WEBVTT - From the Archives: Susan Lucci 0:00:02.200 --> 0:00:05.320 This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the 0:00:05.320 --> 0:00:10.119 Thing from iHeart Radio. So many actors who went on 0:00:10.240 --> 0:00:15.240 to have amazing careers in primetime television and film started 0:00:15.640 --> 0:00:20.439 in soap operas. Meg Ryan, Tom Selleck, Julianne Moore, to 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:23.160 name just a few. And then there are those who 0:00:23.239 --> 0:00:28.280 stayed in daytime television to become huge stars in that genre. 0:00:28.960 --> 0:00:32.760 My guest today is, without a doubt, the biggest star 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:37.839 in the history of daytime TV. Susan Lucci, the actress, 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:42.199 played the iconic villain Erica Kaine on ABC's All My 0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:46.640 Children for four decades, from the show's inception in nineteen 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:52.640 seventy until it wrapped in twenty eleven. Following nineteen nominations. 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:56.920 She finally took home the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding 0:00:57.040 --> 0:01:00.920 Lead Actress in nineteen ninety nine and sat the Emmy's 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:06.320 Lifetime Achievement Award this past December. But Lovable bad Girl 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:09.920 is not the only role in Lucci's wheelhouse. She has 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:14.080 acted in numerous roles in film and TV, from Devious 0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:18.440 Maids to Hot in Cleveland, and starred on Broadway in 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:23.240 Annie Get Your Gun. Susan Lucci has yet another achievement 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:27.200 to boast of a long and healthy partnership with husband 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:31.920 Helmet Huber. Hubert passed away in twenty twenty two after 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:35.880 fifty two years of marriage. I wanted to know what 0:01:36.000 --> 0:01:38.399 was the secret of their successful union. 0:01:39.360 --> 0:01:42.320 Incredibly good luck for on my part to meet him, 0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:45.680 because I was young and I didn't I don't think 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:50.640 I really knew exactly how fabulous he was and just 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:54.160 got really lucky. Fortunately he had a very good sense 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:57.880 of humor and he was very confident. This was really 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:01.600 helpful in this business we're talking about. You know, he 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:03.320 took a lot of ribbing all those guys I was 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:06.840 kissing on all my children. But you know, he got it. 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:08.400 You know he knew I came home to him and 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:09.000 I wanted to. 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:12.359 So yeah, yeah, I remember when I was younger. I mean, 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:14.720 now I don't really do any of that, but when 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:17.919 I was younger, and I had a girlfriend at one 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:22.320 time who really was very very agitated by that. I 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:24.360 was just starting to make films or just was starting 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:26.720 to go from TV to films, and I had to 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:30.320 kiss somebody who was very well known and this movie 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:32.560 was going to be all over the TV. And everything. 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:35.639 Me kissing this person was going to be featured. Who knew, 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:38.560 who knows? And she really just couldn't take it. She 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:40.000 was really very angry all the time. 0:02:40.120 --> 0:02:42.080 It's not for everybody. Yeah, I used to say, if 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:43.640 that she were on the other foot, I would have 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:46.440 been throwing my stilettos. I mean I would not have 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:47.240 taken it as well. 0:02:47.800 --> 0:02:49.760 When I was young, well, when I had it the 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:52.240 other way, when a woman in my life was in 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:54.079 the business and she was kissing other people, I just 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:55.560 would look at her and say, if you left me 0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:58.239 for him, you got to be an idiots. 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:00.919 I would sound like helmet, like a good luck. 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:04.360 I mean, please go right ahead. Don't teach me everything 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:06.560 about you. I need to know, you know, but you. 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:09.200 I don't want to talk just about the TV show 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:12.079 at length. I want to talk about the other things 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:14.560 you did and the other things you wanted to do. 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:17.840 I mean, your commitment to that show is singular. You 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:21.160 are right to the end. You surf that wave right 0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:24.080 to the shore. But other than that, what were there 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:25.799 other things you wanted you did do, other things, you 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:29.360 made films, you stepped in for Bernadett and Nanny gets. 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:31.160 Your want to go in for Bernadette. I was so 0:03:31.400 --> 0:03:37.080 through all. I love the whole original company. 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:39.800 Yeah, I love, But how did that happen? Like you 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:42.680 go to this the TV show and you say I 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:44.720 want out, or you went did the TV show and 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:45.840 went to night work at night. 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:48.920 I did both. I did both. I had a short 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:53.040 time off but all the rehearsals. I just was able 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:55.840 to have time off just before the opening, but I 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:58.920 wound up getting pneumonia. Because I would work at all 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:02.240 my children. They accommodated my schedule so that we started 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:04.640 a little earlier in the morning, did all my stuff first, 0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:08.960 and then I would on my lunch hour, get in 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:12.360 a car, go to the theater, grab a chicken soup 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:16.000 on the way, and go and rehearse, go to voice 0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:19.160 lessons five nights a week because I had never sung professionally. 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:22.400 Did you study theater and acting in college? Where'd you go? 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:26.000 I went to Marymount College. It is a Catholic women's college, 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:28.960 but it's in Tarrytown, and all the drama faculty was 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:32.840 from Yale and Royal Shakespeare Company in London, Mary Martha Grand. 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:36.400 It was a wonderful school, a wonderful for me. Jesuit school, 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:39.080 which is the Smarty Pants guy. So that was good. 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:42.520 The faculty was phenomenal, and they were all working in 0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:44.840 the business. So the head of the drama department, who 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:47.159 was from Yale, was also a member of Cafe La 0:04:47.200 --> 0:04:50.360 Mama and Lincoln Center Rep. So I got the classics 0:04:50.400 --> 0:04:52.040 as well as the new stuff. 0:04:52.640 --> 0:04:56.080 So you do that show. You did small roles and 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:59.560 things back in the sixties, but then you're doing films 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:04.760 throughout the eighties, nineties, two thousands, you're doing Army Wives 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:08.400 a couple through episodes of that. You're working outside the show. 0:05:09.080 --> 0:05:11.479 Why did you feel you wanted to You're just a 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:13.120 kind of I don't want to say workaholic, but you 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:14.240 like to work. 0:05:14.320 --> 0:05:15.839 I do like to work, and I like to work 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:20.080 as an actress, and you know, probably a couple of things. 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:21.800 First of all, I'd never thought that I could call 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:24.880 myself an actress if I only played one part. And 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:27.479 even though the part was the part that kept me 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:30.760 on that show for so long, because I loved doing 0:05:30.800 --> 0:05:32.599 that part. That part was one of the best parts, 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:35.760 with the most range and the most possibilities. And I 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:38.960 worked with a company of actors who I loved and 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:42.480 trusted and it was wonderful, and the writing was fantastic. 0:05:42.480 --> 0:05:44.200 It was Agnes Nixon and a lot of reasons that 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:47.120 kept me there. However, having said that, I just never 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:50.360 thought that playing one part would make me an actress. 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:53.560 I had to do more, and so I did. And 0:05:53.600 --> 0:05:55.200 the other thing I started to say is that I 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:57.520 think a lot of actors, you know, you feel like 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:00.839 you should say yes as much as you can say yes, 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:04.240 because someday it won't all be there, So you just 0:06:04.279 --> 0:06:05.280 say yes, why you can. 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:10.320 I did a soap. The doctors and everybody in that cast, 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:14.120 not everybody, but a thick band of them were all 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:16.920 like they did the soap for the pension and welfare 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:19.360 and the paycheck and the medical and then they ran 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:21.680 off to the theater. That was their passion. We were 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:24.320 a half hour which was starting to fade and go down. 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:28.400 The older cast was primary. I always tell people that 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:30.800 the cast photo were the adults in front and the 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:33.680 kids in the back, because the kids were the supporting players. 0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:37.320 And that changed with Bold and the Beautiful, with all 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:40.080 my children, well my children, well Ryan's hope, Young and 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:44.279 the Restless. However, on your show, the youth revolution comes 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:47.120 and you're still young at this point, but you're one 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:49.640 of the older cast. Members of the younger cast mean no, 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:50.240 no no. 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:52.280 I started playing Eric as a fifteen year old high 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:56.000 school girl, something that drew me to that drew me 0:06:56.040 --> 0:06:58.560 to the show because the man who was the head 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:02.160 of the department at Marymount, who came from Yale, only 0:07:02.200 --> 0:07:05.840 wanted me to do theater and maybe film. Those two things. 0:07:06.000 --> 0:07:10.400 Television and daytime television never even came into the equation. 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:13.480 But when I read the script and I saw that 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:17.520 the four kids and we were in high school were 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:22.880 now featured with storylines, and I loved the part. I thought, well, 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:25.440 I'm going to change his mind. I'm going to do 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:29.040 this and it's so well written and I have this 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:31.880 incredible part, so I took the part. He was not 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:34.640 happy at first, but then he actually was interviewed by 0:07:34.680 --> 0:07:37.320 TV Guide and said, at the time, I know why 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:37.840 she did this. 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:41.160 You know, but even as you're in that generation, when 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:43.400 you're younger and you stayed with the show and you're 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:46.800 getting older, yes, and other young stars are coming into 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:49.520 for the show, you remain one of the stars of 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:52.200 the show. Why how did you pull that off? 0:07:52.520 --> 0:07:55.080 I think it was the writing that pulled it off. 0:07:55.200 --> 0:07:59.160 You know, thank you for saying that. No, thank you. 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:02.320 I was very lucky, as I said she You know, 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:04.480 so I started her playing as a fifteen year old girl. 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:06.280 But she was never the girl next door, and she 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:09.160 was not the girl that you know, everybody was going 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:11.320 to embrace. She was the naughty girl in town, and 0:08:11.680 --> 0:08:15.160 she was major bad girl in town and on a 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:18.240 world stage. And I never thought the audience was going 0:08:18.320 --> 0:08:22.480 to like her. I loved to play her, the bad girl, 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:23.240 the bad girl. 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:25.520 Yeah, and you never thought they would embrace the bad girl. 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:27.800 Never thought the boy Were you wrong? Yeah? 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:30.440 Turned out that we loved bad girls. They loved bad girls. 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:33.720 They do love that. And what they saw, and again 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:38.200 the writing was there to support it was they saw 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:41.800 that she was a girl who had dreams for herself 0:08:42.120 --> 0:08:44.000 and she was going to go out there and get them. 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:46.680 She had spirited, she had spunk. She'd always do it 0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:50.240 the right or the nice way. But they really loved 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:52.040 her spunk, her spirit. 0:08:52.280 --> 0:08:54.840 They would watch these shows. I remember because the generation 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:58.599 comes in now where the audience is in sixties housewives, 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:02.160 it's young people, college kids, and they stop in the 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:05.199 middle of the day to watch their stories my stories 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:07.440 and then they would watch the show and then you're 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:09.120 on there doing whatever, and they sit there and be like, 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:14.160 you know, Corey, Corey, it's us. We did that. You know, 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:16.600 anything bad you did was very familiar to them. 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:21.600 Well. And also Erica I think represented my generation that 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:25.560 we were working. You know, my generation was working. They 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:27.840 were not getting out of college and just getting married. 0:09:28.280 --> 0:09:33.280 They had their own dreams and aspirations to have wasn't enough, 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:36.920 wasn't the only thing on their mind. They had additional 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:39.800 things on their minds. And going to Merrimount, which was 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:43.880 a women's college. I remember when we would talk about 0:09:43.920 --> 0:09:47.720 our dreams. We had aspirations for ourselves in terms of career, 0:09:48.000 --> 0:09:51.240 and it wasn't a question of if we were going 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:53.400 to do that, It was when we were going to do. 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:55.360 This is what we were going to do, and how could. 0:09:55.200 --> 0:09:59.680 We do it now. Obviously, Agnes Nixon wasn't your head 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:02.280 writer throughout the entire work. She was the creator, the creator, 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:04.199 and then the writers would come and go. 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:07.760 Writers would, yes, a lot of them would stay for years, 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:11.320 but Lorraine Broadwick became the head writer because Agnes would 0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:12.400 come and go occasionally. 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:15.160 Did everybody who came on to run the show. They 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:18.080 all basically treated you the same way. Was that another 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:20.640 great advantage you had was that Eric is not going anywhere. 0:10:21.040 --> 0:10:23.199 It seemed to be that way. It seemed to be 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:27.559 the way. It's hard only again, you, I think because 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:31.760 Agnes was involved and it was her creation and she 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:35.120 was in the room, you know. And also I remember 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:39.120 our last producer, Julie Cruthers, who lucky to have wonderful 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:44.040 producers too, and Julie would say the last man who 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:47.559 was the head of ABC Daytime, I believe, was not 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:51.679 so enamored of Agnes being involved. And I remember Julie 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:54.800 saying that Agnes is the youngest voice in the room, 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:57.840 so she had good stories to tell and she remained 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:03.240 relevant and groundbreaking always. So I think because of Agnes 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:08.240 and Agnes's beautiful writing for my character Erica, I think 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:09.480 that's why I got to stay. 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:12.120 These people work really hard. You come up with a 0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:14.679 fresh idea every day. The only bad part was we 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:17.439 would do with double tape very rarely because we had 0:11:17.440 --> 0:11:20.400 to accommodate people who were working on Broadway. We had 0:11:20.440 --> 0:11:22.560 cast members who were on a Wednesday, they did the matinee, 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:24.640 so they would have to leave by one. We'd pretape 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:26.920 their scenes and they had a scene on a Christmas 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:30.120 show where they're floating between everybody. So they're in a 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:33.000 party and all the family of the show was there 0:11:33.040 --> 0:11:34.679 and they're floating with the camera and they go, I'll 0:11:34.760 --> 0:11:36.880 land on this one and this one, and they're like, 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:38.760 my god, I can't wait for us to head down 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:41.000 to Palm Beach and have a nice vacation. Something light. 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:43.800 Pan to the next one and the wife or the 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:46.520 girlfriend saying to the boyfriend, I knew you had drinks 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:48.880 with her chat I know you had drinks. I I 0:11:48.880 --> 0:11:52.240 saw you and something frothing turgid there. Then they'd land 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:54.160 on me last, and I was like a little bit 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:56.839 drunk because I went to lunch at Hurley's down on 0:11:56.920 --> 0:11:59.200 the bottom of the building. That's where we always went, 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:02.160 cause we usually left it and come back. We had 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:03.680 launch and film. Now we had to come back to 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:05.120 finish the rest of the taping as we did a 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:07.480 double taping, and I came back when they finally land 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:10.280 on me in their floating shot. They landed me and 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:16.400 I go, you know, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry everybody. 0:12:16.400 --> 0:12:19.000 I blow the whole take for and they looked at me, like, 0:12:19.080 --> 0:12:21.079 you better straight out. 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:22.480 This was at the beginning. 0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:24.840 This was in the beginning, and I thought it was 0:12:25.280 --> 0:12:27.400 I didn't take it as seriously as I should have, 0:12:27.400 --> 0:12:31.400 but I learned a lot. I learned a lot of 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:34.280 the things that were significant to me about the professionalism 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:38.000 of your acting career on that TV show, on that daytime. 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:39.320 TV interesting, it's wonderful. 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:44.600 The show ends twenty eleven, correct, and all of the daytime. 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:47.400 That was an empire. Where did you shoot a West 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:49.040 End Avenue over in the big at the Kremlin? 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:52.640 I call it the Kremlin sixty sixth and Columbus. Yeah, 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:55.319 And then we moved to sixty seventh and West End, 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:58.160 And the last two years we shot in La you did. 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:01.480 I didn't know that that well. 0:13:01.600 --> 0:13:04.800 We were told that it would be more cost effective 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:07.760 at that time, and also because of the climate, it 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:10.120 would be really great. We could shoot outside as well, 0:13:10.440 --> 0:13:12.360 with the location actually nearby. 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:13.240 Did you enjoy it? 0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:17.400 I did? I did. I didn't expect to, because so 0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:20.320 many actors from New York would say how much they 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:23.319 didn't love working in LA I did, maybe because I 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:25.000 grew up in the suburbs and I was used to 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:28.040 being in a car and even like it, So I 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:28.719 was fine with that. 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:30.400 And where did you live when you were out there? 0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:31.240 Where did you shoot? 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:35.600 We shot in Glendale. We shot in Glendale, and we 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:39.320 had an apartment in Glendale. The studio was six minutes 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:42.480 from our apartment. If I hit the red lights in 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:44.560 Garden City, it was an hour and a half commute. 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:46.440 But I really it was fine for me because I 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:48.920 studied my lines on the way in and I could 0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:51.120 just return phone calls and be a vegetable way. 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:52.680 How did you get in every day? Somebody drove you? 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:57.720 Yes, it began with Helmet driving me. That's love, Yes, 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:01.840 it really, Yes, he was finnantastic. But then when I 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:06.040 was twenty seven, one of the vice presidents of the 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:09.000 network offered me a limo, you know, to pick me 0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:12.920 up and take me in, And I remember saying, I 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:15.480 thank them very much, But I said, you know, people 0:14:15.480 --> 0:14:18.400 are coming here on this subway, and if I show 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:21.000 up in a limo, this is an ensemble, I'm going 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:24.280 to be playing scenes with them. This is probably not 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:26.960 going to be a good way to have a company 0:14:27.160 --> 0:14:27.880 of actors. 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:29.600 You didn't want to be viewed that way. 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:31.800 No, I wanted to be. I was part of the company. 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:34.160 I recognized that the part that was being written, and 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:37.240 I was lucky enough to have it was written for me. 0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:41.000 But there was a collaboration for sure. I saw what 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:43.760 was on the page, and frankly, I mean, you know, 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:48.480 my experience with the writing there was incredible, and I 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:50.560 had good training, so I knew how I I mean, 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:53.120 my judgment I thought was a good judgment and it 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:56.920 was really so well written. Also, I was one of 0:14:56.920 --> 0:14:59.760 those characters you're talking about that the writer wanted to 0:14:59.800 --> 0:15:03.200 tell the story through, and I realized that it was very, 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:05.960 very lucky. But one thing with Agnes is that she 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:09.880 would tell very complicated, relevant stories, current stories, but through 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:15.440 everybody's eyes. I think Erica was Agnes's voice. But I 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:20.400 really admired the fact that these complicated issues anybody watching 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:23.160 out there could could see themselves represented. 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:27.239 What was the challenge for you to keep that role fresh? 0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:30.560 Do you suggest things to them? I always believe that 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:33.920 someone who's as talented as you are and who owns 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:36.040 that role in the way that you did, you have 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:37.720 every right to turn to them and say, I'd like 0:15:37.720 --> 0:15:40.280 you to mayven think about this? You suggest how much 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:41.920 were you able to suggest. 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:43.840 Very little, really, yeah, very little. 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:45.680 You just referred to Agnes. 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:48.920 It was there, you know. I was really lucky most 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:51.040 mostly I would read this. First of all, it was 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:53.320 a newscript every day, and you know very well from 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:55.080 having been on daytime. It was the length of a 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:57.120 play a day. It was a play a day, and 0:15:57.200 --> 0:16:00.240 so there's a lot of material not only to commit 0:16:00.320 --> 0:16:03.360 to memory, but to fill to make work, you know. 0:16:03.760 --> 0:16:07.520 And so the day to day was very occupying of 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:11.960 my mind. And I was in such good hands in 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:14.720 the final times, you know, when we moved to la 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:16.680 and when the person who was in the charge of 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:20.920 daytime brought in a new writer altogether, and he met 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:25.000 with our company of actors during a lunch period in 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:28.080 our rehearsal hall. And the first thing that that writer, 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:30.840 who might have been a wonderful writer in a different genre, 0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:34.440 but what he said was I'm going to shake things up. 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:38.520 That's fine, but he said, so some of you may 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:42.160 not recognize your characters or your relationships and so on. 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:46.200 And so what happened was that during rehearsal in the morning, 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:52.440 what he said was true, and so many actors were concerned. 0:16:52.520 --> 0:16:54.080 I was one of them. Too. Of course, you know, 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:55.480 people would come to me and say, what are you 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:57.240 doing about this? So you just try to hold on 0:16:57.560 --> 0:16:58.920 tooth and nail, you. 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:02.520 Know, tell when people were coming on. The younger people 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:04.720 knew were people, whether they had it or not, the 0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:06.040 discipline to do the show. 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:09.480 I could see that some people were, you know, no, 0:17:09.560 --> 0:17:14.960 we're wonderful. Wonderful, yeah, Josh, Kim Darnell, they stood out 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:17.679 right away. Kim Delaney, Kim just mel. 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:21.679 My god, yeah, Kim Delaney, yes. 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:27.440 And actually Michael B. Jordan. Michael played my steps on 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:30.520 by marriage to Jack Montgomery, to Walt Willie, who was 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:34.200 spectacular too, but he was one who was sixteen and 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:39.000 always very what you're saying, discipline, showed up on time, 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:43.360 showed up prepared, very respectful, very nice person, good guy. 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:46.919 When you did the show. Were their actors, you just 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:48.399 feel like you enjoyed working with them? 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:51.639 They were, Oh absolutely what Willie, who I worked with 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:55.960 most often, who was my love interest throughout lots of times, 0:17:56.160 --> 0:17:59.119 in and out. He's so funny and very quick and 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:02.200 loved working with him. And on the other side of 0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:07.600 the coind David Canary, who was spectacular actor. I worked 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:10.120 with him probably next to Walt. I worked with David 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:12.760 Canary most, but we hate I mean I hated him, 0:18:12.920 --> 0:18:17.199 Erica hated him. But those scenes were wonderful. And you 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:20.159 know you were saying earlier about you know, the senior 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:22.840 actors leaving because they were on Broadway and they had 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:25.520 places to go. I thought that was one of the 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:28.120 biggest pluses working in New York. But the other actors 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:34.080 were phenomenal Broadway actors. I mean Jimmy Mitchell who danced 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:38.440 the Curly Ballet in Oklahoma on Broadway and was so urbane. 0:18:38.480 --> 0:18:41.800 And you know, I was young to learn from these 0:18:41.960 --> 0:18:46.280 incredibly successful actors who were working on Broadway. Sometimes someone 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:49.959 like Philip Bosco, who, yeah, would come and do you 0:18:49.960 --> 0:18:54.000 know an arc on the show? Yeah? Oh, I remember 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:57.800 one day I was doing a concert version of One 0:18:57.840 --> 0:19:00.320 Touch of Venus and we would rehearse the Amsterdam Theater 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:02.320 during my lunch hour. Run out there and do that 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:06.639 and come back was for encores, yes, and at the time, 0:19:06.840 --> 0:19:11.400 and I was so much fun and again, wonderful Broadway actors. 0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:14.639 Piggy Cass was playing my mother, yes, I know, it 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:19.320 was incredible. And coming back to the studio and waiting 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:21.160 behind the sets. You know, if the cameras broke down 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:24.520 a little bit or something was happening technically that we 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:26.520 didn't know what we had to be on hold, stayed 0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:31.399 our places. So behind the scenes, my set flowed into 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:34.879 behind Jimmy Mitchell's set, and he came up to me 0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:37.280 and he just took me in his arms and waltz 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:40.240 with me. He danced with me all over the backstage 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:43.800 while we were waiting. You know, some of those wonderful experiences, 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:49.600 actress Susan Lucci. 0:19:50.040 --> 0:19:54.920 If you enjoyed conversations with talented female thespians, check out 0:19:54.960 --> 0:19:58.960 my episode with former As the World Turns star and 0:19:59.080 --> 0:20:01.080 Oscar winner Julianne Moore. 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:03.880 I'm very chatty. I like to talk all the way 0:20:03.960 --> 0:20:04.480 up to action. 0:20:05.119 --> 0:20:07.600 I do, I do, And if you can't talk to me, 0:20:07.640 --> 0:20:10.320 I'm really disappointed. Then I get lonely, and I want 0:20:10.320 --> 0:20:11.679 to be lonely when I want, I want to be 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:13.720 with my buddy. I'm want to talk to me, talk 0:20:13.760 --> 0:20:15.199 to me and my friend lets me buddys talking to you. 0:20:15.200 --> 0:20:16.640 What'd you do this morning? What'd you have for dinner 0:20:16.680 --> 0:20:18.080 last night? What are you doing later today? 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:19.760 Are you cold? Do you like that sweater. Did you 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:22.439 like my sweater? What are you doing? Action acting? I 0:20:22.440 --> 0:20:22.760 love it. 0:20:22.800 --> 0:20:23.920