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Parting Words

Soap Opera Digest: Do you remember the conversation in which you first told Eden [Riegel, Bianca] that you were going to be leaving with her?
Elizabeth Hendrickson: Yes, I do. I had known for a while, but I also knew that I had to keep it a secret. Finally, one day I couldn’t take it anymore. I was like, “Eden, I have to talk to you right now,” and I dragged her into my dressing room and told her. It was very bittersweet, like everything about this experience [of leaving] has been. But she was very excited, like, “You are! You are!” I was so happy that she was happy about it because I didn’t want to steal her thunder, you know, her exiting thunder. But she said, “Liz, I can’t picture it any other way.” We were quiet for a moment, and then we kind of screamed and we were like, “We’re leaving! What are we doing?”Digest: I know you’re both excited that you’ll still get to hang out, since you’re both heading to L.A.
Hendrickson: Totally. I said to Eden the other day, “We are screwed,” because she doesn’t drive and I drive, but I am the worst navigator in the entire world. I mean, I’m gonna go out on an audition and end up in Vegas. So, we have a deal that for the first two weeks, we’re going to drive together wherever we go and get each other from place to place. I’ll drive and she’ll navigate! We’re going to have to organize all of our auditions together.Digest: Do you plan to see any of your other former AMC colleagues when you go out to L.A.?
Hendrickson: Oh, definitely. Sam Page [ex-Trey; Jesse, POINT PLEASANT] and Jonathan Bennett [ex-JR], they keep on calling me: “Only a week left! Only five days left!” I am so excited to see them and have them show me around L.A. And I’m gonna call Amelia [Heinle, ex-Mia] to say hi; she’s such a cool girl. And Finola Hughes [ex-Anna] for sure! I want to see her new baby. I miss Finola a lot. She was very important to me at ALL MY CHILDREN. She didn’t even realize how important to me she was.Digest: Let’s talk about some of your most memorable moments from the show.
Hendrickson: Well, for me, “memorable” means “humiliating and funny.” There was one time that we had a bar scene and I was eating these olives…. This is when Josh Duhamel [ex-Leo] was still on the show, and I was completely smitten with him. I mean, who wasn’t? But anyway, I’m like on my fifth olive, and Josh was like, “You know, Liz, those are like, really old. Like, two years old. Those have been there since I started.” I was like, “Oh, my God, how humiliating. I guess I just blew my chances of ever kissing him!”
There was another time when there was a basket of chips and there was a bar fight and they’d gone all over the floor and I totally forgot, so when they put them back in the basket, I just started eating the dirty chips, totally oblivious. I can’t remember who I was in the scene with, but they were looking at me like, “What is she doing?”Digest: Who do you think your most emotional good-byes will be with?
Hendrickson: You know, I have such strong friendships from the show and they’ll always stay with me, but right when I’m leaving is when I’ve made some wonderful new friends there, which sucks! I’ve just gotten to know Thorsten [Kaye, Zach], who is probably the wittiest, funniest, most handsome man I have ever met. When he speaks, I have nothing to say back to him — I can’t be nearly as smart, nearly as funny. But finally, I’ve started to get over it and really talk with him. Jacob Young [JR] and I have just started to become good friends over the past few months; he’s been so helpful to me in terms of work. And he doesn’t take himself nearly as seriously as you think he would, watching how intense he is on the show. He is so talented, between his acting and his singing. And his heart is so beautiful. I’ll miss him a lot. And Becky [Budig, Greenlee], so much. I look at Rebecca like, if I could have an older sister, I would choose her. From the minute I got there, she had my back. She’s such a trustworthy girl, and it’s hard to find that in this business. The minute she opened up her mouth, I could tell that I could trust her with anything. I’ll miss Justin [Bruening, Jamie]; he’s the sweetest guy, not a mean bone in his body. I am going to miss Alicia Minshew [Kendall] so much. She is the liveliest, spunkiest, most refreshing girl. Who am I kidding? I’m gonna miss everyone! It’s gonna be hard saying good-bye to everyone.Digest: What about going without your daily dose of Cameron Mathison’s (Ryan) hugs? Are you going to go into withdrawal?
Hendrickson: Don’t think I haven’t thought about that! I told him yesterday, “Come on! I have only a couple days left — give me hugs while I can get ’em!”Digest: Who do you wish you had gotten the chance to work with?
Hendrickson: A lot of people, actually. I never got the chance to work with Bobbie Eakes [Krystal]. I would love to have worked with her; she’s another person I’ve just started to get to know. She’s such a cool woman; she comes and hangs out with us. I never really got to work with Alexa [Havins, Babe]. I’m really bummed I never got to work with Michael E. Knight [Tad], even though I know I could never hold my own against him…. I wish he knew how much I respect him. I think he might just think that I’m a bitch because I barely speak to him, but really it’s just because I’m in awe of him! Seriously in awe of him. He would find that to be ridiculous because he is so humble; I don’t think he realizes how talented and handsome and wonderful he is.Digest: Well, I think that’ll do it for us, Liz.
Hendrickson: No, wait! This can’t be my last interview with you! Pretend that it isn’t, please? Help me be in denial!

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