Jason Thompson was immediately impressed with Billy and Lily’s new digs on Y&R. “Their condo is beautiful and the set designers did a really good job making it feel like Billy and Lily,” the actor praises. “By far, I think it’s one of the nicest sets on the show. It’s urban and stylish so it feels very Billy/Lily, as well. If you look closely, it looks like parts of other apartments but it still looks like something new.” Thompson says co-star Christel Khalil (Lily) has become more interested in the props. “Christel loves the way it’s decorated, and sometimes it feels like she wants to copy a few things for her own home,” he chuckles. “Whenever she’s on that set, she’s always looking around and asking, ‘Where’s this vase from?’ or ‘Where did you find this side table?’ I swear she’s shopping.”
Kimberlin Brown (Sheila) is not only thrilled to be back on her former soap, but she has especially enjoyed seeing the flashbacks that have accompanied her return to B&B. “It’s always good to see where Sheila’s been, where she started and how she got to where she’s at,” smiles the actress. “Quite honestly, I’ve always said this poor girl has been misunderstood her whole life and she just wants to be loved and now, fans are seeing that, too. On Instagram, with all of those flashbacks, the fans are going crazy for them, and they’re like, ‘Sheila really does have a heart,’ which we’d see if anybody just allowed her to be. I’ve always said that and now, fans are reaching out and saying the exact same thing. I am thrilled about that.” Speaking of the past, Brown was also pleased she got a chance to work with Stephanie’s portrait. “I have a lot of history with Susan [Flannery, ex-Stephanie] over the years, so those scenes when Sheila looked up at her and [grinned], that was all heartfelt and very real to me‚ because even though Stephanie is not here, Sheila finally feels as though she has the upper hand. Seeing that portrait hanging there truly brought a smile to Sheila’s face — and my own, too.”
Photo credit: Gilles Toucas/Courtesy Of Bell-Phillip Television Inc
According to Jon Lindstrom (Kevin/ Ryan), the creative evolution of his characters on GH is thanks in no small part to the contributions of one of the show’s former scribes, Michele Val Jean. He says her influence on Kevin can be felt “in every way possible. The character was created out of necessity to, at that time, replace Ryan with someone who looked like me and who didn’t need to be redeemed, since Ryan was unredeemable. [Then-Head Writer] Claire Labine threw Michele the reins and then she and I talked a lot about what ways Kevin could be differentiated from Ryan. Michele is an incredibly articulate, well-read person. I think Kevin’s syntax, the way he speaks, never would have developed clearly without her.” Pairing Kevin with Lucy was “all Michele,” he adds. “It was her idea to put them together. I think her take on it was something like, ‘What if Lucy goes to therapy, not because she thinks she needs it, but because she thinks Kevin is cute?’ She pitched it to Claire and she told Michele to run with it. And man, did she ever! The story of how Lucy chased Kevin, who didn’t trust his own heart then, was her doing. She wrote all those scenes, so she was, in a word, indispensable. She not only wrote the Kevin/Lucy stuff, but she was primary writer on all the Kevin/Ryan scenes going forward. She told me the first significant thing she wrote of Ryan was his first confession in the police station with Sean and Mac, and that she fell in love with his ‘crazy’ from those scenes and wanted to write him every chance she got. Ryan was so well-defined in a twisted sort of way, and only Michele can pull that off.” Their collaboration was constant in those days. “We talked all the time! I’d come up to her office — she was working in the building back when writers did that — and we’d throw ideas around. Things like motivation, backstory, Kevin’s thoughts and feelings about Ryan and their separate history, Kevin’s guilt, nature vs. nurture, all kinds of angles. We got to be great friends through that process, so there’s an added bonus. We still are today. She has so much more to give. She should be doing feature films.”