Scene and Heard

WELCOME ABOARD Count DAYS’s Marci Miller (Abigail) a big fan of her new co-stars Louise Sorel (Vivian) and Tyler Christopher (Stefan). “Louise is a dream,” Miller raves. “We’re so busy throughout the day. We don’t always get a chance to watch each other’s work but if that woman was working, I tried to always be down in my room with the monitor on and glued to it. She is such a pro. She is so freaking talented. I can’t take my eyes off of her when she’s working. I think she’s just divine. Maybe literally divine. She’s so awesome. I was so grateful that I got to work with her.” As for Christopher, she says, “I adore him. His work is so good. He’s so incredibly dedicated. I so look forward to coming in and working with him. He’s fit in so nicely. He’s become a real friend and we’re so unbelievably fortunate to have him. I didn’t follow a ton of soaps before I started working here, so I didn’t know about Louise Sorel or Tyler or anybody; I just knew they were established soap actors. And then they came in and totally blew my mind. I thought, ‘Oh, God, there’s a reason these people have had the careers they’ve had; they’re amazing.’ ”

PHOTO SYNTHESIS B&B’s Scott Clifton (Liam) and Annika Noelle (Hope) spread the word of her arrival by posting a series of fun Instagram shots in which they deliberately cropped out each other’s face. “She and I actually planned this together,” Clifton reveals. “And in all honesty, I cannot take credit for this as an original idea. This is something Chris Pratt [ex-Ché, THE O.C.] did when he was promoting the film Passengers with Jennifer Lawrence. They did an entire press tour where they were on the road for months on end together, and he did a series of like 10 photos where Jennifer Lawrence was either cropped out or blocked by some object, like his shoulder or something. It was so funny, and then after that, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively [ex-Serena, GOSSIP GIRL] did it a couple of times to each other. I was talking about that with Annika and we just thought it would be good for a laugh. Plus, it was a way of garnering interest in her and promoting her coming on the show — and it was also a way for us to have fun in a nontraditional publicity sense.”

HOSTESS WITH THE MOSTEST  Since Beth Maitland (Traci, Y&R) lives a good distance from the studio, on-screen mom Marla Adams (Dina) has made Maitland’s commute easier by offering her lodging. “I get to sleep over with my Mutie, which is what I have called Marla for years,” smiles Maitland. “She has always had an open-door policy to those she loves. I am fortunate to be one of them. Since I live a couple hundred miles from L.A. now, she has insisted that any time I’m in town, I am invited to stay with her. ‘Mi casa, su casa’ is her mantra.” And the friendship extends beyond room and board. “Marla was my date to the Emmys, as well as to the Y&R fan gathering, and when the parties are finished, we stay up and talk and laugh and drink vodka and have so much fun. We are such girls! We stay up too late and tell stories, like we always do, but never finish one of them. There’s just too much to say when you love each other!”

PARTING GIFT GH’s Genie Francis (Laura) considers herself fortunate indeed to have gotten to work closely with Jane Elliot (ex-Tracy) before her retirement. “Jane and I have been friends forever,” she says. “Jane was in my wedding; she’s a very important person in my life and she’s also, I think, the best actress that’s ever graced the stage of daytime television. There’s no question about that woman’s amazing ability. So, any time I get the opportunity to work with her, it’s like a lesson. I love it! She’s just the best.” Francis couldn’t help but get emotional when Elliot’s last day arrived. “It ripped my guts out. Those weren’t necessarily character tears!” The actress presented her friend with a special good-bye gift: a book filled with heartfelt messages from cast and crew. “I did something like that for my mom when she turned 80; I had everybody in the family write down memories of my mom and why they love her, and she loved it, so I wanted to create the same kind of thing for Jane with this book. I just handed it around and I said, ‘Write something you remember about Jane and why you love her.’ She loved it!” Francis still feels Elliot’s absence. “It’s very sad,” she sighs. “I miss her an awful lot.”