After eight years of portraying Brook Kerr's (Whitney) mother on PASSIONS, Tracey Ross (Eve) reveals why she had a bad case of denial!

"I was thinking it was Whitney's last scene, not Brook's last scene," says Tracey Ross of her final scene with on-screen daughter Brook Kerr (Whitney), which airs September 6. "I knew Brook had her HBO [show, TRUE BLOOD], and I'm extremely excited and happy for her, but I didn't think that meant she wasn't going to come to work [at PASSIONS]. I was in denial. I had it in my mind that she was going to do HBO, go there and be a big star, but I'll still see her on a regular basis on Stage 4 at PASSIONS. It wasn't until I saw people crying when Brook came out to do this scene that I was like, 'What are they crying about? Why is our stage manager crying?' They're saying, 'She's not going to be here.' I'm like, 'Ha, ha, ha! Of course, she'll be here. She'll be in makeup every morning and then she'll go to HBO. It will work out.' But I couldn't deny it any longer. When it finally got through to me, it was breaking my heart. I hung on during the scene, in front of the scene, in back of the scene, over the scene, under the scene [laughs].

"She was being so brave. She kept having to take deep breaths trying not to [break down]. It's always more heartbreaking watching someone try not to cry than watching them cry. Then you start crying for them. You want to release their tears for them. She was holding it together and making jokes, and then she started letting go. When we finished the scene, you heard the cameramen and prop people and audio guys and set people sniffling; they were sighing and weeping because she is so good. She's such a good soul. She deserves everything good she gets. Only knowing that she was going on to bigger and better things kept me from falling apart and grabbing her by the ankles pleading, 'Don't go!'

"I would like to go on record as saying I think everybody at PASSIONS would agree with me that Brook would be the single most beloved actress on PASSIONS. I thought that before Brook left, but I saw it affirmed in the way everybody said good-bye to her. She's the most lovable, sincere, crazy, unaffected, good-humored person, and she doesn't have a mean bone in her body. I don't think any other actor would disagree with me that she is the single most easy-to-love actress that we have had."