Karla Mosley says landing the lead role in Beyond the Gates brought both joy and a "sinking feeling"
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During an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the actress opens up about how she navigated the "big adjustment" of moving her family of four to Atlanta for the role
The actress also reflects on the honor of leading the show alongside industry giants, like Clifton Davis and Tamara Tunie
WhenKarla Mosleywas cast asDani DupreeinCBS'Beyond the Gates, she felt "complete joy and excitement," but also a "sinking feeling" in her chest.
The soap opera veteran tells PEOPLE that landing the role came with a mix of emotions. Mosley, who's mom to two daughtersAurora Imani, 7, andWilla Josephine, 4, with partner John Rogers, says leading a daytime drama was something she "worked so hard" to achieve. But along with "complete joy and excitement," also came the realization that she'd have to move her family of four from Los Angeles to Atlanta.
"[Nothing] against Atlanta, I just hadn't been there. It wasn't on my radar that that's where I was going to move. And I've moved so many times in my life as an actor, but never with a family," Mosley explains. "It was a big adjustment for everybody."
After spending over a year in the bustling Southern city, the doting mom says that her family has adjusted to the move. In fact, Mosley, who grew up in New York, admits that life in Atlanta has "grown" on her.
"The people are dope," she says. "We have got great community. My kids love their schools, so I'm like, 'Okay, there is a plan. God had a plan, [and] it's bigger than mine.'"
For Mosley, making the change was "worth it." She tells PEOPLE that seeing her face on the poster as one of the leads ofBeyond the GatesalongsideClifton Davis,Tamara TunieandDaphnée Duplaixis a "honor" that she will never take for granted.
"On those nights when I'm really tired and I have two scripts the next day, but I have to put my kids to bed, and I'm like, 'How am I going to get it all together?' I have to dig deep and figure out how to do it and to continue to do good work, because the thing about soap operas is it is very easy to get into a rhythm and to feel you don't have to do quite as much, but you get as much as you give," Mosley explains.
"That's a lot of material, and we only get one or two takes, so you're going to have some moments that don't quite go where you want them to go, and you have to be able to let those go," she adds. "But I want to have as few of those as possible because that's what it means to lead."
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With every script she reads, Mosley says she sees herself in the pages and understands the impact of sharing authentic stories with the world. However, nothing reminds her of the importance of her role quite like meeting people who were positively impacted by what they saw onscreen.
"When I go to church or to the grocery store or I'm traveling and people come up and they reflect on their experience with the material... When they talk about their family members or their own journeys, those are the moments when I realized how important the work that we're doing is," she says.
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With the soap opera in its second season, Mosley believes her character is exactly where she's supposed to be. She also teases that viewers will get to see a different side to Dani Dupree as the season progresses.
"She is kind of settling into the life that she's always wanted, what she imagined life would be like with Bill [portrayed by Timon Kyle Durrett], what she gave up her career for, she's now having all these years later," she shares. "She gets to have her career on her terms as someone who's more settled in her skin and she gets to have this love that's deep and fun and exciting, but also committed. And then she's also getting to be there for her mother."
"While Nicole [portrayed by Duplaix] is becoming a little bit more of the wild child, Dani [has] always felt like a black sheep in the family, the sort of unreliable one [and] the emotional one," she adds. "And now she gets to connect with her mother, .. and I think those moments are so special and really deeply important to her."
Beyond the Gatesairs weekdays on CBS. Check your local listings.
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