Outstanding Guest Performer
Alley Mills (ex-Heather, GENERAL HOSPITAL)
Gilles Toucas/Courtesy Of Bell-Phillip Television Inc
How did you find out about your nomination? “I found out from [Executive Producer] Frank Valentini. He called me and said, ‘Congratulations!’ And I said, ‘For what?’ And he said, ‘You were nominated for an Emmy!’ ”
What did it feel like to get that news? “You know … I’m 72 years old and I got this job right after my husband [Orson Bean] died, so the world is a very different place to me than it’s been most of my life, when it probably would have been beyond thrilling and exciting and amazing and you know, all that stuff takes on a different meaning [after you’ve suffered the loss of a spouse]. I would say it was sort of sweet and deep, and it felt very nice for this time period in my life. I went out on a limb [taking on this role]! I felt my husband saying, ‘You go ahead and do this character.’ ”
Were you hands-on about putting together your reel? “I was. I wanted to be involved in picking which things I wanted to get in different aspects of Heather if I could. It was hard because Heather is such a motormouth! I couldn’t pick the end [of my storyline] because that was from this year [and therefore ineligible], so I couldn’t pick where she has moments of being really vulnerable. The only person that she’s really vulnerable with is Esme; everybody else, she thinks she’s the smartest card in the deck! Of all the people I had scenes with, Ryan was the only person where she thought was, maybe not smarter, but certainly as smart as Heather, so he’s the only one where she wasn’t really sure that she had the upper hand with. So I picked the one where he showed up in my room in the middle of the night, because I never knew what was going to happen when I did those scenes with Jon [Lindstrom, ex-Ryan], and I love that feeling! He sat down next to me on the bed and I’m going, like, ‘Okay, what are you going to do now?’ I didn’t know if he was going to touch me or hit me or kill me! And then I had to put in the BLT scene just because that’s sort of iconic for the character. And I also wanted to put in a wacko scene; ‘I thought, maybe the first scene, when I’m chained to the [hospital] bed. But then I thought that might be a little too wacko [laughs]! So I did my second [episode], the one where I show up at [Kelly’s], and then the last thing I put on was Heather seeing Ryan for the first time. I wanted it to be short, but to give sort of the flavor of Heather Webber.”
Will you be attending the ceremony? “Oh, yes, of course! I wouldn’t miss it for the world! I’m going to just have a good time. If winning is what’s supposed to happen, that would be amazing and I would be thrilled, and if it isn’t, that’s okay, too! That’s the advantage of being an old broad! I mean, I always felt that way about awards. But I will be getting all dolled up. I don’t know in what or how, but to be honest with you, when I heard about being nominated, I suddenly saw myself in, like, a really elegant orange prison jumpsuit! Can you imagine that, a sequined prison jumpsuit? Or maybe I’ll just wear Heather’s shackles!”
If you were to win, where would you keep the Emmy? “Probably in my biggest room; the whole cottage is just a big room where everybody gathers. It’s a bunch of couches and a piano and a counter and a kitchen and everybody hangs out there. So I would put in there for a while, just because I’d be proud of it.”
