CONTACT SPORT
Peter Bergman (Jack) has made it a point to keep in contact with his castmates during Y&R’s production shutdown. “I just see it as being part of a company and I’m in this position where they’ll answer, so why not? It’s really nice for me, too,” he says. “It seems to be a weird thing to pick up a phone anymore and call people,” he acknowledges. “People are being careful and just texting, so no one really knows what they’re doing and that’s the way they like it, but then Peter Bergman calls. They’re probably thinking, ‘Aww, crap. I guess I have to answer.’ I talk to Michelle Stafford [Phyllis], Eric Braeden, [Victor], all of my Abbotts, Melissa Ordway [Abby], Tracey Bregman [Lauren].... IguessIdotalktoalotofpeo- ple [chuckles]. There are a few that I don’t have their numbers and I think it’s inappropriate to ask someone to give them to me, but they’re in my thoughts, as well.”
SPOTLIGHT ON...
Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke) was shocked when she learned that B&B would be focusing on her character for an entire week of encore episodes. “I’m so honored,” she says. “When they called and told me they were going to do that, I was like, ‘Really?’ It just felt so good to have a whole week of Brooke episodes that went all the way back. It was so fun to watch them and see all the shows and the different eras and see the different wardrobe and makeup and storylines and sets — and then you see that and you’re like, ‘Wow!’ We’ve done a lot, and it’s been so sweet to see faces that aren’t there anymore. When Susan [Flannery, ex-Stephanie] — on that 5,000th episode — when she turned and she just smiled at the camera, it made me want to cry. I miss her so much — and only Susan could do that and pull it off right. She’s amazing. It’s also been nice to hear people say, ‘I’ve only started watch- ing in the last 10 years and it’s nice to see where the characters have come from and what their whole backstory is.’ They really seem to be enjoying it.”
Photo credit: INSTAR IMAGES
ENTER PREGNANT
At the tender age of 20, DAYS’s Lindsay Arnold (Allie) made her daytime television debut donning pregnancy padding. “That is definitely not something that I ever envisioned or ever thought I would play,” admits the actress. “And what was funny is, right before I auditioned for DAYS, I had another audition for a preg- nant girl. I was like, ‘Am I being typecast?’ It’s definitely not something that I had ever thought about or planned.” Arnold originally imagined Allie to be a regular teenager when she landed the role. “I definitely wasn’t expecting a pregnancy story- line — at all,” she says, noting that she didn’t learn about Allie’s plight for a while. “I remember finding out and was like, ‘Oh, okay.’ I walked on the set, they gave me the belly [pad- ding], and I was like, ‘All right. Let’s do this.’ It was definitely unexpected, but it was really fun.” Relating to her alter ego on a psychological level has been easier. “The way we’re similar is that Allie cares a lot about everybody around her,” observes Arnold. “Her whole thing is she wants what is best for her child. That’s all she’s trying to figure out.In some ways, she can seem selfish. But, at the end of the day, she's a super-selfless person and just wants what's best to everyone around her. She has a lot of empathy. That's where I can really connect with her, on the empathetic level that she wants to do what's right so badly."
SOUTHERN CHARMED
GH’s Kin Shriner gives a big thumbs up to Michael E. Knight’s (Martin) choice to imbue his character with a Southern drawl. “When we were doing the trial [when Martin was representing Franco, who was fighting for the right to retain Drew’s memories], Michael, he just felt that with the way it was written that it came out with a Southern twang,” Shriner recalls. “I thought, ‘What a great choice. Be the Southern lawyer. Bring in a cane. Bring in a seersucker suit. You’ve already got the white hair and the beard. I thought it was great, the way it came out. It got him a little Emmy nod for being this sort of Southern lawyer. I’m sure if [production] continued and we were back he would push that envelope into more Southern. He seemed to be having fun. And I say, hats off!”