For Alexa Havins, who ended her run as Babe on October 8, leaving the show she’s called home for four years was “bittersweet.” She’s excited to begin a new chapter in her professional life, splitting her time between New York and Los Angeles, but her attachment to the job — and the people — she’s leaving behind is so strong that reflecting on her time in Pine Valley reduced her to tears several times during her exit interview with Digest. Here are her thoughts on life at AMC and beyond.
Digest: Can you reflect a bit on what you’ve learned in your four years on the show?
Havins: I have every tool in my pocket from being on the show. I have been drugged, I have been drunk, I have had fights with my husband, dead babies, crashes — everything, I can do on a dime and it’s because of the show. A big growth time for me — one of my first moments that I felt like I really grasped and understood who Babe was — was when I was first at BJ’s. I was standing on set with a big group of people and I had spent a few weeks soaking everything up like a sponge, watching, you know, “What does David Canary [Adam/Stuart] do?” Watching professionalism and learning how to act on set, I felt like I had the knowledge and I put it to use. And as far as emotional growth, it was working with Bobbie [Eakes, Krystal] by the river when they thought the baby was dead. For me, as far as being an actor doing heavy material, I really felt like, I don’t know, being there on set with Bobbie and it was the last scene of the day and it was incredibly late and Angela [Tessinari], our director, she’s a mother and she was holding my hand … It felt like it wasn’t acting, it felt like I was Babe and she was me. The wall, the separation, wasn’t there. That was an interesting point.
Digest: You’ve been preparing to leave the show for some time, but when the time finally came, was it still difficult?
Havins: Oh, yeah. It was so hard saying good-bye. I thought I was prepared, but you can only prepare so much for something like that. I’m incredibly close with the people in hair and makeup, and with Colin [Egglesfield, Josh] and Billy [Miller, Richie] and I, in a short amount of time, became the best of friends. What a great guy and I really hope everyone really embraces him because not only is he a good actor, he’s a really awesome person and I think he’s going to really excel on our show. You should watch out for him; I predict big things for him. But I had emotionally separated myself from the show and from the character; there wasn’t a question in my mind that I was moving on. I just hadn’t separated emotionally from my friends, so touching Bobbie brought on, like, waves of tears. It was good that Chrishell [Stause, Amanda] and Colin were out of town; they were in Vegas promoting a party. I was like, “It’s just as well. Go, call me from Vegas at 5 in the morning.”
Digest: Your relationship with Bobbie has been an amazingly close one.
Havins: We are separated at birth, I know we are. My mom even says, “You look more like her than me!” We have these idiosyncrasies — I cross my arms, she crosses her arms. We’ll be like, tapping the same finger at the same time … It just couldn’t have been nailed better with casting and I’m just so grateful that Judy [Blye Wilson, casting director] found her and brought somebody so amazing into my life. Some of my best friends of my lifetime I met there.
Digest: Alicia Minshew (Kendall) told me she was pretty much a wreck saying good-bye to you.
Havins: Lish and I were good at first, but then I lost it when I started making eye contact with people. I saw Judy Wilson, then I saw all the producers, then I saw Lish and Ambyr [Childers, Colby] … Just one after another. I was a mess. Alicia and I were fine until the party and then it was like … Alicia was such a support system for me. There was a moment in time when she said, “Get ready, because we work heavy, heavy hours and it takes a toll.” We understood each other. I could see if she was having a rough day and I knew exactly what she needed to hear and I’d sit there and pat her. If I was ever under any stress, I’d be knocking on her door. We were always giving each other organic goodies because we’re into nutrition and that stuff.
Digest: Tell me about your good-bye parties, the one on set and the one Bobbie threw for you.
Havins: Well, at first we did something on set after the hug in and out. Really, it was kind of cool [taping the scene in which Havins exits and her successor, Amanda Baker, is introduced]. But we did that and went directly into the cake and that was great. Julie made one of the most heartfelt, really kind speeches and I appreciated that, to stand there in front of my colleagues and let them know … See, I’m gonna cry again! But to let them know what they meant to me, what their friendship meant to me and what a great experience it was for four years. But then Bobbie surprised me and had some people over at her house and oh, that was so fun, with a beautiful view of the Empire State building, to let loose and be with my friends barefoot outside on a beautiful New York night, almost four years to the date … I felt like I’d come full circle. But my honey [husband Justin Bruening, ex-Jamie] wasn’t there; he was filming COLD CASE so he couldn’t fly in and be there for my last day. To me, when Justin left, my heart left. I couldn’t imagine ever being there without him. And when he packed his bags and left, it was like, little me went with him. I was there professionally and I was focused and doing my work, but my heart was with my husband. It was hard not having him there. But it was just a great, great end to a really amazing four years.
Digest: So you were all alone in your final week in New York?
Havins: No, I stayed with Chrishell and what a treat that was. It was so fun. Chrishell and Melissa [Claire Egan, Annie] and I had a little girly-girly dinner.
Digest: What kind of projects are you hoping to do?
Havins: I really like dark drama, but on the flip side, I really love comedy, and [on soaps] they just don’t like their comedy as much as they like their dark drama! Justin tried, I tried … we all try! They let Michael Knight[Tad] do it and that’s about as far as it goes, so as far as being fulfilled on that end … I cried for four years. Now I want to laugh!
Digest: Will you be living in L.A. full-time?
Havins: I’m bicoastal. To me, it’s about going where the work is. Africa, Canada, bring it on! The only thing I’ll tell you is that you will not catch me in New York in February ever again. Sorry, but I’ll be calling you saying, “It’s sunny and I’m surfing.”
Digest: Is there anything you want to say to the fans?
Havins: Oh, my goodness. The soap fans are such great fans. The most devoted, kind fans — and they go with you wherever. We’ll see it with Cameron [Mathison, Ryan] on DANCING WITH THE STARS. When I did my guest spot on RESCUE ME, the amount of fan mail and people who watched, and had such lovely things to say … I will cherish that and can’t say thank-you enough for their support.
