As much as Elizabeth Hendrickson (Chloe, Y&R) loves playing mommy on TV, as she does to little Gia Poéme (Bella), doing so is still a challenge. “It’s always a job when you’re working with a kid on set because they just want to be a child,” reasons the actress. “Even when talking to Gia, I try to explain what’s going on because it’s hard for them to figure things out at 2 years old. They’re just suddenly put in someone’s hands and there are the bright lights. Even though they’re children, you still have to respect them. So, I explain to her, ‘Okay, I’m going to pick you up and then we’re going over here so I can do this,’ because there’s a lot that they do understand. If you were enjoying a book in a corner and then someone suddenly took you away from that, you’d be like, ‘What’s going on?’ All they want is their mother.” Hendrickson is impressed by how Greg Rikaart (Kevin) treats their young co-star. “It is fun watching Greg, who is a new father, with Gia,” Hendrickson smiles. “He makes it look so effortless. If you could see Greg with [son] Monte, you would know what a great father he is.”
Parry Shen (GH’s Brad) has enjoyed crossing storyline paths with Michael Easton (Finn). Back when Easton played Silas, Shen reports, “I can recall him just watching me perform at the Nurses’ Ball and giving looks of astonishment. I didn’t know whether that was, like, in character, or just Michael being like, ‘Oh, my God. What is this?’ I remember the first time I performed, I was doing one of the takes with the microphone and I accidentally got excited jumping around and I hit my front teeth with my microphone. I didn’t think anyone caught it, but his face was like, ‘Oh, hoo-hoo!’ He reacted — I don’t know whether as Michael or as Silas!” Now that they’re sharing scenes, Shen has found that the actors are simpatico in their working styles. “It’s been great,” he enthuses. “He really likes to flesh the scene out beforehand, which I like, too, so we rehearse a lot on our own time before we go up [to set].” Another thing they have in common? An interest in graphic novels. “He’s more into the darker stuff and I’m more into superheroes, but I suggested some books to him and it’s been cool to chat with him about that kind of stuff.”
Reign Edwards (Nicole, B&B) had a memorable day filming her first soap wedding. “It was looooong,” chuckles the actress of the tape day. “And I’m almost 100 percent sure that on my real wedding day, I’m not going to be wearing a big ball gown. It was intense. People had to help me do everything. It was a beautiful gown, which is why I said almost 100 percent sure because it was so pretty, but I had to have at least two people just to help me get in and out of it. But it was also a cool experience because I had a little Cinderella moment. Cinderella was my favorite princess growing up. When Brandy Norwood played Cinderella [in 1997], she was my favorite Disney person. That was my favorite musical. I actually watched it the night before we started filming the ‘Zencole’ wedding scenes and I was like, ‘Okay, I can do this,’ but being a real-life tomboy doesn’t help. During it, I was like, ‘Okay, Reign, what were you thinking [laughs]?’ ”
Since wrapping on DAYS as Deimos, Vincent Irizarry has certainly kept busy. “I’ve been auditioning quite a bit over the last month for quite a few things,” he shares. “I’ve come close to some things. I’ve had some really good auditions, mostly for nighttime; I’m happy with them.” The actor is also a real estate agent and helped a former Salem co-star find a place to hang his hat. “I just closed on a property, actually, for Christopher Sean [Paul],” Irizarry shares. “I’ve been working with him for the last four months and we finally found a place. He was so excited. He wrote me such a beautiful letter on my real estate Facebook page. He’s such a dear person. I just adore him and we got to know each other really well over the past few months. We looked at like 70 places; it was nuts. We made offers and there would be like eight other people putting in offers, as well. But we finally found a place that he’s excited about in the area that he wanted to be in, so I’m really happy.”