Lillian In Love: Catching Up With GL Vet Tina Sloan
Soaps are all about love and lust, but why should the 20-somethings have all the fun? Lillian’s back in the dating game, having started a surprising romance with Buzz. Her portrayer, Tina Sloan, raves to Digest about her new on-screen flame and explains why her recent long vacation put Buzz and Lillian’s adorable canoodling temporarily on hold.
Soap Opera Digest: Do you like being in a romantic situation on-screen again?
Tina Sloan: “Isn’t it adorable? It’s just wonderful. Especially with Buzz [Justin Deas]. I have to tell you this one funny story when I first kissed him. You know Lillian has not been kissed in probably 15 years! When he kissed her, I had lines. I just couldn’t remember them, so I said, ‘Oh, my [laughs]!’ And they took it and bought it instead of my lines which were, well, I don’t know what they were. I was so Lillian at that moment that I knew she wouldn’t be able to talk. It was just right. I thought it was hysterical. The producers, everyone was just howling. I could hear them all!”
Digest: What’s it like working with Justin?
Sloan: “He’s such a joy. You know, I’ve been away for a month. My husband had a big birthday and we all went to Europe. The whole family. So I haven’t been there [for a few weeks]. I think they will continue the romance. They have to love it. Well, I know they love it.”
Digest: Where’d you go?
Sloan: “We were in Scotland and we went for my husband’s birthday with all his grandchildren and our children and then we went down to Spain to Bilbao to see the Guggenheim [Museum], which was fabulous. Then we went to visit some friends in the south of France. And then went back to Scotland for another friend’s 60th birthday! It was 27 days. It was long! And I’d been in Turkey for a few weeks before that, so I’ve overdone it. I don’t like to go that much, but you know, it happened. Except I wanted to do my Buzz story and they really wanted to continue it right then, but my husband had planned it for four years so I could hardly say to him, ‘No, darling. I’m not going, I’m kissing Buzz!'”
Digest: The last time we saw you on-screen was August 28. How will your absence play out in the storyline?
Sloan: “I think Lillian’s going to take care of Calla, her sister. That’s what they’re going to say. I know it’s going to [continue] because the writers love it. They have to! It’s just like a ray of sunshine. Did you see [Lillian] rub Buzz’s legs because they’d walked up the stairs? It was hysterical. The other thing I keep thinking about is that Lillian was a nurse in Vietnam and Buzz was in Vietnam. I don’t know if that will ever come up, but there is a connection and I’d love to talk about that at some point.”
Digest: The Buzz/Lillian pairing is refreshing because it’s not a typical sudsy romance.
Sloan: “Yeah! We’re having so much fun and just laughing all the time. Oh, I love going in to work and not being worried about what Lizzie’s up to or what Beth’s up to, but just for Lillian to all of a sudden sort of blossom and even ask him out! Wasn’t that something [laughs]?”
Digest: Would you like to see a catfight between Doris and Lillian?
Sloan: “I think that would be fabulous. Anything dramatic I love.”
Digest: So where does Lillian stand with her family right now? Lizzie’s been awfully protective of her.
Sloan: “I think Lillian right now just wants to be free of everybody. I don’t think she cares! She’s just so in love and I think that’s probably the right word in a light way. But she’s so happily in love. Did you see the scene where Lizzie wants her to get married? She’s going, ‘Oh, give me a break!’ She’ s so free. Isn’t it wonderful? I think Lillian is going through some phase of, ‘I’ve just had it with this whole family and I just want to laugh and enjoy my life!’ I think if they came to her with a problem right now, I don’t know if she’d get involved or at least engage in it the way she has all her life.”
Digest: Is it more fun working with Marj Dusay [Alex] now that you’re both dealing with on-screen romance?
Sloan: “I think Lillian has puppy love, hers is much more serious. With [Marj], it’s always fun. To work with her and to work with Beth [Chamberlin, Beth], that’s just the joy of my life. Especially Beth, of course. And I love to fight with Beth. I love it when we have fight scenes.”
Digest: It’s fun to see longtime GL vets like you, Jordan Clarke [Billy] and Marj back on the front burner.
Sloan: “It is fun, isn’t it?”
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