Nelson Branco's SOAP OPERA UNCENSORED: Issue 54

by Nelson Branco

play Blair the first time. It got better the second time. Actually, I turned down GH the second time because it was just too painful because everyone had signed a contract with GH — but me! I said, “Forget that; I’m not going there because I felt like I didn’t want to diminish a brand I felt I had developed for almost two decades — and it was too hurtful.” Also, the fans were so emotionally invested in Blair that I didn’t want to disappoint them with these short stints… but then Frank convinced me to come back. Listen, I love the work. I love working with Roger Howarth and Kristen Alderson. But each time I visit GH, it’s less emotionally painful for me. The reality is that they are not going to ask me to stay permanently because they already have a Blair-type character on the canvas — and her name is Carly — even though we’re very different but, if you look at the palette of our characters, we are the same shade.

  I don’t think Carly and Blair are alike at all. Carly’s a hot mess. Blair just makes the wrong decisions in the name of love. And Blair is a stand-up mother; Carly is not. For the sake of argument, let’s just say GH offers you a contract, would you move to L.A. or commute?

  Things have to be worked out. I have a family in New York. But it’s not impossible or undoable. People do it all the time but it’s not something I’ve had to think about because the option has never been presented to me.

  I can’t imagine what it’s like for actors like Jerry Ver Dorn or Erika Slezak seeing ONE LIFE continue on another soap. Fans are complaining that GH became ONE HOSPITAL TO KILL but I disagree: GH is nothing like ONE LIFE even with a handful of Llanview residents.

  Llanview and Port Charles are totally different. On ONE LIFE, you wanted to watch Cristian paint in Angel Square. On GH, you have to watch your back or you’ll be shot! [Laughs] They are two different types of shows: one survived and one is missed. Which is ironic since almost all of our ONE LIFE writers are penning GH so it’s not like they don’t know how to write the ONE LIFE characters… GH is just a different show and [head writer] Ron Carlivati has a new audience he has to write for — and that audience is not a ONE LIFE audience.

  I wrote in my ONE LIFE TO LIVE tribute e-book, BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL, that Llanview was the most important character in the story.

  I didn’t read your book.

  I’ll send you a copy. I wrote it because I knew PEOPLE MAGAZINE wouldn’t devote an entire issue to ONE LIFE like they did with AMC!

  See, there you go again! AMC got a 120-page glossy special edition of PEOPLE MAGAZINE and we got 6 pages [in the regular issue]! That’s the kind of stuff I don’t understand and I think I’ll never understand. We were beating AMC in the ratings by 25 percent!

  But I agree with you: even with Todd in Port Charles I don’t feel like ONE LIFE has lived on in some way.

  Todd isn’t even Todd, which is why I think Blair needs to be there. He needs to be defined by someone from his Llanview past on the show. He’s not defined on the show.

  I think the best thing for Blair is to find Victor alive and bring him to Port Chuck to shock the hell out of Todd! Do you think the Trevor St. John beat needs to be played and/or resolved in some manner?

  Of course. I mean, that was the tag of our final moment on our show. That was the biggest cliffhanger of all. It would be fantastic to play out the Victor storyline on GH but I’m not the writer. I don’t know what’s in store for GH. They have a huge cast of characters. I do know that Ron is bringing a lot of old heroes and villains from GH’s past, which I think will be fun to watch. But I have no idea if ABC is even going to continue to invest in GH.

  They have no choice! I think GH is safe thanks to all the replacement shows tanking.

  How bad is KATIE doing? Because I hope she tanks! I haven’t kept up…

  Her ratings are falling every week and her demos are pretty bad. She’s gotten horrible reviews. Luckily, GH’s moving into ONE LIFE’s real estate has been a ratings success. I like to joke that GH’s ratings went up because old ONE LIFE fans caught Todd and Starr back in the 2 P.M. timeslot! God, not only was ONE LIFE canceled when it was the highest-rated soap opera but GH was saved as the network’s lowest rated soap opera — and it got ONE LIFE’s showrunners and its former timeslot! GH always survives even when it doesn’t deserve to be — always at the sake of ONE LIFE.

  Yes, I know, Nelson. But the reality is GH is not ONE LIFE and, unfortunately, ONE LIFE, as we know it, will never return. The sets are gone….

  What’s Blair up to in Llanview? You must think of her a lot because she’s a part of your DNA.

  I would like to think she’s helping Téa, you know what I mean? She’s the one dealing through some sad stuff. Blair’s probably in denial about how she feels about Todd. I’ve never not played the fact that Blair will always love Todd — and that’s how I’ll continue to play it. This whole choice for Blair to marry someone else, I was like, “Really? Are you kidding me? OK.”

  I was so pissed at Blair when she chose to be with Tomas. How about being alone for once! I’ve always theorized that Blair subconsciously chooses men who turned out to be even worse than Todd so she can always return to Todd. It’s kind of an interesting internal struggle Blair deals with — though I’m not sure if that’s what Ron is writing!

  I agree with you on that.

  Do you think that Blair loved Victor?

  I think Blair always knew something was up with Victor because he never loved her like Roger-Todd did. Blair and Victor had moments of romance but Victor was always angry at Blair. Victor was in love with Téa and Evangeline. Whenever Victor was with Blair it was because he was trying to prove a point. It was never because of Blair.

  I thought you had great chemistry with Trevor. I think he’s the best actor ever to grace ONE LIFE. I adore Trevor — and I’m so proud how well he’s doing outside of daytime.

  I adore Trevor! I’ve probably laughed harder with Trevor and Dan Gauthier in my 19 years on the show than with anyone else. We’d sit in the dressing room learning our lines and laugh our butts off! We were just silly. I love both those guys. I think Trevor is a movie star. He’s so talented.

  Why do you think you work so well with strong leading men? I mean, you even sparked with the likes of Grant Aleksander back on GL. Michael Easton, Trevor, Roger, Phil Carey, James DePaiva, Matt Walton, Ted King… the list goes on and on. It seems, if you need a leading lady to stand up to a leading man, you hire Kassie DePaiva!

  [Laughs] Well, if you could find me a leading man, hook me up, because I don’t have a job! [Laughs] Um, I don’t know. I think it’s because I like men. I like to have fun. I also think I allow the chemistry to play out with my leading men. I’m not afraid to go toe-to-toe with them. I think it’s very sexy to have intellectual combat. Pamela Peyton-Wright would always say that about [husband] Jimmy [DePaiva, who played Max Holden] and I: that we were our most sexiest when we’d argue!

  You also don’t emasculate your leading men like some leading women do.

  Not only is it romantic but it’s also hot, steamy and fiery — especially when we are arguing. Not everyone I worked with were romances… some of Blair’s relationships were just steamy.

  All the men in Blair’s life desired to tame her, which was part of the attraction, I think. What does James think of ONE LIFE’s cancellation?

  You know what? He always says there was a shift in daytime about ten years ago or longer. He could see the writing on the wall — and he was kind of shocked ONE LIFE lasted as long as it did, actually. If you look back, you could see it. You watched the trends and paid attention to the details the way these shows were presented, promoted, produced and marketed so you knew, too.

  Oh yes, I did!

  You can also blame the stories themselves… but the whole paradigm shifted.

  I knew ABC was going to cancel ONE LIFE eons ago.

  So did I, which is why I put my apartment on the market. When rumours fly, you have to know there’s always a twist of truth to that rumour.

  I was surprised
that Ron and Frank didn’t bring back James for the finale, especially for Tina’s end story. Was he even asked?

  He wasn’t asked. I don’t know why he wasn’t invited. Jimmy was a huge part of ONE LIFE when it was in its heyday and at the height of the show’s ratings. That whole Tina/Cord/Max/Gabrielle story was front burner and big. He was such a strapping leading man. But decisions were made… all I could say is, I don’t know.

  He was one of the first men to make me realize I was gay when I first saw him ONE LIFE. And I had no idea he was Portuguese like me! I wished I had known that as a kid because finding Portuguese people to look up to in the arts was almost impossible!

  Do you want to talk to him?

  Sure!

  [Kassie puts James on the phone and we catch up. James adds that Kimberlin Brown is also Portuguese — and they were born in the same hospital — which blows my mind, before he puts Kassie back on the phone. FYI: Vanessa Marcil is half-Portuguese, too.]

  He’s a keeper, Kassie. So, what happened with BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL? Apparently executive producer and head writer Brad Bell wanted you for the role of Stacy, Hope’s shrink.

  What happened was crazy! So many things happened that weekend. I was in complete mourning and grief