Esme Vanderheusen is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. Esme is portrayed by actress Erin Cardillo, who joined the cast in a recurring capacity on November 2005; Cardillo later went on to make appearances in 2006 and 2007 before becoming a contract cast member upon the show's DirecTV debut in September 2007.
Esme is the best friend of Harmony heiress Fancy Crane and is introduced in November 2005 as a minor obstacle to Fancy's relationship with Noah Bennett. Esme later resurfaces in April 2006 when Fancy travels to Rome, serving the dual role as Fancy's confidante and comic relief. She again surfaces in May 2007 one more time before permanently moving to Harmony in August with her fifteen-year-old niece and ward, Viki, who secretly begins murdering Esme's lovers. Overall, Esme is best known on the program for her sometimes blunt speech, comedic abuse of alcohol and prescription medications, inability to remember the names of both Fancy's and her own lovers, and one-liners.