Chad (Charles Divins) and Whitney (Brook Kerr)

Boy and girl meet. Boy is from the wrong side of the tracks; girl fights her attraction to him. After getting together, breaking up, finding new loves, surviving a tsunami and being rescued from a crazy monk in Italy, on Passions Whitney (Brook Kerr) and Chad (Charles Divins) are finally ready to be a devoted couple. They even have a cute little boy together to add to the mix.

So now, of course, they are hitting a rough patch.

Can there ever be a happy ending for a soap-opera couple, especially on Passions? "I hope not!" Charles says. "People watch soaps as an escape vehicle. Why would you want to watch normal stuff? People need drama. Whether you love it or hate it, people will talk about it."

And talk they will. Right now, all Passions fans can talk about is: What the heck is Chad up to? Chad has been seen in seedy motel rooms, is acting sneaky, has been having nightmares and has Whitney very suspicious. He might have quelled her doubts for now, but Chad is definitely up to something.

But Charles ain't spilling the beans - mainly because he's not holding the beans. "It's been an on-set joke. No one knows; not me, the cast, the directors - just Mr. Reilly (James E. Reilly, head writer). I'm shooting scenes where I'm sneaking around, all by myself. Everyone wants to know what's going on."

Including Charles. Playing a man with a secret hasn't been any less fun just because he doesn't necessarily know the secret yet. "It's been great. It's such a character change for Chad. It's fun to play a secret; we get to see a darker side of Chad. He's always been everyone's moral compass, steering people to do the right thing."

Off the set, Charles seems to have a magical compass of his own, helping to steer his career. He got his start in the business as a model. He was a featured model for the Tommy Hilfiger ads, and was featured in GQ, Cosmopolitan and Glamour magazines.

He then segued from modeling into acting. He didn't grow up in the theatre, although, he admits, "I wish I had. I went to school for hospital administration. I went to New York City and I got the bug."

Charles' transition from modeling to acting couldn't have been easier. "I got an agent, and within a few weeks I got an audition for 'Passions.' A few weeks later, they asked to see me again, and a few weeks after that, I got offered the part of Chad. So, yes, the Hollywood dream is still alive."

While Charles is thankful every day for his acting career - "I get to play a game for a living, and I make a pretty good living doing it. Who wouldn't want to be on a soap?" - he and his cast mates can admit the silliness that sometimes is the American soap opera.

"Soaps are known for their gratuitous shirtless scenes - 'Passions' is known for having three or four guys shirtless at any one time." Charles jokes about this past summer's episodes where they were setting up for the charity carnival: "Fox (Mark Cameron Wystrach) is like, 'Oh, it's so hot!' and takes off his shirt. So the rest of us have to take off ours. Heaven knows you can't operate power tools with a shirt on!"

And female fans the world over thank you for that.