ONE WISE MAN: When it comes to B&B’s Thorne recast, original cast member John McCook (Eric) remains pragmatic about the switch. “It is going to be different with Ingo [Rademacher, Thorne], but it’s going to be good,” states the actor. “Since the beginning, [Creator] Bill Bell wanted a Cain and Abel in there, guys with a chemical difference that was hard to resolve, if at all, and that’s what we’ve gotten back to now. These two guys, Ingo and Thorsten [Kaye, Ridge] are equal in stature and age and appeal. I think it’s cool. I wrote to Winsor Harmon [ex-Thorne], saying, ‘We just finished the Christmas show and I’ve got to tell you, I miss you so much. It occurred to me many times throughout the taping that you weren’t there. Ingo’s a great guy and we’re lucky to have him, but we’re so sad that you’re not here, so a big hug for you!’ That’s why it’s called show business. When young people say, ‘Oh, we’re a family here. We’re so close,’ I tell them, ‘This is not your family. This is a business and you should remember that. You have a family.’ I say that because bad things happen in this business and when they do, it’s hard, man.”
WHEN ONE DOOR OPENS: Donnell Turner (Curtis, GH) says he knew that from the day they met that Vernee Watson was the only choice to play his character’s aunt, Stella. “We did the auditions in Frank’s [Valentini, executive producer] office with all of the producers, and I held the door open for each of the actresses and thanked them when we were done and some of them didn’t even look at me — just totally ignored me!” he recalls. “I was like, ‘Oh, okay!’ Then there was Vernee. She came in character, she stayed in character, she wasn’t overly friendly with anyone when she came in, she was just ready to do the scene. She played it great, of course, and as she was turning to walk out, I was making my way to go open the door like I do for everyone. And before I can even get there, she stops and goes, ‘And I know I’m not going to open this door by myself!’ She doesn’t even remember saying that, but I was like, ‘Wow, she won!’ It was just so Stella. After she left, I turned around and looked at everyone and we were all like, ‘We have a winner!’ It’s been a joy working with her ever since.”
THOUGHT FOR FOOD: Mishael Morgan (Hilary, Y&R) reports that she has a great dining companion in her co-star and real-life bestie, Christel Khalil (Lily). “Christel is always game to try out new foods, but I would say that I’m a little more curious than she is in that department,” Morgan shares. “We both love trying out new restaurants. I could call her and say, ‘There’s a new place, let’s go try it out,’ and she’s like, ‘Perfect, I’m there.’ ” Morgan admits to being very enthusiastic when it comes to eating. “I love food, I’m an everything person with that,” she says. “I don’t discriminate against anything at all. I love a bit of everything from every culture. That’s a huge testament to not only being Canadian, but being from Toronto, where I’ve been exposed to so many types of food that I probably will never eat elsewhere. There could be cuisines from the tiniest country in Africa, and somehow Toronto will have the best version of that. I’ve been exposed to so many types of food that I’ll eat anything.”
IT’S IN HIS KISS: Galen Gering (Rafe) reports that he and Alison Sweeney (Sami) fell into a familiar pattern when she returned to DAYS and they had to film their love scene. “Ali and I were like, ‘How do we get into this moment?’ ” he recalls. “And she said, ‘Well, you lean in and kiss me,’ and I’m like, ‘No, no, no, no, no. You lean in and kiss me is basically how it plays out,’ and she said, ‘No, that’s not how.’ And so we’re looking at each other and I think we maybe even went to tape and we just both sat there and looked at each other, and just bust out laughing. There was a hilarious standoff and I think it came to a really fun resolution, where we both went in for a kiss and then were like, ‘What are we doing?’ ” In the final version of the scenes, Gering lost a piece of wardrobe. “Sami ends up ripping off his shirt and tearing the buttons off, and I joked with her, saying, ‘Dude, I liked that shirt. Now it’s destroyed. You don’t care. You’re leaving in three days and I still don’t have a shirt now in my collection. Thank you.’ So, it was super-fun to get to work with her and play again, because she’s awesome.”