On the occasion of her 35th GH Anniversary on April 11, Lynn Herring looks back on the highlights of her run as Lucy.
Best Thing About Being Getting The Job: “I had watched GENERAL HOSPITAL as a fan in high school. I was acting in New York for a year, then I moved to L.A. because I was getting a lot of commercial work and small parts in little films and things. It dawned on me after I saw Wayne [Northrop, her husband] doing DYNASTY [as Michael] and then DAYS [as Roman] how attractive it would be to have a regular part. When they called me in for this part, it was sort of a dual personality thing, where I got to be this plain, mousy person, and then all of a sudden, this glamorous slut [laughs]. I was so intrigued by it. I wanted this part so badly that when they actually called, I think I fell on the floor. It was amazing to me that not being a known daytime commodity, I got such a wonderful part. It really was a miracle. It was my dream part!”
Best Thing About Lucy’s Transformation From Mousy Librarian To Sexpot Schemer: “Being so demure and trying to keep all that under wraps was so fun because it was like I had a secret. I’d go to work and even a lot of the cast members I was working with didn’t know that she was going to become something else. It’s interesting; the way the directors and other actors treat you when you’re the mousy character is completely different than when you’re the slut! It was so much fun because when I actually got to put that lipstick on and wear more suggestive clothing, all of a sudden, the whole tempo and mood changed around me, too. When I came on, I was wearing beige cardigans. They had to find these hilariously oversized clothes for the first part of demure Lucy. And when I got to just be in my underwear and that men’s shirt and put on that lipstick for the reveal, that was unforgettable for me — the freedom of being unleashed!”
Best Thing About Working With Kin Shriner (Scott): “He is a kid, and I mean that with great love, in the most affectionate way. He is someone who is joyous in being at work, even on his worst days. He is so in the moment when he’s working. The challenge of just making sure you’re paying attention and reacting to what he’s doing is so fun. I love that I never know exactly what’s going to come out of his mouth or what strange gesture — he always used to say, ‘Lynn, you’re always watching my hands!’ I would be so amused by his gestures sometimes being late or off base or really inappropriate, so I would watch his hands sometimes and be so tickled and give a natural response as my character, too. I wouldn’t trade working with him for anything.”
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Best Thing About Working With Jacklyn Zeman (Bobbie): “That rivalry was big because of B.J. and Tony. Jackie was well-established, of course, when I came, so that was intimidating in the sense of wanting Lucy to be viewed as someone to be reckoned with and matching her strength because Jackie plays a strong woman so well. I loved the intrigue of two women who both wanted the same thing and came from a rough background and their values may kind of go out the window sometimes when they’re going after something they want.”
Best Thing About Lucy Being Scott and Dominique’s Surrogate: “When you’re one-dimensional all the time, the audience can get tired of watching your escapades. That story brought out so many dimensions because Dominique’s kindness and compassion was everything Lucy aspired to be, but she wasn’t made that way! So when they gave Lucy that opportunity and she had Serena, boy, that was just an acting dream. It was something I never thought the character would get to play, having a child and giving it up out of love for Scott, as well. It was awesome.”
Best Thing About Working With Anthony Geary (ex-Luke): “He was an icon for me — he’ll hate it — but when I was younger, in high school, and so to play with him was so incredible. You learn to stay fleet of foot. The twinkle in his eyes make you shine brighter, which is a gift that Tony gives to the actor opposite him. He’s very unselfish. And also, he makes me laugh, which is the hard part! He tries to make you laugh even during a serious scene, so you have to be on your best behavior.”
Best Thing About Lucy’s Stint As A Quartermaine: “The Quartermaines represented everything she wasn’t. It was the most fun to seduce Stuart [Damon] as Alan, and then of course, Leslie Charleson [Monica] was hilarious to go up against. Her dry humor playing Monica made it even more tasty for the audience. And then of course, the red wedding dress was just the icing on the cake. People remember that day, when she walked down the stairs in that dress, as much as I do!”
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Best Thing About Working With Sigmund The Duck: “I just found it really joyful when that little waddle and that little twitchy butt would come out on the stage. The crew would laugh as soon as the handler/ trainer brought the duck in; it just changed the timing, the feeling on the stage. It was, ‘What’s going to happen next? Is the duck going to try to fly? Is it going to flap its wing?’ The camera guys were always so on it, to follow whatever he did, and I knew that, so I knew that I could do whatever — talk to the duck, and no one thought I was strange for talking to the duck. He brought out the best in everybody. Even Jon [Lindstrom, Kevin] would say it would just up the spontaneity and the, ‘Uh-oh, we’re going to have to do a lot of ad-libbing here!’ You knew when the duck was there, it was going to be fun.”
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Best Part Of Hosting The Nurses’ Ball: “I think it’s the amalgamation of the character. It blends her vanity and love of fashion and wanting to look her best and be out front, but it also shows her soul, to represent, initially, people that were victimized and marginalized by AIDS and HIV. She got to step out of herself and instead of just thinking about herself, she got to think of others, but at the same time, look good doin’ it!”
Favorite Way Lucy Ended Up In Her Skivvies At The Ball: “Well, when Frank [Valentini, executive producer] and Ron [Carlivati, then-head writer] brought Lucy back and the curtain dropped and I’m in my underwear kissing Scotty, the scenes afterward with Kevin and I lose my marriage and my touchstone, those were awesome to play after having been gone for a while. It was so good to be able to tell Kevin how sorry she was. But hanging upside down half-naked had to be a highlight! One of the funniest conversations I’ve ever had was with the stunt guys and the directors trying to figure that one out. That was a lot of fun.”
Best Thing About Working With Jon Lindstrom (Kevin): “He is so giving. For some reason, and you’ll never be able to explain it, there is some kind of Lucy/Kevin connection that I think Jon and I have in understanding our characters really well. I think he knew that Kevin needed a jolt of spontane- ity and Lucy needed grounding. Working with him is just a joy. I look at him and I see that he wishes Lucy to be the best and she never quite makes it! We always had a mutual respect about giving each other and our characters the best chance to show what we’re made of.”
Best Thing About Working With Kristina Wagner (Felicia): “When I first saw that her character was an Aztec princess, I thought, ‘She’s such a beautiful girl, but why are they calling her an Aztec princess?’ It just didn’t make sense to me! Her sense of humor can be really dry and I would see her kind of making fun of herself and I thought, ‘That self-deprecating humor from this beautiful creature is awesome,’ and it made me very attracted to get to know her better. We had so many parallels with [each raising] two boys and she loves animals and the environment and we realized we had so much in common. It became a very special friendship and I’ve been very lucky to get to know her that way.”
Best Thing About Doing PORT CHARLES: “I was so scared about leaving the mother ship, initially, and being away from what had been established for years and years. But it was exciting at the same time. The half-hour format was really challenging, and I think we really got on a roll when we started telling the shorter-format story [arcs]. The best part was getting to know that cast so intimately; those young people were wonderful.”
Favorite Line Of Dialogue: “You know, for no apparent reason, I started saying, ‘Ta!’ And people that had been Lucy’s enemies started imitating her or would say, ‘Ta!’ back at me. I think that two-letter, flippant thing represented them letting me run with Lucy and let me play and never reined [in] some of the Lucy-isms, and then in the scripts, when I saw that they actually wrote in ‘Ta!’ years later, I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is the best blending!’ They created this character and I just got to embellish her and now we’re kind of at the same point.”
Best Thing About Returning In 2012: “I felt so special, having been gone so long and taking time off to raise my boys, that they would even ask me. I just remember going hiking and I had that script from the first show back and I thought, ‘I’m home!’ I didn’t realize how much I missed it. I can picture it so clearly, looking out over the hills, thinking, ‘This is the best day ever! I get to go back and do something I love so much, but I’ve lived such a great life in the meantime.’ ”
The Best Thing About Marking This Milestone: “Reflecting is good for me; I’m always on fast-forward and I like to live in the moment. But this 35 years, it’s just been such a gift, and I realize my whole life would have been completely different without GENERAL HOSPITAL. It’s given me what I have, from my appreciation of storytelling to being able to have a ranch, to be able to get the boys through college. It truly gave me everything I have. I just feel like it’s the best gift ever.”
Favorite Wedding Gown: “The red dress is iconic, but I grew up watching the big soap weddings and I always wanted that for Lucy. On PORT CHARLES, when Lucy finally got to marry Kevin, it was such a pretty, detailed dress and so glamorous and intricate and I felt like a true soap opera wedding was happening. It made me feel like I’d come full circle.”
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