Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com

The life of Port Charles Sam Morgan (Kelly Monaco) is really heating up these days!  Not only in the bedroom, thanks to taking her relationship to the next level with Dr. Patrick Drake (Jason Thompson), but also because she has been unknowingly in threat of losing her life, thanks to an unholy alliance between her believed-to-be-dead husband Jason (Billy Miller) … whom Sam has no idea is walking around town as the amnesiac “Jake” with a completely reconstructed face … and the treacherous Helena Cassadine (Constance Towers) who would like nothing more than to rid the earth of the woman.  Meanwhile, Sam has been busy trying to put the pieces together on several different mysteries including: being attacked by a masked man (“Jake”) in a ski mask, and who was responsible for having Patrick’s car run off the road last year, which eventually caused the death of his son, the premature born, baby Gabriel.

It has been a rocky road for Sam of late, after losing her beloved Jason; she finally let herself fall back in love, and with none other than Dr. Silas Clay (Michael Easton). They seemed destined to be together, until Silas’ certifiable wife Nina (Michelle Stafford) came back into the picture and manipulated events to cause their break-up.  But now, Sam looks to be moving on with Dr. Drake!  Will it last if she were to find out that her husband is actually alive?  On-Air On-Soaps sat down with actress Kelly Monaco to get her thoughts on: all the twist and turns going down on General Hospital, where she believes things may be headed, and to chat about all her leading men!

Later, Kelly fills us in on her upcoming guest appearance on the ABC Family comedy series, Baby Daddy airing on February 4th at 8:30PMET/PT in a fun riff on her soap opera alter-ego, and being a soap star.  Plus, Kelly shares her thoughts on playing those catty scenes opposite Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth), what she thought of William deVry coming on to the canvas as her never-before-known biological father, Julian Jerome, and so much more.  During our conversation, the often elusive Kelly was direct, funny, and candid, and we can’t think of when we have enjoyed an interview more.  Here’s the always sexy, scrappy survivor … Ms. Monaco!

MICHAEL:

Sam has a lot of men in her life circling her!  What do you think of the embarrassment of riches?  What woman on daytime television gets to be with this crème’ de la crème’?

KELLY:

Courtesy/ABC

She’s lucky!  She has some choices! (Laughs)  Well, we had Silas (Michael Easton), and now Patrick (Jason Thompson), and then there is Jason (Billy Miller).  I definitely have had my pick of the litter!

MICHAEL:

Let’s talk about Samtrick.  When they said we are going to pair you with Jason Thompson and try to broach a romance between Patrick and Sam, once they had established their friendship, what were your thoughts on that?   Were you at all worried it wouldn’t play?

KELLY:

Jason and I have been fighting for that for a long time, since Steve Burton left, basically.  We were in New York like a year and half ago, and we went up to Ron Carlivati’s (head writer, GH) office and the writers over at General Hospital.  We both sat there and we’re like “Well?”  And they said, “No, not yet.  You guys are friends,” meaning, of course, our characters on the show we’re friends.  Jason and I were like, “Just try it!”  And lo and behold, I don’t know when they decided, but here is it is, and I love it.  Jason Thompson is my friend in real life, and he’s my family.  So it’s really great working with him – it’s fresh and new, and we hadn’t had the opportunity to interact like that on-screen before.  There is a trust there that you can make out on-screen, or whatever.  I am not taking anything away from Michael Easton.  I have known him for 15 years, but if they were going to shift me and put me somewhere, I am glad they put me in Jason’s arms.

MICHAEL:

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Do you think that the Patrick and Sam relationship feels forced to the viewers at all?

KELLY:

It’s hard not to rush anything.  It takes a very idle hand not to slow it down, and tell the writers what to do, and you can’t really do that anymore.  Giving credit to Steve Burton (Ex-Jason, GH, now Dylan, Y&R) he did that with Jason and Sam.  He very specifically was saying, “No, no, no. Not yet.”  He knew just when to hit the audience with them coming together, and we played it out for a couple of years.  That is why Jason and Sam were so great.  But you can’t really do that in the landscape we are in – as they want drama, romance and a payoff – and another payoff – and to keep the show moving.  It’s like a dance.  So considering that, I am lucky that if I have got to dance, it got to be with Jason Thompson.

MICHAEL:

Jason Thompson is one of the most phenomenal actors I have ever watched in this genre … and I have watched this stuff for a very long time!

KELLY:

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I know.  He is ridiculously good.  Jason is funny.  We will be getting ready to start a scene and he will be like, “Um, how did we get here?”  And I go, “What are you talking about?”  And he will go, “Did we drive here … or did we walk?”  I go, “We f***ing drove!” (Laughs)  Next he says, “Well, did you drive, or did I drive?”  I say, “We took a driver!”  And then he says, “Well, is it cold out?  Were we holding hands before we came in, or what?”  And I go, “NO!  I am pissed at you because I am thinking about my husband!” (Laughs)  I said to Jason, “Stop asking so many questions.  Just say the lines and go!  Just stand there and look pretty, because I talk all the time!” (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Sam does talk all the time … she goes on and on!

KELLY:

She talks and talks, like Carly (Laura Wright)! (Laughs)  I just want to tell her to shut up!

MICHAEL:

Do you think the relationship with Patrick and Sam has legs and will endure?

KELLY:

Not if Jason is in the picture, not a chance in hell!  “Jake’ is different, but if there is Jason in the picture there is no way.  Sam carries a phoenix/dragon in her pocket, and without thought if she knew Jason was there, (I think this of her and I don’t know if the writers do), I don’t know if she would run back romantically, but she would drop everything to attend to him.

Courtesy/ABC

MICHAEL:

So, let’s talk about Billy Miller.  He leaves Y&R and then he becomes the recast Jason Morgan (or Jason Quartermaine).  What did you think about that bit of huge casting news?

KELLY:

I was like “Thank You!  Thank you for the blessings, Soap Gods!”  We had just gotten Michelle Stafford (Nina) and I was like, “How can Y&R let Michelle go, and then Billy?”   Next thing you know, I ran into Billy at the Del Mar Racetrack last year. He had just left Y&R, and I hadn’t met him yet, but we had mutual friends.  I drove him, (but I didn’t know him then) to the horse race along with some friends, but he was in my car.  And so, I got to hang out with them that day.  I remember saying to a friend of mine at the time, “If anyone is going to play Jason, it’s going to be him!”  I just felt something from him as Billy, and of course, I went and watched a bunch of his work, and it was great.  So, I went to our executive producer Frank Valentini, and I pleaded with him.  I said Frank, “I just hung out with Billy Miller and he is gone from Y&R, and if anyone is going to play Jason, it’s going to be him.  If Steve Burton can’t do it, it’s got to be Billy.”   I really also felt that if it’s not going to be Billy, then it’s not going to be anybody.  I am not saying I had a hand in hiring him, but through the powers-that-be, lo and behold, Billy was here.  I am very thankful.

MICHAEL:

But currently, Sam has a very antagonistic relationship with “Jake”, AKA Jason, who has been trying to kill her!

KELLY:

Courtesy/ABC

I love it, because most people would want to play against that, and not be looked down upon, but remember; when Jason and Sam first met they hated each other.  They were arch-rivals.  He wanted to pay her ten million dollars to leave town!  I would expect nothing less than for them to absolutely clash, but the beauty of their relationship was, at points, that they couldn’t really stand each other.

MICHAEL:

Doesn’t’ Sam feel there is something eerily familiar about this guy?

KELLY:

Familiar, yes, but she can’t put her finger on it yet.  I mean, her son Danny runs up to the guy!  Sam gets a vibe, but I don’t think she is putting Jason in it at all yet.   When you meet someone like that it’s like, “Whoa! Do I know you?  Have I met you somewhere before?”   Now that doesn’t happen often in real life… but still. (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

And now Billy Miller is adding humor to the character, and bringing his unique style and delivery to the role, which is quite a contrast to Steve Burton, and I had loved Steve’s work as Jason over the years, too!

KELLY:

Courtesy/Twitter

Yes, Billy’s Jason will even wear a color!  (Laughs)  Billy is so funny.  I love the fact with Billy, (and I haven’t had that since Steve Burton) where your directors and producers trust you enough that during rehearsal you can play around so hard.   I will be laughing so hard with Billy, and then when we go to tape, you are just there in the moment.  He’s there and I am there, and it doesn’t matter if I was peeing in my pants laughing two seconds before that.  If Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis) and I did that in scenes before we taped, the ax would come down and we would get yelled at. (Laughs)  But there is trust that they have, and Billy and I have, and Steve and I had that, as well.  I’ve missed that, and I have missed being able to cry laughing, and chuckling, and then in the next breath switching to the drama of it.

MICHAEL:

You and Michael Easton have such a huge fan following together, and have worked together for many years, and are beloved as a soap duo.  Is it really over for Silas and Sam?

KELLY:

It’s never over in daytime.  There are a lot of fans, including me, who love Silas and Sam.  Michael came to me on the last day we were set to work together, and he said, “You know, this is the last day we are working for now.”  I am like, “No!”  He said, “Yeah, read tomorrow’s script!”  Our schedules are so different at work; I literally have not seen Michael in the last two and half months.  Michael, for me again, is like family, but differently than Jason Thompson, or Billy Miller.  Michael is a little bit more protective. We have known each other a lot longer, and so I haven’t been able to write in my diary, and that’s how I feel about Michael.  He is like a diary.

MICHAEL:

Courtesy/ABC

Michael Easton is one of the classiest men, I have had the pleasure to know.  When you think about what the two of you have created on-screen together on Port Charles and GH, why do you think it clicked and works, and why the audience continues to want to see you two together?

KELLY:

There is something undeniably rich, palpable, and unexplainable that has been there since 15 years ago – that chemistry between another being and another being – and you just don’t know why or how.  Michael makes me feel very safe, and so I feel like I cut my heart out in scenes with him.  He can cut me without cutting me … he doesn’t have to.  He can just look at me!   Michael has that soul in his eyes where he can stare at you, and you go, “OK, I did it. I did it,” as you are crying! (Laughs)  That’s Michael!  For instance, Maurice Benard (Sonny) will beat the reaction out of you (laughs), but with Michael it’s with this simple, beautiful, and soulful look.  I can’t lie, and it must be what the audience feels like when they look in his eyes.  They just transfix on it.

MICHAEL:

Do you like that Sam has become quite smart?  She’s cracking safes again, and code, and figuring out by looking at surveillance tape at the police station that “Jake” is the one in the ski mask who held her at gunpoint,  and meanwhile the PCPD can’t get a grip on anything! (Laughs)

KELLY:

I love that they are writing her smart, which I am even questioning going, “Wait, she’s not that smart!” (Laughs)  I am with everyone on that one, like, “Are you telling me Sam is smarter than Anna (Finola Hughes)?”  This bitch is smart insisting, “That guy is the one who took me hostage!”

MICHAEL:

Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com

Did you submit some of your work for the Daytime Emmys Pre-Nomination round of voting this year?

KELLY:

I did.  I submitted my material with Jason Thompson when Patrick told Sam that he knew that Jason was alive for some portion of time.  These were the scenes around that staircase.  The scenes were in the last bit of what was eligible to make the cut, and it was the last thing that stuck in my mind.  I did enter the Lead Actress category, and for many years I have wanted to step down, but I can’t say that I am truly in the supporting category, and I would never do that.  It’s an honorable and ethical thing to do.  And, who’s to say who’s better than whom, anyway?  And isn’t that what we teach and preach … and here we are doing that with award shows.

MICHAEL:

So let’s talk your upcoming episode of ABC Family’s Baby Daddy that airs on February 4th as the first part of the crossover between GH and the sitcom.  Give me some details on the premise?

KELLY:

I am playing Sam and Kelly in the same episode.  The way I visualized it was being an overacting soap opera actress, and being a diva actress.  That’s what I played, but it’s not me, but it’s a version of what I would be like if I were a bitch! (Laughs)  Like if I was who people thought I was … that is how I would be! (Laughs)  It was so fun.  First of all, to rehearse all week is so nice.  The whole episode was what I would have on one day of GH!   I had plenty of time on my hands.  I was helping the prop and production guys saying, “What do you need from me?  Do you need letterhead?  What do you need?” (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Courtesy/ABCFamily

What was it like to work with Derek Theler?  Did you come up to his knees, because he is so tall?

KELLY:

Derek is funny.  He looks like Thor!  Basically, I did come up to his knee.  And, the height issue was a part of one of the jokes in there, because Kelly hits on him, and all during rehearsals I didn’t have heels on, so it was quite a difference.  I grabbed Derek by the waist and his hand is literally on my head!   It was so funny, and the writers loved it.  Then, when I actually put shoes on it wasn’t as funny.  The heels make a seven inch difference … it’s a big deal! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

So there you were …. short you … I so relate! (Laughs)

KELLY:

It was hysterical.  Derek plays this dumb jock on the show, but he is very intelligent and educated.  He went to college and everything! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Did you enjoying doing the comedic soap-spoof turn?

Courtesy/ABC

KELLY:

I loved it, but I would like to play in the future something that wasn’t about having to create a version of me.  I think they tested me to see how much I would be willing to poke fun at myself.  I was like, “I am not going to make fun of daytime. I am not going to make fun of soap actors.”  But, by the end, I was doing these crying scenes that were so over the top!  (Laughs)  I have not seen it back, and I don’t watch myself.  I can’t watch, I cringe.

MICHAEL:

So then, if you need to make an adjustment on something, how do you know what to change or address?

KELLY:

Someone will tell me.  I can’t watch myself, because I will see a tick, like I put my hands through my hair too much, or I do this, or I do that.  It’s hard especially doing a character in daytime soaps that is continuous.  I get it if you need to perfect a different character each time you work to know what you are doing.  But playing a character for so long and having people fall in love with that, and then me going in and analyzing that, and taking away the traits that people responded to … I don’t want to do that.

MICHAEL:

Are you happy with your story on GH right now?

KELLY:

Courtesy/ABC

Right now I am.  I don’t often go to the writers and the producers.  I know when to pick my battles.  I know the vision they have.   I know how hard it is to navigate to get there, and so I am going to back off, because I know they have so much to get through right now, such as: having to bring on a new Jason, or to make Michael Easton the character of Silas.  I understand what it takes to get that foundation to where it needs to be, and not to be that girl that goes up to the fifth floor throwing her script down!  I get it.

MICHAEL:

Did you ever throw your script down in the past? (Laughs)

KELLY:

I didn’t have to, as I would have someone go talk to the powers-that-be for me, or on my behalf.  But we would speak together as a team, and whoever’s voice was bigger that’s who went to talk to the brass.

MICHAEL:

You have Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis) as your on-screen mom, and they brought on William deVry (Julian) as your on-screen dad.  Quite the parents!  Was it difficult to adjust to having William play your father?

KELLY:

Photo Credit: Hutchins Photo

I don’t think he’s old enough, first of all.   I don’t think I am old enough.  My real life mom was a very young mom.  She was 16 when she had my sister and 18 when she had me.  So I get that, and I can see Nancy as my mom.  I hate change, and when they brought Will on I wasn’t opposed to it, because I always wanted to have a storyline where Sam learns who her father is.  But in the context that they brought him on, and having Sam hate him, I really started to hate him! (Laughs)   I’m like, “Stop being nice to me in the halls!”  William would go, “Man, you’re a hard nut to crack!”  I was not trying to be awful to him, but I was kind of taking on the persona of what they were writing!  William is actually such a really nice guy.  He’s very sweet.

MICHAEL:

What do you want to do next?  Would you ever consider doing something along the lines of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills? (You previously appeared in the cast of E’s Dirty Soap).  What do you think about soap stars: Lisa Rinna (Ex-Billie, DAYS) and Eileen Davidson (Kristen, DAYS & Ashley, Y&R) in the new season of the Bravo series franchise?

KELLY:

Lisa Rinna I get, but as far as Eileen Davidson I am like, “Girl, you are working three shows, you don’t need wine thrown in your face by Brandi Granville!”  And, Eileen sat there so composed; I don’t know how she did that.  If it were me … I would have gotten on top of that table, (because Brandi is too tall) taken my shoe off, and knocked her teeth out!  That was one of the most disrespectful things I have seen.

MICHAEL:

You have tackled (and successfully) Dancing with the Stars, a Vegas show, a reality series, a sitcom … so what’s next?  Do you feel pressured to come up with something new to attempt?

KELLY:

Courtesy/ABC

I don’t feel pressured to come up with something.  I can just be at General Hospital and then have really cool opportunities come along.  I either seize the opportunity, or I don’t.  I have kind of been put in that position, and put myself in that position, where I try to do at least one really cool thing a year outside of GH, and so far this year its been Baby Daddy.  For some reason without pushing or fighting too hard, it just organically happens, and I like that tactic.  I get it, though.  I know where I belong.  I am a fifteen year soap opera actress, and I am cool with that.  I like my day job.

MICHAEL:

Might I also add, you have some of the most loyal and dedicated fans I have seen!

KELLY:

They are loyal.  If I were my fan, I would slap me!   They are patient, because I will disappear for awhile.  My fans get that if I am hurting I disappear.  They will know something in my universe is not working out right now.

MICHAEL:

Why do you think they connect with you?

KELLY:

Courtesy/ABC

I think a part of me is a lost soul, and people have felt that, and want to care for that, or are that, too … or have some sort of relation to that.  I think I have felt that way since I was young.  I always felt a little lost and different.  I think that is the vibe I get from my fans.  I don’t have to filter myself in front of them.  When I do events and meet them, I feel like I am with all of my sisters in my family.  I don’t feel I am with people who will judge me, tweet about me, or humiliate me publicly.  It’s about the b*s* meter, and I don’t b*s* a lot.  I know my audience.  My fans appreciate the truth, and I am as truthful as I can be for them.

MICHAEL:

Laura Wright (Carly), and Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth), and you, often get to play these inner-rivalries, and bitch-fest scenes!  Do you have fun when you get to have those moments with these gals?

KELLY:

Oh, my Gosh!  Yes, I have fun with all of them, and they all have a different energy.  But I feel specifically, who has been way underestimated, is Becky.  She is an onion waiting to be peeled, that one.  At work, I get so angry sometimes, because I feel they are not using her to her full potential.  I will tell Becky, “Dirty it up!”  Elizabeth needs some skank in her. Carly has some skank in her.  Robin has some skank in her, and Sam has a lot of skank in her! (Laughs)  I’m like, “Becky, have a little bleach spot on your nurses scrubs!” (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Courtesy/Twitter

So if we close looking at the State of Sam, do you feel current GH head writer Ron Carlivati has written for you and your character well?

KELLY:

I think Ron came into a very difficult situation, and how dark we were.  And to add some shade and light to all the darkness, and come up with a perfect gray, is a hard balance. That’s why I said earlier, I don’t run up there with my script, because I know they are figuring it out, and I have faith in them.  I feel like we got that combination and we got that combination, and there are two more half combinations they are working on before we get the gold … and then I think it will be an easy breezy smooth sailing.  In my head, this is the way it’s happening, anyway! (Laughs)