Scene And Heard

BOXED IN Nathan’s open casket funeral on GH gave portrayer Ryan Paevey a unique shooting experience. “I’m kind of weird and I collect weird experiences and stories, so now I can tell people what the inside of a casket is like,” he chuckles. “It was really comfortable, a very comfortable casket. They were very considerate and made sure that my dead body was well taken care of. It was a little short; my feet were a little jumbled up in there. I had somebody shut it when I was in it, just to try it out. I will say it is surprisingly difficult to act like you are dead when people are delivering really, really good performances literally right on top of you. Dead people don’t react and they also don’t breathe, so if another actor is delivering a spectacular performance where they’re literally pouring their heart out, your only solution, really, is to try not to listen to how good they are and also hold your breath for like a minute and a half while they pour out their heart! I always do this thing where I’m watching a TV show if somebody is supposed to be dead to see if they’re breathing. So, I did my best not to breathe while I was dead.”

FITS LIKE A GLOVE Bryton James (Devon) had a good time dressing up as the late pop superstar Michael Jackson for Y&R’s Halloween episode last year, especially since Jackson was the actor’s longtime friend. “It wasn’t even my idea,” reveals James. “It isn’t a secret that we were friends, and how much I loved him and his music. The writers suggested it and I thought it was a great idea.” When it came down to what era of Jackson’s music would be represented, James brought in his own articles of clothing. “That was actually my hat and my glove that I’ve had for quite a while, but I still went in to try on a couple of different outfits,” he recounts. “They actually bought a red ‘Thriller’ jacket with red pants, but I had done that outfit in the past and I wanted to do something else, so we decided on the ‘Billie Jean’ part of his career.” James says he would be happy to slip back into his pal’s persona at any time. “I can do a pretty damn good Michael impersonation,” James admits. “I’ve only been doing that since I’ve been 2. I’ve said that when I get older, I’d take time out of my life to do a residency, somewhere like a small place in Vegas, and perform Michael’s songs. I’ve had so much fun doing that before.”

DOUBLE TIME Since DAYS shoots up to six months in advance, Marci Miller (Abigail) admits she was surprised that the Abby/Gabby twist was kept under wraps. “Everything gets leaked!” she points out. “But because Abby was the one that walked in and found Andre dead, nobody would think she was in the mix of any kind of crazy anything. Then, all of a sudden, you see from the back this woman with dark hair and a coat that Gabi has and then she turns around and it’s me!” Miller shares that people on the set mistook her for Camila Banus (Gabi). “From the back, I really look like Camila,” she says. “Multiple times on set, people would approach me thinking that they were approaching Camila and then I’d turn around and they’d be like, ‘Oh, my gosh. I thought you were Camila.’ From wardrobe to hair and makeup and everything, they really did a great job with it. So I think it was a really cool, shocking reveal and it really took people by surprise, which is what we ultimately want to do all the time.”

GOTTA HAVE HOPE When B&B’s Annika Noelle (Hope) made her TV debut as B&B’s Hope, it was a family affair — on both coasts. “It was so funny because my family is back home in Boston, so I was getting text message updates from them during the show because of the three-hour time difference,” she recalls. “Their favorite part was when they made the announcement, ‘The role of Hope Logan is now being played by....’ They really enjoyed that — and that was actually Jacob’s [Young, Rick] voice. He was the one who did that on set, so it was like they were keeping it in the family. When I watched it out here [in Los Angeles], I actually had the day off work, so we were able to have a small group of friends gather round and watch. It was so special to watch it with people who I went to theater school with, who I’ve been in the trenches with for a long time. To now have this amazing opportunity, it was a nice feeling to be able to share that with people who’ve helped me along the way.”