Kin Shriner is happy that Scotty is serving as Austin’s attorney in his quest for a stake in ELQ, ensuring that he still gets to share scenes with Roger Howarth, who was his GH son, Franco, from 2013 until he was killed off in March. But creating a new on-screen dynamic is not without its challenges. Reports Shriner, “It’s difficult because the other day, I almost called him Franco! Also, when it was Scotty and Franco, the monkeyshines that I used to bring as his father, he would just get a kick out of it, like, ‘Pops! He’s funny!’ And Roger played Franco like he got the Scotty genes, like he’s a little out there. But that being out the window, that’s difficult, because I’m still playing my guy and I think he has trouble trying to keep a straight face and not go with it, because he’s trying to play it more serious as [Austin]. That would be like me playing somebody else; I’d have to let go of all the Scotty business to come back as some other guy!” If Howarth does struggle not to show his amusement at Shriner’s on-camera antics, he’s got good company at the show. Chuckles Shriner, “I worked with Kirsten [Storms, Maxie] and Kelly [Thiebaud, Britt] the other day, and they had trouble keeping a straight face! They said, ‘Well, this is pure scene-stealing!’ I said, ‘Oh, girls, come on! I’ve got half a dozen Soap Opera Digest Awards for scene-stealing buried in my backyard! You get me in a scene, you’d better be on your toes!’ ”
“It’s really exciting,” enthuses DAYS’s Nadia Bjorlin (Chloe) of the show revisiting the Brady/Chloe/Philip dynamic. “It’s been many years since those characters have had that dynamic and it’s fun. We’re older people now, which is, sidenote, so depressing. I was having lunch with Eric [Martsolf, Brady] and Carson Boatman [Johnny], who’s the new kid on the block and he was like, ‘I remember watching you on TV when I was a little kid.’ And I’m like, ‘Huh, man, wow. Yup.’ I remember when I was one of the kids. It’s very humbling. But it’s so different and it’s fun to see on Twitter, the ‘Broes’ and the ‘Phloes’ going back and forth and posting these old videos, and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, we were babies.’ And it was different. It was a love triangle, but we were high school kids in a love triangle trying to figure it out. Now we’re these older people with all this baggage and children from other relationships and trauma from other relationships, so it’s definitely deeper and a different kind of thing.”
Jamison Jones (Jesse, Y&R) has played three different characters over the years on GH. “The first time [2004-05], I played William, who kidnapped Sonny Corinthos’s kid and held him hostage in an abandoned church,” the actor recalls. “His henchman, Jason, found me and beat me up. The next [in 2016] was with Michelle Stafford [ex- Nina; Phyllis, Y&R], where I played some pushy reporter [Brady] trying to get the scoop at her high-end magazine. And then last year, I played a doctor [Warren Kirk] in such a weird storyline, which I had no idea I was jumping into. I worked with Roger Howarth, who played Franco, and he [was hearing voices]. I was the doctor who was going to solve all these problems, but that went awry when I got into a fight with Scotty Baldwin and fell on a knife and got killed.” Much to his surprise, Jones ran into Stafford on the Y&R set. “She remembered more than I did,” he chuckles. “I associated her with GENERAL HOSPITAL, so when I walked into YOUNG AND RESTLESS, she was like, ‘Oh, wow, Jamison! You have a great name!’ because her son’s name is actually Jameson. And I was like, ‘I know this woman, but she doesn’t belong in this place. What’s going on here?’ So, that was kind of funny. Now I’m used to seeing her every day.”
While soap aficionados know Kate Mulgrew from her memorable turn as Mary Ryan on RYAN’S HOPE from 1975- 78, almost 20 years later she won a new legion of fans as Captain Kathryn Janeway on STAR TREK: VOYAGER, a role she reprises — as a hologram — in the series’ latest vehicle, geared for kids, the animated STAR TREK: PRODIGY. “STAR TREK is never far from me,” smiles Mulgrew. “Janeway defined an era for me and as it turns out, the rest of my life. So, to play a hologram, I think, is probably the cleverest way to introduce this character to children. Our demographic isn’t yet entirely or thoroughly explored, and I think to introduce hologram Janeway to 5-year-olds, 10-year-olds, 15, is an exciting approach, and very smart. From there, of course, the sky is the limit. I am delighted to be back playing her. I love her. When a character defines a part of your life, you are in turn deeply grateful, which I am. She has never left me, and I am thrilled to be back. It’s going to be ... magic. Janeway is full of life, and full of surprises, and full of her humanity, and full of her levity.”
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