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The Jerry verDorn Interview – One Life to Live

© JPI Studios

© JPI Studios

Is there any doubt that the best “baddie” of them all in soaps this year has turned out to be none other than Llanview’s Clint Buchanan?  The former stoic and heroic cowboy, who became a business empire mogul, took a turn to the dark side and has been the kick start for many a storyline and many characters horrific dilemmas on One Life to Live. And who is relishing this just as much as the audience at home… Clint’s portrayer, two-time Daytime Emmy winner, Jerry verDorn!

The former do-gooder, as Ross Marler on Guiding Light, verDorn took over the role of Clint Buchanan, (once played by the late Clint Ritchie) over six and half years ago and has taken the role to unexpected new heights.  But what a palette he was given by the writers! Here is just a short list of some items on Clint’s machination resume:  Switching Jessica’s and Rex’s paternity test, framing Vimal to take the fall for his demands and skullduggery in DNA labs, paying off Eddie Ford to kidnap Nora Buchanan, (and then the evil Mr. Ford almost rapes Clint’s ex-wife in the process), setting up brother Bo Buchanan with his secretary Inez Salinger by having her drug him so it appears he slept with her in an effort to break up Bo and Nora’s marriage. Then, manipulating Bo and Nora’s son, Matthew against his parents, kidnapping David Vickers on his wedding day to Dorian, and depositing him in a Moroccan prison, leaving La Mayor once again devastated at the altar.  Shall we go on?

But payback is a bitch!  And now Clint, after suffering a severe heart attack, is clinging to life and preparing to say goodbye to his beloved children and family members, unless he gets a heart transplant.  Problem is: Clint has a rare blood type and finding a donor is very difficult.  Enter Matthew Buchanan, Clint’s favorite nephew, who he thinks of as a son. After falling and hitting his head and landing up in the hospital… no thanks to Nate Salinger… Matthew appears to be brain-dead and a match for Clint’s blood type.  Will Matthews’s life become expendable to save the man who perpetrated such heinous acts against his own family?

To get some thoughts and perspective on this subject and more, On-Air On-Soaps went to the man himself, Jerry verDorn, who in our humble opinion has given the true Daytime Emmy winning Lead Actor performance of 2011!  Jerry chats about the Emmys, the cancellation of OLTL, where soaps made a wrong turn, and working with the dynamite trio of Erika Slezak (Viki), Robin Strasser (Dorian), and Kim Zimmer (Echo) as Clint’s leading ladies, In addition, he previews that there is more story to come for the Buchanan clan!  Without further ado, we are thrilled to bring you this interview with Jerry.

MICHAEL:

Clint is at the epicenter of most all the major stories playing out on One Life to Live! Now, with his heart attack and struggle to find a donor heart, do you think this was the only way to redeem Clint from his bad deeds?

JERRY:

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I don’t think it was the only way, but I thought it was a good way. There is history there because his father, Asa, had heart problems, too.  And so it made sense family-wise.  I just remember when I first heard about it; I recalled an actor named Larry Gates who played H. B. on Guiding Light. And, he once told me, “When you are pretending to have a heart attack, be very careful you don’t bring on a heart attack.” (Laughs) When we were shooting those scenes, I had that firmly in mind. (Laughs)  But anyway, I thought it was brilliant.  And then unfortunately, the person who stumbled upon Clint in his misery is Dorian, who then proceeds to have a seat and take a view.  I thought it was very good, and after that happened it involved so many other people.  That is really the hallmark of great soap.  And when a soap is going good, and when a lot of people are involved, it makes for an interesting story.

MICHAEL:

Clint, being such a jackass and a bad guy has been so delicious to watch!  When you saw this turn in the character, what were your thoughts?

JERRY:

I thought it made perfect sense.  Because I think in most cases with sons and daughters, they reach a point in their lives when they look in the mirror and say, “Hi Mom or Hi Dad,” because they start to physically look like them.  And usually, they are very emotionally similar to their parent, and so I thought the turn was absolutely great!  Fans would come up to me and say, “How could you do this? This Clint has always been so nice.”  And I would say, “Well a lot of things have happened to him.”  There he is sitting in that mansion all by himself staring into the fire, and so I had no problems doing what the story required.

MICHAEL:

How has your real life family reacted to seeing you play evil Clint?

JERRY:

© JPI Studios

They said, “You are really a jackass when you want to be!” (Laughs) You know, over at CBS, I was playing the pillar of the community and such a good guy for so long, even though I came on as a bad guy!  Nobody remembers that I came on GL as Roger Thorpe’s evil lawyer.  I was the black sheep of the family, but that did not last long, and then it was Mayor Marler and all that stuff.

MICHAEL:

You have given the performance of the year thus far, and it is so great to watch Clint mix-it up with Eddie Ford, Nora, Bo, Inez, and especially with Matthew.  With all signs pointing to Matthew being the donor match for Clint, it seems like Clint’s plans all went horribly awry, wouldn’t you say?

JERRY:

Being the control freak he is, Clint is very upset how these things spun out of control. Now perhaps, he is having second thoughts as in, “What have I done now?”  There is a lot of Macbeth in him, as in, “Have I gone too far?”   The sins of the father are coming to visit the sons and all of those kinds of themes, so with the culmination of all that and with all the pressure, it makes sense for him to have a heart attack. Clint had so many secrets going that he can’t even keep them straight!

MICHAEL:

Could you keep them straight? (Laughs)

JERRY:

It was difficult.  When somebody walked into the room, I had to know which baby did I switch, do they know the truth, or what I told them was the truth.  You know how politicians are, when they do something wrong instead of immediately fessing up there is this cover-up, and eventually it gets so complicated that they all get tripped up. That is where Clint is.  He is the middle of this emotional mess and he is not sure he has a handle on it anymore, and of course it involves people he loves!  He doesn’t want Viki to find out some terrible things he did and he doesn’t want his kids to know, so Clint has a lot of balls in the air.

MICHAEL:

© JPI Studios

Poor Jessica, split into a million pieces and multiple personalities again.  Does he feel any remorse for what he caused to happen to his daughter?  It seems to not have been addressed!

JERRY:

He does and it does come out in the future.  I have been shooting some scenes where the guilt of that for him is just enormous, and it is finally coming out.  I think the Matthew situation and Jessica splitting again are the two toughest things for him to face.

MICHAEL:

So when he is faced with the knowledge that Matthew’s heart is a match for him, Clint does not want Matthews’s heart.

JERRY:

Clint would rather die than take his heart, because Matthew is just beginning his life and Clint is an older man who has lived a long and wonderful life.  He is adamant about that, I would imagine.

MICHAEL:

Recently, one of the best scenes was between you and Erika Slezak in Clint’s hospital room discussing that he is not going to make it.  You always see with Clint that Viki is his Achilles heel.  He seems not to be able to lie to her very well, or cover his feelings in front of her.  Do you remember shooting that beautiful scene in the hospital?

JERRY:

I do remember that scene, and one of the joys of working here is looking into the eyes of Erika Slezak, because she is such a nice dance partner.  And that helps, because we no longer have any rehearsal time because we shoot things so fast.  I thought that scene was beautifully written. You are right. With the b*s* meter, Viki has got it figured out because she has known Clint for so long, and she knew Asa for so long and they shared children.  He just can’t, and does not want to see her be disappointed or look bad in her eyes, and that hurts him.

MICHAEL:

Courtesy/ABC

Erika got the biggest kick that you came in on your day off to be at her 40th anniversary party, at OLTL.  She told me in a recent interview, “I was surprised that Jerry was there.”  I mean back in the day at Guiding Light you knew of Erika Slezak’s work, I am sure.  Did you ever think you would be her scene partner?

JERRY:

No, I never did, for a lot of reasons.  One of which was I thought I was going to be staying at CBS.  But in terms of that one particular day, I would not have missed that for anything.  Frank Valentini, our executive producer, had asked me to say something to her and I did not want to miss that: the opportunity to say something to her in public that I feel in my heart.  And by the way, that is what a lot of people in the cast feel about Erika for this great accomplishment of hers.  So it was no problem coming in for that day. When I got the role of Clint six and half years ago it was like a gift from heaven, because this show had so much history. With Clint Ritchie having done such a wonderful job at creating this character, I felt enough time had passed with the character being on-screen and coming back again was perfect.  Audiences hate recasts, at least they usually do. (Laughs)  I think my decision was to not base everything off of what Clint Ritchie did when he was doing the role, but I based everything on Phillip Carey (Asa).  I just wanted to walk like him, sound like him, be like him, instead of copying what Clint was doing. And in terms of who I am acting with, Oh, my Goodness! (Laughs) I mean one day I am working with Erika, and then one day I am working with Robin Strasser and Bree Williamson (Jessica) and Melissa Archer (Natalie)!  It’s amazing!

MICHAEL:

What about Bob Woods as your brother Bo?  The showdown scenes in the stable were classic soap!

JERRY:

He is another one, and in real life we are almost like brothers, in that we knew each other in passing over the years, but we kind of bookended each other in our soap careers.  We both started in 1979, he on One Life and me on Guiding Light.  When I came here, I had never acted with him, but it was just so easy to do.  We have some awfully good material and we have a head writer in Ron Carlivati who respected the history and wanted to spring new story out of history, which audiences always like.  It has been really nice.

MICHAEL:

© JPI Studios

So what do you think has been the most ridiculous moment of all of Clint’s plotting or machinations?

JERRY:

I think when he had a little too much bourbon and reached for the shotgun and he brings it out in public and brings it into the church.  I read that and went, “Well, at least they had him a little tooted with too much bourbon!” (Laughs)  That was over-the-top. (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

On Friday’s episode, Clint reveals to Natalie and Joey he does not have long to live.  Can you give us a preview of what goes down?

JERRY:

Clint is very much just facing facts.  He has a very rare blood type and the donor is difficult to find.  He is not first on the list, even though he owns half the hospital.  Those lists are very sacred and even soap operas will not alter that.  So he is down on the list with a hard to match donor profile.  He decides to gather the family and lay out the facts and enjoy his time and let them know what is happening to him.  They do not want anything to do with this.  And I think Natalie has a line that says, “If the roles were reversed and you were standing watching me in bed, would you be telling me to give up and saying that it’s OK?”   So those are the things that go down and Tom Degnan ((Joey) was terrific.  We actually got to rehearse these scenes, and they were so well-written.  It was a very good day and it was partly about what do you do when someone is on their last days.  Do you support that or tell them to keep fighting?  It is one of those main issues that people have with right to die issues. You will see terrific performances… I will tell you that!

MICHAEL:

Is it easy to just lie around in a hospital bed in scenes and watch people cry all around you?  Or, is it difficult for you?

JERRY:

It’s not easy, and it’s actually very disturbing to me because of my personal history.  I have spent a lot of time in hospitals being a 19-year cancer survivor, and every now and then I have to go back to the hospital to get check-ups.  I am in my fifth week of coming to the set and putting on pajamas and flopping into bed and being hooked up to medical devices, and it’s just too close to what I sometimes go through myself.   I have to watch myself and I am very careful with this, that when the show is over, the show is over, and I leave it all at the studio and go home and live life.

© JPI Studios

MICHAEL:

As you are aware many of us in the industry, including myself, thought you were most deserving of a Daytime Emmy this year and you did not get nominated.  What did you submit?

JERRY:

Well, I think most of my material that you are referring to was after January 1, so it was not eligible.  I went with something I had with Tuc Watkins (David), because that was all I had.  It was one of the early Moroccan prison scenes, and that was the only thing I had where the scenes where actually driven by me, but it was semi-comedic.  So I did not know how that would fly.  I did not have any of the confrontations with Bo to choose from.  And so the fact of the matter is, I think several people from our show will be nominated next year when the show is not on, just like what happened this year with As the World Turns.  It does not really matter to me about the nomination, but I would have liked to get some publicity for the show.  Brian Kerwin, (Charlie) has some awfully good scenes with Erika this past year and I am really glad he got nominated.

MICHAEL:

How are you doing now with the news of the cancellation of One Life to Live? And how is everyone doing over at the studio?

JERRY:

The atmosphere has been as positive as it possibly could be, and we have a long time before we go off, so that gives the writers a way to end it properly, if indeed, it is going to end.  I am fine with it, but I am 62.  The people I am not fine with are the people who are the tech people who are in their early 40’s and they have kids in grade school and that kind of thing, and knowing that there is hardly any scripted television in New York, and those are the people I am worried about.  I am not so worried about the kids, they don’t have kids of their own or real estate yet, so they can bounce around in show business, which happens all the time, but to be caught in the middle is tough.  There are, I would say, 100 like that on AMC, and 100 like that on OLTL.  It’s difficult and that is what hurts me.

MICHAEL:

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Having gone through a major cancellation and disruption with Guiding Light previously, does it leave you at all better equipped to handle it a second time, only this time at OLTL?

JERRY:

Over at Guiding Light, I was sort of a pseudo-producer.  I spoke publicly when producers did not want to, so I was privy to falling numbers.  But, I also thought this medium got into trouble when they started worrying about production values.  I don’t think there is one soap opera fan that tuned in to see how well we would blow something up.  They tune in for one thing, and that is story.  We could do this in front of a black screen and it would be fine.  The special effects we should worry about are: ladies gowns, perhaps, and some perfectly romantic lighting.  But setting a major fire or having an earthquake, and a lot of gunplay, the fans don’t care about that.  They care about what Viki feels after the earthquake is over and are the children okay, and all that kind of stuff.  And those shows wasted just oodles of money, in my mind!

MICHAEL:

I agree!

JERRY:

Years ago, I thought they were doing it not for the audience, but for one executive producer to ‘wow’ another executive producer with, “Whoa, how did they do that?”  I promise you Michael, that those confrontation scenes between Bo and Clint at the stable, that is what people tune in to soaps for, and that is what a good cliffhanger is on a Friday episode, with Clint looking at Bo and Bo looking at Clint.  And, there is a gun in the room and a lot of things to talk about, and that is what will bring people back on Monday. We don’t need the stable to catch fire.  So in my mind, our audience gave us a huge artistic license that the producers did not take full advantage of.

MICHAEL:

Right now, OLTL has never been better and the ratings even reflect it.  For the last several weeks, they have been at number 3!

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JERRY:

Isn’t that ironic!?

MICHAEL:

I know, isn’t it ironic!  It’s the most kick-ass show on the air right now.

JERRY:

I am looking up at the screen right now, and Bo and Nora are having this discussion about Matthew’s heart and what to do with Matthew since he is in such a dire situation, and I can’t stop watching!  They are kicking it, and I think the show is in very good artistic shape.  If we have to go down, at least we are going to go down in good shape.

MICHAEL:

If Clint survives his medical crisis, do you have a wish list of how you would like to see the story wrap up in the end for Clint?  Erika Slezak had told me she would like to see Viki and Clint back together.

JERRY:

I would not mind having Viki and Clint back together, too.  That would be a good way, but ultimately, I would like to see Clint and the tent pole characters be what they should be and be with who they should be with.  In Clint’s case, he should be happy and revel in his children, but I think the last image of the show better be Erika’s! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

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How has it been working with John-Paul Lavoisier as Clint’s shocker of a son, Rex?

JERRY:

It has been terrific, and it finally gives some closure to his character, who was running around going, “You’re my dad?  No, you’re my dad?”  Rex was going through that for years, and then finally the irony of it is that Clint is Rex’s dad.  And then there is that loveliness of having his mother come on his show who was on the show before, and every time he sees Rex, Clint sees Echo, who happened to be Kim Zimmer, and that was just perfect.  I had never worked with JP before, and so the awkwardness we played as father and son was just terrific.

MICHAEL:

If you were to sum up what lies ahead for Rex and Clint, would you say there is more heavy-duty drama to come?

JERRY:

There is a lot of drama coming up between Rex and Clint, and he almost brings on a second heart attack at the hospital!  So yeah, JP has had a lot of heavy story to do and he did it well.  I can tell you there is some good story in the pipeline.  Then Viki finds out conclusively, that Rex is indeed being treated this way by Clint, and she just goes into the, “Are you kidding me, Clint,” mode. “Clint Buchanan, who says, ‘family is everything?’”  Those are good scenes, too.  I am telling you, in the pipeline there is some good soap ahead.

MICHAEL:

Can we expect more scenes between Echo and Clint?

Courtesy/ABC

JERRY:

I believe so, and we have taped some stuff that has not aired.  It was so weird working with Kim, because we would see each other at Guiding Light and we would cross paths there, but nothing with any serious story.  It has been so much fun to have scenes about Echo and Clint’s relationship, and Kim is just terrific fun.

MICHAEL:

So this heart story seems far from over!

JERRY:

There is no abrupt ending and it involves all the children, and what I like about it is it involves all the different generations of characters.  Sometimes on soaps characters get compartmentalized such as: here is the younger storyline, here is the old people’s storyline, and here are the people in the mid 40-s storyline and they don’t come together like families.  But these stories have brought actors of all ages together, and I think that is neat.

MICHAEL:

We have got to get you out of the hospital set…STAT!

JERRY:

Courtesy/ABC

(Laughs) They are looking for a compatible donor and I am still there.  A lot of people that come up to me on the street tell me they believe that Clint is not going to make it.

MICHAEL:

Of all the horrible acts of Clint, what were some of your most favorite moments to play so far this year? And, do you think we have not even seen the tip of the iceberg?

JERRY:

Well, the Bo showdown in the barn is one and some scenes when revealing to Bo and Nora, to just go ahead with this and let Clint take the rap for Eddie Ford’s murder.  Clint is like, “You don’t want to know about the killing of Eddie Ford, because it’s not for my sake, but for your sakes.”   I think those were well-written scenes, and they were acted well and shot well.  I did like the heart attack.  I remembered the advice I took that I told you about. (Laughs) I have been so lucky to have so many good acting partners, and I think I am going to have a lot more great scenes before November.  I think Ron Carlivati is on fire.

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Jerry is absolutely wonderful! 🙂

Great interview. I love this guy! And I can’t wait to see more of the Buchanan family!

Thank you for the wonderful interview. I just love Jerry VerDorn as Clint!

How come you haven’t asked JVD how Clint is going to get the Buchanan mansion back from Cutter? When is that going to happen? Geat interview as usual, BTW!!!!

THIS INTERVIEW WAS GREAT!!!!!!
I WANT CLINT AND VICKI BACK TOGETHER TOO.
THE PEOPLE OF OLTL ARE JUST LIKE MY FAMILY MEMBERS.
IT WILL BE A TERRIBLE DEATH OF ALL THESE CHARACTERS

Great interview. Jerry verDorn is such a class act. Can’t wait to see what he does with the Clint character in the coming months!

I loved this interview, Michael. You asked all the right questions to Jerry, and he gave you terrific answers. He seemed very relaxed in talking with you and he made me appreciate him as a man who happens to be a great actor. His evil switch of character was subtle, conniving, and done with precision, as only an actor of his caliber could deliver. I certinly don’t want him to die and go to Neverland. Bravo, Jerry…well done…

It was a great interview. I think Jerry is a great actor and get the impression an honorable. and outright nice fellow. if the show does go off the air sure will miss it.

I wonder if Clint is planning to recognize Rex as his son? I must admit that I could care less if he didn’t, I have never liked the character of Rex. I would like to see him and Viki together and their family. Please don’t let Ford be a part of this family.

It was a great interview with a great actor. I have enjoyed him as Clint more that Bo.

can’t wait for clint and viki reunion

excellent interview!!!
i really like jerry’s version of clint!

What a great guy. I also like how he said “if” the show doesnt continue. I think he acknowledges all that the fans are doing to save it. THANKS

Can Clint and Viki move to Port Charles?

Amen, Todd!! Maybe all of the cast should. I have watched this for so flipping many years (don’t want to date my old self), I truly hope that somehow the show will never end! JVD was right when he said the show has been excellent for the last few years, and it is ironic that it would end at it’s epitome of brilliance! Can SoapNet keep it going?? Oh how I wish!

I have been watching since 87 and I am still rushing to get home every day. Rex, gigi, and shane blew me awY the last few days.

I remember way back in 1973 when I played Thomas Bolin and Jerry was Henry VIII in “Anne of the Thousand Days” back at Moorhead State … best to you Jerry, very glad for your sucess

Interesting tidbit about that production on “Anne” … not only featured Jerry as Henry, but also Kristin Rudrüd as Anne Bolyn – she was the kidmapped wife in the movie “Fargo”

what is Jerry’s plans now that OLTL if over?

Interviews

The Young and the Restless’ Michael Damian On Christine/Danny/Phyllis: “It’s a Fun Triangle Story That They’re Having Us Do, Because It’s Very Retro”

This week on The Young and the Restless, while Danny (Michael Damian) and Christine (Lauralee Bell) hit the sheets, and Phyllis (Michele Stafford) sets off an alarm as payback (literally!), the top-rated CBS soap opera continues to weave the tale of these three characters decades later, finding themselves in very familiar territory with each other.

We know that Christine and Phyllis are basically, mortal enemies, while Danny, who has been the man in the middle, has had a past with both women. However, it is Christine who has been, for all intent and purposes the love of his life.  But, will Phyllis’ machinations make it near to impossible for Danny and Christine to be together? Stay tuned.

Last week, Michael and his real-life wife, Janeen Damian visited the Michael Fairman Channel promoting their #1 streaming film on Netflix, Irish Wish starring Lindsay Lohan. The film was produced by the Damians, while Janeen directed it and co-wrote the romantic story. Michael is featured on the Irish Wish soundtrack performing his track, Wild Irish Heart.

Photo: Netflix

During the conversation, Michael shared what it has been like revisiting the Christine/Danny/Phyllis triangle years later. Damian addressed the fans on the livestream, who inquired. “It’s a fun triangle story that they’re having us do, because it’s very retro. And I think it’s fun to bring that nostalgia, retro thing back.”

Photo: JPI

Recalling a tender moment between Danny on the piano alone with Christine (during the standalone episode which honored Lauralee Bell’s 40th anniversary with Y&R), Michael expressed, “I think what they’re doing is so smart, and they’re reconnecting a lot of the fans to a lot of the story. I mean, we’re talking years and years of story.”

Photo: JPI

The longtime Y&R fan favorite, added, “I’m really glad they did the thing on the piano because people have been asking, ‘Why are you not doing any music? Why are you not singing? Where’s your band?’ You know what I mean? Janeen is asking the same thing, ‘Why aren’t you singing something on the show?’ The last time I sang on the show was when we thought Phyllis was dead. So, you know, that didn’t count. (Laughs)

One of the funniest moment in the revisiting of the triangle occurred when Phyllis and Christine were arguing over Danny, and he was right there in the room with them. The two women got so engrossed in their fight, they forgot he was there, and thus he walked out of the room.

Photo: JPI

Michael revealed, he liked that scene too! “They’re fighting. They’re arguing and Danny’s like, ‘Listen, I’m over here. Please stop it.” And then they don’t stop,” Damian recalled. “And so Danny just grabs his coat, picks up his sheet music, because he was working on a song. He goes to the door. In the scene, I even look back to see if they are even noticing me leave, and then I just left. That one was pretty funny. I’ll be honest. I was laughing out in the hallway when I left. I was thinking, ‘Should I slam the door? But then if I slam the door, they still have dialogue.’ They’re still talking and they would’ve turned, and then it would’ve ruined it. So, I just gently closed the door and left.

Photo: JPI

During the livestream, Damian teased he has some upcoming scenes with longtime Y&R co-star Beth Maitland (Traci), “I just worked with Beth Maitland actually the other day, and that was really fun. I can’t wait for people to see that show.”

Check out the the Michael Fairman Channel chat with Michael and Janeen Damian below.

Now, let us know, are you rooting for Danny and Christine? Do you think Phyllis will continue to be a disruptor in this relationship and somehow worm her way back into Dannys good graces? Share your thoughts in the comment section. But first check out this sneak peek for this week’s Y&R featuring the trio.

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Days Of Our Lives

Days of our Lives Star Blake Berris Chats On the Everett Lynch/Bobby Stein Mystery, Working with His New Co-Stars, and the Last Christmas Episode with Bill Hayes

On Days of our Lives, the return of Blake Berris is making for some very intriguing drama, with the audience guessing just which way the story will go.

When Berris arrived back on Days of our Lives, after previously playing Nick Fallon, he was taking on the new role of Everett Lynch, who has a past with Stephanie Johnson (Abigail Klein) and Jada Hunter (Elia Cantu). Only, as it has been revealed, the past he had with Jada was under the name “Bobby Stein,” who from what we can tell was far from a nice guy.

Blake visited the Michael Fairman Channel for a livestream interview this week, where fans in the live chat were weighing-on what could be the truth about the guy – is he a split personality suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder? Did the accident that cost him a year of his life in a coma, never happen? Recently, someone set fire to the beloved Horton house. Fans are suspecting it would have been “Bobby” who is working for Clyde Weston (James Read). Others believe that Everett/Bobby could actually be Clyde’s son. With upcoming therapy sessions with Dr. Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall) about to start, things are about to get more juicy in Salem.

Photo: JPI

Here are just a few excerpts from our conversation with Blake on a myriad of Everett/Bobby subjects. Make sure to check out the full interview for more.

Did you know that they were going to make Everett Lynch a Jewish character? This is only the second time in the history of the show that they have even had a Jewish character on the canvas. Didn’t they reveal this at the Horton family Christmas episode?

BLAKE: No, they never asked me. I am half-Jewish on my dad’s side. There was never like, ‘You’re Jewish, right? We can call you Jewish on the show?’ At the Horton Christmas, “They made a real point of it, yeah.”

And now the new ‘character’ is “Bobby Stein” …

BLAKE: “Right, and that suggests more Jewish, and then Lynch must be coming from somewhere else, maybe the mother. I was so curious because I think the show has been historically, I’m gonna say, Catholic more than like Wasps. With the Bradys there’s this sort of Irish influence, and then the DiMeras, that’s Italian. So, we’ve got Catholics sort of on both sides that are dominant. Now I, “represent”.

Photo: JPI

What has it been like working with Abigail Klein?

BLAKE: I think she is extraordinary. We start off sort of frosty, or she’s frosty with me, like she doesn’t want to let me in. And then, for a while things are going really well. I just could not adore Abigail more. She’s such a good actor. I could always rely on her to bring me back into a scene and be there in this emotionally, supportive way.

Photo: JPI

Everett and Chad seemed to be becoming friend-ish, when all went awry when at the PCPD interrogation room, Everett let him know about Elia and Bobby Stein, and Chad let him have it for worming his way back in to Stephanie’s life.

BLAKE: Billy would call us the ‘disgusting brothers’ and that’s a reference from Succession, because all of a sudden they’re just so chummy with each other. It’s like all of a sudden we just had this like ‘Bernstein and Woodward’, sort of dynamic duo. I think that Everett really started to think of Chad as a friend and feels sort of disappointed, and he feels, “Oh, it’s that easy? I just needed to have some other identity and now you’re a fair-weather friend?”‘

Photo: JPI

In recent scenes, Jada sees Bobby Stein for the first time, and we see you and Elia Cantu share scenes with each other for the first time. What is it like working with Elia?

BLAKE: She’s fire, man. She comes in hot and she tells you the way it’s going to be. I think early on, we were trying to suss each other out and the more we worked together, the more comfortable you get with somebody. I think actors do this sometimes with each other; if there’s spice on screen, you like to keep some of what you have on-screen in your (real-life) interactions because it helps … it helps the work.  Eventually, we just sort of wore each other down and we’re like, ‘I actually totally get you, and you’re great.'”

Did you know that they were going to make Everett Lynch a Jewish character? This is only the second time in the history of the show that they have even had a Jewish character and didn’t they reveal this at the Horton family Christmas episode?

BLAKE: No, they never asked me. I am half-Jewish on my dad’s side. There was never like, ‘You’re Jewish, right? We can call you Jewish on the show?’ At the Horton Christmas, “They made a real point of it, yeah.”

And now the new ‘character’ is “Bobby Stein” …

BLAKE: “Right, and that suggests more Jewish, and then Lynch must be coming from somewhere else, maybe the mother. I was so curious because I think the show has been historically, I’m gonna say, Catholic more than like Wasps. With the Bradys there’s this sort of Irish influence, and then the DiMeras, that’s Italian. So we’ve got Catholics sort of on both sides that are dominant. Now I, “represent”.

Photo: JPI

You were on set and in the annual Horton Christmas episode which sadly marked the last for Days of our Lives legendary Bill Hayes, who passed away in January of this year.  What do you recall of that tape day?

BLAKE: It was the Christmas episode when we were watching Susan (Julie) and Bill, say ‘Merry Christmas.’  And there was something about it that just felt like it could be the last time. I mean, it wrecked us all on set. Bill gets so choked up and there was something really profound about the moment. They kiss each other as they have so many times before on the show. It was just beautiful. It felt beautiful to be there for that last Christmas. He’s just such an icon. Every time I’d see him, he was so with it … he knew my name, he knew his lines. What an incredible, incredible man.

Photo: JPI

Fans will get to see Everett in therapy sessions with Dr. Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall)? Would you say she is helping the guy?

BLAKE: Deidre’s always making jokes about Marlena, ‘She’s the worst therapist in the world’ (Laughs) I remember in the first therapy session, we almost couldn’t get through the scenes because it’s just so clear that Everett has a litany of very profound psychological issues that he is going to have to work through. He’ll keep coming back. This guy’s gonna pay the bills!

Photo: JPI

Viewers are waiting to see how they mystery of Everett Lynch/Bobby Stein plays out. What can you say as a tease for what’s to come?

BLAKE: As far as a tease, I would say, you have all these characters sort of, trying to wake up the ‘sleeping giant’ in a way. I think it’s safe to say that like if you poke a bear, the bear might wake up.

Watch the livestream chat with Blake in full below.

Now let us know, what do you think is going with Everett/Bobby? What has happened to him in his past? Share your theories in the comment section below, and make sure to catch Days of our Lives next week on Peacock for more to his story.

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Interviews

Y&R’s Melody Thomas Scott Talks on 45 Years as Nikki Newman, the Keys to Playing Drunk, And Those Genoa City Relationships

February is ‘Nikki Newman Month’ in soapland as the The Young and the Restless iconic Melody Thomas Scott celebrates her 45th anniversary in her leading role.

My how time flies! Nikki has had numerous marriages, and some to the same man, battled her addiction to alcohol too many times to count (and we loved it all), and faced so much heartache in the process.

Currently, on all-new episodes of the top-rated CBS daytime drama series, Nikki can’t quite get a grip as Jordan (Colleen Zenk) is out there and in the middle of her next master plot to make Nikki suffer, all the while Nikki is drinking again. Thanks to the heinous plot concocted by Jordan and Claire (Hayley Erin) that revealed itself last November.

Photo: JPI

In a special conversation for You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel, Melody shared her thoughts on a myriad of subjects including: her current story, those long tape days at Victor and Nikki’s weddings, why she plays drunk better than anyone on television, plus we take a mini-deep dive into Nikki’s past.

Y&R fans were stunned when the powers-that-be had Nikki kidnapped and then hooked her up to an IV of booze. Just how much did Melody know of the story going in? She elaborated, “I knew Nikki would be terrorized. That’s all that I knew. I thought that sounded like great fun. I didn’t know for a little bit that she was going to fall off the wagon in the process of it. And then when I heard how it would happen, I was thrilled to bits. I did kind of want to have a little leader (or crawl) down at the bottom of the screen saying, ‘Hey, people don’t put an IV with vodka in your arm because that will kill you.’ But, poetic license, I suppose.”

Photo: JPI

Melody also weighed-in on if she thinks Nikki will stop drinking anytime soon, expressing, “She just can’t get out of this. Then of course, Jordan’s not letting her out very easily. Just when Nikki thinks she is mentally strong enough to never take another drink, well, of course she does, because something else happens. I think it’s also a learning point for people who are watching the show who may have an addiction problem. Now, I could be wrong, but I think it’d be highly unusual for somebody to be just mentally strong to be able to stop.”

If you wondered if Melody enjoys playing a drunk Nikki, look no more, “I do. That’s simply for selfish reasons,” she shared. “That’s for my enjoyment. I take great pleasure in it. It’s fun for me, and just the process of pretending to be drunk. I love the end result. I try not to do too much because there’s nothing worse when an actor is overplaying drunk. So you have to kind of keep it a little bit underneath (the surface). However, sometimes because of Jordan, Nikki does get much sloppier than I normally would play it.”

Photo: JPI

In recent episodes, it seems that Jack (Peter Bergman) and Nikki are gravitating more to each other, as both are drawn together through their shared experiences with addiction. Victor (Eric Braeden) is not happy that his arch-nemesis is helping Nikki try to stay sober. Could Melody see Jack and Nikki becoming romantic again? “I love Peter. I mean, Peter was my second favorite husband on Y&R. It would be wonderful, but I don’t know if the fans would go for that,” she explained. “They’re so invested in Niktor that I think they would really be upset about that unless Victor did something really crummy, then I could buy that.”

Photo: JPI

One of the more ‘out there’ stories during Melody’s 45-year run, was when Nikki was paired with Crazy Edward, and he took her home to meet his mother … who was in an urn! You would think maybe Melody didn’t like the story .. but think again! “Bill Bell (co-creator, Y&R) was writing the show in those days, and Bill kept that information pretty tight. I don’t remember us knowing even a week in advance. Maybe, we would get our scripts, three or four days in advance and that was it. You knew nothing about future story, but I loved the story,” she raved. “It was almost Hitchcockian, shall we say. The actor who played Crazy Edward, Paul Tulley was so magnificent and such a sweetheart. We loved working with each other so much, but man, when that red light came on the camera, he scared the you-know-what out of me. He was absolutely terrifying. But then, the minute the scene was over, we’re fooling around and laughing and everything. He was so good. So good!”

Photo: JPI

According to Melody, the pairing of Victor and Nikki was not something she, nor Eric Braeden, initially thought would made sense: “I was a little terrified when I heard that he and I would be doing scenes. I thought, ‘What, what?’ He also wondered, ‘What am I going to be doing working with that young kid, that snotty kid?’ We had no idea what Bill Bell saw. He had a vision with us and somehow knew that we would have chemistry. It didn’t take Bill long to show us in the scripts why he put us together. Then, we started to see it. Although, it was hard to imagine at first, certainly we knew it worked by the time Nikki had baby number one during the ‘Who’s the father?’ storyline. Nikki and Victor weren’t even married yet. So, we did figure it out pretty early on.”

Photo: JPI

From her early years as Nikki Reed, Melody reflected back on some major story points in her character’s history, relating, “I actually did like her in the very beginning when she was just a little brat living with her sister and her father, who of course ended up trying to rape her…  and she had hit him over the head with a lamp … and he died. I did not care for the stripping storyline at all. Only because I knew that I didn’t have the natural dancing ability. I wasn’t fluid enough to really look good up there stripping. I know they hired wonderful choreographers and everything for me, but I just didn’t feel worthy of being up there … I guess is what it was. Of course, now I look back on it and I think, ‘Oh, I guess it wasn’t too bad.’ Later, there was a strip she did in the Colonnade Room. At the time, she was married to Jack. Victor’s sitting there with some other woman and she’s drunk. I saw that scene recently, and I thought it was great. I didn’t at the time, but looking back, I thought, ‘Wow, that was good.'”

Photo: CBS

Watch the full 45th anniversary conversation with Melody below.

Now let us know, are you enjoying Nikki being back on the bottle? Would you want to see Jack and Nikki try their relationship one more time? What has been your favorite storyline of Melody’s over the last 45 years on Y&R.  Let us know in the comment section.

 

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