When it comes to telling it like is -– candidly and without any filters –- nobody does it better than Lisa Rinna. The actress, reality star and author, who has returned to her daytime roots as Billie Reed on Days of Our Lives, can’t wait to get back into the thick of things onscreen. Rinna shares her thoughts about her character and the controversial hookup the writers have planned for her. Plus, she reveals what prompted her to write The Big, Fun, Sexy Sex Book and how her husband, Harry Hamlin, feels about it all.

What is it about the character of Billie that made you want to step back into her shoes?
She’s one of those great characters. There’s just never a dull moment. There’s always something going on. She’s that underdog. She’s that fighter. She’s that survivor. She messes up, and you want to root for her and help her.

How did your Days return come about?
I had seen Patrick (Muldoon, Austin) about a year ago... He kind of put the bug in my ear, when he told me he was going back. I thought, Oh, that could be fun. That could be an interesting thing... It all just kind of came together. I ended up at a lunch with the producers and one of the writers, and the next thing I know I was coming on the show. But it really started with Muldoon. It’s all because of Muldoon.

Is Billie going to be the same spitfire she’s always been in the past?
She will absolutely have her spunk and her fire. She definitely didn’t lose that, nor did I. I still have mine. But again, she’s matured and she’s in a different place in her life, right now.

I think what you’ll find interesting and what I find interesting is some tables have turned. Some roles have kind of shifted between some of the characters. So maybe where Austin, being my big brother, used to take care of me, I may be taking more care of him and even more care of my mother. It’s a role reversal, which is an interesting road to take.

Word is that Billie is going to get involved with Shawn Christian's Daniel, who’s made the rounds through half of the women in Salem.
My mother and my daughter included.

Exactly. How are you going to rise above that challenge and make this work?
Feelings are very powerful, and I think complete conflict would definitely be in the mix. But again, when you’re passionate about somebody, it can override many, many things. So we’ll see. I love that there’s that kind of huge obstacle [between them].

Back in the 90s Billie was a drug addict. Would you ever like to see her revert back to that?
That was so much fun. I mean, come on. As an actress, it’s just juicy to play all of that. You never know. People can slip up. We watch it in the news all the time. I think that would be a really interesting story to play out. Maybe she slips up... Maybe she goes back, if there’s some serious pain and she slips and all of a sudden she’s an addict again. Oh, I would love that. That would be fantastic to play.

Billie was once a cop, too. Word is you were never fond of wearing that uniform. How excited are you for Billie to be back in the glamorous world of Countess Wilhelmina?
Well, it’s funny, because it was more my husband. It was really more Harry (Hamlin). He just hated the fact that they put me in that cop uniform. I really didn’t care, because it was actually easy. You didn’t have to do wardrobe. You just got in that cop uniform, and you didn’t put much makeup on. But he was just furious about it. This time, when I said, “I think I’m going to go back. What do you think?” He went, “Only if they don’t put you in that cop uniform.” But, yes, it’s nice to be going back to work in [the cosmetics business world]. I have been a business woman over the past nine years, running my store, Belle Gray. So that felt right. It felt nice to go back into Countess Wilhelmina mode.

Aside from being a businesswoman, you’re also an author. Were you at all hesitant to open up about your sex life in The Big, Fun, Sexy Sex Book?
To make it really short and sweet, yes. Any time we talk about sex, I think we all cringe, because that’s how we were brought up. It’s just something that you’re not supposed to talk about. But I like to do things that scare me. I like to take risks. In my book Rinnavation that I wrote back in 2008, I really opened up and wrote about losing my sexual desire after having my children. I got such a response from women thanking me for the help and being brave enough to talk about it. So I thought, Why not? There are so many books on diet and exercise and this and that, but we don’t have a book about sex and relationships and how to keep the intimacy and what to do. We just won’t talk about it. I think it does need to be talked about, because it is a very important part of a relationship and keeping a lasting marriage.

How did Harry feel about you opening up the way you did?
My husband cringes at just about everything I do to be honest with you. But he’s known me for so long that he’s used to it. He knows, that underneath it all, it’s helpful and it’s the right information. And, of course, I don’t do anything that would make him feel so uncomfortable. In the end he goes, “You know what? You did the right thing, and you rocked it.” So that’s the story there.