General Hospital Exclusive: Rick Hearst Opens up About ‘Work Wives’ Rebecca Herbst and Nancy Lee Grahn
General Hospital fans are still divided over whether they’d like to see Ric Lansing make a successful go of things with ex-wife Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) or fall back in love with a different former spouse, Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn). But portrayer Rick Hearst tells Soap Opera Digest that he considers himself a lucky man just to be in the orbit of both actresses.
Love the Ones You’re With
Ric had two failed marriages to Elizabeth back in the early 2000s and has never truly gotten her out of his system — which is just the way Hearst likes it. “Who wouldn’t want to play a love story with Becky Herbst?” he grins. “I’d be the first to raise my hand! I would work with her any day of the week. She’s got such an ease to her as an actress and we’ve always gotten along great. It’s really special to be working with her all these years later and as a friend, I just adore her.”
Ric’s relationship with Alexis, his wife from 2004-06, is far more contentious, even though they’re making an effort these days to be civil for the sake of their daughter, Molly (Kristen Vaganos). As with Herbst, Hearst notes, “There’s so much history” at play when he shares scenes with Grahn. “She’s a dear friend, an extraordinary woman and an extraordinary talent,” he declares.
Ric and Alexis’s dynamic is marked by volatility. Hearst thinks that the on-screen dynamic between the two characters works so well in large part because of the kinship he shares with Grahn and says he sees similarities between his co-star and his beloved mother, who passed away last year. “All of the things that I loved and appreciated about mother as a woman, Nancy has,” he shares. “Her strength, her fortitude, her humor, her playfulness. And so when I work with Nancy, I have the ability to feel safe enough to go anywhere, do anything — to gnash at each other and at the same moment be able to drop back and know that there’s a genuine love and caring for each other. And then when I’m just hanging out in her dressing room, there’s a level of being able to be myself and to be completely honest with her.”
Back to the Future
Ric and Liz have been rebuilding their romance slowly but surely, and on the May 27 episode, Liz even told her suitor that she felt like things could work out between them this time around. However, there was a hint that trouble might be on the horizon when Liz voiced her concern for Dante (Dominic Zamprogna), Ric’s nephew, who she has been growing closer to in recent weeks. While he kept calm, some jealousy did appear to flicker — and a jealous Ric is often a destructive one.
If Liz and Ric’s reunion does fizzle, Hearst can see a world in which Ric and Alexis found their way back to each other. “I would welcome revisiting that,” he nods. “They’re two very smart characters — too smart for their own good! But maybe these two smart characters would have no choice but to realize that they are meant for each other, and that’s why they created such a beautiful, empathetic daughter in Molly. Who knows!”
No matter what the future holds for Ric’s love life, Hearst says he cherishes how his relationships with both actresses “have evolved as acting partners and friends and colleagues” over the decades they’ve known and worked together. “I have the greatest ‘work wives,'” he says. “There’s so much trust and respect and I don’t know that I will come across it again in my working life.”
Conversation
All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines. Soap Opera Digest does not endorse the opinions and views shared by our readers in our comment sections. Our comments section is a place where readers can engage in healthy, productive, lively, and respectful discussions. Offensive language, hate speech, personal attacks, and/or defamatory statements are not permitted. Advertising or spam is also prohibited.