Guest Performer Nominee Interviews

Patricia Bethune (ex-Mary Pat, GH)  How is life as an Emmy nominee? “It’s really been fun. I still pinch myself. I’ll find myself at the laundromat thinking, ‘Is this a place for a Daytime Emmy nominee?’ Truthfully, on the morning the nominations came out, it hit me that, ‘This might actually happen.’ And when I saw it on Twitter, I just burst into tears — happy tears, of course. You just don’t know how things might affect you, and who knew this lovely evil character could lead to a nomination? This is more than the icing on top, more than the cherry on top — this ice cream sundae is out of control!” Your family must be thrilled. “Oh, they’re over the moon. For the most part, they’ve never really seen me do my real work, which is onstage out here in California. But GH is actually a show everybody knew, many are fans, and I have four family members coming out for the Emmys, just to be with me and to celebrate with me. They’ve never come to anything! It means a lot.” Who was the first person from GH to congratulate you? “Well, Frank [Valentini] sent a lovely tweet, and then I heard from Mark Teschner, the casting director, who I owe everything to, really. He found me, you know? He had an old contact number for me and tracked me down for the audition. I’m so grateful to him.” What scenes did you submit? “My reel basically had the evolution of her torturing poor Caroline, and then the beautiful last episode they gave me with Jon Lindstrom, which to me was almost like a one-act play. I didn’t do the bobbing head; I thought that would be too much for people!” Both of your scene partners, Jon and Laura Wright, were nominated, as well. “I know, and I’m so thrilled for them. They are both so, so talented, and they really helped me along. They gave me the freedom to just go for it. I can’t wait to see them. I miss them, actually. It was such a quick, intense thing to be a part of this family, and then it’s over, and you’re like, ‘But they’re such wonderful people!’ ” What are you most looking forward to about Emmy night? “I’m looking forward to seeing my pals from the show and celebrating with them, and most of all, sharing the night with my sisters and my godson. And hopefully, getting to see GH win a lot of awards, because I had such a perfect experience on that show. But listen, I’m just enjoying every stage of this whole process. It’s a thrill to be included.”

Thaao Penghlis (ex-Andre, DAYS)  How did you find out that you were nominated? “I was sitting in my bed. I was watching my usual morning news, INSIDE POLITICS on CNN, and I heard a ding on my phone, which I ignored, and then another ding on my phone and then another ding on my phone. I thought, ‘What is going on?’ And I saw a ‘Congratulations! You were nominated.’ ” Who did you hear from? “The first message I got was from Deidre Hall. ‘Wow!’ she said. ‘Oh, my God, get your speech ready.’ It’s short. It’s one line. So that’s how I found out. I was just sitting in bed. When I was younger in the art world, my boss would not allow anyone to disturb him until after 10 o’clock in the morning. Why? Because he liked having breakfast in bed and watching whatever he had to watch. I used to think, ‘Oh, that’s so indulgent!’ Well guess what? I see it’s one of the great treats of life!” What did you submit? “I submitted the show that was directed by Albert Alarr. It was about playing the subconscious of Marci’s [Miller] character, Abigail. Someone said to me, ‘That black-and-white show was good. Really good.’ And then I had a couple of directors come to me and say, ‘Oh, my God, we just submitted that for Best Show.’ That kind of made up my mind.” Will you prepare a speech? “I don’t know. I’ll be coming from Egypt the night before, so maybe something profound will come out from one of my experiences and learning about other cultures, which I like; unraveling the mysteries of life.”

Kate Mansi (ex-Abigail, DAYS) How did you feel when you found out you were nominated? “Elated. I was pretty surprised. I was only back on DAYS for a short period, so I submitted in the guest category. I was really happy that I was in the same category as Thaao, who I really admire as an actor and a person. We had a really nice conversation.” Did you receive a lot of congratulatory texts? “Yes, and Mary Beth [Evans] is the No. 1 cheerleader that I wish everyone had. She’s the first person who congratulated me and I didn’t even know what she was talking about, and then she told me what it was for, which was so sweet. She was the No. 1 fan when I was nominated the last time, from beginning to end, so sure that I was going to win, so it was really sweet to hear from her first.” Having already won in the Supporting Actress category in 2017, do you approach these Emmys in a different way? “No, actually. There’s still the excitement of being nominated. For me, I feel like I was so lucky to have won and it was such a perfect moment. My boyfriend took this picture of me looking up when the confetti was falling from the sky at the end, and to me, that was a dream, a surreal moment of a lifetime. So I’ve been feeling like everything else is just a bonus.” What did you submit? “I submitted the first episode that I shot when I went back to DAYS, the scenes opening up in the mental institution. And I submitted the scenes with Tyler [Christopher] and then I submitted a scene with Billy [Flynn]. Everything that I submitted was the first week of episodes I shot.” What do you think about the fact that all of you in this storyline were nominated? “I think it speaks to great writing and really committed actors.” What are you most looking forward to on Emmy night? “Just seeing everyone again in one place.” Will you prepare a speech? “No. I will not prepare a speech. I think that would make me too nervous. I don’t want to attach too much to the idea that I would win, and I think it’s a weird juju thing.”