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On General Hospital, Dr. Robin Scorpio has had more than her share of personal heartaches and disappointments in her young life.  She had to endure the “supposed deaths” of her parents; super spies and agents, Robert and Anna, when they blew up in a murderous explosion.  And, she had to deal with her greatest sorrow, when the love of her life as a young girl, Stone Cates, died way-to-soon of complications from AIDS, and through that relationship ended up contracting HIV herself, which she fights and struggles with everyday of her adult life.  Then, after finally meeting a man who captivated and stole her heart years later, Dr. Patrick Drake, whom she married and had her first child with, she was rocked to the core over the past month when it was revealed that Patrick cheated on her, with former flame, Dr Lisa Niles… while she was away in Africa helping HIV patients.

But now Robin is about to face her biggest challenge and obstacle in a fight for her life, that over the next two weeks is must-see General Hospital TV.  Lisa has become unhinged and will do anything to get rid of Robin!  So what’s a psycho to do?  Swap out her HIV meds for some tranquilizers and drug Robin so she can begin her heinous plan to destroy Robin and her marriage to Patrick once and for all!   And with this story, comes the huge event that soap fans are by now clamoring to see, when on episodes that air next week on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 28th and 29th, Michael Sutton reprises the role of Stone Cates in important and significant scenes that revisit the popular duo’s enduring love when Robin needs Stone the most.  Can he somehow help her
escape and survive the clutches of Lisa? But how… is he part of Robin’s
near-death experience, or…is he just a ghost?

On-Air On-Soaps caught up with GH’s Kimberly McCullough to discuss the exciting scenes, Sutton’s return, Scrubs popularity, working with Jason Thompson (Patrick) and where we are with HIV/AIDS today.  Plus, we take a look back at the key 1995 love story of Robin and Stone, and find out if there is truly hope for Patrick and Robin.  McCullough, ever the maverick, has also now embarked on the next step in her show business career, as a feature film director, and we will get some inside scoop on her new short film.  You know from past interviews, Kimberly and I go back a very long time, and she holds a special place in my heart, as I know she does for GH viewers everywhere.  So enjoy this conversation below, and we have added a bonus for you! You can hear it in audio, if you click on our audio player above the transcript.

Listen to the audio:
The Kimberly McCullough Interview

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MICHAEL: 

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Kimberly, when the powers-that-be at GH came to you and said, “This is the story we are going to tell: Lisa is kind of going to gaslight Robin.”  What went through your mind?  Was it, “Oh, this is going to be weird?  Or did you think, “Oh, God, I hope this doesn’t play out cheesy?”  Or, did you think it was a good idea/concept for Robin and Patrick?

KIMBERLY:

I am always up to play anything interesting, and from the very beginning it did seem like something cool to do.  I thought the characters of Robin and Patrick had been put to the side, and when you are happy in soapland for a while, that is what tends to happen.  I was interested to stir the pot a little bit and stir up their relationship, and see what would happen.  It has been a long enough time now that Jason Thompson (Patrick) and I have been able to build something really cool.

MICHAEL:

I think it’s engaging, actually, and it is all now making sense, and the story is coming to a critical juncture!

KIMBERLY:

It is making sense, but it was like we needed that time to build the relationship, and have the family and have everything be really, really good.  We needed that time in order to have integrity, because otherwise, if somebody came in to try and destroy it, it wouldn’t hold any weight.

MICHAEL:

How is Brianna Brown (Lisa) to work with?  Do you get some good laughs between the two of you before you perform those heavy-duty scenes?  You two really go at each other.

KIMBERLY:

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I love Brianna!  You know, I think in regards to my concentration (because I have done this for so many years) I don’t have to concentrate before the scenes.  I can just do it during the scenes.  People that are newer tend to need to be more focused. (Laughs)  And Lisa is really focused.  So, I try not to bother her before or while we are performing our scenes, but when we are finished with them I go up to her and give her a hug and go, “I’m sorry.  I am so sorry calling you a “bitch-whore” or “psychotic mess” for the eighteenth billionth time!” (Laughs)  But Brianna is a good actress and really cool, and she is pulling off this material!

MICHAEL:

As you may or may not know, we named you here at On-Air On-Soaps the “Power Performance of the Week” recently, and also on our most recent episode of the On-Air On-Soaps Podcast with my guest co-hosts; your castmate, Carolyn Hennesy (Diane) and The Young and the Restless’, Christian LeBlanc (Michael).   This was bestowed upon you for your performance when Patrick told Robin that he had slept with Lisa.

KIMBERLY:

I did not know that.  Cool!

MICHAEL:

And then everyone said, “But what about Jason Thompson?”  And I said, “Well Jason was great, too!”  So Carolyn and Christian watched the scenes before we taped the podcast and their feedback was, “The pair was so honest and real, and that Kimberly played all the beats so well.”  Were you happy with it?

KIMBERLY:

Yeah, but it’s one of those things where I am too close to it to have any objective say.  When I have played a character for so long, and I have to play something that feels very real, I don’t have to think about it too much.  So the beats of that came more naturally.  I didn’t really have to plan everything out, whereas, in another situation I might.  So in that situation, I tried to just trust my instincts because I wanted it to be very real, heartbreaking, and disappointing, and not vengeful.  I didn’t want it to appear as a surface reaction.

MICHAEL: 

Courtesy/ABC

It was heartbreaking to watch and I think especially for long time Robin fans, who have been with you and this character for so many years, and have watched you grow up on the air.  They never want to see their Robin really hurt.  And yes, the way you intended on playing it completely came across… that Robin was so utterly disappointed in Patrick.

KIMBERLY:

Yeah, and Jason was not playing like, “Yup. This is what I did.”  He played it like his heart was breaking, as well.  He was so guilty and sorry about it, and all I had to really do was just listen to him, and it gave me a lot to struggle with.  Robin was hurt, but at the same time, when you see someone you love and they feel so guilty and their heart is breaking, then that is a conflict.

MICHAEL:

When Robin said, “Stop pouting!” to Patrick, we all thought that was a great moment!

KIMBERLY:

That was my re-write. (Laughs).  It was satisfying, and I am proud of the work we did.

MICHAEL:

After watching you and Jason together, Carolyn Hennesy and Christian LeBlanc said to me, ”They are a great team.”  And that in their view, Jason was there to really be that groveling, sniffling guy for Kimberly to play off of, and that is the mark of a great acting team.  So, do you think to this day, that you and Jason have an extraordinary partnership on-air?

KIMBERLY:

Oh, yeah!  I think it is a very special thing when you have chemistry to begin with, and then five years to build an on-screen and off-screen relationship.  Jason and I are really good friends and we trust each other.  So, yes, absolutely I think it a wonderful partnership.   It is easy to listen to someone and be open like that in a scene, and then cool things happen. 

Courtesy/ABC

MICHAEL:

Robin has never really gotten over Stone.   I am glad they are revisiting this story point and I think it is something that is important if Robin was to try and move forward with Patrick at some point.   Is this closure for her next week when Stone comes to Robin in her time of need?

KIMBERLY:

The way that I played it wasn’t, and I don’t think it’s necessary, because it’s not like an old love or someone that is still around.  You know what I mean?  The kid died of AIDS, and you can’t really get over that.  Now, I may have played it differently if that was not the situation, but I don’t fault Robin for loving someone who died unexpectedly, and of a horrible disease. There is that added onto it.  They don’t know what could have happened to their love. It was not played out completely, because it was abruptly interrupted.  So I think it is possible for Robin to have a loving relationship with a husband, but in a different kind of way.  But, I do not think she will ever be over Stone.

MICHAEL:

I asked Michael Sutton this in a new interview that we will post next week: “Let’s say Stone had not died and the relationship had continued.  Do you think it would have endured?  And what would you then like to have seen happen for Stone and Robin?”  Kimberly, could you see what their life would have been like if Stone hadn’t died of AIDS?  There were so many fans who were incredibly touched by this story.

KIMBERLY:

For them, I think they would have had a child.  And, that would have been a whole other thing.  I could have seen them together, but it’s hard to say because on soaps couples never stay together. (Laughs)  So, I don’t really know what they would have written, but certainly the type of love they had could have lasted.

MICHAEL:

Do you ever look back at those very last scenes where Stone died?  It is so very, very hard to watch.  It was harrowing and incredibly sad, and something that transcended the daytime genre for its time.  To this day, those scenes still hold up.  What are your thoughts on this?  Do you think they still hold up?

KIMBERLY:

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Yes, I have seen them before.  I don’t know what happened, and I really can’t explain it, but I really do feel that some sort of spiritual force was guiding us.  I know that may sound kind of hokey.  But, we were doing something that was really important and bigger than us, and both of us knew that.  So there is a quality to that story, and especially those scenes.  Everyone on set that day knew it… from the cameramen, make-up… everyone was touched and crying there with us.  When I see the scenes now, I don’t just see Michael and I.  I see me and Michael and all the people we met, and everyone that had gone along with us during this gut-wrenching year and half of really talking about something that was really hard to talk about.  I think that is the reason it holds up, because there was a lot of love and care and integrity.  And like I said, I really do feel it was something that was bigger than General Hospital and us, and it really meant something.  We were doing something really good, I believe.

MICHAEL:

How was acting with Michael again?

KIMBERLY:

It was really cool, just like old times.

MICHAEL:

Was he cute as a button?

KIMBERLY:

You know, I told my mom, “I don’t remember being attracted to Michael Sutton when I was younger,” but I guess I am a 32 -year-old horny woman now. (Laughs) Yeah, he is super hot and he looks really young… like a baby! 

Courtesy/ABC

MICHAEL:

When I spoke to Michael he said such beautiful things about you to me, and he speaks extraordinarily well.  Michael is a very smart guy, and he is working on some new research project for HIV/AIDS that sounds very promising.

KIMBERLY:

Michael is a sweetheart and I like him and respect him.  The greatest thing about the day when he came back was that he was so excited and focused and wanted to do good work.  And he really brought me back to that place of having that on-screen relationship with him.

MICHAEL:

This week, Lisa has a suspicious concoction that she creates for Robin, when she mixes up some tranquilizers for Robin’s HIV meds!  Is that what is going on there?  Robin does not notice the difference in the pills?

KIMBERLY:

Yes. She just swaps them out for something else.  It is not explained, and it is something I had to make up because it wasn’t in the script!

MICHAEL:

Re-write! Re-write!

KIMBERLY:

Yeah. (Laughs)  It was more like you take a pill and you act really tired.  No one really told me what to do.  So I played it that there is another pill that looks like the pill I normally take, and I swallow it.  So it has a dizzying and lethargic effect.  Robin becomes really tired with a ‘fall asleep at the wheel’ sort of thing.  And then she wakes-up and is somewhere with Lisa!

MICHAEL:

When she wakes, does she realize she is with this psycho–woman and beyond afraid for her life?

KIMBERLY:

Courtesy/ABC

I played it like I was confused… like when you wake up from a nap and you are disoriented.  Such as; “Wait, where am I?  Why am I here?  And, why I am not in my bed?”  And also like, “Is this a nightmare?  Is this crazy woman standing over me?  What did she do to my kid?”  I also played it trying to put the pieces together, but also trying to play it cool, because when you are in that situation you want to be cool, because you don’t really know what this person is capable of doing.

MICHAEL:

She is scared!

KIMBERLY:

She is totally scared and trying to get information.  She thinks something happened to Emma, and she thinks Lisa took her, or at least knows where she is. And Lisa is not giving her anything.

MICHAEL:

How is working with little Emma, the child of Patrick and Robin?

KIMBERLY:

Well, you know they are twins?

MICHAEL:

Yes, and do you know the difference when you are working with each one of the little ones?

KIMBERLY:

Yes.  I know one is bigger than the other, and they are both sweethearts.  Jessie and Johnny are their names.

MICHAEL:

Is it hard being the maternal type for you?  Some actresses tell me that it is such a stretch for them!  

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KIMBERLY:

Oh, no, no!  I want to be a mom.  So for me, it’s an opportunity to be that.  I love kids.

MICHAEL:

I can see you as a great mom.

KIMBERLY:

Oh, thank you.  Even when I was pregnant on the show, I was so excited to wear a fat-suit!  I bet you a lot of actresses are not excited about that! (Laughs)  I did not care.  I was like, “Bring it on. This is awesome.  I can’t wait to eat whatever I want.”  The only thing is, if you ever watch me on the show and see me holding back, it’s because I have issues with kids, and with babies being actors.  I really ride that line of trying to be respectful to that child and being in the scene and acting like their mother.  If the kid is crying or something, you will hear the stage manager going, “Oh, use it.  Keep going!’  And I am not cool with that.  I have been in that situation when I was young on the show and people did that to me.  I try not to overstep my bounds with the kids.  But, they are so much fun!  And now, they are talking and they speak Spanish.  So in the scenes they are like, “Pan, Pan.”  That happened one time when I had bread in a picnic scene.  And I would go “Gummy Bear. Yellow!” and they would go, “Amarillo” And I go, “Oh no.”

MICHAEL:

How is Jason with the children?

KIMBERLY:

Oh, he is great, and Jason is going to be a great dad.  He loves kids and he loves those kids.  He plays with them a lot in between scenes and before we have to go to set, etc.

MICHAEL:

Where is Scott Reeves’s character of Dr. Steven Webber in all this?  Is Steven rooting now for Robin?  I cannot figure it out!  One moment Steven is taking Robin’s side, and one moment he is taking Lisa’ side.

KIMBERLY:

I don’t know and I can’t figure it out either.  There was a lot of talk between people, of who knew what when we were pretending for Lisa’s benefit, and it was very confusing.  I think Steven believes Robin, but I also think he is trying to run his hospital and be diplomatic, and since there is no really hard evidence against Lisa, there is nothing he can really do about it, up until this point.

MICHAEL: 

Courtesy/ABC

Well, I was really pissed at one point, where it looked like he suspended Robin from the hospital.  But then I think, (laughs) I came to realize that was all for show for Lisa’s sake.

KIMBERLY:

Well, here is where it gets confusing.  I was trying to play it like he was in on it.  I don’t know if you saw the episode the day before, but I told him that this is the plan.  I have to go off the rails so Lisa believes this whole situation.  In that scene, I went after him on purpose, but I went after him in an over-the-top kind of way, so he knew I was just playing the part.  It was actually never that clear, but what I had decided to play was that I was trying to get suspended on purpose so it would set up Lisa, and Steven was in on it.   It’s Ok.  We sift through everything as actors and make it work as best we can.

MICHAEL:

I have this posted on the wall over my computer and have had it there for many years.   It is this exquisite ABC Daytime Promo poster that had an image of Robin and Stone with the ocean behind them and a door that is open to it.  The image is so meaningful and the tag line is: “Can’t make too many plans, Robin.  Nothing last forever.”  And that meant so much, since it was the end of Robin and Stone’s love story as Stone was going to die from AIDS.

KIMBERLY:

Yes.  I know which one you are talking about, and it is so cool.

MICHAEL:

You have to look back at that now with pride.  I mean, it was 1995 and it’s been 16 years since then.  Does it feel like that amount of time has passed for you?

KIMBERLY:

Yes, it does. (Laughs) A lot has happened, and I was gone from GH for 8 years of that time.

MICHAEL: 

Courtesy/ABC

Did you feel like the poster child of HIV on daytime television?  I mean, I understood why they did that to you, and the importance of it.  Sometimes, the publicity efforts bothered me because of my concern for you, that perhaps it was too much, or they were ‘pimping you out’, for a lack of a better phrase.  But then, I also knew how you and I have talked over the years of how important it was.  What’s your takeaway looking back?

KIMBERLY:

You know, it was a bit pimpy, but looking back I am glad it was me than someone else.  I at least care, and I really do care.  I thought, “Sure, why not. Let them use me.”

MICHAEL:

I am glad it was you, because it could have fallen on a lesser actress’s able hands.

KIMBERLY:

Right, and so I looked at it as an opportunity to do something good.  I actually care a lot. This is something that has touched me personally, and I am very cool with it.

MICHAEL:

Do you still participate in AIDS charities?  I know you have been involved with the AIDS Walk for a number of years.

KIMBERLY:

Well, I am not doing the AIDS Walk L.A. this year, and this is something both me and Jason Thompson decided not to do.  We are going to raise money for an AIDS charity; we just don’t know which one.  Probably, The Elizabeth Glaser Foundation, as that is one I am fond of, and I know Michael Sutton is interested in doing something, too.  This is something I really need to get on, but I have been so involved in my movie to be quite honest!

MICHAEL:

Speaking of your movie that you are directing, and now that you are becoming a bonafide director through the prestigious AFI Directing Workshop for Women, are you the next Oscar winning female director, ala, Kathryn Bigelow?  How do you see yourself in terms of the type of director you would like to emulate?

KIMBERLY:

I am the next David Fincher.  That is what I want to be, or a combo of Julie Taymor/David Fincher, because Julie’s creativity astounds me, and it’s so intricate.  I can watch her movies a thousand times and see something new every time.  David Fincher is so innovative and smart, and he appeals to my more mathematical side and the things he figures out is insane.

MICHAEL: 

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You have a mathematical side?  I never knew!

KIMBERLY:

Oh, I love math.  If I weren’t an actor, I would be a mathematician or an engineer or something like that.

MICHAEL:

I learned something new.  I never knew that factoid about you.  So how is the AFI program been for you?  And what is happening with your film, Nice Guys Finish Last?

KIMBERLY:

Right now, we have just finished working on sound, composing, color correction and effects, and then we should be done.  It is a short and it takes forever. (Laughs). Features take a long time, and so do shorts in their own way.  My film is ten minutes in length, and I refuse to make a short film more than ten minutes.  I won’t do it.

MICHAEL:

Tell me what the film is about?

KIMBERLY:

It’s about a woman who has always been obsessed with bad boys, and there was one bad boy she met when she was fifteen that started it all.  She met him at a rock concert and his name was Mike Sane, so they called him “Mike Insane”.  And ever since then, she has dated the wrong guy and gotten her heart broken.  So she has decided to finally date a nice guy.  It’s really hard for her, but she does it, because she knows that is what she should be doing.  Do you know any women like this? (Laughs) You are smiling!

MICHAEL:

Ah, let me see…hmmm…the list goes on!

KIMBERLY:

Yeah, right, and I have never seen a movie like this and I know a lot of women like that, too.  So, her name is Corey and she works in the B-horror movie business, and she is a make-up artist.  Her imagination is very vivid.  And so, she imagines hurting this nice guy and/or hurting herself when she is on dates with him.

MICHAEL:

This is not inspired by your real-life perils?

KIMBERLY:

Ah… yes it was. (Laughs) But then something really bad happens at the end, and that is all I am going to say.  It’s a dark comedy. 

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MICHAEL:

I would expect nothing else from you! (Laughs)  So once you got into making the film, have you enjoyed going through all the perils and plights that it takes to direct and put together a film?

KIMBERLY:

I love it and this is what I want to do with my life.  I would say the actual shooting part of it I loved, and it was the best shooting experience of my life.  This was my fourth short film.  So before I even started, I said to myself, “I am really going to enjoy this.  I am really going to soak it up.”   In the program I am in, since we have other women who have been through the AFI program, alumni would come back and teach some of the classes. They would always say, “Don’t forget to enjoy it. This is the beginning of your career.  Now you are director.  So soak it up and build your team.  Find your editors.  Find your sound designers, and be very, very conscious of what you are doing, because this is the beginning of your career.”  And so, that is the way I looked at it, too.

MICHAEL:

Would you ever consider directing episodes of General Hospital?

KIMBERLY:

No! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

But would you give actors on the set of GH notes now, with your directing background, if they asked for your help in regard to a scene?

KIMBERLY:

Of course I would.  But you know, Kirsten Storms (Maxie, GH), and Lexi Ainsworth (Kristina, GH) were in my movie. They were wonderful and I did not have to tell them anything.

MICHAEL: 

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But currently on the set, does anyone truly ask you for advice?

KIMBERLY:

Yeah, of course.  I tell Jason Thompson what to do everyday. (Laughs)  It’s not really advice, it’s just telling him what to do.  Literally, he will come in the morning and go, “OK, tell me what to do?”  And, I go, “I don’t know. What do you want to do?” He goes, “I don’t know. Tell me what to do!”  He is so funny.  And then when I tell him what to do, he gets so mad! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

When we bring it all around to what Robin is going to go through on-air in the next two weeks, what can we tell the fans? You get stuck in some old well!  Then, Stone comes back to you.  Do you think long-time fans will need their hankies?

KIMBERLY:

Yeah, I think so. I think they will be excited to see how good-looking Michael Sutton still is! (Laughs)   I have not seen the episodes.

MICHAEL:

So, do you not watch back your work?

KIMBERLY:

I did see the episode where I found out about Lisa, but that was it.  Other than that, I have not seen my scenes on-air for like a year or two, maybe.

MICHAEL: 

Courtesy/ABC

I know you are aware of the Scrubs Hub and the Scrubs fans, and how amazing this fan base is.  What can you say to them?   I mean, I cannot believe how truly phenomenal they are!

KIMBERLY:

I know they are awesome!  I love them.  I know a lot of them, which is so cool.  We travel and do personal appearances, and we meet all of them, and I think that is kind of the coolest part.  When I was little and on GH, I could never grasp the true sense of fans and know who people were.  But now when I see their faces, I know who they are, and they have been with us through everything.  They are so cute and funny.  They will say, “Are we going to be disappointed?”  They want Patrick and Robin to be together, but at the same time, they really do like the drama.  So they get very excited when we have story and they have been so wonderful!  They have raised money for AIDS and they have taken it upon themselves to do so.  I did not have to do much at last years AIDS Walk L.A. because they came and walked with us. They have in turn formed a lot of friendships with each other.  And, I feel it’s a very positive atmosphere.  I know our message boards are.  I also know that other ones are different, and I cannot speak to in what way they are different, but I know ours is very special.

MICHAEL:

AIDS/HIV, we are still desperately trying to find a cure.  Where do you think we are at with research now?

KIMBERLY:

It’s been going on way too long.  I have a cousin of mine and she is one of the people looking for a cure.  I am frustrated, but I cannot sit here and be frustrated when I have personally only been raising money and awareness; when I actually know someone who is in the labs, trying to figure it all out.  She is a scientist and studies diseases.  For someone like that, and they have minuscule successes in their lifespan, and yet they are so excited when they find something that potentially could be a breakthrough.  But we have had huge strides, we really have. We just have to keep cracking.

MICHAEL:

When we see the scenes with Robin and Stone, she is delirious and he appears to her.  What provocates him to be there?  How do they connect?

KIMBERLY:

Robin is dehydrated and she hasn’t eaten, and she is tired and it’s more of a survival instinct.  She sees Stone and talks to him, as a way to keep her motivated to stay alive.

MICHAEL: 

Courtesy/ABC

So as we shall see, Stone is there to help Robin get through her ordeal, and it’s not a closure per-se, as we touched upon earlier.

KIMBERLY:

I did not want it to be, “OK.  Now I have dealt with that relationship, now I can be with Patrick.”  It’s more like Stone will always be a part of Robin, and a part of her heart.  He encourages her to move forward, but not move on… but not to forget about him forever, because that is not possible.

MICHAEL:

I guess the real teaser to end our chat, Kimberly, is with the million-dollar question. Will Robin end up back in the arms of Patrick when all is said and done?

KIMBERLY:

Hopefully, not for a while.  There are going to be complications, as there well should be!