| Personal Interviews with the Stars | |
Dateline: June 6, 2001
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OK, here I had said I didn’t think I’d be able to even speak to Bob Woods, but there he was, my "Bo." I thought, I have to do this! Patricia Elliott’s comment about the writers being great on relationships and my knowledge, from reading the magazines over the years, that Bob and Nathan Purdee are good friends, helped me decide on a question that I knew would draw him out. I wandered over and introduced myself. When he heard I was from an Internet site, he mentioned that he has surfed the net from time to time. We discussed how hostile some of the message boards are, but not with any specifics. I told him I had been to a couple message boards that were very positive and that there were such places out there. We discussed how the ABC boards often bring out the worst in people, and I said that I felt a lot of it had to do with the fans belief that the administration monitored those boards and therefore they had to defend the characters and actors they loved. He said he wasn’t sure but doubted they really did. I asked Bob if he thought that Hank and Bo’s friendship would come into play again, under the new writers. He said he hoped so and that Hank needed a woman! LOL We discussed where Bo and Ben’s relationship may go, as well as Bo and Hank’s. Although he reminisced about previous years of working with Nathan, he could do no more than speculate, like the rest of us, but hopes that these relationships are played out.
Somehow
the topic of Ben not having the brain came up.
I told him the of ongoing comment that the writers only write one brain
in Llanview and everyone seems to share it.
If one character has a brain, it seems the rest are all clueless.
Bob told me that just that Friday, outside the studio, someone had
commented to Mark Derwin that Ben needed a brain.
When would he get a clue where Viki was?
Bob said, “you can’t imagine how hard it is for an intelligent person
to play someone that just doesn’t get it.”
He said he had many years where Bo seemed to have no clue, so he could
empathize. He was glad that, these
days, Bo was smarter. I honestly hadn’t thought about how hard it would be to
play clueless, but it gave me an even greater appreciation for Mark Derwin’s
acting. We talked about Bob/Bo’s
history with the show after I told him my daughter, now 31 had adored Bo since
she was 11. He held his chest and
groaned. LOL
We talked a little about Erika Slezak’s luncheon, which I had attended
on Saturday. He was anxious to hear
about it. He told me about his
audition with Erika over 20 years ago and I do hope he remembers that he
promised to show it to me sometime. We
talked about Vietnam and its effect on everyone that had been there and their
families. Can you tell we talked
for some time? So much for my being
tongue-tied. Bob sure can put a fan
at ease. I tried to talk him into
an online chat but he said he is currently avoiding the Internet.
He did take my card, so maybe someday.
I
spoke with Jason Shane Scott (Will) for just a minute.
He said he has been enjoying the teen story line and the focus they have
had recently and he doesn’t know who killed Colin.
He said he currently has no other projects in the works.
He is still having fun doing the show.
The
last person I was able to snag was Erin Torpey.
She was grabbing a drink and had to get back to the conversation she had
been involved in with her costars, but she did say she is learning the guitar
and wants to explore her music more. She
has one year left on her contract and has no idea right now what the future will
bring for her or her character.
It
was time for the party to start and for the stars to be introduced.
Carol Dickson asked everyone else to please leave the Green Room and take
their seats in the ballroom. I took
a last look around and saw that Linda Dano had just arrived, as had Larry Lau.
Others were walking in as I left. I
headed out to my seat.
I
never did make it to an autograph line but my pass did allow me to enter and
leave each of the autograph rooms as I pleased.
I took several pictures, ran them to the one-hour photo and returned to
take more. Like Ann, I thought last year’s event was much more
fan friendly. I enjoyed the
opportunity afforded me to meet and talk to the actors that bring us the
characters we love and the more I meet the more they all continue to impress me
with their openness, friendliness and appreciation of the fans – us!
Janice Seipp
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Copyrighted by Katherine Thurston,
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