Mary Beth Evans (Kayla, DAYS) was a guest on Digest’s podcast, Dishing With Digest, and discussed
her run in Salem, working with Stephen Nichols (ex-Steve), what it’s been like without him and so much more.
Digest: We were just talking about Steve and Kayla, and the evolution of that relationship. Let’s go back to 1986. What did you think about this pairing when you first started, and could you ever have imagined that they would become as huge as they did?
Mary Beth Evans: I had not seen the show. I kind of grew up on ALL MY CHILDREN. First I read for the casting person and then they said, “Okay, we’re gonna have you come in and read with the other actor.” It was up in [then-Executive Producer] Al Rabin’s office and Stephen [Nichols, Steve] comes up really basically in character; he was probably between scenes with the leather jacket, the long hair, the patch, the whole thing and I was just like, “Whoa, holy cow!” So we read it and then it was going to screen test, and then after the screen test, Stephen will always tell the story that I said, “That was crap,” or “That was terrible,” or something like that and he was like, “No, no. It was good.” It just was an amazing moment. I mean it’s happened on DAYS a few times, with Peter [Reckell, ex-Bo] and Kristian [Alfonso, Hope] and several other people, Missy [Reeves, Jennifer] and Matt [Ashford, ex-Jack]. There’s just this connection that you don’t have with other people. They can put you with other people, but then the one person comes along where there’s that connection and we were very lucky that it happened right off the bat like that.
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Digest: We just polled readers of the magazine about their all-time favorite romantic moments in daytime history. Steve and Kayla fans came out in full force. The response from them was absolutely tremendous. Are there scenes or moments that stand out to you as the most romantic or the most special?
Evans: The ones that really stand out for me and kind of show that arc, too, was when I took the patch off of him in the basement apartment. I mean the trust and everything. She was unflinching of what was under there. But just that was such a great scene. And then we come around now this last year and sort of revisit it with taking the patch off and putting dark glasses on him and just that emotional connection between the two of them and everything about them. To me those were great. I mean there’s been so many. Our first wedding was amazing, but our wedding that we had just a couple years ago was great. That one, when we first read it, it was just sort of in a restaurant and it was like, “Oh, well, that’s not exciting,” but it ended up being just the perfect situation because not only did they bring Stephanie, our daughter, back and Joey was there, and to bring her back, too, Shelley [Hennig, ex-Stephanie], so that it was the same people. And then to have it so intimate like that. They were nice enough to let us tweak our vows to make them feel right for us. Stephen, I thought his was so beautiful and I was so touched by it. I’m so idealistic about these characters. I don’t know what to say about it. I root for them, I believe in them, and the family of the show and the history of the show … It all means so much to me.
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Digest: This year did mark the 30th anniversary of their wedding. What are your memories of taping that ceremony?
Evans: Well one, just that we were having so much fun because we don’t normally go outside, so that was super-fun. They gave it their all and it was such a big deal and it was so much fun. Stephen and I always have so much fun together. But the one drawback I remember, they used these giant lights, I think they’re called carbon lights, that were super-high and super-bright. I have very light eyes and I could barely keep my eyes open. Between takes I’d be like, “Oh, my God!” But like I said, I’m so idealistic and I love these stories. I’m a romantic. I mean, The Notebook is my favorite movie. So, the whole thing for her to get her voice back and all that, it’s just beautiful. I’m a sucker for all of it. I love it.
Digest: Did you have any sort of sense at the time how significant that moment of Kayla getting her voice back would be?
Evans: We used to work long days and I think I never grasped the whole totality of it all. I think I was just sort of living in the moment and getting through the day. And back with the deaf storyline, we had to learn all that sign language that day. There were just so many things. I also am not a person who has a lot of foresight or hindsight or anything, I’m pretty much a moment person, so all those factors I did not think ahead or think of what it could’ve meant or anything. But looking back on it, how sweet! This history has been so sweet. Like I said the year that I won the Emmy, I mean, daytime has been a gift in my life. It’s been a wonderful, wonderful journey. I mean, my husband has a full-time job and I like having a job and having my purpose. And here is my family. You come in here and we’ve all known each other for such a long time. It’s pretty great.
Digest: When you do look back on just the fact that this couple has been so enduring, what is it about Steve and Kayla that worked so well?
Evans: I think the foundation is that Stephen and I are such good friends. We trust each other completely and we sort of play with it. I mean, we will just be in a scene and look at each other and so much is going on and we understand what’s going on in the looks or the whatever. It’s just like this connection that I’ve never had with anybody else, and I don’t think he has, either. He always will say to me a million times, “I could never work with anybody else.” We just had this amazing connection. And even when we weren’t on the show together we would meet for lunch. We did GENERAL HOSPITAL together [as Stefan and Katherine] for, I don’t know, five or six years together. Now that he hasn’t been here, we still talk all the time and meet up. He came to my daughter’s wedding in October. He’s just part of my family…. We’re just very, very close and we have a really amazing connection.
Digest: What has it been like for you at the set without him?
Evans: Well, you know, in the beginning I was in shock. I didn’t know what to do exactly. Now, every scene that I have where I talk about him or have a phone call with him, I mean, I just am committed anyway because I’m sad that he’s not here. I’m always hoping he’ll come back. You just never know how things roll. People come and go all the time on here; you can hardly keep track sometimes. I’m hoping that he will just be back and we can just pick up with some really good story. So I just trudge forward and I try to be there for Tripp, who is my only connection left here in town. I have so many relatives, I have so many nieces and nephews that need help and thank goodness for that. And I like being a doctor. I think that’s really fun.
Digest: You’ve also had to deal with some real life losses recently with both Peggy McCay [ex-Caroline] and Frank Parker [ex-Shawn] passing. What are some favorite memories of working with them and knowing them that you can share?
Evans: Well, you know, when I came on, they were my parents from the get-go. There were the four troubled kids and all of our shenanigans. It was just so cool to have them be this strong, Irish family with good morals and all this stuff. Peggy with her whole thing with Victor, that was so intriguing also, but just that the love of their family survived and the bond survived. Frank was fabulous. He came back a few years ago and we had that whole plane crash where he dies and all that, so I felt like that had already happened, kind of. You know what I mean? And to hear that he passed it was so sad, but I felt like I had already mourned it or something. It’s weird that way. And then Peggy, I just adore Peggy. Stephen and I had been up to visit her a couple times. She was just adorable and spunky and fun. Stephen played the harmonica for her. So then I was sad to hear that she passed, but I wasn’t super-sad because I thought she had such an amazing life. I mean, she worked up until two or three years ago. I thought, “How cool to be acting to the very end and calling the shots?” … Yesterday we shot a memorial service for her. There is no acting necessary because we all felt it; we all loved her. Like I said, I believed these stories. I believed her mothering and I really valued that. She was spunky and fun and I think she set a great example for us. She knew her stuff. She did not mess around.
Digest: When you look back, what does it mean for you to still be on DAYS?
Evans: I think it’s remarkable. I have to say, every day I walk into this studio, which is a big warehouse — the walk has changed, but I used to have to walk through this whole big studio to get here, but it never changes. I’m so thankful. Every day to me is a gift. I never take it for granted ever. I appreciate the people here and my friends here. I had a scene with Drake [Hogestyn, John] yesterday — he was one of the first people I sat in the green room talking to in 1986 or whenever it was. It’s just amazing that we are all still here. It’s like we’re old cousins or something. I don’t know if you ever saw the movie Quartet. Dustin Hoffman directed it. It’s in the English countryside and it’s all these artists, I think they’re singers and band musicians, and they live in this country home and then they put on a pageant thing every year. So all these older people are sitting around the table, like in assisted living, having their dinner and they’re talking about their pieces or their whatever. I always joke with the people here saying, “That’s what we need to do! Instead of moving into assisted living we should pool our resources, move in together, get a farm-to-fresh table and we’ll practice our scenes.” We’ll be in our 90s and we’ll still go for our love scenes or whatever. Let’s keep it going forever.
