This month, Soap Opera News celebrates 13 years in business. That being said, founder Michael Thomas recently sat down with Trisha Mann-Grant for an exclusive conversation about her career and her role on Beyond the Gates.
Mann-Grant’s love for the soap genre stems from growing up watching classics like General Hospital and One Life to Live. But nothing quite compares to being a part of Beyond the Gates from day one.
Mann-Grant is an award-winning American actress, author, producer, and former beauty queen.
She is widely recognized for her television roles, including Dominique Leroux on the BET+ drama The Family Business and Dana “Leslie” Thomas on the CBS soap opera Beyond the Gates. Soap Opera News got to chat with the woman behind one of the show’s most polarizing figures.
Key Takeaways
- Mann-Grant reflects on 27 years in entertainment
- She plays Leslie on Beyond the Gates
- Leslie is chaotic, emotional, and layered
- The role connects to real emotional pain and family loss
- The show is making history in daytime TV
- Upcoming storylines will explore Leslie and Ted’s past
A 27-Year Journey to Making History
For Mann-Grant, landing a role on a groundbreaking production like Beyond the Gates is a blessing that still feels surreal.
“When you’ve been through 27 years of tackling this thing called entertainment—doing plays, films, sitcoms, independent features, and all of these things, and you’re working, and grinding—then all of a sudden, to be blessed out of the clear blue with such an amazing, incredible show…and for it to be historical. For it to do things that have not been done yet. That to me is groundbreaking. There’s this excitement there about it. I’m grateful… the attitude of gratitude that I have is beyond words,” Mann-Grant shared.
Leslie: The “Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs” Character Fans Can’t Ignore
Here at SON, we often dub her character the “name-changing, wig-wearing mischief-maker” of the DMV. Leslie has quickly cemented herself as the character fans love to hate.
Mann-Grant doesn’t sugarcoat her character:
“She’s cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. She cares zero—or at least, she wants everyone to think she cares zero,” she shared.
“Well, we know she cares about Eva, and she cares about Peaches, and now she cares about the relationship that she did not have with her mother, Barbara. We know she definitely cares about Teddy. But, yeah, she inserts herself in everyone’s world, whether they invite her or not, and 9 times out of 10, they’re not inviting her.”
Why Leslie’s Behavior Isn’t Random
According to Mann-Grant, Leslie’s erratic behavior is a deliberate defense mechanism. While some viewers wonder why she acts so unhinged, the actress leans entirely into the role’s original description.
“She’s very extra, which is why I’m always confused when people say, ‘ Why is she acting like that?’ I’m like, she’s crazy. How do you expect a cuckoo person to act? How do you expect someone to be when they’re super extra? You expect them to be extra. So, yeah, you know, sometimes she comes off as… as a little bit much. But that’s because that’s her personality.”
Mann-Grant explained, “If I played Leslie Normal, then guess what they would be saying? She’s boring, she’s too normal, or, you know, she doesn’t act like a crazy person, and then it takes away from the dynamic of the description of this character from day one when I received the role, which is unhinged.”
She added, “I made a choice as an actress to give Leslie layers and not make her just a typical evil villain. But the evil villain that does goofy things. She’s silly and fun, and then she can be loving and caring, and then she can be mean, evil, taunting, and manipulative.”
Trisha Mann-Grant: Ted and Leslie’s History
There is also real pain beneath the scheming, which stems from her messy past with Ted—something we will soon see explained when the show gives us a little bit more insight into their history.
“She still portrays a message of someone hurt and scorned, and in her mind, whether other people see that for her or not, she sees herself as hurt and scorned, and yes, the narcissistic victim comes to play, the wounded narcissist, but she was hurt by Ted. I think people forget that. He did choose someone else, even though she was wrong for having an extramarital affair.”
Mann-Grant teased, “That was completely wrong, but there will be some scenes coming up that give you guys a little background history on us, and I’m excited about that, I know! So you’ll see the dynamic of how Ted and Leslie started, how they got together, and that’s all I can say about that.”
Bittersweet Revelations
While we’ve watched Leslie make trouble for just about anyone she can in Fairmont Crest, we also got to see Mann-Grant break from Leslie’s usual mischievous exterior. The show recently turned Leslie’s world upside down with the reveal that she is actually Barbara’s daughter. Mann-Grant describes the plot twist as a beautifully complex, bittersweet pill to swallow.
“She’s money-hungry and materialistic on one end, but there’s this thing with every child who’s never met a parent, whether it’s a mother or a father. There is an emptiness or a void that you either search for through relationships… and I’m not even speaking from experience. I’m speaking from knowing people who have experienced this, and it makes sense. You only knew one parent, and you never knew what your dad was like, or your mom. So there’s that yearning inside of her that really desires to know her mother. That’s where the sweet part comes.”
Mann-Grant continued, “The bitter part is that her mother committed suicide and passed her off to a friend. Mom unalived herself and didn’t think Leslie was worthy enough for her to stay on this earth and have the strength to handle all that she was dealing with. That’s a hard pill to swallow, you know?”
Although Leslie had to deal with the harsh reality that she will never know her mom, she got all this money now—this never-ending money that keeps coming through. All thanks to Anita Dupree.
Beyond the Gates Is Tackling Real-World Storylines
We can all agree that since the show premiered back in February 2025, it has served us some unforgettable material.
We couldn’t help but praise Beyond the Gates for steering away from superficial fluff and tackling gripping, real-world issues—from Tamara Tunie’s heavy-hitting breast cancer storyline as Anita Dupree to Eva’s liver transplant crisis and a high-stakes tornado, the show has really been reminding us why we love this genre in the first place. Mann-Grant was clearly in agreement.
“You mentioned the cancer story. Tamara Tunie killed that,” she said. “She put her foot all up in that storyline. The thing is, in my mind, as a believer, I’m always thinking about ministry. How can we minister to people? How can we bless them with something? There are so many people who have cancer, so many women who’ve had breast cancer. They needed that, and she killed it.”
Vulnerability and Real-Life Trauma
Viewers recently witnessed Leslie’s impenetrable exterior shatter during Eva’s medical crisis. While she has served us plenty of comedic performances, we finally got to see Leslie break. Like, really break. We got a raw, fiercely protective mother who just wanted her daughter to make it out alive. Mann-Grant noted that “Eva is all she has.”
Recalling Leslie’s explosive confrontation with the hospital staff, she added:
“At that point, manipulation and being trifling were not even in her mind. Reality slapped her in the face. You’re about to lose a child.”
This nightmare forced temporary, fragile moments of peace between Leslie and her frequent targets, Anita and Shanice.
“She realized at that moment, ‘You know what? These people are trying to help me.’ She let her guard down. She didn’t even care that her house was blown up by the tornado—all she cared about was her daughter.”
The Powerful Storyline
When asked which storyline impacted her most, Mann-Grant opened up about how these high-stakes hospital scenes connected to her own real-life trauma as a mother.
“Definitely this last one—the tornado, the devastation, and everything I’ve dealt with emotionally in the hospital with Eva.”
Mann-Grant explained, “Because I have a son who was in the hospital and was going to die. He had bleeding on his brain. He had done a drug; he had smoked some weed, and the weed was laced.”
She shared, “He hasn’t quite been the same since, but I’m believing that he will come around. I’ve been dealing with this for about 12 years now. That bleeding on the brain did affect him, and he was in the ICU for two weeks.”
For those powerhouse scenes, however, Mann-Grant said, “I stayed in the relatability of the character’s situation because, again, I’m not a fan of method acting. I believe it’s dangerous emotionally and mentally, so I don’t do that. But since you’ve asked the question, yes—as a mother, I can relate to having a child in the hospital and not knowing whether they’re going to live or die.”
Will Leslie Ever Truly Change?
Given recent events and seeing Leslie turn over a new leaf, one would have to wonder if this is going to be her path going forward. We tried our best to pry some spoilers from the actress, but as you know, actors can’t give too much away. So we did ask if Leslie is genuinely turning over a new leaf, or if this is just the calm before the next storm.
While Mann-Grant had to keep her lips sealed—noting that the cast shoots months in advance—she did offer a tantalizing tease.
“Let me say this, and I’ll leave it here: Leslie, so far up until this point, is always going to be Leslie,” she laughed. “But she does have a heart. Don’t trigger them, because you trigger them, and you’re gonna see that old person come back!”
With those upcoming scenes promised to explore the origins of Ted and Leslie’s history, fans have plenty of drama to look forward to on Beyond the Gates.
What has been your favorite Leslie moment on Beyond the Gates so far?
Photo Credit: CBS Broadcasting Inc.
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