When Robert S. Woods and Hillary B. Smith start talking about their perfect couple, what he says and she says usually is the same thing...
As she sits in her dressing room, finishing up a quick bite to eat before diving into pages and pages of dialogue for that day's taping, Hillary B. Smith remembers it well. In fact, she can recall as if it were yesterday the moment when she knew that she and Robert S. Woods were clicking. "We had a scene really early on where we were antagonistic toward one another," relates the actress, the twinkle in her eye speaking volumes. "Marty Saybrooke had driven a motorcycle through the "Banner" window, and since Nora was representing her, she and Bo were on opposite sides.
"So, we were at the hospital having this discussion that turned heated," she elaborates. "I was giving him grief, and he was giving me grief. Even after I got into the elevator and the doors closed, he was still yelling at me. And he was doing this thing with his arm, like he was following the elevator down, floor by floor, and he was bending lower and lower as each floor passed.
"Later, I was in his dressing room watching the tape, and I saw him do that. I never knew he was such a comedian because he's so subtle."
But that was it. That was the moment, shortly after Smith began airing as attorney Nora Gannon, that she knew that Woods was the co-star for her - and his Bo Buchanan was the man for Nora.
You Can't Hurry Love
It's been six years since the couple went head to head at Llanview Hospital. But since their first explosive scene together, the fireworks between them never have fizzled. According to Woods, the secret of Bo and Nora's success always has been their - and their portrayer's - ability to laugh. "We just have fun and enjoy it," he says. "We have this approach where we just 'be.'
"Also, a lot of what makes us work is in the writing," he adds. "It's on the page. For instance, I told them many times throughout the years that I love to dance, and they finally wrote that in."
And - surprise - it worked. Smith has her own take on what makes Bo and Nora such a popular pair. "It starts off camera," she suggests. "Chemistry, to me, is availability, trust and respect. And you can't respect somebody right off the bat; respect is earned. Once that's taken care of," she notes, "you can look at someone deep into their eyes, and know that they are going to look back at you deep into your eyes. That's where the enjoyment comes in, and you also know that when you walk off camera, your marriage isn't in jeopardy. No one's gotten crossed signals."
Plus, Bo and Nora's coupling didn't happen overnight. "The relationship wasn't rushed," points out Smith. "It was a courtship. The fans were there from the beginning, and it was played out just like two people in real life.
"You saw them go through hell and back," she continues, "so by the time they got married, you were invested. And the audience is very happy that they're married.
"Maybe Bo and Nora have got a couple of little chins and too much around the middle, but they just adore eachother."
The Changing Of The Guard
That's not to say there hasn't been trouble - behind the scenes, even. This past year, Woods was not a happy camper. In fact, so displeased was he with the quality of life in Llanview that when his contract came up for renewal in the fall, he waited until the eleventh hour to re-sign - and even then, only did so with the urging of his friend, then-executive producer, Maxine Levinson. But, he admits, "I had never re-signed a contract and been depressed that I was signing again."
Little did Woods suspect, change was right around the corner. The ink on the contract scarcely had dried when Jill Farren Phelps was tapped to take over as executive producer. Woods was worried; Levinson was his friend. "But I talked to people, and every actor who had worked with Jill couldn't say enough good things about her," he says. "Linda Dano was one, and A. Martinez even included the name Farren in the name of his own child. That says something about her right there."
And ultimately, the proof of Phelps' talent is in the pudding - and, more to the point, on the show. Both Woods and Smith are happy with the current storyline that finds Bo and Nora coming apart, with him suspected of murder, and her suspecting him of even more. "This could well be the best thing I've ever had to dive into," suggests Woods. "It kind of pulls everything together. All the Buchanan's, too... Clint, Asa, Viki."
Smith concurs. "It's been laid out really well," she says. "There are some irrifutible clues. He's got a lot of explaining to do, but he's got to lead Nora in a big leap of faith to back him completely."
The plot means even more to Woods than just a series of juicy scripts to study. "I have a lot to be thankful for," he acknowledges. "Being here for as long as I have, I could easily be an ornament you see hanging in the background. Well, now I get a chance to stand a little closer to the camera, and I'm really grateful for it."
Smith isn't just pleased with the story, she's impressed by her leading man too. "The stuff with Georgie in the lodge and in the car... It's watching this man who has always been in control of situations still trying to control a situation that is completely beyond rational control," credits Smith. "That's what makes Harrison Ford the big star that he is. And that's what Woods is doing."
No Laughing Matter
After nearly thirty-five years in daytime (collectively), Woods and Smith have a unique perspective on the industry, it idiosyncrasies and its potential. For instance, in few other media would she be afforded the degree of creative control that she enjoys at OLTL. "It's why I stay in this medium," says the actress, who once moonlighted as Gene Wilder's wife on the sitcom "Something Wilder." "I would have been long gone. I would have been in primetime.
"But in this medium," she notes, "you can make suggestions. No one is going to catch everything in a script, and only you can be your own editor."
In fact, Smith and Woods take advantage of the opportunity to inject their own senses of humor into their characters. "Sometimes they write stuff, but a lot of times, it's better if they don't try to be funny, and just let it come naturally out of us. It's better than trying to put over someone else's joke. So, as far as comedy goes, as long as we get the script far enough in advance, our input is very important."
Woods just is happy to be invited to make a contribution... to be involved in a hot storyline rather than warming the bench. "I was like, 'can't we have a story?'" he remembers. "And Pam Long [OLTL's new head writer] and Jill Farren Phelps had it. I could never have come up with this. If you had to ask me where I wanted things to go, this is it."
Andrea L. Sarney
Get your own Free Home Page