Listen on Spotify to Dishing With Digest as we dish the latest soap news and get up close and personal with the biggest names in daytime.
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Photo credit: ABC
SAVE IT FOR THE CAMERAS
While Amanda Setton (Brook Lynn, GH) has oft-prickly relationships on screen with her character’s relatives, it’s a different story when the cameras aren’t rolling. “Wally [Kurth, Ned] is the best!” she declares. “He’s the warmest. He’s a consummate professional, as is Lisa [LoCicero, Olivia]. They’re both just dreamboats. I feel like I could say the same thing about everyone! Jane [Elliot, Tracy] is really warm, really welcoming, really grounded and just a very kind person, and Leslie [Charleson, Monica] — she’s unbelievable. She’s got mounds and mounds of lines, pages and pages of content, and she’s just so prepared. She’s so kind and so warm to me. And, you know, coming back to work after being out of the game for a little over four years, it was a little bit intimidating to walk into an established set of 56 years. Leslie’s been there since the ’70s. So for her to have welcomed me with such open arms and such kindness put my nerves at ease right away.”
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Photo credit: JPI
YOU SAY
TOMATO ...
Elizabeth Hendrickson (Chloe, Y&R) hasn’t had any major cravings since becoming pregnant. “On weekends when friends are brunching and having a rosé or a Bloody Mary, my treat is getting a virgin Bloody Mary for myself,” reveals the actress. “It’s funny, but that’s the closest I’ve come to having cravings. I really just want to eat everything and not anything in particular, although I can say I don’t like sweets. I’ve always been more of a salty person, so I guess if there’s anything that I’m craving, it’s anything with tomatoes.” Which factored into her recent on-camera life. “It was a scene with Greg [Rikaart, Kevin] in the Grand Phoenix when we’re supposed to be drinking Bloody Marys,” Hendrickson recalls. “During rehearsal, I drank my whole virgin Bloody Mary, so they had to get me another one for taping. After we were done, I drank mine and then I looked and saw that Greg didn’t drink his. I was like, ‘Are you gonna drink yours?’ And then I sucked that one down. I had three Bloody Marys in about 10 minutes and I ended up feeling pretty awful afterward. It’ll be interesting to see what my baby likes when she comes out of the womb. Bloody Marys are gonna be her favorite thing!”
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Photo credit: JPI
DARK MATTERS
When it comes to justifying Thomas’s often erratic behavior on B&B, portrayer Matthew Atkinson (Thomas) has found his way. “Honestly, there were times that events came up in scripts and then I’d go and talk to Brad [Bell, executive producer/head writer] and we have a conversation about it, and we’d make sense of why it is happening and where Thomas’s head was at. The reality is that I’m here to play this character, who is a very interesting character, and I am thrilled to play it. He is a very dark person and at times he can be hard to empathize with but once you find the reasons, psychologically, why these things are happening, it becomes much less a darkness and more of just a struggle that he’s dealing with. This is a character who is deeply flawed but he’s still a person at the end of the day you can understand and forgive. Everyone goes through massive struggles in their life. They do things they never thought they’d do, but they’re justified in that moment, and when you take the time to be in another person’s shoes and understand that, you start to feel bad for him and not just be mad at him. He really wants what’s best for everyone and maybe he manipulates but he does have a genuine love for the people in his life. I’m really glad the fans see that and haven’t just written the guy off.”
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Photo credit: JPI
PLEASED TO MEET YOU
Galen Gering (Rafe) quickly connected with DAYS newcomer Brock Kelly (Evan). “It turns out we have a mutual friend, someone I’ve known for almost 30 years,” says Gering. “His name is Joe Yarbrough. We modeled together. We lived together in New York, Italy and throughout Europe and have been all over the world together.” Once Gering and Kelly, who has also modeled, started talking, they discovered their connection. “Joe and Brock trained in kickboxing and muay thai stuff together,” notes Gering. “We just started sharing stories [about Joe] and hit it off.” Gering says he took Kelly under his wing. “He’s just a sweet, lovely human being,” shares the actor. “And I really love to help out, in any way I can, any new actors that come on set. I know how hard it is, how challenging it is, when you first arrive on the scene. There’s the speed at which everything moves, how to deal with relationships and getting things done. I always try and be as helpful as I can.” As for advice, Gering’s is always the same. “You have to be able to try and be loose and find the joy in [the work] so you can play and discover stuff, especially if you’re new. That’s something I try to impart.”
SAVE IT FOR THE CAMERAS
While Amanda Setton (Brook Lynn, GH) has oft-prickly relationships on screen with her character’s relatives, it’s a different story when the cameras aren’t rolling. “Wally [Kurth, Ned] is the best!” she declares. “He’s the warmest. He’s a consummate professional, as is Lisa [LoCicero, Olivia]. They’re both just dreamboats. I feel like I could say the same thing about everyone! Jane [Elliot, Tracy] is really warm, really welcoming, really grounded and just a very kind person, and Leslie [Charleson, Monica] — she’s unbelievable. She’s got mounds and mounds of lines, pages and pages of content, and she’s just so prepared. She’s so kind and so warm to me. And, you know, coming back to work after being out of the game for a little over four years, it was a little bit intimidating to walk into an established set of 56 years. Leslie’s been there since the ’70s. So for her to have welcomed me with such open arms and such kindness put my nerves at ease right away.”
YOU SAY
TOMATO ...
Elizabeth Hendrickson (Chloe, Y&R) hasn’t had any major cravings since becoming pregnant. “On weekends when friends are brunching and having a rosé or a Bloody Mary, my treat is getting a virgin Bloody Mary for myself,” reveals the actress. “It’s funny, but that’s the closest I’ve come to having cravings. I really just want to eat everything and not anything in particular, although I can say I don’t like sweets. I’ve always been more of a salty person, so I guess if there’s anything that I’m craving, it’s anything with tomatoes.” Which factored into her recent on-camera life. “It was a scene with Greg [Rikaart, Kevin] in the Grand Phoenix when we’re supposed to be drinking Bloody Marys,” Hendrickson recalls. “During rehearsal, I drank my whole virgin Bloody Mary, so they had to get me another one for taping. After we were done, I drank mine and then I looked and saw that Greg didn’t drink his. I was like, ‘Are you gonna drink yours?’ And then I sucked that one down. I had three Bloody Marys in about 10 minutes and I ended up feeling pretty awful afterward. It’ll be interesting to see what my baby likes when she comes out of the womb. Bloody Marys are gonna be her favorite thing!”
DARK MATTERS
When it comes to justifying Thomas’s often erratic behavior on B&B, portrayer Matthew Atkinson (Thomas) has found his way. “Honestly, there were times that events came up in scripts and then I’d go and talk to Brad [Bell, executive producer/head writer] and we have a conversation about it, and we’d make sense of why it is happening and where Thomas’s head was at. The reality is that I’m here to play this character, who is a very interesting character, and I am thrilled to play it. He is a very dark person and at times he can be hard to empathize with but once you find the reasons, psychologically, why these things are happening, it becomes much less a darkness and more of just a struggle that he’s dealing with. This is a character who is deeply flawed but he’s still a person at the end of the day you can understand and forgive. Everyone goes through massive struggles in their life. They do things they never thought they’d do, but they’re justified in that moment, and when you take the time to be in another person’s shoes and understand that, you start to feel bad for him and not just be mad at him. He really wants what’s best for everyone and maybe he manipulates but he does have a genuine love for the people in his life. I’m really glad the fans see that and haven’t just written the guy off.”
PLEASED TO MEET YOU
Galen Gering (Rafe) quickly connected with DAYS newcomer Brock Kelly (Evan). “It turns out we have a mutual friend, someone I’ve known for almost 30 years,” says Gering. “His name is Joe Yarbrough. We modeled together. We lived together in New York, Italy and throughout Europe and have been all over the world together.” Once Gering and Kelly, who has also modeled, started talking, they discovered their connection. “Joe and Brock trained in kickboxing and muay thai stuff together,” notes Gering. “We just started sharing stories [about Joe] and hit it off.” Gering says he took Kelly under his wing. “He’s just a sweet, lovely human being,” shares the actor. “And I really love to help out, in any way I can, any new actors that come on set. I know how hard it is, how challenging it is, when you first arrive on the scene. There’s the speed at which everything moves, how to deal with relationships and getting things done. I always try and be as helpful as I can.” As for advice, Gering’s is always the same. “You have to be able to try and be loose and find the joy in [the work] so you can play and discover stuff, especially if you’re new. That’s something I try to impart.”