TV Guide
Jonathan Reiner
TV Guide Online
January 2000

Some cast members talk with TV Guide Online about the show.

It's winter in the loopy town of Harmony on Passions, but the weather was warm and gorgeous when I visited the show's San Fernando Valley, California, set last month to talk with the actors and sample some of Grace's famous Tomato Soup Cake. Practically a country club compared to some of the cramped studios the New York soaps call home, Passions's rambling set provided ample space to interview some of the actors who slave each day to bring head writer James E. Reilly's vision to life.

As an actor, is it easier or harder getting the story in such dribs and drabs, with such secrecy?
Tracey Ross: I think it's harder, because, for one thing, everything you learn in acting classes is that there is a beginning, a middle and an end. And here you don't have that at all. You're thrown in. There is no beginning, the middle is forever and there is no end. You don't know what's going to happen, where someone's going. I'm getting to the point now where I'll look guilty if somebody asks, "Who started the Chicago fire?" I'm just getting in the habit of looking guilty! If Dana (Sparks, who plays Grace) asks, "Where's my spatula?" I'll look guilty, because I just don't know if I did it! I have no idea what I did and what I didn't do, so it's very hard. It's frustrating for me because I want to work within a way that I know how to work, and now I have to learn a new way to work.

Was it jarring to suddenly have to be maternal to two teenagers?
TR: It wasn't hard to be maternal because that's just part of who I am. I'm maternal off the set, so being maternal on the set comes really easily. It was a little jarring to always kind of be the femme fatale, the lead, "the one," and all of a sudden I'm the mom. People stop me for autographs and they say, "Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh, you're um...." And I say, "Dr. Eve." And then they say, "No, no. Whitney's mom!" It's like I've been put out to pasture! The saving grace is that none of the adults [on the show] look like they could absolutely be the parent, but still, it's a vanity blower.

The dialogue is hilarious. Do you get every reference?
Josh Ryan Evans: Yeah, yeah. I do. I get just about every one. There are a couple of statements that are very British, but I get them.

Some of your dialogue is almost subversive in its hilarity, because Timmy is sort of like the social conscience or a Greek chorus.
JRE: I try not to go into it that much, but it's just so hilarious that you can't take it that seriously. You just gotta go with it.

How do adults react when they spot you on the street?
JRE: Many different ways. A lot of them, especially males, will not know who I am. One time there was a little girl about 5 years old standing next to me, and she was freaked and she said, "Daddy, that's Timmy. Daddy, that's Timmy." She didn't know what to do. And the dad was just like, "Yeah, whatever."

So most adult males don't recognize you?
JRE: No, but I have had a lot that say, "Oh, I love you," or "I usually don't watch shows, but this show has got me hooked because my wife was raving about it and one day I happened to be home and I watched it and now I have her tape it every day."

Do you get a lot of fan mail?
JRE: A lot! I have a big, big pile here. The viewer support is amazing with this show. Everywhere I go, I get noticed in one way or another.

Is that good or bad?
JRE: It's both. It's very good because the reason why I wanted to be an actor was to be noticed. But if I'm trying to go out during the lunch hour and I get stopped by people, that takes up some of my time. I don't want to be rude to them because I really love my fans, but it does kind of get in the way because I'm hungry and I have to rush. But that's the only downfall � I have to plan ahead for just about everything.

Tell me about all this Star Wars stuff that's here in your dressing room.
JRE: I'm a huge Star Wars fan. One of many reasons I wanted to get in to the business was to get in one of the prequels, because I knew that they were coming.

And has your plan worked so far?
JRE: Well, I'm working with Ron Howard (in the upcoming movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas), so I'm getting closer. Ron Howard has talked to me about Lucas and talked to me about talking to Lucas for me, because he said he thinks that Lucas would love me. I hope he's right! I'll be an extra or something. I'd play just about anything in.

Let me play devil's advocate: What if Lucas said, "Well, the only thing we can do for you is maybe have you be related to Jar Jar Binks?"
JRE: Fine. I'd be shrubbery. I'd get Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) his water. I don't care. It's just about watching the movie in production and being part of it. I spent a lot of my younger life in the hospital because of a heart problem, and I used to watch movies. And one of the ones I kept watching was Star Wars because there was a trilogy and I could watch them all and still have not seen everything, because there is so much in the films. And I would act them out in my mind. The bottom line is that the movies made me feel like I was a different person... like I could run around the Death Star and battle with lightsabers and feel good. When I wasn't feeling good, I thought, "If I could do that for one person � make them laugh when they were having a really hard time and didn't feel like laughing at all, then it's worth it." I think the entertainment business has the ability to do that.

Whitney has her tennis, Theresa likes fashion, but �
Lena Cardwell: Simone has boys!

Exactly! You knew what I was going to ask. Well, Simone isn't doing too well because she doesn't have Chad.
LC: I don't think she's had that much experience, and she's just following Kay's advice � and, as you can see, since Kay doesn't have Miguel, she doesn't give very good advice.

I can tell just by the way you're speaking that you are much worldlier and obviously more mature than Simone. Is there some sort of process you go through to get into character, since Simone seems to be a lot more wide-eyed about things?
LC: Simone is going through a phase right now where she's growing up a little bit more, but to play her is to basically play a silly young teen. That's all you need to do. Anything goes when you're a silly young teen. You do anything. And I remember those times when I was quite silly � and I still am � so it's easy to draw from.

Do people who stop you on the street tell you to go for Chad?
LC: I usually always hear, "Give your parents a lot of trouble, put Whitney in her place and when are you and Chad going to get together?" Oh, and "Don't allow Kay to slap you again." Everyone went wild over that.

What's up with T.C.'s knee?
Rodney Van Johnson: T.C.'s knee. T.C.'s knee? Hmmm. Good question. T.C. has a bum knee that somebody injured.

Are you thinking this is similar to a Tonya Harding thing?
RVJ: Yes, exactly like that. I'm glad you said it. It's kind of like a Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan-type thing. Before a tennis match, someone came along and bashed T.C.'s knee. I probably competed but I didn't win.

And what about T.C.'s shed?
RVJ: You know, I've heard I'm a cross-dresser, I've heard I'm building a new prosthetic leg and I have dead bodies there. Personally, I don't know what it is. I don't have a clue.

I have an idea of what's in there.
RVJ: What do you think?

Since you were on three soaps in the span of a year, I think all your old scripts are piled up in there.
RVJ: That's exactly what it is. I have all the executive producers in there from all three shows and I'm holding them hostage.

The New Year's Eve stuff was great. The fallout, literally and figuratively, was very entertaining, but Luis definitely has anger-management issues.
Galen Gering: Yeah, true.

Did you worry in the beginning about how to make him likable when he was such a hard-ass?
GG: Yeah, definitely. Everyone else in the Lopez-Fitzgerald family is really likable. And in the beginning [the writers] were really trying to establish patterns, establish what people are about, so the things I was saying, I was saying a lot.

Those damn Cranes!
GG: Exactly. It was a battle to make him likable and whether I'm over that hump... I guess I don't know.

Six months into things, is working on a soap everything you thought it would be?
GG: It's definitely different. I'd just moved out here, for one thing. I had just graduated from film school, working behind the camera, and here I was thrown in front of it. We were the new show on the block, replacing an old show. There was a lot of heat and there were a lot of expectations. Everyone was just coming on this new thing and it was exciting. There were so many different emotions, but now that we've settled in we're really a family.

Do all the special effects get exhausting?
Juliet Mills: Well, it does take time and patience, but I enjoy them, really. I mean, some things have really taken a lot of time and energy and are very uncomfortable, but they're very efficient and it's all part of Tabitha's character.

Is this the first time you've played a witch?
JM: A real, live witch, yeah. I've played people with magical powers for some reason. I don't know why; I must be typecast. But I've never [before] actually played a real, live witch.

She's definitely the most intriguing character on soaps, if only because she is hundreds of years old and isn't really a traditional character. Is it challenging to play someone like that?
JM: It is challenging in the sense that it has to be real for me so that I can be convincing for everybody else. In that way sometimes it stretches my imagination quite a bit. I do believe in reincarnation and all those sorts of things, so that does help make it real for myself.

The energy level required to play the material straight must be enormous.
JM: That's quite perceptive of you, because it is, actually. But the more real I am, and the more convinced and convincing I am, the easier it is for other people to go along with some of the shenanigans.

Does that attitude rub off on the younger actors, because I would think they may have some trouble keeping it real over time?
JM: Oh, yes. I know that in scenes that I've played with some of the young actors, I can see that they're impressed with the truth of it, and therefore their truthfulness comes out more.

Do people recognize you on the street?
Bruce Michael Hall: Usually people only recognize me when I'm running around with Jesse (Metcalfe, who plays Miguel). People will say, "Oh my God, it's Miguel! Oh my God, it's that nerd!"

What does that do for your ego?
BMH: I think it's better that people don't recognize me right away, because it's too sad to walk into a room [and hear], "Aren't you that geek?" If you are geek, you don't think you're a geek, right?

I think you do know on some level, but you just don't want to admit it to yourself.
BMH: My theory is that every guy has that dork inside him. And how you know a woman loves you is if she has met your inner dork and likes you anyway.

So Reese is just a manifestation of everyone's inner dork?
BMH: I think that's what he is. He is the id dork of every human. I've got diagrams. I'll bring them next time with me.

What do you draw upon to play Reese?
BMH: The way I do him is to just to just play him really, really cool, and the cooler he tries to be the worse it looks. So I don't even play him geeky.

What styling products do they use to slick down the hair?
BMH: They use all of them. They pretty much grab whatever's handy and put it in and squeeze it over until the hair doesn't move. It's like a helmet.

Julian drinks an awful lot. Is it fun to play that kind of character, because you don't see that kind of patriarchal character who pours himself a drink whenever a problem pops up?
Ben Masters: I'm not going to specify them, but things here are a bit different than other soaps. And the drinking. you know the show Absolutely Fabulous, with the two British women? It's obvious you can't go that far, but you don't really take them seriously. They're like a throwback, and Julian is, too. I enjoy the fact that he drinks a lot. They should put a little disclaimer on the screen like they do with some of the Tabitha stuff: "Don't try this at home, kids. You can't drink 10 martinis and still walk, and it's not good for your health." I kind of cut back on it a little bit, so instead of swilling a whole tumbler of scotch he's sipping a little brandy now and then.

BM: They're very fond of saying it's very Noel Coward-esque, and that's all good and wonderful, but Noel Coward didn't have to do it everyday on a soap opera. It's hard to keep going day after day after day.

Is there an inner Julian, a real Julian that you sometimes touch upon but don't let the audience see?
BM: One of the things about doing a show like this is that I don't know a lot about why certain things have happened, so it's hard for me to really formulate the inner guy because I'm discovering stuff every week.

In other words, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
BM:Exactly. I'd like to see a poll to see if people miss it. People would hear the music and say, "The show is on." In my book, this new music doesn't say "Drop everything! The show is on." At least not yet.

One of my favorite Passions moments has got to be the tomato soup cake. Are you still living that down?
Dana Sparks: Oh, it pops up all the time! Ben [Masters] won't let it die. He wants to know what my next concoction is going to be. We come up with bizarre things like lobster bisque pie. Actually, it's kind of cool that a lot of people latched onto that as a bizarre moment. The boys are a little more popular on the Internet, but if I did an Internet site I think I would have a button that said, "Click on this for Grace's tomato soup cake recipe." And then a face would come out and say, "Are you kidding? Get a life! Don't make tomato soup cake!"

Don't say that! You're shattering the illusion. You did an interview with us where you mentioned that when people stop you on the street and recognize you as Grace, they're shocked when you tell them that you're also Faith!
DS: Some people were definitely shocked. I think that some people just so want to drop their life and buy into this bizarre little town that we have that they are basically willing to go for just about anything. It's nice. It's a really wonderful compliment, and I think it shows people's commitment to go with their fantasies.

I would assume that you are a god to teenage girls!
James Hyde: Well, I'm glad you said that. I have my own web page, and thank you to NBC for linking to my web page because my traffic has gone through the roof. I'd say 99 percent of my email is from girls who are 14, 15 or 16.

Sam is better than the guy next door! You're the unattainable father.
JH: Yeah, it's so funny what they write. They're like, "Oh, you're so hot and so sexy," and stuff like that.

Do you write back, "And you're so underage?"
JH: Yeah, stay away from that! It's great to get that response because I'm not really taking my shirt off as the stereotypical hunk.

Have you noticed the variety of sweaters that Sam wears?
JH: Uh, yeah, and I've been getting a lot of turtlenecks lately, too. They must know something I don't.

And I love the flashbacks of Sam and Ivy with the bad hair.
JH: Oh, my gosh! We just did a photograph today that was like, "Why are you doing this to me?"

The hairpiece has evolved somewhat, because in the first flashback Sam looked like Davy Jones.
JH: It was a really, really, really bad thing and it's nobody's fault. They just assumed it was going to work. And when we started to shoot it I just didn't feel right, and then when I saw it I was just like, "Oh, my God!"

I had never considered "Just the Way You Are" to be an oldie until they played it in a flashback!
JH: Yeah, I hear you, man. But I'm real excited about some stuff that's coming up. Sam is going through a lot right now. He's got a lot on his plate. It will play itself out and we can only hope he makes the right decisions for everybody. He's never been put to the test before. He wants to do the right thing, but Ivy's relentless, man. I'm really looking forward to the next three months because I see it as a challenge, and I'm excited about that and making Sam interesting.

What grade are you in?
Taylor Anne Mountz: I'm a senior.

Any college plans?
TAM: Oh, yeah. I've been doing all my applications lately, mostly for California schools, and I'll see what happens with that. I'm also applying for the drama department so I have to go do these auditions this month.

What if you get accepted somewhere?
TAM: Um, I'd probably take part-time classes or I'd defer. So we'll see.

Do you get letters from girls who are into the gothic music scene who are waiting for Kay to turn to the dark side?
TAM: No, I don't, actually, but I have gotten letters from people who want to see Kay cross over to the dark side and have an alliance with Tabitha or something.

Is it hard to justify Kay's actions, because she's such a self-centered person?
TAM: Yeah. I always have to keep my inner chi up when I'm playing her because I can't just say my lines. She is so determined, and I really have to show it. That's a good lesson for me to learn and it's good practice to always have that energy, otherwise it's not going to be believable and people are going to wonder where she's coming from and why she's doing all these crazy things.

I was talking to Juliet (Mills, who plays Tabitha) about keeping the material real. Have you learned anything from her in that respect, about being true to character and the text?
TAM: Well, just acting with her, she so completely devotes herself to her character. I've never seen her not give a scene her all. And that's really inspirational to me, especially when it's monotonous. And even if she has repetitive lines, she'll play them differently almost every time. She's always really fun to watch. I definitely try to emulate her in that way.

How have soaps changed since your time on As the World Turns (as Diana McColl)?
Kim Johnston Ulrich: You know, they haven't. Well, I take that back. Obviously, does General Hospital have a witch? No, they just have drug wars and what have you, so I guess we've gone that supernatural route. Maybe that's changed. I was going to say they've gotten pretty outrageous, but we were pretty outrageous on As the World Turns.

What do you remember from back then? You were playing a member of the younger set.
KJU: No, there was a younger group that included my younger brother, and I was in the same age group as Sheridan and Luis are here. I was in love with somebody who didn't love me... oh, it's the same story I'm doing right now! And he was with a good person and I was trying to break them up.

You seem awfully comfortable playing a character like Ivy � someone who comes from such blue blood and keeps secrets. Have you played characters like her in the past?
KJU: Yeah � it's frightening, isn't it. As much as we all try not to get typecast there are some things you are better suited to play than others. And that's true for everyone, with the exception of possibly Meryl Streep.

You could have done the rafting movie!
KJU: Yeah, OK! I could have done the rafting movie but I don't know if I could have done the violin movie.

Have you kept in touch with anyone from World Turns?
KJU: I have, actually � Chris LeBlanc (ex-Kirk; now Michael Baldwin on Y&R), who played my little brother. I've seen and I hear from him occasionally, although I've been remiss. Chris, I'll call you! He sends a fabulous Christmas gift every year. And I still see Scott Bryce (ex-Craig). He's doing a show called Popular that my husband's company casts. And Hillary Bailey Smith (ex-Margo; now Nora on OLTL)! We still correspond at Christmas and catch up with the kids. Stuff like that.