Scene and Heard
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Photo credit: Gilles Toucas/Courtesy Of Bell-Phillip Television Inc
B&B’s Don Diamont (Bill) appreciates the new dynamic between Bill and Ridge.
“ ‘Despise’ is probably an approxpriate word for how these guys feel about one another, and they are still antagonists,” he notes. “Despite them working together, that is still a factor.” Diamont isn’t holding out hope that the duo will ever mend fences completely. “I don’t think you’ll see Ridge and Bill sitting on a couch chuckling and feeding each other cake,” he muses. “I don’t think you’ll see that level of cuddly affection, but what I’m enjoying is seeing these new and unexpected alliances. These people who’ve spent decades fighting one another are now relying on each other for the sake of their families. It is a soap, so I don’t know how long this unity will all last for.
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Photo credit: Howard Wise/Peacock
Steve Burton’s first day returning to DAYS, where he first played Harris Michaels back in 1988, prompted some reflection. “I was driving to work my first day and it was kind of nostalgic,” says Burton. “My dad had a convertible, and he used to drive me to all my auditions. We were living in Beverly Hills. He used to manage apartments there. We would drive over Highland and onto Barham to Universal, where I had my first job, OUT OF THIS WORLD. He would take me all over the place, and he would always have his mix tapes playing in the car. He was a DJ, so he’d make his own tapes. The song ‘Tainted Love’ was on the tape he’d always play. When I was driving in from Orange County about to hit Barham to go to my first day at DAYS, ‘Tainted Love’ came on [the radio]. I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy. This is exactly how my dad would drive me.’ On top of that, it’s been, like, 35 years I’ve been [in the business]. And then that song came on. It was so supernatural in a sense. My dad was my biggest advocate when it came to acting. He’d always say, ‘Just go out and do your best.’ So it was awesome. It was a very emotional moment, and I was overcome with gratitude.”
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Photo credit: ABC
When John J. York was auditioning for the role of Mac on GH, which he’s held since 1991, a familiar face was among the finalists for the part: Paul Satterfield, who went on to play Paul Hornsby. Recalls York, “They brought in five guys to test at the first screen test. Then they asked me and Paul to come back to test again and we both read with Finola [Hughes, Anna]. There was one guy in the original group that I felt looked a little edgy, and I was thinking, ‘Oh, no. He’s a good-looking, edgy guy,’ which is what I thought they were looking for for Mac. So, at the second callback, I saw it was Paul Satterfield and I was thinking, ‘Wow. He looks more like Christopher Reeve than Tristan Rogers [Robert]!’ So then I was thinking, ‘Maybe my chances are pretty good,’ because they wanted a resemblance to Tristan. We did the audition and I ended up getting the part and because they liked Paul so much, they ended up casting him, as well, but as someone else.”
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Photo credit: JPI
Veronica Redd, who recently visited as Y&R’s Mamie Johnson, the Abbott family’s devoted housekeeper, couldn’t help but think about the full-circle moment of reprising her character. “I was much younger than my predecessor [Marguerite Ray] when I began portraying Mamie,” notes the actress. “I had to play a maturity in years far older than I was in reality at the time. That was especially crucial in my first few years in scenes with John Abbott. That could have been why the writers found it totally plausible when John began having romantic feelings for Mamie. Now I am finally closer to the age Mamie would have been had I been the first actress to play the role.” Although many years had passed since Redd last worked at Y&R, she was struck by the absence of a very important actor. “In many ways, there was something very tried-and-true when I stepped onto the Abbott household set last month,” she explains. “There was, however, a very poignant moment for me when I realized there was something missing.... And for me, that was Jerry Douglas [ex-John, who passed in 2021]. I really missed Jerry not being there. I always enjoyed working with him. Jerry not being there made me tear up.”
B&B’s Don Diamont (Bill) appreciates the new dynamic between Bill and Ridge.
“ ‘Despise’ is probably an approxpriate word for how these guys feel about one another, and they are still antagonists,” he notes. “Despite them working together, that is still a factor.” Diamont isn’t holding out hope that the duo will ever mend fences completely. “I don’t think you’ll see Ridge and Bill sitting on a couch chuckling and feeding each other cake,” he muses. “I don’t think you’ll see that level of cuddly affection, but what I’m enjoying is seeing these new and unexpected alliances. These people who’ve spent decades fighting one another are now relying on each other for the sake of their families. It is a soap, so I don’t know how long this unity will all last for.
Photo credit: Gilles Toucas/Courtesy Of Bell-Phillip Television Inc
Steve Burton’s first day returning to DAYS, where he first played Harris Michaels back in 1988, prompted some reflection. “I was driving to work my first day and it was kind of nostalgic,” says Burton. “My dad had a convertible, and he used to drive me to all my auditions. We were living in Beverly Hills. He used to manage apartments there. We would drive over Highland and onto Barham to Universal, where I had my first job, OUT OF THIS WORLD. He would take me all over the place, and he would always have his mix tapes playing in the car. He was a DJ, so he’d make his own tapes. The song ‘Tainted Love’ was on the tape he’d always play. When I was driving in from Orange County about to hit Barham to go to my first day at DAYS, ‘Tainted Love’ came on [the radio]. I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy. This is exactly how my dad would drive me.’ On top of that, it’s been, like, 35 years I’ve been [in the business]. And then that song came on. It was so supernatural in a sense. My dad was my biggest advocate when it came to acting. He’d always say, ‘Just go out and do your best.’ So it was awesome. It was a very emotional moment, and I was overcome with gratitude.”
Photo credit: Howard Wise/Peacock
When John J. York was auditioning for the role of Mac on GH, which he’s held since 1991, a familiar face was among the finalists for the part: Paul Satterfield, who went on to play Paul Hornsby. Recalls York, “They brought in five guys to test at the first screen test. Then they asked me and Paul to come back to test again and we both read with Finola [Hughes, Anna]. There was one guy in the original group that I felt looked a little edgy, and I was thinking, ‘Oh, no. He’s a good-looking, edgy guy,’ which is what I thought they were looking for for Mac. So, at the second callback, I saw it was Paul Satterfield and I was thinking, ‘Wow. He looks more like Christopher Reeve than Tristan Rogers [Robert]!’ So then I was thinking, ‘Maybe my chances are pretty good,’ because they wanted a resemblance to Tristan. We did the audition and I ended up getting the part and because they liked Paul so much, they ended up casting him, as well, but as someone else.”
Photo credit: ABC
Veronica Redd, who recently visited as Y&R’s Mamie Johnson, the Abbott family’s devoted housekeeper, couldn’t help but think about the full-circle moment of reprising her character. “I was much younger than my predecessor [Marguerite Ray] when I began portraying Mamie,” notes the actress. “I had to play a maturity in years far older than I was in reality at the time. That was especially crucial in my first few years in scenes with John Abbott. That could have been why the writers found it totally plausible when John began having romantic feelings for Mamie. Now I am finally closer to the age Mamie would have been had I been the first actress to play the role.” Although many years had passed since Redd last worked at Y&R, she was struck by the absence of a very important actor. “In many ways, there was something very tried-and-true when I stepped onto the Abbott household set last month,” she explains. “There was, however, a very poignant moment for me when I realized there was something missing.... And for me, that was Jerry Douglas [ex-John, who passed in 2021]. I really missed Jerry not being there. I always enjoyed working with him. Jerry not being there made me tear up.”
Photo credit: JPI
