Scene And Heard

MEOW MIX As their “Cin” coupling has taken off on DAYS, Victoria Konefal (Ciara) and Robert Scott Wilson (Ben) have received some memorable presents from fans. But there’s a theme gift that really stands out to Konefal. “A couple of months back, when Ben and Ciara first started dating, Ben said something to her along the lines of, ‘Ciara Brady, you’ve got more fight in you than a bag full of bobcats,’ ” recounts Konefal. “I think it was the first time they kissed, actually. The day we filmed it, we made a huge joke out of that line. We thought it was the funniest line of the day. Our stage manager even drew a bag full of bobcats on the script next to the line, and Rob hung it up on his dressing room door. It’s something that’s become an inside joke to us.” Apparently, the line caught the attention of viewers, too. “The fans sent us a sack full of stuffed animals that were bobcats, and T-shirts with bobcats on them, and a little sign that said ‘Bobcat Crossing’,” explains Konefal. “All these bobcat-related things. Rob and I thought it was the cutest gift ever. It was so sweet and so personal to our characters.”

PADRE ISLAND When Executive Producer Eva Longoria and her team sat down to develop GRAND HOTEL from a telenovela into an American prime-time soap, she made a very important change. “I love Demián [Bichir, Santiago],” Longoria praises. “He directed me in a beautiful film he wrote and starred in [2016’s Un Cuento de Circo & a Love Song] and we got to work together. But in the original, [the hotel owner] is a matriarch. It’s a woman, and when Brian Tanen [executive producer] adapted it, he made it a patriarch and I was like, ‘Demián has to do this!’ So, we did have to pivot off the original to service the gravitas that Demián brings to the screen, that he brings to every role. He has just blown us away, of course. We knew his talent but how he dives into Santiago is brilliant to witness. Every time one of our actors has a scene with him, they’ll come to me and they go, ‘We have a scene with Demián today,’ because he’s just so amazing. So, that is a big difference from the original, and we couldn’t have done it without the talent and the grounding that Demián brings to the show.”

LIKE MOTHER, LIKE SON Brook Kerr’s (ex-Whitney, PASSIONS) son, Chris Warren, has made the successful transition from child actor to young adult star, and is currently heating up the prime-time scene as Jason on GRAND HOTEL. “Oh, my God, I am so proud,” Kerr beams. “He is the best young man, he’s the best of all characteristics that there can be in a grounded human being, he’s a wonderful son. He deserves this success more than anyone. He’s worked hard, stayed committed, he’s stayed grounded, he and [Executive Producer] Eva Longoria [Beatriz; ex-Isabella, Y&R et al] got along well. It’s just been such a blessing, this job on GRAND HOTEL.” Now that he’s older, her “momager” role is a little different. “It’s so surreal because usually I’m in the middle of things — ‘Okay, you’ve got to be here,’ and dealing with traveling — but now, he’s on his own because he’s an adult, which is weird! I just hear all the good stuff, like, ‘Mom, guess what, I booked it,’ or, ‘Mom, guess what, I got a callback.’ It’s that transition of going from him being a young actor on set and me traveling with him and coordinating all that stuff to him just flying on his own. And he really is! He has just taken off. It’s a beautiful thing to see.”

PRESENT FOR Elizabeth Hendrickson (Chloe, Y&R) may have wrapped her GH gig as Margaux, but she has come away with memorable experiences with her former co-stars. “Honestly, I got to work with people I had been admiring from afar for all of these years,” proclaims the actress. “Nancy Lee Grahn [Alexis] I’ve been a huge fan of. She’s so incredible in person. It made my dreams come true that she was as amazing in person as she was on-screen and I love when that happens. It was just such a pleasure to know her a little bit. And Kelly Monaco [Sam] is great and as spicy and fun as I expected her to be. It’s cool to meet people that you’ve been watching for so many years.” However, Hendrickson says one actor stands out from the pack for her. “I say I probably learned more working with Maurice Benard [Sonny] in this past year than I have in all of my years in daytime,” she gushes. “Just being there to experience working with an actor like that I’d say was more than worth it. I mean, really, the greatest gift was being able to work with Maurice.”