It did not take long for James Patrick Stuart (Valentin) to win over his new GH leading lady, Cynthia Watros (Nina). Declares Watros, “I’m a big fan. He’s funny, he’s super-talented, he’s gracious, generous — I mean, it sounds like I’m just throwing these adjectives out, but he’s so lovely.” When Watros was first hired, “He sent me flowers at home saying, ‘Welcome to GH!’ ” the actress reports. “And he wanted to help me with my dressing room, so he took this photo of these sheep, just the cutest photo, and he framed it for me. Everything he can do to make me feel welcome and loved, he’s done. I can’t tell you how appreciative I am. Sometimes you get talent, but then you’re like, ‘Okay, well, not the nicest guy,’ or vice versa. He’s got it all. He is a joy to work with. He makes me laugh. He’s just a really great guy and such a family man. I feel really lucky to be able to work with him.”
Photo credit: Bjorn Kommerel
James Reynolds (Abe) was thrilled to be paired with Brandon Barash (Stefan) in his recent storyline. “I love it,” Reynolds enthuses. “Brandon and I just had this immediate attraction to each other. We really like each other a great deal. He’s just an extraordinary, friendly, nice person. He’s also a very focused actor. I’ve seen people approach things in a lot of different ways. I always feel anybody’s system is valid because it works for them, and as long as it works for them and it doesn’t distract where we’re trying to go, I don’t have any kind of issue with that. He pulls out this yellow legal pad and he’s written his lines on that and made notes. I’ve never seen that before. But it’s just an indication of how detailed he is and how seriously he takes things. Having that kind of approach to what he does every day, I think, is really, really good and really indicative of somebody who analyzes things quite deeply. I like that a lot. He’s got this personality of this guy who is so out there and outgoing, but what he does when he’s involved with what he’s doing, he’s very serious and very calculated and that’s great.”
Joshua Morrow (Nick, Y&R) is eager for a Nick/Chelsea/Adam triangle to play out on-screen. “It’s honestly the story that I’ve cared most about for the past five years,” Morrow declares. “The problem with the first go-round with Nick and Chelsea, there was no Adam. The story, while still good, lacked the punch that I knew it could have because it wasn’t a triangle, just two grieving people falling into this relationship. From an acting point of view and from a writing point of view, it lost a lot of its excitement because Adam wasn’t in the picture.” Morrow already feels a substantial dynamic on set with Melissa Claire Egan (Chelsea) and Mark Grossman (Adam). “Now that Gross is here, there’s a new element involved,” he enthuses. “He just wants to do a great job — which he’s doing — and Missy is a pro, she’s amazing. I think if told and timed properly, this could be a really awesome story. I’m very excited about the prospects. I really hope the audience likes it as much as Mark, Missy and I do.”
AMBITIONS’s Erica Page (Bella) would like soap fans to know that no, she did not appear on ONE LIFE TO LIVE back in the day. “We are two different people,” Page notes of the similar moniker of Llanview alum Erika Page, who played Roseanne Delgado from 1998-2001. “Yes, we do have the same name but she spells her first name with a ‘k’ and I do not. I have not met her, though I think it’d actually be fun to work together, but I do get questions about that a lot because her credit is on my IMDb page and I can’t get it off.” Page was surprised to hear there was more to this particular name game: In 2000, OLTL’s Erika Page married musician Bryan White. And on AMBITIONS, actor Brian White plays Bella’s paramour, Evan. “Oh, stop,” Page laughs. “It’s like a soap opera!”