Was Avery an easy baby or a challenging baby? “Yes [laughs]. She was both. She was easy in that she has always been really laid-back and observant; she watches everything before she dives in. She was low-stress in that capacity, perfectly happy to sit and observe. But she was the slowest eater in the world! It took 45 minutes to nurse and then she’d want to do it again 45 minutes later, for seven months. I didn’t sleep, literally.”
Did her observant nature stay with her as she grew up? “Absolutely. She would stand back when she was interested in things and watch how everyone else was doing things, who was doing what, and then she would integrate herself. She did it in school, she did it with dance, she did it with ice skating, she did it with acting, modeling, basketball — that’s just how she approaches life! I tend to throw myself into things more quickly; I have less of a fear of getting hurt than she does. She was very self-protective as a child. That’s part of her core personality.”
What did the two of you butt heads about when she was younger? “The stereotypical, you know, ‘Why is this thing in the bathroom?’ ‘How many water bottles can live under your bed?’ There was stereotypical parent/child stuff around, they think they are ready for more autonomy than you absolutely know they are, but there was nothing extreme with her.”
What was your reaction when she developed her interest in acting? “We knew really, really young that performing [was her destiny]. She started dance when she was 3, and the very first time she was on stage, a lot of kids get antsy and nervous, but she just had this [aura of], ‘This is for me!’ You could see it. She started modeling when she was six months old. Her older brother was doing it, so she accidentally fell into it. You could tell she loved the attention, getting dressed up and being plopped on the set and getting fawned over. She just loved it! So it didn’t surprise us at all that she pursued acting.”
Did you have reservations about it? “Well, we didn’t discourage or actively encourage her to audition. It was a family decision, and it wasn’t made lightly.”
What are your favorite mother/daughter activities? “Eating! No hesitation.”
Was Mother’s Day a big deal in your household? “Well, often, the boys would be home, and she and I would be in California or New York or Miami or wherever, so Mother’s Day would get cruise-directed by my husband — who’s not really a great cruise director!”
Tell me about Avery’s relationships with her brothers. “Her older brother, there’s a big age gap and he was out of the house by the time she was in kindergarten, so there wasn’t a lot of opportunity not to get along. But she was not happy that her younger sibling was a boy. Now, though, they call each other sometimes more than once a day. They’re quite close.”
How often do you talk to her? “I would say almost every day. Sometimes a day or two goes by, but not often.”
What was your reaction when she got the job on GH? “I got goose bumps! There was a little dancing in the kitchen, jumping up and down, hugs all around. We were so proud of her as a family.”
Do you watch the show? “Yes, but I limit most of what I watch to her scenes, and those that I run with her.”
When you run lines with her, who is your favorite character to play? “I love trying to do Victor’s British accent [laughs]!”
How would you rate her performance? “Oh, I’m way too biased to answer that!”
Did you ever watch soaps yourself? “I did. My older sisters were into soaps, so, being the youngest and not having to get a vote as to what was on the TV, I watched them, too. We watched GENERAL HOSPITAL, Luke and Laura, the Quartermaines.”
Is it surreal to see your daughter in scenes with Genie Francis (Laura)? “Oh, absolutely. I remember Laura at Avery’s age!”
Have you gotten to go to the studio? “No, because she started during Covid. But I have sat outside in the car with her dog while she ran in for Covid tests [laughs].”
What makes you most proud of the young lady she is today? “She was born old — she was born everybody’s mother. She’s an old soul. I’m so proud of her compassion. She knows how to do what she needs to do for herself, yet she knows how to do it without running over anyone else. She knows how to be very happy for someone else, while disappointed for herself; if there was a role she wanted and felt she was right for, she could still be happy for the person who got it. That’s a maturity that not many people ever achieve.”
