GH Flashback

“My first day, I had told the producers, ‘Please just don't tell me to talk louder or talk faster. I did that at ALL MY CHILDREN and it really hurt my acting. So the first day I get on the set, it’s a big scene with strippers and things like that. I start my lines and over the intercom they say, ‘We can’t hear you, can you talk louder? And I said, ‘No. I’m not.’ I’m gonna tell you that was a constant fight for over a year. Oh, I would throw chairs. Now, it’s a joke on the set. People sometimes come up to me and say, ‘You know, you need to talk louder [laughs].’ ” -- Maurice Benard (Sonny; ex-Nico, AMC) on his first day at GH

“I came to GH when my ONE LIFE TO LIVE scenes were still airing. There were like two or three days where I was actually on both shows on TV. The network was horrified that I was dying as Lana on ONE LIFE and Bobbie was popping out of the elevator with the student nurse’s cap on.” -- Jacklyn Zeman (Bobbie) on playing simultaneous soap roles

“My sister and I were not allowed to watch soaps. The only thing I knew about a soap was that my grandpa used to watch ONE LIFE TO LIVE. Everything came to a screeching halt at 1 o’clock because he had to watch Viki [Buchanan]!” --  Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth) on what she knew about GH when she got the role

“What was so great about Sarah, for me as a viewer, is that you had the Erica Kanes [AMC] that were like beautiful vixen bitches, but Sarah was like, ‘I’ll kick your ass!’ Sarah’s version of Carly stood there screaming and yelling and crying and letting out all of the ugly that we all try to hide of that person inside. No one ever put that kind of character on daytime before because daytime is supposed to be fantasy and pretty clothes and hair and makeup. Sarah broke that boundary, that perfect image, with the realness of how painful life can feel. I loved watching Sarah.” -- Laura Wright (Carly) on why she liked watching Sarah Joy Brown, who originated the role

“Just walking on the set that first day, for someone who has been watching the show for over 30 years at that point, I mean there were so many firsts for me in that first month. Walking through the elevator doors with the circle on it, I was like, ‘Holy crap!’ Or, ‘I’m sitting at Kelly’s holding a menu! I can’t believe it!’ ‘I just spoke to Monica and she spoke back to me!’ It really was a fan girl, Nurse Betty kind of first year there.” -- Lisa LoCicero (Olivia) on her early days at GH

“The thing I loved in the ‘80s was becoming aware that other celebrities knew me. They’d never met me, but because my face was well-known or they knew my name or they knew the character.... I remember Phyllis Diller [ex-Gladys, B&B] once just out of the blue screaming, ‘Hey Luke! How’s it going, baby?’” -- Anthony Geary (Luke) on getting recognized by celebrities