DAYS’s Mary Beth Evans (Kayla) admits that it’s a little strange at the studio without her long-time co-stars Melissa Reeves (ex-Jennifer) and Kristian Alfonso (ex-Hope) there. “It’s crazy. Really,” she says. “First it was Missy, and I understood totally why she didn’t want to come back at this time. I think she will come back maybe later but the traveling, the Covid, staying with older in-laws, everything about it, I think was rough for her. And then with Kristian, it was just a separate set of circumstances. They are my sisters for life. And we still text each other and comment on each other’s Instagrams, but I’ve been in and out enough on shows to know that you can be back in a beat and it will be like you were never gone. So, I am always hopeful that they’ll be back, and if not, that I run into them on another job. Who knows what our futures are going to be?” As for Cady McClain, who took over as Jennifer, Evans notes, “I worked with her on AS THE WORLD TURNS [where Evans played Sierra and McClain was Rosanna]. In fact, there were many times where we would ride together to the studio in a car service. But I’ve loved her forever and admired her work. She’s doing a great job.”
Delon de Metz (Zende, B&B) says he was surprised to discover that co-star Kiara Barnes (Zoe) was also a singer/songwriter, and was impressed by “I’m Just Fine”, a song she wrote and sang on the show. “I wish that I had not heard it in rehearsal because the second she started, I looked at the camera and I was slack-jawed,” he relays. “I could not believe it. It wasn’t fair. I was actually a little bit jealous. I was like, ‘I’m walking off set. This is ridiculous. How are you everything? You act and you can sing like this? It’s just not fair.’ There should be a line where the talent gods cut it somewhere, but they don’t. Some people are just that great, and so I wish I had not heard prior and they could have captured my look on camera. But I do think that it did show how taken aback and swept off my feet I was — as the character and then also in real life. I had no idea that Kiara had this kind of singing acumen, and it was really special. It was really cool for the episode.”
Joshua Morrow (Nick, Y&R) has long been known for creating a fun atmosphere on the set — but sometimes it’s a little too fun. “It’s not something I’m super-proud of but there are people who have difficulty in doing scenes with me,” admits the actor. “Jason Thompson [Billy] always struggles when we have scenes together because he’ll start laughing. He tells me, ‘I can’t even look at you.’ I take it as a responsibility to keep things light on the show, so everybody can have fun, but there are times when I wish I wasn’t such a goofball because if it affects anyone else and what they’re doing, I do feel badly about it. 2020 has been a crappy year so it’s important to get some smiles and have some laughs but still do our jobs.” Morrow notes that his favorite partner-in-crime was his late co-star, Kristoff St. John (ex-Neil). “They basically wouldn’t let us work together because we were insane, so Nick and Neil’s paths rarely crossed,” Morrow chuckles. “Any time we had big party scenes, it was like having Dumb and Dumber there, we just couldn’t be reined in. We were halting production at times and we certainly enjoyed ourselves. It brings tears to my eyes even now because we loved being around each other and one thought the other was the most hysterical human being on the planet. He was a special man and I miss him so much. He’s definitely one of the legends.”
GH’s James Patrick Stuart (Valentin) relishes any opportunity he gets to share a scene with Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis). “She is unbelievably classy and she has a quality that not everybody has, which is that you don’t always see what she’s doing until you look at the monitor afterward. It’s a special, kind of esoteric thing that you only see in a handful of performers. I’ll include Robert Duvall in that because I had the chance to do a Civil War picture with him one time and I remember sitting in a scene with him and in the back of my head I was thinking, ‘What the hell is all the fuss about? He’s doing nothing!’ And then you go back and watch the dailies and you’re like, ‘Oh. My God.’ And Nancy has that: You don’t see what she’s doing when she’s doing it! But then you go back and look at the monitor and there is something magical happening. She’s taking you on a journey. I think that’s one of the reasons I love her and Wil [deVry, Julian] so much. I mean, I think everyone knows my opinions on Wil, I think he’s overrated, he’s just all muscle — kidding! — but together, they make magic. So, for sure, showing up, I was a bit of a fan girl because I was such a ‘Julexis’ fan. Wil said to me, actually, ‘I hear you’re going onstage with my girl.’ I’m like, ‘Well, listen, if I can’t have “Julexis”, I guess I’ll be in the “Julexis” wannabe camp!’ ”