Scene and Heard

Donnell Turner (Curtis, GH) says that it was obvious to him from the first time he met Tabyana Ali that she was the right choice to take over the role of Trina when Sydney Mikayla left the show earlier this year. “She stood out in the audition,” he recalls. “I couldn’t believe the controlled vulnerability in her eyes and her acting was so seasoned. There was a comfort level there; she was not overtaken by the moment, and that’s huge. I just thought, ‘Wow!’ Tabyana was clearly, hands-down, the best actor who auditioned. When I rehearsed with her beforehand, I told her, ‘You’re already great! Just relax and do what you’re doing,’ and she just brought a ball of energy. I just love her to pieces! She has so much youthful exuberance and it’s just adorable to watch her. You can just see all kinds of life in her and her smile and her energy is so fun-loving. She calls me Mr. Donnell and part of me is like, ‘I’m not that old!’ and the other part of me is like, ‘How sweet are you?’ She has such good values and from day one, Brook [Kerr, Portia] and I have tried to let her know that we’re behind her.”

Michael Graziadei (Daniel, Y&R) appeared in some memorable projects outside of Genoa City. “THE LINCOLN LAWYER was a lot of fun because when you’re going to work on a Michael Connelly project, it’s always a good time,” explains the actor. “And the cast and crew on that show are fantastic, so that experience was an easy one to enjoy. I would also say the HBO projects I’ve done are really cool because they’re just gritty and with these really colorful characters. On TRUE DETECTIVE, Nic Pizzolatto is just a brilliant writer, so when you’re handed his scripts, you look at them and you’re like, ‘I don’t need to do anything except say these words.’ And working with Mahershala [Ali, two-time Oscar-winning actor] was amazing. I mean, the guy’s a genius as far as acting goes.” And guest-starring on 2011’s AMERICAN HORROR STORY, while Graziadei was still on Y&R, will always be memorable. “I adored working with Jessica Lange,” he raves. “I would put her in the same acting category as Michelle Stafford [Phyllis]. Those are two phenomenally talented actresses and I can say that I’ve worked with them both.”