Inside OLTL’s 2006 Fan Luncheon
If I were an actor on ONE LIFE TO LIVE, I would love, love, love the annual fan club luncheon. Where else does one go to experience unbridled love and enthusiasm for what you do for a living? It’s obvious that the actors really appreciate the fans — after all, they readily give up a sunny Saturday afternoon. As Kamar de los Reyes (Antonio) told me in the green room (where the actors group and eat before they go up to the dais), “I’ve always said that one of my favorite things I’ve gotten to do during my career is meet one-on-one with fans.”
The green room can be fun for an editor. It’s a nice time to catch up with actors and photographers. It’s a chance to get those round-up questions that all Soap Opera Weekly editors need to collect all the time. The actors are relaxed and usually quite happy. Of course, why wouldn’t they be? They are about to be cheered and adored for the next three hours.
After about 11/2 hours the reporters were shuffled out so the actors could, I’m guessing here, line up in alphabetical order. John-Paul Lavoisier (Rex) was the first one out (But he’s an ‘L’ you say!), because he would be introducing his co-stars. His funniest line was actually a non-intro. He refused to introduce Robin Strasser because Dorian is very anti-Rex. He let Melissa Archer (Natalie) do the honors. (This was all done in joking fun, mind you.)
With microphones in hand, Kassie DePaiva (Blair) and Dan Gauthier (Kevin) ran up to various fans so they could ask questions of the actors. Most of the questions were storyline-related, and the general reply was, “You’ll just have to watch.” De los Reyes almost slipped up when he mentioned that there will be a wedding in his storyline. However, without missing a beat, he added that he didn’t know if Nash or Antonio would be the groom.
Unlike the mail we receive here at the magazine, there were no nasty questions or sniping about dueling couples Natalie/John or Evangeline/John or Todd/Blair or Todd/Evangeline…the list goes on.
There were a few actors whose presence was sorely missed — Paul Satterfield (Spencer) and Michael Easton (John). In fact, it was at last year’s luncheon (my first) that I finally understood the appeal of Easton. His swagger as he entered the room and the screams from the crowd were mesmerizing. I was a fan after that. The fans have a passion for bad-boy characters that is shown in their near-hysterical response to Trevor St. John (Todd).
I also enjoy the response when an actor shows up late. It’s a little thrill the fans love, and I frankly got a kick out of Forbes March’s arrival. He ran in like a bullet to the screaming joy of the fans.
Delightful. That’s a perfect word to describe the fan club luncheon. A delightful way to spend an afternoon feeling the love of the fans for the actors.
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