Just before the new year, PASSIONS unveiled the red-nailed Mystery Woman to be none other than Alistair’s presumed-dead ex-love, Rachel. But it was who had been cast as the hooded lady that was the real twist. The reveal of daytime vet Sharon Wyatt as Rachel was a special surprise for fans of GENERAL HOSPITAL, where the actress played Tiffany Hill, wife of Sean Donely, who was played by John Reilly (now PASSIONS’s Alistair).
Two weeks after Rachel’s reveal, Digest spoke with the elated actress about what she’s been doing since her GH days and what it was like to reunite on-screen with Reilly 10 years after their exit from Port Charles.
Soap Opera Digest: Welcome to PASSIONS!
Sharon Wyatt: Thank you very much. I am very excited to be here.Digest: Are you having fun?
Wyatt: Oh, the most fun I’ve had on any set I’ve ever been on. They are wonderful here. I can’t say enough about them. The crew is great, and Lisa [de Cazotte], our executive producer, is wonderful and welcomed me with open arms. The cast, we hug each other. The crew, we hug each other. I’ve never been in a place like this. It’s wonderful.
Digest: Are you happy to be out of the white coat?
Wyatt: Oh, please! Nothing like putting white on TV, you know what I mean? I looked like a Green Bay Packer.Digest: But much prettier.
Wyatt: Oh, thank you.Digest: How did you keep your role a secret for so long?
Wyatt: I just didn’t tell anybody. My family knew, but I didn’t even tell my fan club president. They didn’t even have me on the screen when I was taping, so the cast didn’t even know who I was until I got here the first day. They did a great job of keeping it a secret.
Digest: Did you do the Mystery Woman’s voice-overs before she was revealed to be Rachel?
Wyatt: Yes, I did the voice-overs of whoever was playing the body. So I would come in and do voice-overs, and then I would go back to Tennessee, and then I’d come in and do more voice-overs and go back to Tennessee. Then I started shooting and it was great.Digest: When you came to the set to do voice-overs, did you have to disguise yourself or come in after-hours?
Wyatt: No, I didn’t [laughs]. We did the voice-overs in another studio, so nobody knew.Digest: In the script, was she called something besides Rachel?
Wyatt: Yeah, she was called Amanda. The writers didn’t know who was playing me, nobody did. They just called me Amanda and the cast kept getting confused because it was Amanda in the script all the way until I was revealed, so if anybody got ahold of a script they wouldn’t know it was Rachel. It was fun keeping it a secret. I liked being a Mystery Woman; a woman with red nails. In fact, that’s all I knew about the character. I’d already accepted the part and then I thought, ‘I wonder what I’m going to be doing.’ All I knew was that she had red nails. I didn’t know that she was Rachel. I didn’t know anything.Digest: You didn’t even know that you would be working closely with John Reilly?
Wyatt: No, I didn’t. I’d hoped that we would. I called John after they called me and offered me the part and I said, ‘John, did you do this?’ And he said, ‘I didn’t even know anything about it.’ And he didn’t know who I was playing. So, it was quite exciting, I thought.Digest: And you’ve been staying with John, right?
Wyatt: I’ve been staying with John and Liz, his wife, and it’s been wonderful. I don’t think I could have made it without them. Digest: What is it like to work with him again?
Wyatt: When Rachel first revealed herself to Alistair, John did a wonderful job. He floored me. We hadn’t rehearsed it, so we didn’t know what we were going to do. He blew me away by his emotions of seeing Rachel again. Digest: Are you going to relocate to L.A.?
Wyatt: I have a house in Sherman Oaks that I’m moving into. I’m excited about it.Digest: What have you been doing since leaving GENERAL HOSPITAL?
Wyatt: I did a couple of films, a JUST SHOOT ME episode and plays. I didn’t do anything for almost two years; I just took time off. I was exhausted. In 2002, I planned on going home to Tennessee just for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I ended up staying. My parents needed me. I ended up staying in Nashville and doing a play there, which was a lot of fun. Digest: Do you still get recognized as Tiffany?
Wyatt: Oh, yeah, all the time. That’s just going to be there because I played her for so long. I’ve gotten some fan letters already about how they loved Tiffany and they followed me [to PASSIONS]. Digest: So, how does it feel to be back on daytime?
Wyatt: I’m very excited to be back. I love daytime.
