Scene & Heard

Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth, GH) was blown away by the gifts she received from fans when she celebrated her 20th anniversary in Port Charles in August. “They put together this wonderful basket of all these gifts that I was surprised with,” she reports. “It was really sweet because the girls who organized it are big ‘Friz’ people, but they reached out to all the different fan bases, the ‘Liason’ [Jason and Liz] group, the Liz and Lucky fans, the ‘Liric’ [Liz and Ric] fans, and it was really nice having fans from across the board contribute and come together. They treated me very well — they gave me a really nice gift certificate to a spa and some yummy cupcakes and beautiful flowers and a memory book that they put together that celebrated the last 20 years. It was such a trip to look through all the pictures because I felt like I was such a little girl when I started on the show. It’s such a nice memento of my time on GH and something that I will keep forever.” But she was most touched by a $7,000 contribution fans made in her name to the Smile Train, a cleft palate charity that Herbst has been working with for many years. “For them to do that in honor of my anniversary was incredible,” she marvels. “That will help over 20 children get the surgery they need to fix their cleft palate; it’s going to change lives. The fans knew how near and dear to my heart that charity is and knew how much I would appreciate that; I was like, ‘Wow, they know me so well.’ It was a beautiful thing for them to do.”

Tamara Clatterbuck (Alice) marvels at the fact that she’s doing scenes with a grown-up Camryn Grimes (Mariah), since they first worked together 18 years ago when Grimes was playing Cassie on Y&R. “It’s so emotional for me being with Camryn,” sighs Clatterbuck. “Now, we’re just hanging out, talking about boys and stuff. She’s so beautiful and she’s such a talented young lady, but when I’m working with her now, I look into her face and still see that 5-year-old. It’s so odd and strange that she’s still this little girl to me. But I’m having so much fun getting reacquainted with her.” Which is a far cry from their first introduction in 1999. “When she met me on the set way back when, her first reaction was, ‘You’re mean, Alice, you’re mean! I’m staying with Sharon!’ and then she ran away from me,” laughs Clatterbuck. “I was like, ‘No, no, no! It’s just acting. I’m not mean!’ Luckily, we didn’t have a repeat performance of that when I came back.”

When B&B’s Rena Sofer (Quinn) came across some animals in need, she leapt into action — with a little help from her friends. “The animal rescue where I got my dogs, Alfie and Mega, is called Paw Parent Animal Sanctuary in Lancaster, California,” she explains. “It’s also where Thorsten [Kaye, Ridge] got his dog because I told him about it. I became really close with the woman who owns it, Isabell Csaki. She’s a massive animal lover, and she bought five acres of land and works so that she can run this organization. It’s a non-profit, and most of the animals they take in are in need of veterinary services. Some stay forever and others, they’ll help find forever homes. Well, when I fell in love with my dogs, I just fell in love with their whole philosophy. This is a small place and they need help to rebuild fences, pay vet bills, you name it. So, I had to do something.” Sofer enlisted the aid of B&B co-stars (from far l.) Kaye, Kelly Kruger Brooks (Eva), Darin Brooks (Wyatt) and Heather Tom (Katie), along with (not pictured) Scott Clifton (Liam) and John McCook (Eric), and hosted a fundraiser with fans. “We did a small event at Buca di Beppo in Universal City,” she smiles. “We had only 30 people, with six actors at six tables over brunch, so we ate, we talked and we hung out. It was really intimate and personal — and we raised $10,575! It was a huge success, so it definitely won’t be the last.”

DAYS’s Christopher Sean (Paul) has found his dream home, courtesy of Vincent Irizarry (ex-Deimos). Sean had been looking around for a home for a while, but he wasn’t happy with the places that his real estate agent was showing him. “I was sort of complaining about how difficult it was to find a property,” Sean recounts. When Irizarry told Sean that he was a Realtor, they agreed to work together. “It was so much better than the experience I had with the other Realtor,” Sean reports. “Vincent is really talented. We knew where we wanted to live, but we didn’t know what we wanted in a home.” Irizarry helped Sean narrow down his choices. “I put in a bid on one property,” Sean shares, “and Vincent said, ‘Christopher, I’m going to be honest with you. You’re not going to be happy with that property.’ I went back to look at it again and realized he was right. I hadn’t noticed the chips in the wall, and other things. I thanked Vincent and he said he just wanted me to be happy with my first buy. It was funny. On DAYS, Paul was trying to take Deimos out, but in real life I was taking Vincent out for lunch. We became good friends.”