Imaginary Conversations….
STARRING STEVE BURTON AND JILL FARREN PHELPS
UNCENSORED got its hands on a top-secret meeting between the Y&R power duo
Jill Farren Phelps: Hey, boo! What are we going to do about this Jamey Giddens person from DAYTIME CONFIDENTIAL? He’s exposed us!
Steve Burton: Who?
JFP: Some blogger who needs a hug. Or a good lay. He’s still pissed I killed off Frankie Frame on ANOTHER WORLD.
SB: That’s rude. You’re so awesome.
JFP: I know, right? God, I thought Nelson Branco was a problem. Now I have to deal with Jamey. So, let’s get our stories straight.
SB: OK. Should I get out the mind chip so you can program me to say what you want?
JFP: No, we don’t have time for that. Just memorize these pages like a script. [Hands him a few sheets of paper]
SB: OK, Mom.
JFP: Give me a kiss first.
[They smooch before JFP slips Burton the tongue]
SB: [Giggles] That tickles, Mami.
JFP: You like that, don’t you?
SB: Yes. It’s our little secret.
JFP: OK: Now go on Twitter. State that neither Sony nor CBS pays for flying you in. That bitch Angelica McDaniel is furious over this whole thing so we need to shut her up.
SB: Who is Angelica?
JFP: YOU STAY AWAY FROM HER! YOU HEAR ME! YOU’RE MINE!
SB: Do I get a treat afterwards?
JFP: Of course, Stevie. We’ll take a nice long bath together. Just us!
SB: And we’ll play hide the duckie again? Will I get a raise?
JFP: As always. Mama takes care of her duckie.
SB: Cool! Frank and Ron at GH never treated me as good as you do! They just wanted me for my pecs. And awesome hair. And, like, my rad black T-shirts. They were so colourful. [Sighs]
JFP: Those poofters don’t appreciate how special you are. You’re my Superman.
SB: [Giggles] Say it again!
JFP: My Superman! Now we have to make sure the language is correct: While we factored in your travel into your episode pay rate, we have to specify that we don’t pay for your flights because technically we don’t.
SB: That’s confusing. I don’t like math.
JFP: Just pretend you’re Dylan and say those lines.
SB: OK.
JFP: And, most importantly, never, ever go on that drunken Sean Kanan’s podcast again!
Cover Story
2014 STAR TO WATCH:
TRISTAN ROGERS RETURNS TO Y&R!
From Port Charles To Genoa City: Why The Superstar Switched Teams In The Middle Of A Front-Burner Story!
When it rains, it pours. Over the past two years, acting tornado Tristan Rogers has been bouncing back and forth from Y&R to GH a couple of times now. He’s like a superstar without a home, a foster soap actor, if you will. However, Rogers has landed a 12-month deal at Y&R to reprise his surprise hit role as Aussie mobster Colin Atkinson early next year. That means he had to say goodbye to the soap that made him a mainstream name and a show that has thrown him on the front burner again after Robert Scorpio languished on the backburner for the past few years.
UNCENSORED caught up with the sexy actor to talk about his recent good fortunes; his relationship with new Y&R executive producer and old GH boss Jill Farren Phelps; why we can thank Daniel Goddard’s firing for the Aussie invasion; how working with Frank Valentini reminded him of working with the late, great Gloria Monty; the one Y&R star he’ll miss working with; and why fans can’t get enough of Jill and Colin.
Welcome back! Are you as surprised as I am you’re back on Y&R?
Not really. When we last spoke, I remember telling you that I felt like I wasn’t finished in Genoa City. For some reason, I felt like I would work with Jess Walton again.
Deep down, I felt the same way even though it seemed impossible for a variety of reasons. How did this all happen?
There was no intrigue or anything like that. My manager got a call at the end of October inquiring about my contractual obligations at GH. My manager said, “Well, he doesn’t have any; they’ve run out.” They said, “OK, we’ll get back to you.” I didn’t hear from them right away, but one day they called and said, “Guess what? You’re back on Y&R!” It was that quick. It took everyone by surprise, including GH because, at that point, I hadn’t finished the shows I had agreed to film. We were supposed get those shows done by Oct. 31 but that hadn’t happened yet. I’m still working out those shows now. They added a few more, actually. I’ll be pretty much working up until the show goes dark.
Will you overlap between both shows?
No. You can’t do that. I have to finish at GH before I go to Y&R and all my GH episodes have to be done and off the air. You can’t be seen two shows at the same time. They see it as a conflict of interest. I don’t know why they see it like that.
If you’re contract. (Ed. Note: GH and DAYS are sharing Wally Kurth.) Did you have any hesitation in agreeing to do Y&R since you’re on the front burner on GH? Were you scared you bet on the wrong horse? Burn any bridges?
My memories of Y&R were always very positive. I was treated very well over there. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Working with Jess Walton was great. Working with the late Paul Rauch was great. Working with Daniel Goddard was great. People in my little group there were fantastic! Though, I will sorely miss working with Jeanne Cooper because we had some good stuff together. The other big issue was that Colin has no baggage. He’s a clean sheet of paper; whereas Scorpio is nothing but baggage. As Scorpio, you’re always in competition with yourself. Therefore, playing Colin, for me, is easier because I can continue to add to him all the time. There’s nothing in his past that can restrict me in terms of, “Oh, you can’t do that because he did this years ago.” There’s nothing like that on Y&R as Colin. From the perspective of me as an actor, he’s much easier to develop as a character and evolve at this point. Now, I’m not putting my character on GH, Robert Scorpio, down by any means; far from it. I have a huge investment in Robert when it comes to GH. But as a comparison in terms of my future on Y&R, well, I hear there are some interesting things planned.
How did executive producer Frank Valentini and head writer Ron Carlivati take the news? I love that you paid your respects to the team at GH on Twitter when the news broke.
I have no bad feelings or anything. Working with Frank was an absolute blessing. When he walks on to the set, and sees what you’re doing, he brings something to the scene that wasn’t there originally. Either you didn’t think of it, or it was so obvious that it went over everyone’s heads. It’s something in the blocking, it’s something in the interpretation… To be honest with you, working with Frank reminds me of working with Gloria Monty [GH’s late, great executive producer, who also saved the show from cancellation]. They both approach a scene the similar way. It’s just too bad Frank doesn’t have more time to produce these episodes because the show would benefit enormously from that kind of input. He has a lot more input to offer than time allows. I've never not worked with him and said, “Yeah, this scene is so much better because of his input.”
What’s the mood at GH these days? You’ve been there on and off all year. You must be happy its ratings are up, it’s found its identity again and the show is firing on cylinders.
Yeah, the show is in much better shape than it was a year and a half ago. Forget about the ratings, the whole tone and structure of the show is solid. You have to thank Valentini and Carlivati for their input and guidance, especially Frank’s. It’s been very gratifying for me to see the show revive itself because the last 8 or 9 years was very depressing seeing the show go into the toilet. I mean, at one point there the show was literally struggling for its existence. Now it’s on a good footing. I think ABC looks at GH and says now, “Well, at least we have something on daytime that works.”