find that very interesting. I kept reading each new episode like, “Who am I gonna do what to now?”