Onscreen, Mandy Bruno (Marina) spends her time hanging with new love Mallet (Rob Bogue is also Bruno's beau in real life!) and trying to keep Dinah off her back. Offscreen, Bruno's marching to her own tunes. Life is sweet for the GUIDING LIGHT star. Here, she chats with Weekly about life on and off the camera.

Soap Opera Weekly: Marina and Mallet are going strong, but what about Cyrus? There are still fans who miss that couple.
Mandy Bruno: Marina and Cyrus still get along. It took them a while to get to a point where they could be civil with each other. We'll see what happens. If they were to get involved in a relationship again, it would be interesting, because there's an entirely different set of circumstances now. They've been through a lot, good and bad. It could be very interesting to see them fall back in love with each other. Who doesn't love hanging out with an Australian hottie?

Weekly: Are you pleased with Marina's direction on the show?
Bruno: I'm enjoying it. Marina and Mallet have a really sweet relationship. I'm also glad I've gotten to work with Gina (Tognoni, Dinah) a lot. I love Gina, both as a person and an actress. I've always admired her work, and she really challenges me as an actress. She gets me to step up to a different level.

Weekly: Speaking of acting on a different level, about a year ago, you began your role as Justine in the off-Broadway production of Frankenstein. Do you have any new plays coming up?
Bruno: I don't have any theater stuff coming up at this moment. I am working on my own record, which is very exciting.

Weekly: What kind of music are you working on?
Bruno: It's Christian contemporary crossover music. My faith has always been something that's very important to me. Spreading a wider message and getting more music on the air that makes you feel good about yourself would be cool. That's my goal.

Weekly: What musicians have inspired you?
Bruno: There's a lot of people that I really like. There's a girl that just started rising to the charts, Sara Bareilles. She has this great feel to her. It's kind of a mix between pop and jazz. And I love Ella Fitzgerald. She's a class act with a beautiful, clean voice. She made music about life and about love, and it made you feel good and feel positive. She's a genius. That's the feel I'm looking for. I love her.

Weekly: When do you expect the album to come out?
Bruno: We've talking music and writing things for a while. I hope it will come out next spring. It's been a lot of fun.