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In a very controversial decision by General Hospital, Elizabeth Webber fell for the brother of her (seemingly) all time love, Lucky.  Hold on Liason fans!  Once Nikolas and La Liz hit the sheets, tables and floors, the young nurse and mother of two and her good girl status, seemed to be tarnished forever.  In the midst of this storyline, the GH powers-that-be also made a startling switch, by firing Greg Vaughan as Lucky and re-introducing and welcoming back to the fold, the original Lucky, Jonathan Jackson.  With Jackson back, the stage was set for this triangle to explode and it has.  Liz is pregnant, (as is Becky in real life!) she is having a nervous breakdown and is trying to rest at Shadybrook sanitarium, but the girl can’t get any peace.  Why?  For starters, her nemesis Helena Cassadine is back and ready to do some pretty hideous things to Liz’s life, or so it would seem.  Then, Nikolas and Lucky are pulled in by the fact that neither knows who the father of her unborn baby is.  Liz is as confused and dazed as ever of what to do, whom to be with, and how to handle the fact that she will now have three children’s mouths to feed.

On-Air On-Soaps sat down with Rebecca Herbst and got all your burning questions answered, or so we hope!  I.e.: What about Jason in all of this?  Is there ever hope for a Liason reunion?  We found Becky to be fun, charming and enlightening on her character’s dangerous liaisons, the men in Becky and Liz’s life (on and off-screen), and after more than 13 years in Port Charles, getting the chance to play an “A” storyline.  Here is Becky front and center!

Listen to the audio:

The Rebecca Herbst Interview – General Hospital

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MICHAEL:

Becky, when you learned that Liz was going to begin a fling with Nikolas, what was your initial reaction?

REBECCA:

I was surprised at the moment.  I was told this was going to happen, but honestly, more surprised that it took so long.  This seemed like such an honest soap storyline; with the two brothers, and with Nikolas and Elizabeth being such good friends and all, which provides this built in conflict.  It’s been exciting how it is all playing out.

MICHAEL:

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The recent scenes with Jonathan Jackson (Lucky) where he just laid into you, and those amazing performances, what did you think?  My God, Lucky called Liz every name under the sun!  Do you think she deserved it?  I say, “Hell, yeah she did!” And what did you think of Jonathan’s performance?

REBECCA:

It was terrible, those scenes!  She totally deserved it, so it did not make it that hard for me to play.  All I had to do was listen to Jonathan, and I felt so guilty. So it was easier than I had anticipated.  Of course, Jonathan is so easy to work with that it makes acting come very naturally for all of us.  Tyler Christopher (Nikolas) said we just have to stand there and watch him and Jonathan did it all!  It was amazing.

MICHAEL:

There is an Emmy in his future for that, don’t you think?

REBECCA:

It’s an Emmy for Jonathan for sure.  That would not surprise me.  I knew that was going to come, but I was afraid for a moment that he was going to hit me. (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

How is having Jonathan back as Lucky?  And what are your thoughts on the departure of your other Lucky, Greg Vaughan, who was a casualty of Jonathan’s return to GH?

REBECCA:

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I love Greg.  We are great friends and it’s different with every actor who plays Lucky.  I have a different relationship with each of them…and Elizabeth does too, and of course, I am thrilled to have Jonathan back.  We had great chemistry a million years ago, and we have a great chemistry now.  Greg and I are good personal friends, and I do care for him and his wife and children outside of work.  It was hard to hear the news, and selfishly I loved being with him as Elizabeth and Lucky.  I know it’s hard to get a job out there, and it stinks.  You just don’t see the rug being pulled out from under your feet as easily as it can be. 

MICHAEL:

Were you glad to see Liz have a meltdown?

REBECCA:

Yup… her halo came off. (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

What on earth to you think drives her to do the things she does?

REBECCA:

I think they are hoping to explore that, and little by little figure out what makes her tick that is causing her to have this breakdown. That is the great thing about Elizabeth.  She has a lot of story and a lot of layers to pull from right now.  So, I think we are going to see her start chipping away at things.

MICHAEL:

I am hoping it is revealed that there is something in her past; either with men, being abandoned or abused… something!

REBECCA:

You know, (ponders) you were hoping for that?  I mean that is a possibility.  I think Elizabeth has some major issues, and she has been hoping we could attribute it to something in her past, like some man.

MICHAEL:

Perhaps something happened, and she had not felt worthy or….?

REBECCA:

Courtesy/ABC

She has some serious problems when it comes to men. (Laughs)  She has men in front of her that she wants and then she pushes them away, and then she does really stupid things. Liz does not know why she does it. Then she has babies by all these people she is not married to.

MICHAEL:

Liz is the Port Charles Babymaker!  But in real life, you are expecting your third child, correct?

REBECCA:

I am pregnant in real life.

MICHAEL:

Did they always write your pregnancies into the storyline?  They certainly have this time!

REBECCA:

No, when I was pregnant with my son they covered that up, and that was 8 or 9 years ago. With my little girl, Ella, they did not and that is when Liz had Cameron.

MICHAEL:

When your real life pregnancy came about, what did the GH brass say?  Did they go, “Now what are we going to do?”

REBECCA:

Yes.  Originally, Bob Guza (head writer, GH) said, ”Oh no, no, we are not going to write it in.”  Then within five minutes, he changed his mind three times and said, “I will get back to you.”  Then he said, “You get pregnant really fast.”  And I go, “I know I do,” and he said, “No, we can’t cover it up.”  Then he said, “No, I will get back to you.” (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Isn’t it better that you are not covered up behind plants?

REBECCA:

For me?  Absolutely.  Everyone knows… they can see it in my face and everywhere.  It’s easier to show it off than hide behind purses.

MICHAEL:

Do you say to yourself, “How do I justify Elizabeth’s actions and all the choices she makes?”

Courtesy/ABC

REBECCA:

Well, it’s only been this past year with Nikolas where she has been kind of this tawdry! (Laughs)  I also joked she had this constant halo on, even though she had been with several men, and she has babies by guys she was never married to.  And she floats around and maintains that she is this angel.  But, it’s only this past year that her reputation has been tarnished.

MICHAEL:

Ok, clarify to our readers who are the baby daddy’s of Liz’s sons.

REBECCA:

Cameron is Zander’s baby and Jake is Jason’s baby and…

MICHAEL:

And poor Lucky…has not had a baby with you…yet!  Would you want the dad this time to be Nikolas or Lucky, or could someone else in Port Charles be the stud?

REBECCA:

You know, we all joke that Sonny is the father, because at some point he walked by me in Port Charles and sneezed… and that is how it happened. (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Right!  Because…. Elizabeth and Sonny are the most fertile people in the city!

REBECCA:

That’s right.  But seriously, it would be a good story either way. You have the complications between Nikolas and Elizabeth right now – he wants it to be his baby, and she wants it to be Lucky’s, because then she thinks she will get him back.  If it is Lucky’s, she thinks they can ride off into the sunset.  There are just so many interesting angles to this. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.

MICHAEL:

Who does she want the father to be?

REBECCA:

She says she wants Lucky, but you can’t really believe what Elizabeth says at this point. Remember, she is at Shadybrook!  She is a little crazy right now.  I don’t think she believes what she is saying right now.  She is confused.

MICHAEL:

Courtesy/ABC

On Monday’s episode of GH she actually has a therapy session with Nikolas and Lucky.  What was your therapist Laney thinking?

REBECCA:

I guess Laney thought it would be ideal to have them there!  I am going to blame it all on Laney. (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Fire your therapist!  Get out of there.

REBECCA:

I am totally going to blame it on her. We all joked about it and said, “What are the three of us going to do together in a therapy session trying to work out our problems?  No thanks.”  There is nothing that is going to be accomplished, but it was a good scene.  I think there was one scene or two scenes of that, and I don’t think we will ever do that again. (Laughs) I was surprised that the boys showed up for that!

MICHAEL:

What ensues?

REBECCA:

Elizabeth at that point wants to apologize to Lucky, because this whole Nikolas and Elizabeth thing started out as a joke.  Elizabeth just wanted to make Rebecca and Lucky jealous by them seeing us kiss, and then it rolled on from there.

MICHAEL:

Lucky does not want her!

REBECCA:

Lucky certainly does not want her anymore, and she is trying to wrap her mind around that.

MICHAEL:

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OK.  Liason fans want to know if there’s still hope for Jason and Liz?  They do not give up.

REBECCA:

They are incredible, aren’t they?  No other word for them, and they are dedicated and they do not get discouraged, which is amazing.  And it’s been 7 or 8 years of them writing before Steve Burton (Jason) and I had a storyline together. God bless these people!  They put a lot of work in keeping our characters in major storylines.  Without them, for sure, my storyline with Steve would have fallen flat long ago, but they really kept it going.

MICHAEL:

They don’t want Sam with him.  This group is dedicated to Liz and Jason getting another chance at love.  Do you think at this point there is hope?

REBECCA:

I would have said Jason and Elizabeth would never be together quite a few years ago, and Steve said the same thing.  We kept telling the Liason girls, “Stop writing, because nothing is going to happen.  It’s been 7 years… get over it.”  Steve would joke and sure enough it happened, so I will never say never.  Always hope.  There could always be a future.

MICHAEL:

Steve said you are one of his favorites to work with.

REBECCA:

He is such a goofball!  I love working with Steve.  Our families are close, and it is nice working with him.

Courtesy/ABC

MICHAEL:

Do you think with Liz losing it at the moment, that Jason might try to get custody of his son Jake from her?

REBECCA:

You know, he had not tried so far.  I cannot see Jason taking away Jake from his mommy, but you know there are people in Jason’s life…like Carly…. who will try to influence him.  So we will see what happens with that.  But Elizabeth will fight to the death to keep her children.

MICHAEL:

Who do you think is the ultimate guy for Liz?

REBECCA:

That is a really hard question… I don’t know.   I think Lucky and Liz could possibly find their way back.  But, I have no idea what the writers are planning.

MICHAEL:

Don’t the writers tell you somewhat of what is down the road, so you know what you are playing in your scenes?

REBECCA:

The truth is, I am clueless.  Honestly, I do not have meetings with the writers but once in a blue moon.  On those occasions they will say, “OK, this is what is going to happen.”  I find out what is going to happen in the story when I read the scripts and that usually would be two and half weeks ahead of the air shows.

MICHAEL:

But then, if you don’t know the true writers intent down the line, how sure of yourself can you be that you are playing the beat of the story correctly?

REBECCA:

Sometimes we wing it, but it would not be beneficial for me to know right now who the father of the baby is, because Elizabeth right now does not know who the father of the baby is.  So, it can make it a little more real this time.  Sometimes I don’t want to know where she is headed.  But things like…well, they did tell me she was going to have a nervous breakdown, or she is going to end up in Shadybrook, was important for me to know.  So for the month leading up to that, I could work up to her being a little nutty, and things like that are important and they will tell me.

MICHAEL:

How are you playing her “nutty”?

REBECCA:

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She is not the kind of crazy where she is seeing people or talking to people that are not there.  She is just emotionally unstable and cries at a drop of a hat.  She goes back and forth between superwoman to being the best single mom in the world to, ‘I don’t know how I am going to do this.’

MICHAEL:

Constance Towers (Helena) said a very mean-spirited line about your pregnancy to you and then asked the producers to remove it.  She told me she could not say it to a real life pregnant woman.  Do you remember the line?

REBECCA:

I do remember that. The line was “I hope the mother dies in child birth,” and she thought it was so terrible to say.  I am glad she spoke up about it because being pregnant does affect you differently, and for any mother out there who would hear it, it would hit in the gut a little.

MICHAEL:

Helena also told Liz she has so many children to support she should go on Welfare, or something to that affect.  How is working with Constance as your number one sworn enemy?

REBECCA:

She is good at those little comments.  I love Constance.  How can you not love her?She is great!

MICHAEL:

I think Helena is going to switch the DNA.  DNA switcheroos run rampant at General Hospital.  They have for ages.

REBECCA:

People are having paternity tests all the time at General Hospital. (Laughs)  When Helena has her claws involved there is no limit to how far she will go.

MICHAEL:

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How is working with Tyler?

REBECCA:

I love working with Tyler no matter what we are doing.  It was great working with him romantically, because that was a side we had not explored.  And even if our characters are fighting, we had been best friends for a long time. Right now Elizabeth is like, “I can’t stand you, and I want you out of my face.”  Tyler and I play off of each other really well, regardless of what the storyline is.

MICHAEL:

So, here comes a possible real or faux Cassadine heir?

REBECCA:

I know, it could be one kidnapping after another.

MICHAEL:

Do you read the message boards?  Liz’s popularity has surely tanked with her latest stunts!

REBECCA:

I do not.  They can be mean on the boards.  I am sure Elizabeth is not on the top of everyone’s “like” list right now.  I know that.

MICHAEL:

Has anyone said anything to you on the street, or sent something to you out of anger and frustration with Liz?

REBECCA:

I got a letter not so long ago which said, ”How dare you, Becky, for doing this!”  I just thought it made me feel so bad because I did not have anything to do with that and people are so mad at Elizabeth!  But it’s story, and how exciting is this!  There has got to be more to her than writing in charts and answering phones all day long.  She needs something going on.

MICHAEL:

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Do you think she is a good nurse?

REBECCA:

(Laughs) When she is not wigging out!

MICHAEL:

She used to be a good nurse back in the day.

REBECCA:

I know, but now she is too wrapped up in her own problems.  Nikolas told her to leave because he is running the hospital.  He told her that she couldn’t come back there for a while.  And, that she needs help!

MICHAEL:

When you go on maternity leave again, will that be scheduled?

REBECCA:

You know the baby is due in August, but we have not scheduled a maternity leave yet, but we will figure it out as it goes along.

MICHAEL:

Boy or Girl?

REBECCA:

I don’t know yet.  We will find out soon.  I have a boy and a girl already and I don’t care, it doesn’t matter.

MICHAEL:

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What is the best part of motherhood?

REBECCA:

That is a hard question.  Motherhood in itself is who I am.  I love every minute of it, even though my children drive me crazy at times.  I finally feel complete as a person.  None of my jobs has fulfilled me in the way having children has.

MICHAEL:

Was this planned?

REBECCA:

Yeah, we had been talking about it for a while.  We knew the first and second one was pretty easy, because I knew I wanted two and the third one kind of rocks the boat a little bit. With this third one, people look at me like I am crazy.  I always wanted a big family.

MICHAEL:

GH has been really cooking right now.  It speaks to the longevity of the show.  There have been many times it’s been unwatchable.

REBECCA:

It’s kicked in to what it should be.  I have been told by fans that the show is really good right now, and there are times when I know people are fast forwarding through the show. But right now, I am hearing that the people are loving all the storylines on the show, which is great.

MICHAEL:

Do you ever watch your work back?

REBECCA:

Sometimes, I will.  But if I am at home I don’t have it on, because I don’t want my kids to watch it.

MICHAEL:

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Oh no, no… (Laughs)

REBECCA:

They don’t know what mommy does.  I do DVR it everyday.  So, if someone tells me it was a really great show, then I can go back and check it out.

MICHAEL:

You and many stars of GH have dealt with the ebbs and flows with their characters for many years.  How many years officially have you been on GH?  And what do you feel when you are so back–burnered for a long time and you have to just ride it out and wait your turn for story?

REBECCA:

I have been on 13 years.  We know its part of the game.  I don’t think everybody gets so discouraged.  We know that some storylines are better than others, and sometimes we work more than others, and that is how it goes.  Right now, I am really blessed to have a storyline after being here for 13 years, and that is my feeling.  I know it won’t last forever, and I hope it kicks back in again, because I love being here, but we all know how it goes.

MICHAEL:

Say a few words on your leading men: Steve Burton?

REBECCA:

Steve is comical; he can be very serious and very sensitive.

MICHAEL:

Tyler?

Courtesy/ABC

REBECCA:

He too is a jokester, because Nikolas is so deadpanned… and I would say Tyler is the most opposite of his character.  He walks around here with bracelets on and ripped jeans. He is this cool laid-back guy always joking and nothing like Nikolas… which is good. (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Jonathan?

REBECCA:

I have such a special place in my heart for Jonathan.  He was the one I worked with right from the beginning.  He is caring and he is so dedicated to the integrity of his character, as are all the guys.  They are all really great people.

MICHAEL:

Do you think we will ever see loving Lucky/Liz scenes again?  Or, do you think now and forever the writers have ruined them?

REBECCA:

I don’t think they have ruined them.  They have taken a different path.  We can’t be the same kids we were ten years ago.  We are adults now, and in the soap world adults have to have baggage and problems.  There has to be issues and this is the way it goes.  We can’t be two adults hiding in boxcars like we used to. (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

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What is something you want to clear up for GH fans that they may not understand or know about you?

REBECCA:

After 13 years there is not a whole lot that fans don’t know about me.  However, in the beginning and even now, people don’t understand that I am basically a shy person.  The thing I hate more than anything is having to get up on a stage and have a microphone and answer questions, such as at the GH fan club luncheon.  It’s so hard for me to do.  One-on-one with fans I love, and hearing their thoughts and their opinions, and getting to know them is great.  But, having to be on a stage with a mic and having questions asked just about kills me, and I will get sick every time.  It has not gotten easier.  So I am very reserved when I do these things, and people take it as, “Becky has an attitude today” or “She does not want to be here.”   I freeze.  It’s intimidating with the other actors who are intelligent and witty people.  I don’t consider myself to be a witty person like Steve, or so many of them here.  I will be the one in the back of the room who will enjoy their witty comments, but not spew any back out.  (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Does you husband, Michael Saucedo (Ex- Juan, GH) watch the air shows when you have a love scene?

REBECCA:

Absolutely not!  There is no reason for him to see that.  I don’t get anyone who does. First of all, he does not even know when I’m doing them half the time.  I don’t tell him. And he is not that interested to the point where he is asking me, “Oh, what did Elizabeth do today?”  He likes to know story arcs, but not day to day what Elizabeth has done.

MICHAEL:

I can only imagine if he saw you and Tyler “doing it” on the air shows.

REBECCA:

Courtesy/ABC

I don’t mention it, because when I get home I am the wife, and the mom, and picking up the kids from school and doing laundry.  We don’t talk about Liz and Lucky, and mostly Michael does not find out about it till after it’s aired.  Someone will say to him, “Oh, I saw your wife rolling around with that guy with that dark hair,” and I went, “Oh, geez, why did you feel the need to tell him?”  Michael then says to me, “How am I supposed to respond?  What do I say to that?”  And that is something I am sure you can never get used to.  So he does not say, “Oh, yeah?  Did she look good?” (Laughs)  So it’s a little awkward.

MICHAEL:

Looks like things are going to be revealed shortly about Liz and the baby daddy situation. What can fans look forward to in the next few weeks?

REBECCA:

Elizabeth has a long road ahead of her, and now she is anticipating finding out who the father is… and I am excited to see right along with her!