Scene And Heard
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Photo credit: JPI
PRANKS FOR THE MEMORIES
Michael E. Knight (Martin, GH) reports that he frequently fell victim to the expert-level pranks of his pal Maurice Benard (Sonny, GH) decades ago when the two played Tad and Nico, respectively, on ALL MY CHILDREN. “Some people may not know that Maurice is very funny,” Knight begins. “He’s very dry, he’s very quiet, and he’s an excellent mimic. In New York, years ago, he used to just completely screw with me. He’d call and leave me these messages on the phone and do these voices and these characters and not tell me it was him and then hang up — and I didn’t realize until, like, an hour later that it was just Maurice screwing with me. Like, he would do this very flamboyant character saying, ‘Hi, my name is Bruce, I met you at the gym, and I really think your idea about the acting class is so fantastic’ — he would go off on this entire thing and I’m listening to the message, freaking out, trying to remember, ‘Who is Bruce!?’ And then I’d see him at work with this ridiculously screwy little look on his face and I’d realize it was him!”
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Photo credit: Shutterstock
THE LAST LAP
As SUPERNATURAL winds down to its series finale after 15 seasons, Jensen Ackles (ex-Eric, DAYS) reflects on the longevity of his big post-soap gig. “I think we had ideas about how it would [originally] come to a close,” he says. “In the beginning, [Creator] Eric Kripke said he had a five-year plan, so once we got to season 3, it was like, ‘Whoa! We actually have a chance to go all five!’ ... Well, we’ve gone way beyond that. This world has lasted much longer than it was originally intended and I’m very thankful for that. It has kept us all together and kept us all gainfully employed [laughs]. We’ve been able to continually tell this story, and it’s a story that we’re all passionate about. I love these characters and it hasn’t grown old. This is a very special thing to me.” The actor is trying not to look too far ahead in the season. “We’re all trying to stick to the game plan, which is the same plan that’s gotten us here. I think if we allow the weight of what this season is to creep into our daily work schedule, those days are going to get really long. So, we all try to stick to the game plan.”
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Photo credit: JPI
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES
Jeffrey Vincent Parise had some high-level support on his first day as Y&R’s Simon. “The first person I ran into when I got to the studio was Peter Bergman [Jack],” he reports. “We were walking in the door at the same time and I was like, ‘I recognize that face! That’s a classic, soap legend face right there.’ I said to him, ‘I’m going to follow you to set.’ He said, ‘Oh, you going to Y&R? Welcome!’ I was like, ‘Wow, he’s super-cool.’ ” Before long, they met again. “After I had shot like three of my scenes, Peter comes up to me, real excited, going, ‘I was just watching what you’re doing. Fantastic! This is going to be fun. Welcome aboard.’ And it was exactly what I needed to hear at that moment because that’s when I was feeling really frazzled about the pace, that it’s one take and then you move on. So, that was really great of him. And you know who else did that, too? Toward the end of the day, it was Tony [Morina], the executive producer. He came on set, introduced himself and just said the most welcoming, kindest words. He just really made me feel like I was entering with golden wings.”
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Photo credit: Shutterstock
HEALTHY LIVING
During Katie’s failing kidney crisis, there was one aspect of the story that really hit home for Heather Tom (Katie). “I think Katie’s biggest fear during all of that was facing the prospect of possibly not being there for her son, Will,” the actress explains. “That’s definitely the reason she was hiding that she wasn’t feeling well. I understand that. You know, I used to ride my bike to work all the time before I had Zane [Achor, ex-Will]. I did it one time after he was born — one time — and I thought to myself, ‘You are crazy! You are going to die out here and you really can’t die now because there is this little human being who is depending on you. Your life means so much more now.’ So, I never did that again. Katie didn’t want her child to be scared and experience the trauma of having a mom who’s sick, so it was really emotional for me to play those scenes with Finnegan [George, Will]. Let me tell you, all those tears were real.”
PRANKS FOR THE MEMORIES
Michael E. Knight (Martin, GH) reports that he frequently fell victim to the expert-level pranks of his pal Maurice Benard (Sonny, GH) decades ago when the two played Tad and Nico, respectively, on ALL MY CHILDREN. “Some people may not know that Maurice is very funny,” Knight begins. “He’s very dry, he’s very quiet, and he’s an excellent mimic. In New York, years ago, he used to just completely screw with me. He’d call and leave me these messages on the phone and do these voices and these characters and not tell me it was him and then hang up — and I didn’t realize until, like, an hour later that it was just Maurice screwing with me. Like, he would do this very flamboyant character saying, ‘Hi, my name is Bruce, I met you at the gym, and I really think your idea about the acting class is so fantastic’ — he would go off on this entire thing and I’m listening to the message, freaking out, trying to remember, ‘Who is Bruce!?’ And then I’d see him at work with this ridiculously screwy little look on his face and I’d realize it was him!”
Photo credit: JPI
THE LAST LAP
As SUPERNATURAL winds down to its series finale after 15 seasons, Jensen Ackles (ex-Eric, DAYS) reflects on the longevity of his big post-soap gig. “I think we had ideas about how it would [originally] come to a close,” he says. “In the beginning, [Creator] Eric Kripke said he had a five-year plan, so once we got to season 3, it was like, ‘Whoa! We actually have a chance to go all five!’ ... Well, we’ve gone way beyond that. This world has lasted much longer than it was originally intended and I’m very thankful for that. It has kept us all together and kept us all gainfully employed [laughs]. We’ve been able to continually tell this story, and it’s a story that we’re all passionate about. I love these characters and it hasn’t grown old. This is a very special thing to me.” The actor is trying not to look too far ahead in the season. “We’re all trying to stick to the game plan, which is the same plan that’s gotten us here. I think if we allow the weight of what this season is to creep into our daily work schedule, those days are going to get really long. So, we all try to stick to the game plan.”
Photo credit: Shutterstock
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES
Jeffrey Vincent Parise had some high-level support on his first day as Y&R’s Simon. “The first person I ran into when I got to the studio was Peter Bergman [Jack],” he reports. “We were walking in the door at the same time and I was like, ‘I recognize that face! That’s a classic, soap legend face right there.’ I said to him, ‘I’m going to follow you to set.’ He said, ‘Oh, you going to Y&R? Welcome!’ I was like, ‘Wow, he’s super-cool.’ ” Before long, they met again. “After I had shot like three of my scenes, Peter comes up to me, real excited, going, ‘I was just watching what you’re doing. Fantastic! This is going to be fun. Welcome aboard.’ And it was exactly what I needed to hear at that moment because that’s when I was feeling really frazzled about the pace, that it’s one take and then you move on. So, that was really great of him. And you know who else did that, too? Toward the end of the day, it was Tony [Morina], the executive producer. He came on set, introduced himself and just said the most welcoming, kindest words. He just really made me feel like I was entering with golden wings.”
Photo credit: JPI
HEALTHY LIVING
During Katie’s failing kidney crisis, there was one aspect of the story that really hit home for Heather Tom (Katie). “I think Katie’s biggest fear during all of that was facing the prospect of possibly not being there for her son, Will,” the actress explains. “That’s definitely the reason she was hiding that she wasn’t feeling well. I understand that. You know, I used to ride my bike to work all the time before I had Zane [Achor, ex-Will]. I did it one time after he was born — one time — and I thought to myself, ‘You are crazy! You are going to die out here and you really can’t die now because there is this little human being who is depending on you. Your life means so much more now.’ So, I never did that again. Katie didn’t want her child to be scared and experience the trauma of having a mom who’s sick, so it was really emotional for me to play those scenes with Finnegan [George, Will]. Let me tell you, all those tears were real.”
Photo credit: Shutterstock
