A GOOD MIX
Camryn Grimes (Mariah, Y&R) loves to bake and got a special surprise last year from co-star Bryton James (Devon). “I was going out to check the mail and here comes Bryton carrying this giant box, so I invited him in,” recalls Grimes. “I’m not a big spender and there are things on my wish list that I would never get for myself because they’re so expensive. I only had a hand mixer that I used for baking, and I’ve never had a standing mixer, but the only one I ever wanted, which I’ve talked about for years, is a limited edition, all-black KitchenAid standing mixer, but they’re so stupid expensive.” So when Grimes opened the box, “inside is the KitchenAid mixer I’ve always wanted. I burst into tears and he told me, ‘You said you’d never buy it for yourself.’ It was so thoughtful and so out of nowhere. That kindness meant so much to me. So, I promised him that I will make him baked goods until the end of time.”
BALD AND BEAUTIFUL
Sean Kanan (ex-Deacon, B&B et al) unveiled a new look at the 87th Annual Hollywood Christmas Parade — a shaved head. “This was for a film I just wrapped,” Kanan explains. “It was directed by Glenn Danzig, based on a graphic novel he created. I play the lead homicide detective pursuing a killer who’s cutting off the faces of beautiful young women. When I auditioned, they said, ‘You’re the guy, but you’ve got to shave your head,’ and I said, ‘No problem. You’ve got to do what the role calls for.’ So, [wife] Michele shaved it and I said to her beforehand, ‘Remember, for better or worse, right?’ First we did it short, then a mohawk, then bald. Now, she likes to rub my head as if I were Buddha. But, I will be growing it back.” As for a soap return, Kanan says, “I always relish the idea of going back to B&B, and Deacon has been languishing in prison for a while, so I definitely think it’s time he comes back and meets his new daughter, Annika [Noelle, Hope] — and his granddaughter!”
FALL OUT
A scene calling for an actor to plummet down a flight of stairs may seem absolutely painless when you’ve got a stunt person to take the fall, but that’s not always the case. Take, for example, when Susan Seaforth Hayes recently had to take a tumble as Julie on DAYS. “Lying on the floor at the foot of the stairs, I had to be in exactly the same position that the stunt double fell into, which was a rather uncomfortable one,” notes the actress. “And I was required to look into three different cameras. I have a feeling it’s mostly going to be shots going up my nostrils, since I was flat and the cameras were pretty low. This was not a beauty shot for me, but hopefully a truthful one.” It’s not the first time Seaforth Hayes has worked with a stuntwoman. In fact, there have been several scenes throughout her years at DAYS. “I worked with a stunt double when my character was set on fire years ago, when my mother [Elizabeth Harrower] was writing the show,” she recounts. “There were other times, as well. We had to jump down a slide when an airplane crashed. And we had to jump into a tank on the island during the Cruise of Deception. So, yeah, I’ve done a few.” Seaforth Hayes has never been one of those actors who lobbied to do stunts herself. “I never felt that good about it,” she says with a laugh. “I did learn to ride a horse, so I could do Westerns. But, generally speaking, no. I’d rather have lines than do falls, jumps, leaps, drown or be set on fire. Especially the latter. I truly prefer to have a nice line or a speech, and leave the stunt work to the stunt people.”
INTO THE FRAY
Despite a lengthy career in television, Greg Evigan’s first foray into soaps — playing GH baddie Jim Harvey in 2018 — took him by surprise. “It all started with Wally Kurth [Ned],” Evigan says. “He completely freaked me out right off the bat. On my first day, he said, ‘You’ve got a mouthful to say, and you’re going to want to go over it. You’re really going to want to go over it. Like, any time you have the chance, you are going to want to go over it.’ I thought, ‘Don’t worry, Wally, I got this!’ But little did I realize, you only get one rehearsal, which is more of a quasi-rehearsal, because it’s mostly for the camera guys. There’s no flow to the rehearsal. So pretty much the first day was over and I didn’t know it was over. I was like, ‘So, when do we finish?’ And Wally was like, ‘That’s it.’ ‘That’s it?!’ It took me about a day or two to get the hang of it, to realize, ‘You really have to pull yourself together, because you’re not getting another chance.’ If you don’t care, that’s one thing, but if you do care, like I always do, you really need to put in the work.” Evigan spent most of his Port Charles time tormenting Franco, played by Roger Howarth. “He was pretty quiet most of the time and didn’t reveal himself much, which I respect in actors,” he shares. “But on the last day, he came up to me and said, ‘Man, you killed it in that scene. You stuck with this thing from day one and you really came through and I just wanted to tell you that.’ I said, ‘Man, that really means a lot.’ I was surprised by that, and I thought it was cool. It was nice to hear.”