Cynthia Watros (Nina, GH)
“Well, I grew up in Michigan watching Josh and Reva on GUIDING LIGHT. So when I was cast [as Annie], the person who was coming in between my beloved Josh and Reva, it was both bizarre and intimidating, very intimidating, to be working with Kim Zimmer [ex-Reva, far r.] and Robert Newman [ex-Josh].”
Galen Gering
(Rafe, DAYS)
“Certainly it would’ve been Ali Sweeney [ex-Sami], even though she was super-sweet and cool. She was doing THE BIGGEST LOSER and so we’d have to be up early and then done. She was able to operate at a different frequency, I think, than most people. She’s so diligent and she had been on the show for a long time and there was just a real comfortability about her. And ultimately, it was great. I totally loved working with her. She was just intimidating ’cause of who she was and what was happening and all that.”
Michael Mealor (Kyle, Y&R)
“For me, it was Eileen Davidson [Ashley]. I knew she appreciated working with people who are prepared. One day in the hair and makeup room, she wanted to run lines and I didn’t have my script with me. Luckily, I already learned my lines and after we were done, she said, ‘You know your stuff. Good.’ I was so relieved.”
Scott Clifton
(Liam, B&B)
“Well, Susan Flannery [ex-Stephanie], but technically that’s not true because I learned to be intimidated by her. I learned that one the hard way. After that, I’d say Don [Diamont, Bill, l.], who is hilarious and so jovial with the cast and crew, but he has an epic personality. What is my role going to be? Do I try to match his personality? No, that’s impossible, so I had to complement his personality and enjoy him, and once I figured that out, it was
wonderful.”
Wally Kurth (Justin, DAYS; Ned, GH)
“I was intimidated by everyone at DAYS because it was my first TV job, and I had no idea what I was doing. Somehow I convinced them I could play Justin. On GH, there were a host of stars that definitely caught my attention. The first being Stuart Damon [ex-Alan, c.]. He
was a star. He was Prince Charming!
And there was Tristan Rogers [Scorpio, r.] and of course, Tony Geary. He was Luke, after all!”
Matthew Atkinson (Thomas, B&B)
“I think this is true of any show, but the people who’ve been there the longest, you’re always a little intimated by that. But learning from people like John [McCook, Eric] and [Katherine] Kelly [Lang, Brooke] made things easier. Also, having conversations with Thorsten [Kaye, Ridge, near r.] was like that, too, because he has spent so many years in daytime. He knows his stuff, so he can be an intimidating guy to talk to, but he was so welcoming that within the first five minutes, I felt at ease.”