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The revelation that Gwen and Leo are old pals on DAYS came as a special treat for Emily O’Brien and Greg Rikaart, who once played husband and wife as Jana and Kevin on Y&R. “The first time I heard about it, I thought, ‘Of course. That’s such a fun little nugget of opportunity to play with,’ ” says O’Brien. “I think that Ron [Carlivati, DAYS’s head writer] knows of my rapport with Greg. We worked so well together on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS all those years ago. Greg and I really know how to play off one another and throw in little jokes and innuendos of our own. We have good years of chemistry already.” While O’Brien points out that this “is a totally different relationship from Jana and Kevin’s, the rapport that Gwen and Leo have and their comfort level is definitely palpable on screen. I think it’s going to be believable that these two actually have a past. I’ve been having a lot of fun. I hope the audience is going to see that. We can’t stop laughing.” Upon finding out about the twist, O’Brien and Rikaart “were chattering in the halls and giggling about what was to come,” recalls O’Brien. “Then, when it finally happened, it’s been laugh out loud. They have these silly nicknames for each other, and the past that they’ve shared is pretty funny. Leo’s this colorful, off-the-wall character. There’s so much room to play. I’m having a great time working with Greg. I never would have thought, a decade later, I’d be working with him again. If someone had told me, I wouldn’t have believed it.”
Photo credit: JPI
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On GH, Lynn Herring’s Lucy had been without a paramour for years before she got together with Martin, and when the characters first hooked up, the actress was unfamiliar with the show’s Covid protocols for safely locking lips. “I hadn’t kissed anyone on the show in a very long time, until Michael Knight [Martin],” Herring sets up. “The first time we had to kiss, I was doing all the proper protocols, starting with a rapid test, and they give you mouthwash right before to rinse your mouth, and the guy who gave it to me turned away and started talking to somebody else and I didn’t see that he had the little cup in his hands for me to spit the mouthwash out in, so I swallowed it! I thought, ‘Oh, I guess he’s not going to bring me a cup, I guess I’m supposed to swallow it.’ And so my first kiss with Michael Knight, I had heartburn because of all the mouthwash in my stomach! It was terrible. And the next time, I realized, ‘Lynn, what are you doing? Spit it back in the cup!’ That was really dumb on my part!”
Photo credit: ABC
The revelation that Gwen and Leo are old pals on DAYS came as a special treat for Emily O’Brien and Greg Rikaart, who once played husband and wife as Jana and Kevin on Y&R. “The first time I heard about it, I thought, ‘Of course. That’s such a fun little nugget of opportunity to play with,’ ” says O’Brien. “I think that Ron [Carlivati, DAYS’s head writer] knows of my rapport with Greg. We worked so well together on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS all those years ago. Greg and I really know how to play off one another and throw in little jokes and innuendos of our own. We have good years of chemistry already.” While O’Brien points out that this “is a totally different relationship from Jana and Kevin’s, the rapport that Gwen and Leo have and their comfort level is definitely palpable on screen. I think it’s going to be believable that these two actually have a past. I’ve been having a lot of fun. I hope the audience is going to see that. We can’t stop laughing.” Upon finding out about the twist, O’Brien and Rikaart “were chattering in the halls and giggling about what was to come,” recalls O’Brien. “Then, when it finally happened, it’s been laugh out loud. They have these silly nicknames for each other, and the past that they’ve shared is pretty funny. Leo’s this colorful, off-the-wall character. There’s so much room to play. I’m having a great time working with Greg. I never would have thought, a decade later, I’d be working with him again. If someone had told me, I wouldn’t have believed it.”
Photo credit: JPI
On GH, Lynn Herring’s Lucy had been without a paramour for years before she got together with Martin, and when the characters first hooked up, the actress was unfamiliar with the show’s Covid protocols for safely locking lips. “I hadn’t kissed anyone on the show in a very long time, until Michael Knight [Martin],” Herring sets up. “The first time we had to kiss, I was doing all the proper protocols, starting with a rapid test, and they give you mouthwash right before to rinse your mouth, and the guy who gave it to me turned away and started talking to somebody else and I didn’t see that he had the little cup in his hands for me to spit the mouthwash out in, so I swallowed it! I thought, ‘Oh, I guess he’s not going to bring me a cup, I guess I’m supposed to swallow it.’ And so my first kiss with Michael Knight, I had heartburn because of all the mouthwash in my stomach! It was terrible. And the next time, I realized, ‘Lynn, what are you doing? Spit it back in the cup!’ That was really dumb on my part!”
Photo credit: ABC