BOND GIRLS
DAYS’s Sal Stowers (Lani) and Stacy Haiduk (Kristen) had a great time working together while their alter egos were in the convent. “We had only worked together that one time Eli and Lani arrested Kristen,” notes Stowers. “Stacy is wonderful. That woman, she gets my heart.” The duo worked at developing a relationship. “We actually met up when we first got those chunk of scenes, and we talked and studied for hours,” Stowers reports. “They were in the convent for a year and they became best friends, so we had to create that. We had a year of friendship and connection and relationships that we had to create, and we did that. We spent so many hours together drinking wine, studying our lines, meeting at coffee shops. She’s wonderful. I love working with her.” Haiduk agrees. “First of all, love Sal, love working with her. But most of all, I love that Kristen has a friend. I got to tell you, for me it was absolutely beautiful to have that kind of a friendship. She and I bonded from the moment we got to be in these nun outfits.”
GLEE CLUB
How much does Tyler Johnson (Theo, Y&R) love his co-stars? Let him count the ways. “Michael Mealor [Kyle] has been wonderful from day one, Melissa Ordway [Abby] is hilarious and Hunter King [Summer] has been such a huge wealth of information,” the actor smiles. “Sasha Calle [Lola] is one of the most authentic, genuine people that I’ve come across in this business. There’s just something about her. And I love working with Michelle Stafford [Phyllis]. I never know what she is going to do and it forces me to be present and to listen, and those are the two things that make scenes fun for you. Somehow she finds me very funny, which I really appreciate, because I find her to be the comedy queen.” And when it comes to mentorship, there’s only one person to name. “Peter Bergman [Jack] is a fantastic father figure,” Johnson enthuses. “He’s just classy, suave, and articulate. I’m very fortunate to work with him. I believe that the lessons he’s imparted thus far will last me my entire career.”
DEATH BECOMES HIM
B&B’s Scott Clifton (Liam) tried his hand at improv — and fell in love with it. “I participated in this 10-week long improvised show,” he shares. “One of my best friends is Trent, and I’ve known him since I was 14 years old. He did Groundlings back in the day. He’s a witty, talented guy and he started taking these classes. They take a suggestion from the audience and then do an hour-long play, completely improvised. So, my friend invited me to the Aaron Sorkin night. It was amazing. I’ve gone to Shakespeare unscripted. They do a science fiction show. It’s amazing. Well, the next thing they were about to do is a soap opera improvised. And I’m like, ‘Cool.’ And he goes, ‘Why don’t you come and join us for the first night and we’ll kill you off right away. It will be hilarious. We don’t know how you’re going to get killed off, but you’ll get assigned a character,’ and I said I’d do it. I was so nervous but I did it and I died and the director came to me after the show and said, ‘Why don’t you come back next week?’ And I said, ‘Thank you, but I’m dead.’ And she said, ‘It’s a soap opera!’ I came back the second night, died again. She said, ‘Why don’t you come back again?’ There were only two shows out of the 10 that I couldn’t make, but I loved it. I haven’t felt as exhilarated and challenged and inspired in a long time.”
SWEET CHILD OF MINE
Rebecca Budig (ex-Hayden) loved getting to play on-screen mom to Jophielle Love (Violet) during her return trip to GH. “I just loved her immediately, and her mom, too, who was with her on set,” the actress says. “You never know what you are going to get when you work with young people, and she is just such a breath of fresh air.” Their easy bond — and Budig’s real-life role as mom to daughter Charlotte, 5 — made it challenging for the actress to justify Hayden’s decision to leave town without Violet. “Listen, you’d have to do much more to me to make me leave my child! But this is a soap and you’ve got to make do with what you’ve got, so in my head, it had to be pretty dire for her to leave her kid. I don’t know how anybody says good-bye to their child!” Given the way things shook out, Budig is happy that there are still “Fayden” supporters. “It made me feel good that there are people out there that believe that Hayden and Finn could be together, despite what she did. It touched me. It was very nice to see that the fans still had hope for Hayden and Finn, and just for Hayden, and that they still liked Hayden, even after all that!”