Scene and Heard

Martha Madison (Belle, DAYS) was thrilled that Heather Lindell returned to the show as Jan. “I love Heather,” she enthuses. “Heather and I have stayed in touch all this time. Her husband [Josh Boyd] is in the bar business, but that’s like us, we’re in the food and beverage business, and our kids are kind of in the same range, so I’m just so happy. I felt like it was an unresolved story. I felt like there was always so much more to do and she is so fun and the character of Jan is so fun. It’s just been very nice to have that injection of fun story again and resolving a lot of these loose ends from years past. It’s been so fun working with her. I love working with Heather. She is the most consummate professional but also has the greatest sense of humor and we get together at each other’s houses and have an excuse to hang out so we can run lines. It’s fun.” Isabel Durant (Claire) has also enjoyed getting to work with Lindell. “Working with Heather is so great,” she raves. “I love working with her. She’s so fun and we’ve had some really great stuff together. Claire’s relationship with Jan is a really interesting one because they’ve both suffered through similar traumas and similar illness so there’s an inherent bond.”

B&B’s Annika Noelle (Hope) was very impressed by the crew behind Mannequin Hope. “It was a little unnerving the first time I saw her,” chuckles the actress. “I know how much hard work went into making her. It was a process for me, as well. It took quite a few hours, but then the team that worked on her did their magic and it’s amazing. I know they worked very hard to make [Mannequin Hope] come to life, and I think that was also a big part of it, too, which needs to be shared. I got to see that process first- hand and it was stunning how it all came together and how many people are behind the scenes making this all come to life.... If you can’t tell the difference, then we all did our jobs.” Noelle wanted to spend more time with her doppelgänger. “I begged to be able to take her home so that I could have her,” she laughs. “I [thought] it would be really fun to mess with people on Halloween to see her sitting in the window — but unfortunately I didn’t get to keep her, and I’m sure she’ll be in good hands.”

Eden McCoy (Josslyn) had a blast going into the past for the special episode celebrating the 100th anniversary of women securing the right to vote. “I have been so lucky to do several back-in-time episodes, playing Young Carly [in the Carly/Nelle backstory show] and doing the Christmas show [that was inspired by A Christmas Carol] and I’m always so excited to see what all of the departments — wardrobe, hair and makeup, set design — do with it.” For this hour, which was set in 1920, “Our ward- robe director, Shawn Reeves, picked out the most amazing clothes and these boots that I am pretty sure are really from back then, or close to. They had, like, 100 lace-up holes! I just got excited to see all of the awesome women on our show all dressed up; that was cool enough for me! Before we shot it, we did a photo shoot for a prop photo with a lot of the suffragist [characters] with all the women dressed up holding signs and posters and that was such a fun outing for us to do all together.” McCoy gives a thumbs-up to her wardrobe for the day. “The clothes were so beautiful and pretty comfortable. The shoes felt like heeled socks, but as far as getting dressed and undressed, it made me feel so lazy just putting on a T-shirt and sweats every day! I admire the style so much, but there are a thousand buttons and hooks. I don’t know how I would have survived back then!”

“I’m a big Kim Delaney [Jackie, GH; ex-Jenny, ALL MY CHILDREN] fan,” enthuses AMC alum Peter Bergman (Jack, Y&R; ex-Cliff). “I knew back then she would go on to bigger things and I’m thrilled that she’s come back to the soap world.” Bergman remembers the moment when he first laid eyes on the young actress at the AMC studio. “They had also hired a wonderful guy, Larry Lau, to play Greg,” Bergman recalls. “We all showed up in the morning after everybody had just barely gotten out of bed and was trying to wake themselves up with lots of coffee, so they could get their day started. Then Kim Delaney shuffled in, saying she hadn’t slept well at all the night before and she had a headache and desperately needed coffee. But I just stared at this girl because she looked like a million dollars and it was 8 in the morning! I was like, ‘Oh, my God. Look at you!’ She turned out to be such a lovely person and actress and she was so good in the storyline with Opal, and of course Jenny and Greg’s romance was legendary. Kim really made her own mark in daytime.”