Scene And Heard

SHE’S GOT GAME Courtney Hope (Sally, B&B) recently took home a New York Video Game Critics Circle award for her work as Jesse Faden in the hit video game Control from Remedy Entertainment. “It’s really cool,” enthuses Hope. “This is my third game but my second big game and my first lead, so just to be nominated, I was so thrilled. Being nominated [for Best Acting in a Game] against Norman Reedus [THE WALKING DEAD] was like a dream. That is never going to happen again unless it’s another game because it just doesn’t happen at regular award shows. I’ve always wanted to do action, so to do that in a game is really cool. The game has been so well-received. We won so many Game of the Year awards from all the top magazines and critics and honestly, we were all mind-blown. I’m so happy for the team. [Concept/Writer] Sam Lake and I worked before on the other game and he wrote this role for me. He called me and was like, ‘Courtney, before I keep going, this is for you. Are you interested?’ I was like, ‘Hell, yeah!’ It made me so happy. To be a female lead in a video game like this is exciting. It’s been a really cool journey.”

POP FIZZ DAYS’s Robert Scott Wilson (Ben) is a big fan of his on-screen father, James Read (Clyde). “I think he’s one of the best actors we’ve ever had and we’re lucky to have him,” praises Wilson. “Whatever is asked of him, he crushes. He’s a spectacular actor, and the dynamic between Ben and Clyde is just awesome.” Wilson was impressed by Read from the get-go. “Some years ago when I first started, we did the storyline with Ben and Abigail, and Kate Mansi [Abigail] and I would listen to his stories from years ago,” he recalls. “He’s such a decorated actor, he’s done all these epic things over the years, but he’s never done daytime. And physically, the way James Read walks in the room and stands and says hello is not the way Clyde Weston walks in the room and stands and says hello. Everything about his being, his physicality, his dialect, his demeanor ... he’s just a really fine actor. He gives me so much. I love working with actors who just give. Whether it’s very small or big, it’s more to play off of, and James delivers that all the time, so it makes me better working with him.”

JUST SUPER Christian Keyes (Ripley, Y&R) has racked up quite a few appearances on sci-fi/fantasy television. “I played a supervillain on DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW,” the actor explains. He started off as Desmond, who was sent to hell and came back as Neron. “I was on six episodes and killing people. I got to reach in and steal somebody’s soul and he dropped dead. It was fun being that bad. Then on THE BOYS, I was the big brother of a superhero. I was the voice of reason for A-Train, who was the fastest man alive.” Keyes says his most memorable role was on SUPERNATURAL. “I played one of my favorite characters ever, Michael the archangel, who came back to take over the earth,” Keyes enthuses. “He could fly and send people 30 feet across the room with the wave of his hand and he could also shoot energy surges out of his hands. It was really an amazing character. Jared Padalecki  and Jensen Ackles [ex-Eric, DAYS] were very welcoming and great guys. I got to do conventions with them and meet the fans, which was a very rewarding experience.”

ROGER THAT Though Mark Lawson (Dustin, GH), was on ONE LIFE TO LIVE (as Brody) when Roger Howarth (Franco, GH) returned as Todd in 2011, they didn’t get acquainted until Lawson settled into Port Charles last year. Now, Lawson reports, “We’ve talked a bunch, actually. I really, really enjoy talking to Roger. When I would see him around ONE LIFE, and even when I had tested a couple of times for GH over the years and I would see him at the studio, I was always a little intimidated by him, because he has such a reputation of being like, the actor. But now that I’ve gotten to talk to him, I know that he’s such a down-to-earth, lovely guy. What’s amazing about Roger and makes him a better person than me is that he’s equally invested in what’s going on with you! As an actor I tend to feel like, ‘Everything’s about me, everything’s about me!’ But Roger’s genuinely interested in what’s going on with you and he’s just a really cool dude.”