This was a big week for “Spixie” fans, as Spinelli’s romantic turn at karaoke led to exes Spinelli and Maxie sharing their first kiss in eons. Digest got the inside scoop from Bradford Anderson (Spinelli) about what the future holds for the duo.
Soap Opera Digest: Spinelli and Maxie have both been single for a while. Over the last stretch of story, how have you gone about calibrating how far to lean into the idea that Spinelli’s feelings for Maxie have reawakened?
Bradford Anderson: Well, any time Kirsten [Storms, Maxie] and I have worked together, we try to look at each other — and it kind of happens automatically because of our characters and just our familiarity — with a little bit of a twinkle in our eye, right? If we have the chance to play at all, we try to play! And what was really cool about the way [the writers] kind of constructed this is that Cody is kind of the driving force behind [Spinelli acknowledging his feelings for Maxie], which kind of gave me an automatic thing to push against. So whenever I had scenes with Kirsten I could [play it like], “Yeah, he knows this, but he’s not allowing himself to see it because he doesn’t want himself to get hurt, doesn’t want his kids to be thrust into a situation where [they could get hurt].” You know, all the reasons why you wouldn’t wanna redo something like this with a couple that has kids. But he can’t help himself! The idea for me was kind of like, “Well, of course, this is the truth underneath everything, but there are so many reasons on top of that that are prohibiting him from actually seeing the truth of it.” And it got into circumstances with Cody where Spinelli doth protest too much. He’s like, “No, no, no, it couldn’t be. It couldn’t possibly be!” And so that was cool, the way they wrote it that it was Cody being the kind of driving force of all the meet-cutes, as it were.
Digest: In your view, what prompted Spinelli to throw caution to the wind and kiss Maxie?
Anderson: After he sings, they’re kind of enraptured by each other a little bit. She admits something along the lines of, “You know, I almost don’t want you to move out.” He only kisses her because it feels like their faces are right next to each other, they’re saying sweet and nice things to each other and they’re kind of in the revelry of what just happened. It’s not a, “Hey, I’m gonna take my chance here,” it’s, “Our noses couldn’t be any closer — this is gonna happen!” The idea was that the song puts us in a place where we can come back together. We’re just into each other, you know what I mean?
ABC
Falling In Love Again? Spinelli (Bradford Anderson) and Maxie (Kirsten Storms) took a big step toward rekindling their romance.
Digest: After the kiss, Maxie fled. How would you describe Spinelli’s state of mind when that happens?
Anderson: Confused, because she turns on a dime, basically. She kisses him back, for sure — and then all of a sudden the moment changes and she’s gone. I think he has the insecurities of, like, wait, “Did I misread what seemed to be such a clear sign?” I think he experienced a sense of supreme happiness and and also a bit of relief, because she kissed him back, and then all of a sudden, she’s gone.
Digest: The next time they see each other — the next morning, in Port Charles time — Spinelli doesn’t beat around the bush about the fact that they kissed and he feels they should have a conversation about what happened. How does she react to that?
Anderson: Well, you know, Maxie’s not easily persuaded to do anything! And when she kind of spirals, she really spirals. All the fears of messing it up, messing things up for the two of them but also messing it up for the kids, all that stuff was really present for her and Kirsten played it really well.
Disney/Christine Bartolucci
Kiss And Tell: Next week on GH, Spinelli puts his romantic cards on the table with Maxie.
Digest: How does Spinelli handle himself in that moment?
Anderson: I think he’s pretty confident that what he experienced the night before was not like a fluke. He sees that she’s grappling with the same issues that he was grappling with in terms of, “We shouldn’t do this for this, this, this, this and this [reason].” But he’s kind of already game-planned through all the stuff and he’s like, “Yes, you’re right, there are all those reasons, but this is undeniable. This is what feels right — living here, being with you, being with the kids. This is it! You know, I know it, so let’s let ourselves see what is!” He’s pretty confident, which was kind of cool for me to play. That’s what is kind of interesting about the relationship that we build as two characters over so many years. The fact that he can stand in front of her and be that confident, that was informed by years of working together. Like, if I was someone else jumping into this character not knowing the history, I might have played it differently. I kept it very calm and collected and confident, rather than pleading with her. I think for some reason, this time, he’s convinced it’s gonna work! If he knew he was on a soap opera, maybe he would make a different choice [laughs]. But it really feels like they are kind of unwrapping these layers of excuses as to why they shouldn’t be together, and he’s got to the center of it before she has. It’s interesting because I thought back to the Nurses’ Ball of ’15 with Nathan and Ellie, where [Maxie and Spinelli] had decided to get back together, but then ultimately they were like, “It’s just the comfort of being together, the logic of being together because we have a kid.” They were being pulled in different [romantic] directions and were like, “Why are we trying to force this?” It wasn’t the right time. And since that time, she’s been with Nathan, who died, and Peter August, who was … Peter August [laughs], and then Austin Gatlin-Holt. I think her experiences [after losing Nathan] have kind of made her look for something that is solid, look for something that is safe, look for something that is good for her kids. And what could be better for her kids than, obviously, one of their parents, someone that she trusts implicitly and loves, and has always loved. As you get older, love is a fuller thing. It’s a fuller picture. I think that’s true for him, too. Ellie left him because she didn’t want him to be part of the Port Charles mafia scene, which is a reasonable thing to ask. I think the things that have happened to each of them since they were [last] together has kind of led them to probably seek a relationship that is more mature and more well-rounded.
Digest: What can you tease about where this conversation about possibly getting back together leaves Maxie and Spinelli?
Anderson: Well, Spinelli is winning the argument. He feels more comfortable with her and wants to be completely upfront with her. So, he lets her in on something that he’s been hiding — and Maxie is not one to take kindly to lies.
Digest: As you noted, you and Kirsten have a lot of history together as friends and co-workers. What has it been like building this version of “Spixie” together?
Anderson: What has been really, really lovely is our comedic timing, which we haven’t had an opportunity to really play in a while. We’ve had some scenes since we’ve been working together again where afterwards, we kind of looked at each other and we were like, “Man, I missed this.” So as much as maybe Spinelli and Maxie are excited to have the comfort of each other again, I can say the same thing about working with Kirsten.
For more with Anderson, check out his Daily Drama podcast with Steve Burton (Jason) here.
