Abigail Klein (Stephanie, DAYS) may be new to the daytime scene, but she already had ties to the genre’s acting community. “I know Melissa Ordway [Abby], who’s over at THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS,” says Klein. “We know each other through a mutual friend. I’ve known her for years. It was really fun to see her up for a Daytime Emmy this year.” Klein also goes way back with B&B’s Lawrence Saint-Victor (Carter). “I’d worked with him on a print [modeling] job. It was years ago,” shares Klein. “The funny thing is when I was auditioning for DAYS, I reached out to the both of them. I said, ‘I’ve never screen-tested before. Do you guys have any advice?’ They gave me some really sweet advice. Mainly, just to be present, focus on the other person and, obviously, know your lines. The two of them were sweethearts.” And Klein totally appreciated it. “I didn’t know anybody that I could reach out to on DAYS,” she explains. “It was nice to have some outside advice from two people who know the medium as well as they do. I really appreciated their advice. It was great.”
Photo credit: NURU KIMONDO
Kin Shriner (Scott, GH) has a very special place in his heart for Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth). “She’s my favorite actor on the show,” he declares. “She’s the one that holds the number one spot in my book, but I told Cynthia Watros [Nina] that she was climbing into the number two spot. She said, ‘Well, who’s number one?’ I said, ‘Becky Herbst!’ ” Shriner particularly appreciates Herbst’s ability to roll with his ad-libbing. “I like to not say [the dialogue] the way it’s written and she is good at going wherever I go. She doesn’t say, ‘You didn’t give me the cue!’ She knows that she may not get the cue, and she adjusts. Becky just handles it. She never brings to anybody’s attention that I didn’t give her the cue. She just goes with it and that, to me, is pure gold.” Watros made her own strong impression on Shriner when she supported him during the long days of shooting the Wiley visitation trial, which were particularly challenging because Shriner was under the weather. “I had probably the toughest week in my life. I thought I was going to collapse. But we had to power through these courtroom scenes. Cynthia knew I was off and she brought me snacks, she found ways to encourage me and keep me going. She was so supportive and that’s when I told her, ‘You moved up the list!’ ”
Y&R’s Melissa Ordway had a great trip to Monte Carlo with husband Justin Gaston (ex-Chance), but it wasn’t all smooth sailing. “My one bag didn’t make it to the hotel in time for the dinner that first night,” sighs the actress. “It was a huge suitcase that contained all of my gowns, my clothes, my makeup, everything was in it. Luckily, we found out from the airline that it made it onto the next flight, but unfortunately, it didn’t make it to our hotel in time for the first event.” Finding replacements wasn’t an option. “There was actually a ZARA and a Sephora nearby but there wasn’t any time for a quick shopping trip, so I decided to just go au naturel,” Ordway shares. “When I went to this dinner, I didn’t have any makeup on, I pulled back my hair into a bun and I had this one outfit that was like randomly packed in another bag that I could wear. Even though I didn’t look my best, everything ended up working out fine because it was a beautiful event and I was so thrilled just to be there.”
B&B Supervising Producer Casey Kasprzyk is thrilled that the show is shooting more scenes outside the studio again. “The pandemic stopped us from doing our location shoots,” the exec explains. “But we are slowly gearing back up. For example, the scenes with Quinn on the bicycle [as she raced along the beach to stop Carter’s wedding], that was just a simple thing but Rena [Sofer, ex-Quinn] was amazing during that whole bike ride. So, those are the things we ask ourselves, like, ‘How can we keep doing these location shoots but do them smarter financially?’, and that’s why we are able to pull off Monte Carlo.” Kasprzyk hopes to see more dazzling visuals in the future. “We’d love to go [back] to Italy, which would be incredible, and will continue to do these locations shoots because I think that’s where the show really comes alive. I used to make a book of them every couple of years but now I’m just too exhausted,” he laughs. “As a fan growing up, and then to be a part of this show that is creating these moments, it’s really come full circle, and I never take for granted how special that is.”