Bree Williamson on joining GH

“It was a wild day yesterday!” grins Bree Williamson (ex-Jessica, ONE LIFE TO LIVE), who shot her first episode as GH’s Claudette, Nathan’s ex-wife, slated to hit the Port Charles scene in July. “It was an intense day, but awesome and exciting.” She accepted the job when Executive Producer Frank Valentini, her former OLTL boss, made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. “He said that Claudette is spicy and a bad girl and that it was going to be fun. And I said, ‘Okay, cool, I’m in!’ ” she reports. The first call she made after saying yes was to one of her real-life besties, Kimberly McCullough (Robin). “Kimberly was like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s so fun, totally do it!’ And I was like, ‘Yes, of course, I’m going to!’ I love that she still watches the show every day.” Williamson says that she was surprised by a strong case of first-day jitters, but her nerves were quelled by the presence of some friendly faces at the studio. “I got to see Rebecca Budig [Hayden], who I just absolutely love, and Finola [Hughes, Anna], who gave me the biggest, warmest hug. And, of course, Michael Easton [Finn, who was OLTL’s John] and Roger [Howarth, Franco; ex-Todd, OLTL]. It was great to see them and to chat with Roger for a bit. I could tell right away, ‘This is going to be fun.’ ” For more with the actress, check out an upcoming issue of Soap Opera Digest.