Scene and Heard

Y&R’s Devon may have hit the DNA jackpot after learning that his biological father is billionaire Tucker McCall, but there was a time when his portrayer, Bryton James, had his eye on another Genoa City resident to be the proud papa. “Before Tucker, I pitched the story to the writers that would make Michael Baldwin Devon’s dad,” shares the actor. “This would’ve happened back in the day, when Michael was a bad guy. Then, years later, he’s the lawyer who facilitated the Winters family adopting Devon. I think Christian [J. LeBlanc, Michael] is a great actor and I would’ve loved working with him more than I already do.” Obviously, that idea never came to fruition but did James ever get a response to his proposal? “They really loved the idea and I thought for a second they were going forward with it but it didn’t happen,” he relays. “I definitely can’t complain about what they ended up doing because it made me related to Katherine Chancellor.”

One way Verneee Watson (Stella, GH) kept busy during lockdown in 2020 was filming a documentary about her life and career. Called YOU LOOK FAMILIAR, it’s available for sStreaming on Peacock. Watson was coaxed into doing it by her friend Glynn Turman, an actor (A DIFFERENT WORLD), writer and director, who produced the flick. “I really didn’t want to do it,” she explains. “I know I’ve been in the business for almost 60 years, but I’ve never been a big star. But I guess that longevity is important, and I decided to do it because I looked back at my work and I was like, ‘Wow, okay. I’ve done a lot!’ We shot it in a day and I’ve never talked so much in my life at one time!” She was pleasantly surprised by the finished product. “I was by myself and said, ‘I’m going to sit through this and see if I get bored and want to turn it off.’ But I didn’t, I got through it [laughs]. I hope people watch it and enjoy it!” Watson came up with the title herself, “because I that’s what I hear all the time from people — ‘You look familiar!’ ”