Scene And Heard

LABOR INTENSIVE

“It felt like a wonderful daytime soap opera rite of passage, getting to deliver a baby on the side of the road,” says GH’s Wes Ramsey of Peter’s roadside heroics with Maxie when little James was born. “Kirsten [Storms, Maxie] and I have always had fun working together and that day was no exception, but I was more concerned with making sure she was comfortable and helping her through the scenes because I think as much as was on my shoulders, there was even more on hers. But we really enjoyed doing it, having that buildup from when she’s not feeling well and we don’t know what’s coming to the moment of, ‘Oh, my God, the baby’s coming!’ It’s wonderfully dramatic and we tried to find moments to put in whatever light touch of humor we could while also trying to make it as honest and realistic as possible. We had a lot of fun and I hope that translated well with the fans.” He walked away yet more impressed by Storms, who was under the weather and ultimately had to take a few days off to recover. “Kirsten always steps up, but on this particular day, she wasn’t feeling well,” Ramsey recalls. “But you would never have known because she’s such a professional and she puts her work first. She’s just wonderful to work with.”

FLAW SUIT

Now that swimsuit season has arrived in Genoa City, Melissa Ordway (Abby), who gave birth to daughter Sophie last December, is understandably nervous about showing off her body. That trepidation confuses her husband, Justin Gaston (ex-Ben, DAYS). “Justin’s family lives on a lake in Louisiana, and when we were planning to visit them not too long ago, he said, ‘Don’t forget your swimsuit because we’re doing a lot of Jet Skiing,’ ” the actress recounts. “I said, ‘I’m not getting in a bathing suit in front of anyone!’ And he goes, ‘Melissa, you were in a bathing suit in front of millions of people.’ I then I explained to him it’s different, because everything on the show is thoughtfully prepared. We have an amazing wardrobe team that finds the most flattering bathing suits and on set, someone is always telling me, ‘Sit this way,’ to make sure they’re shooting me from a flattering angle. So, I’ve got a whole team of people who make it happen on the show but when I’m on my own, I don’t have that luxury!”

THE FALL GAL

B&B’s Annika Noelle (Hope) will always remember her appearance on THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH JAMES CORDEN, even though she wasn’t actually a guest. “I wasn’t on it,” she clarifies. “I wish I was! Robert Plant was a guest that night and I am a huge Led Zeppelin fan. He’s a living legend for me, personally, and I was freaking out when I found out he was going to be there. That day, the amazing crew of BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL rallied and got me in the audience that night. I’m so grateful to them because they made one of my dreams come true: to see him perform. But I did almost fall. The audience warm-up person was like, ‘When Robert Plant comes down the stairs, be sure to high-five him.’ Well, I didn’t realize there was a gap between my chair and the next riser down. So, when I went to step over to high-five Robert Plant, I was ready to plummet down to the row ahead of me. I was holding on to this poor man from Nebraska next to me for dear life just so I didn’t go toppling down to the entire row in front of me. You can actually see it happen if you rewatch that episode. So, that was my late night TV debut.”

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

With so many credits under his belt, Gilles Marini (Ted, DAYS) says his fan base is comprised of many ages. “If someone is between 30 and 50-something years old, they would probably know me from Sex and the City,” he explains. “Younger, they would say SWITCHED AT BIRTH, or if it’s a boy or girl of about 15 or 16 years old, they would say TEEN WOLF. What makes me smile the most is when they come to me and say, ‘I loved what you did on BROTHERS & SISTERS.’ To me, that was a show from a different world. The best actors were on that show together at the same time, and for me it was an acting crash course with the best in the business. I spent a couple of years there having an absolute blast.” Marini had one very memorable encounter at an unexpected place. “Once, I was at a mixed martial arts event where they do what they need to do in the cage, and this guy is fighting this other guy and looking at me like I did something wrong to him!” he recalls. “He kicked the guy in the face and knocked him out, then he talked to the commentator, left the cage and came toward me, gave me a hug and he said lines to me from NIP/TUCK. Then he said, ‘My wife and I loved you!’ That was shocking. It was insane.”