“Vanna” fans swooned when GH’s Valentin serenaded Anna in the safe house the night of the Nurses’ Ball, and the song he sang was written by his portrayer, James Patrick Stuart. Stuart enthuses, “One of the things I love about [Executive Producer] Frank Valentini is that he’s so clever, it’s like playing tennis with a better tennis player. He just lifts everyone’s game. He said to me, ‘I want you to do the Nurses’ Ball, but you’re stuck in the safe house.’ He was like, ‘I’m thinking guitar. Can you play guitar?’ I said, ‘Listen, I could play guitar. The question is, why would Valentin play guitar?’ Then one night, I was watching SCHITT’S CREEK with my wife and I pulled out a piece of paper and I just started to hum. It was something very simple, not a complicated song, but I thought the hook was so sweet. ’ I sent it to Frank and he goes, ‘Okay, I love this.’ Then the question was, ‘How do we get a keyboard into the safehouse?’ Then one of our producers had the idea, ‘Why don’t we just make it a fantasy?’ The next thing you know, our director, Phideaux [Xavier], was involved, and Finola [Hughes, Anna] was involved, and it became a group effort and we all just had fun with it.”
Thanks to Y&R co-stars Susan Walters (Diane) and her real-life husband, Linden Ashby (ex-Cameron), Christian J. LeBlanc (Michael) has been having fun at the beach. “I enjoy being on a paddleboard , after Susan and Linden taught me how to use it,” says the actor. “I love that where they live, the ocean is right there and I’ll go way, way out there on the paddleboard and then I do a Life Of Pi thing, where I just lay down and watch things swim by. It really is magical. I love the ocean for that kind of stuff.” However, there’s another type of board that LeBlanc grew, well, bored with. “Linden has tried to teach me to surf, which is just tragic because e, that’s the one thing I lose interest in so easily,” he admits. “I actually got up a few times, but nothing spectacular. Linden is a fantastic surfer and even he couldn’t keep me engaged. I mean, I understand the rush of the sport, but I like paddleboarding so much more. In fact, I would rather body surf than have to drag that huge board down to the beach.”
B&B’s Matthew Atkinson (Thomas) enjoys connecting on screen with Krista Allen (Taylor) and Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (Steffy). “I always love working with Krista,” he enthuses. “She’s a goofball — just as much as I am — in numerous scenes. It’s almost like we are kindred spirits in some way. You just understand someone on a certain level, and you don’t necessarily understand why. It just is, and that is how I feel about her. As for Jacqui, there is a joy that Jacqui has in her heart that everyone is attracted to, and it is infectious. When she is happy, it makes you happy. I love her so much and every time we have scenes together, I feel like Jacqui is actually my sister. We’re so close. We can look at each other and know exactly what the other is thinking — in the middle of a scene — and half the time we crack up. We always smile and giggle as we try to hold it in. In fact, there are times we purposely have to look away from each other. I love connecting with both of them.”
Leann Hunley is delighted to finally be branching out as Anna DiMera and sharing scenes with more of her DAYS co-stars. “It’s been so fun to work with people that I really haven’t worked with in years,” says Hunley, citing Arianne Zucker (Nicole) among the mix. “Ari’s a good actress. She’s really strong. She’s thoughtful. She has a sense of humor within the breakdown of the scene. It’s been great fun to work with her , because she’s really solid. And I’m very grateful because I’ve worked with Nadia [Bjorlin, Chloe] and Eric [Martsolf, Brady] in a few scenes. It’s just been nice to work with other people outside my immediate circle of just Tony,” she adds with a laugh. Anna’s newfound role as Nicole’s friend and confidante seems like a natural turn for Hunley. “We’re sisters-in-law, virtually. It kind of feels like that,” she notes. “It’s really been a sweet joy to work with Ari again. The last time I worked with her at all was when Anna kidnapped ‘her daughter’ [Sydney]. Well, it was Sami’s daughter but Nicole thought she had claim to her. I had a few scenes with Ari 10 or 12 years ago. That was the last time I really worked with her until now. So it’s been great fun.
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