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Interview

ICYMI: GH Production Designer Jennifer Elliott Gives The Scoop On Sonny’s New Living Room

Elliott

ABC

Soap Opera Digest: Why did you decide to give the Corinthoses’ quarters a refresh?

Jennifer Elliott: Frank [Valentini, executive producer] really values the production value of our show in terms of the look and he’s been so proactive about putting our money into upgrading our interiors. This was his idea. He came to us and said, “Creatively, could we face-lift Sonny’s? I just really want to give the audience a little bit more of a visual treat because we’re there so often.” That set is like a workhorse! It goes up and it stays up. Our goal was to create some new areas that didn’t take up any more space onstage. We decided to give him a little office within the living room in an upstage area that has a desk and shelving behind it. We purposely did that so that when you walk through the doors of the living room, if he’s sitting behind his desk, it’s kind of a Godfather moment. He’s a kingpin! He needs a regal desk and, you know, a serious bar that’s built in behind his desk — things people with wealth and prominence have in their home.

Digest: How long has this upgrade been in the works?

Elliott: Last August, we started planning it and I started ordering furniture. It’s a long process; we were ordering some custom pieces and those take forever. In September, we had kind of hashed out a plan, like a blueprint. We talked to Frank about moving the staircase, and an important change from a direct- ing standpoint was that in the foyer, we changed the [orientation of the] entrance door to a side entrance, which Frank thought would help from a direc- torial standpoint.

Digest: What directives did Frank give you for the space?

Elliott: He was like, “I trust you guys to wow me and come up with something great,” which was awesome! What was important to him was to have a little seating area near the fireplace. I had drawn the chairs in a different configuration and he said, “I think you need to have the chairs face the fireplace so that we could potentially shoot a conversation there.” Early on, he and I worked on the shape of the couch. We’ve always had Sonny with a very masculine, leather couch, so I was sourcing all of these leather options for him. Frank goes, “Why are you showing me leather?” And I said, “I don’t know, I feel like Sonny always has leather!” And he goes, “No. I want something different for him, something that’s not so cliché and ‘mobster’.” So we went with a really beautiful gray velvet. I think it might have been a shock to Maurice [Benard, Sonny], too, like, “Wow, this furniture is really different.”

Digest: Tell me about the decision behind removing the staircase that used to run across the back of the set and installing this grand fireplace instead.

Elliott: The old staircase [extended] so far into the room that it was encroaching on the living space and forced all of the characters downstage; it just didn’t give a lot of variety in terms of where a person can go. My [production design] partner, Andrew [Evashchen], who is kind of genius about spatial issues, tucked the staircase up in a different area so that we can see it and we utilize it, but it’s not cutting into the living space.

Digest: What material did you use to mimic a marble slab for the fireplace?

Elliott: For this living room, we really want- ed to do kind of a polished, sleek look. The materials are wood, but it’s painted to look like marble that goes all the way up to the ceiling. The whole idea is not to put artwork on it or anything like that, but just to make it look kind of striking on its own and be more of a generic background. It’s often very cliché to do a fireplace mantle that has a bunch of pictures of your kids on it. I mean, I have that at my house! But this was an opportunity for us to do something different. In the story, Carly hired a decorator, so the whole idea was to make it look like a decorator did it.

Digest: Were you there when Maurice saw the new look for the first time?

Elliott: Yeah, I was. I was very nervous, but I think he liked it. I hope he liked it! I mean, he had a smile on his face. I think [redoing a set] is a little bit bewildering to people and I get it; I mean, we’re putting him in a brand-new space and he had been in the same living room for the longest time. He was just trying to take it all in!

Digest: What other reactions did you get?

Elliott: Laura [Wright, Carly] said, “Great job! This is amazing.” From Steve [Burton, Jason] to Maurice, everybody was just sort of pat- ting us on the back. What’s most important to me is the feedback coming from Frank. We love to surprise him with the whole finished product. He was blown away. Knowing how much money the network was willing to put into this project, it’s really important to me that everybody is happy with it. I’m interested to see what the fans think because with Sonny’s kitchen there was such an over- whelming response. I want the response to be as positive as it was for the kitchen!

Digest: Do you consider the set “done”?

Elliott: Well, actually, when Frank saw the set with Sonny’s old patio furniture on the terrace, he said, “Ya know, I think we need to get him new patio furniture. Let’s just go for it.” So it hasn’t come in yet, but we have new patio furniture coming.

Digest: Be honest: Did you think about trolling the fans by putting a bowl of moss in the living room?

Elliott: I did. I totally did! You busted me. Honestly, I would not be surprised if a little bit of moss shows up in the glass bowl on that coffee table [laughs].

Straight To The Source 

Want to live like a king(pin)? Here’s where Elliott made purchases for Sonny’s new space. 

  • The couch, chairs and desk are from Restoration Hardware. “The desk is part of their French Contemporary series and there are several other pieces in the room that match it.”
  • The lighting pieces are both Restoration Hardware and Overstock. “I love that within three-to-four days, I can get a really beautiful fixture from them,” She says of the online retailer.
  • The rug is from Crate & Barrel. “I originally bought it for Laura’s apartment. And then I thought to myself, ‘This would look even better in Sonny’s,’ so I got Laura something else.”

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