Scene And Heard

Back To The Future GH’s Eden McCoy (Josslyn) was thrilled to get the chance to work more closely with Cynthia Watros (Nina) and James Patrick Stuart (Valentin) in the show's flashback episode to Carly meeting Nelle as a youngster, which featured McCoy as Young Carly, Watros as Virginia Benson and Stuart as Frank Benson. "It was a total dream for me," McCoy gushes. "I was so excited that Cynthia was going to be playing my mom because as Nina, she's dating Josslyn's dad, so she's been in my scenes here and there, but we've never gotten to do anything super-crucial or important, sadly, because I've been like, 'I want to work with her so badly! She's so great!' I watch her scenes all the time, because a lot of times, she's filming scenes with Ingo [Rademacher, Jax] before or after me, so I get to see what she does. It was exhilarating and fun to connect with her in a new way, and the same thing with James. I haven't had a ton of scenes with him in the past, but I've had the privilege of watching him for years and I totally admire his work. He was so unbelievable! He was everything I expected him to be and more. He always goes all out, makes such strong choices, and every take he makes it new. He's such a character and so committed! I loved working with him."   ire his work. He was so unbelievable! He was everything I expected him to be and more. He always goes all out, makes such strong choices, and every take, he makes it new. He’s such a character and so committed! I loved working with him.”

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND Though she was born in Texas, ONE LIFE TO LIVE vet Margo Martindale is a New Yorker at heart, and made several appearances in Llanview during its run, the last time in 2000 as Madame Sybilla, who predicted Viki and Rae’s futures. “What a great group of folks,” the actress recalls of her stints. “I played a bartender [Jonesy] a couple of times, a psychic.... It was always fun, but let me tell you, [soaps] are tough!” Martindale advocates working in the Big Apple whenever possible, as evidenced by her current gig as politician/activist Bella Abzug on the new Hulu series MRS. AMERICA, which also stars Oscar- winner Cate Blanchett. “I’ve lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for 46 years,” Martindale explains. “I know I don’t sound like it, but she represented the Upper West Side and was in the news all the time. I never got to meet her. I probably missed her by seconds at places, but I knew she was the loud, obnoxious woman in a hat. What I learned about her [in this role] was a whole world that I didn’t know. She was a remarkable person. I talked to a lot of people who did know her well. Some hated her. When she was going into Congress, a guy said to her, ‘Nobody wears a hat in Congress.’ I won’t say what she said, but I thought, ‘Okay, I can play that!’ ”

CITIZEN BANE Aussie native Daniel Goddard (ex-Cane, Y&R) came this close to becoming a U.S. citizen, a dream he’s been waiting a long time to realize. “A few years ago, you couldn’t have dual citizenship with Australia so I didn’t want to give mine up,” he explains. “They finally changed the provisions, and I started the whole process last year. The first step is to file online and it took nine months after that for my interview to come about. The woman asked me, ‘Why did it take you so long?’ because I’ve been in America for 23 years. I answered, ‘Well, I had to wait until I could sit across the desk from you.’ Luckily, she started laughing.” And his work on daytime aided in Goddard’s success. “I realized that working on a soap opera as long as I did led me to learn my civics test, which is 100 questions, after reading it just twice," he marvels. "So memorizing lines for all those years helped me to become an American citizen. After I passed that, I was supposed to be sworn in with 5,000 people but it got canceled because of COVID-19. So, I have to wait until I can raise my right hand to make it official."

AND ... ACTION! Stacy Haiduk (Kristen, DAYS) has seen a lot of action on the Basic Black set of late, between a love scene with a scantily clad Eric Martsolf (Brady) and a catfight with Arianne Zucker (Nicole). “It’s awkward enough doing scenes where you’re in clothes and have to go forth and play around,” notes Haiduk. “So when Eric had those boxers on, I know it was really awkward for him being in those tiny blue shorts. He was like, ‘Oh, my God. I feel like a woman right now, being objectified.’ I told him, ‘Hey, you know what? You look good. Everything’s going to be great.’ And it was. It’s always fun to play with Eric because he’s such a kid.” The Kristen/Nicole fight had its moments, too. “Ari and I and the stunt guy DAYS’s Stacy (l.) got a kick out of her recent scene with Arianne. choreographed the routine, then we went on set and did the rehearsal,” she recounts. “Albert Alarr, our co-executive producer, was watch- ing everything and said, ‘We’ve got to have more fighting between the two of you. Grab her, do a little bit more, and then tussle, tussle, tussle and throw her on the desk.’ So we had a lot of fun doing that scene, as much as it looked like we were both having our hair pulled. I love anything that’s physical, where you’re playing around and moving about because my energy level is so high. The whole thing is like a dance. We have to sell it with anger and frustration without really hurting each other.”