VH1's smash show Hit the Floor is never short of drama or nail-biting cliffhangers. Whether we are watching Ahsha Hayes (Taylour Paige) sneak around with her handsome Devils player boyfriend, Derek Roman (McKinley Freeman), or Jelena Howard (Logan Browning) create a scheme to take down a new nemesis, the show keeps its audience on the edge of their seats.

ICYMI: Check out our Exclusive Interview with Taylour Paige!

Now that season two is well underway, new characters have made their mark in the series, on and off the court. In our newest Enstars Exclusive, we talk to a new fan favorite, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, about playing the gorgeous, but manipulative, Lionel Davenport. As being drop-dead gorgeous is a quite literal commonality amongst the characters on the show, O'Keefe fits in perfectly with the Devils nation lineup of powerful madmen (and women). But, much to the surprise of the Enstars Exclusives team, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe is the polar opposite of her onscreen persona.

Check out part one of our two-part interview below, as the New Jersey native reveals how she started acting, her relationships with the other actors off the set, plus what she's learned from working with Taylour Paige and Logan Browning.

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Gia Peppers: Hi Jodi! We love your character on Hit The Floor. How did you start acting?

Jodi Lyn: My modeling agency, Ford Models in New York, merged with a talent agency called J Michael Bloom. I got an audition because I fit a type... From then, I just fell in love with the whole process and everything about it.

GP: What was your first big role?

JL: I worked on a soap opera, shot in Brooklyn, called Around the World... I was working 7 days a week. I would spend 5 days on set and the other two learning my lines. I got my first real acting lessons on set.

GP: Wow, so let's fast forward to Hit the Floor. How did this role come about?

JL: Yeah, it came through my managers office, actually. They called me and they said we have something. We kind of want you to read it, and let us know what you think... My first reaction was I like this gal! They set up an appointment and I went through the whole process, [with] the chemistry reads and screen test and here we are.

GP: On Monday nights, Twitter tunes in to Hit the Floor. Do you interact with the fans, and did you know your role was going to be this big?

JL: I didn't know, I really didn't. I've been on social media for a while but not really active. Then, the cast started telling me that social media is what the show is driven by... On Monday nights, it's astounding how many people are tagging #HitTheFloor and how many questions are flying around. It's really instant gratification and it's pretty great!

GP: Is most of your fan interaction positive or do people write negative things to you per what your character does on the show?

JL: It reads a little like you better not mess with Valery (Raquel), and I'm always like, "Well, I'm not really messing with Valery I'm more messing with Raquel, her character." I really love Valery. But, yes then I get the standard hateful comments as well, but I have to keep it as positive as I can, for my own sake.

GP: I love that you are close with Valery Ortiz. You work with a super-talented cast. What's it like to work with Dean Cain and Kimberly Elise?

JL: It's so much fun. They're the most positive cheery group of people that I have ever met who are so genuinely happy to be doing what they're doing every day. I got there and I thought this can't be right. What's the catch, guys? I got really lucky, I joined a cast that's genuinely pleased to get up every morning and go do what they love for a living... I blended right in! Kimberly Elise and I have a relationship off set. We always giggle about our faceoff onscreen, because off screen, it's totally different.

GP: So, there was no hazing or anything because you were a newbie?

JL: No, there really wasn't! They were like, "Are you comfortable? Can we get you anything?" - From the first day so it's been pretty great!

GP: On the show, there are two very distinct groups of characters - the cast who's been there and done that, and the other part who's newer to this environment - Is there a mentorship off screen that occurs between the veteran actors, and the younger cast? Like Logan Browning and Taylour Paige?

JL: It's been lovely how the girls have treated me. I think they have given me the nicest compliments I have ever gotten in my life. They said to me, "We know you have been doing this for a lot of years, we can learn something from you." And that just made my heart skip a beat. These girls are so talented and so fantastic! For them to look at me and say, "We're learning from you"-- I mean that's probably the best compliment that you can get. I'm learning from them every day as a matter of fact. It's a two way street.

GP: What exactly do you think you've learned from the younger cast?

JL: You know what it's mainly their disposition. They come in every morning and they're excited to be at work. They're happy to be there and there's no complaining. It's like looking at the world with new eyes again... I mean, I do love what I do for a living, but to watch these girls it just makes you love it even more.

Stay tuned for part two, in which Jodi talks the biggest difference between her and her character, reliving the days of She's All That, and her jewelry line.

Be sure to catch all of the cast on tonight's episode of "Hit the Floor", on VH1 at 9/8c. Check out the spicy preview, below.

Tags: Hit The Floor jodi lyn o'keefe lionel davenport hit the floor