LUNCH BUNCH
Life and lunch at the DAYS studio haven’t been the same for Sal Stowers (Lani) since Marci Miller (ex-Abigail) left the soap because the two actresses used to take turns bringing in lunch for each other. “I really miss that,” admits Stowers. “Marci is the most amazing cook. She can cook her butt off. Everything she makes is so good, even just a salad. She makes all of her own dressings, uses a lot of garlic, and gets really creative. Her salads are just phenomenal. Marci’s husband works in food, as well. He has a little catering company. Sometimes she would bring things that he would make, so it was always something different and so good. My lunches have not been the same since Marci left.” Stowers does still try her “hardest” to pack a work lunch, but confesses that she falls short on occasion now that Miller’s not there to “hold me accountable.” However, she has found a great alternative. “There’s a new Whole Foods near the studio, and I am getting into trouble going there all the time. It’s amazing. I’m probably there every day, even when I’m not on set. I was there today. I was there yesterday. I always find some reason to go in there because I love it so much.”
ISN’T IT GRAND?
While living in Toronto, Brooks Darnell (Nate, Y&R) became acquainted with Colin Farrell while they were working on the sci-fi flick Total Recall. “I was chasing him during filming and then later we saw each other in the same yoga studio and we started talking,” Darnell explains. “He’s the one who told me to move to Los Angeles for my career and I was like, ‘Okay!’ Then we ended up running into each other at yoga here.” He saw first-hand just how giving the actor is. “Sometimes there’s stuff said about him on the Internet and I’m like, ‘That’s not the guy I met,’ ” Darnell shares. “He had this thing where he had met a homeless man when he first started filming in Toronto and he developed a relationship with this man. The way it happened, Colin was doing something on the radio where the first person who can come to the studio to meet him would get $5,000. Colin called his friend who is homeless and said, ‘Hey, I’m sending somebody to pick you up and come to the studio so they’ll give you this five grand.’ He’s just that type of guy.”
HOUSE BEAUTIFUL
Josh Swickard (Chase, GH) is thrilled with his character’s apartment, which was shown for the first time when Chase made dinner for Willow. “It’s so badass!” he beams. “It’s so awesome. It’s exactly what my apartment would look like if I was a cop. It’s basketball and boxing gloves and the hand strengthener for gun control — I mean, they did such a good job with the tiny stuff. The first day I shot in it, I went in during our lunch break and just sat in it and kind of tried to make it ‘my’ place and it was so easy to feel like, ‘This is my place!’ ” The actor felt honored that his character was given a dwelling. “I got the script and it was like, ‘Interior: Chase’s Apartment’, and I just took a nice, deep breath. It’s an honor when someone builds you a set. It’s a very cool thing.” Chase’s place is homier than Swickard’s own dressing room, he reports. (He took over the vacated space of Dominic Zamprogna, ex-Dante.) “I have plans for it,” he grins. “There’s blueprints. I brought in a huge photo of my dad and me on motorcycles for above the couch. Eventually, there’s going to be a lava lamp and there’s going to be a cute rug.”
SPICE,
SPICE BABY
When the Spice Girls kick off their expected reunion tour later this year, look for at least one B&Ber to be in the audience. “That was my first concert that I ever went to,” enthuses longtime fan Courtney Hope (Sally). “I was so excited! My mom bought me a sewing machine when I was, like, eight — and I asked for one again this year for Christmas. I love sewing. I love making clothes. So, I made my own dress for the concert. I got the fabric myself. It was pink cloth with white lace over it. I put a heart right in the center of my chest that was like a red ruby stone. It was like a tight pencil dress, and then I put my hair in pigtails and I was Baby Spice. My mom got a limo and I took my best friend and we have all these pictures in the back of the limo with the peace signs for the Spice Girls. It was a wonderful experience, one which I will never forget. I’m really excited about them getting back together, even if it’s not all of them.” Will Hope make her own outfit again this time? “Well, I did ask for that sewing machine,” she grins.