For the past few years, the usually outspoken Hillary B. Smith hasn't been doing any press. "There was nothing to say, nothing to talk about," she states matter-of-factly. Nothing job-wise, that is - because Nora, the character Smith has portrayed for over five years, had virtually no storyline. "I never felt so old as during those three-and-a-half years that [Nora] was in the freezer," sighs Smith. "I was thinking, 'What am I, past my prime?' You can't be front burner all the time, but I had been sitting there for literally four years."
Smith kept herself busy with other projects - the Gene Wilder sitcom "Something Wilder," films, etc. - but it wasn't enough. "I like to work," she asserts. "That's why I'm on daytime. I like the creative input you can have, but I wasn't being allowed to have any." After being on the back burner for so long, Smith decided it was time to check out another stove. "I thought it was time that I moved on." she says candidly. "The frustration level in the building was very high. We had one executive producer who kept saying that the show was like a supertanker: 'It's going to take a while to turn this ship around!' The joke around the set became, 'Yeah, we're rearranging the deck chairs on the "Titanic."
According to Smith, the executive producers weren't the only ones at fault. "I blamed ABC, too," says the actress. "I felt "One Life To Live" wasn't getting any attention. Whatever you perceive things to be isn't necessarily the reality of what it is. But our reality was that we felt like the foster child of ABC. The crown jewels are "All My Children" and "General Hospital." Even "Port Charles" is a spin-off of a crown jewel [GH] - so where did that leave OLTL? We always have to work harder to get attention.
"I gave notice in October," Smith continues. "But [then-Executive Producer] Maxine Levinson, who I love, talked me into resigning and gave me the option to leave if I wanted to." Does she want to? "My contract is up next January, so we'll see."
For the moment, Smith is glad she stuck around. With Executive Producer Jill Farren Phelps and Head Writer Pamela K. Long on board, Smith says that sinking feeling around the set is gone. "These writers have done a helluva job," she praises. "Damage that took four years to do has been corrected in three months." Of course, juicy storylines like on one Smith is currently enjoying require working long hours - and sometimes spending the night on her dressing room couch. "I have no qualms about working this hard when I feel that what everybody is doing is so good. It's the first time in a long time that I've trusted where the story is going."
Smith trusts is so much that she even chopped off her hair when Nora lost her mind momentarily in a hotel room. And she's also dropped about 12 pounds off of what was already a svelte figure. "I look like a beast on TV," she argues. (Whatever.) "Last month, I lost about 3 more pounds, but it wasn't intentional. It just came from all the work [I've been doing]." Time for a vacation, right? But except for her family's annual two-week trek to Maine, Smith isn't scheduling a breather. "I don't want to stop this momentum that we're on - it's too good!"
She is, however, "sleeping as much as I can." And dealing with the sudden death of her mother. "My mother came to visit me for Christmas, and I had to take her to the hospital on Christmas Eve," she says softly. "She died pretty much the next day. It was very surprising." Luckily, Smith had her close-knit family to support her, including her three sisters and husband of 15 years, Phillip (called "Nip").
The Smith family, which also includes Courtney, 12, and Phillip ("Phips"), 9, lives not too far from Llanview, PA, "in the middle of the boonies" of New Jersey. "We're surrounded by a working farm that raises cattle and does genetic engineering. It's wonderful because my kids get to grow up in the country, but when they come into the city, they're happy, too." Do either of her children have the acting bug? "My son originated the role of baby Adam on "As The World Turns," shares Smith. "He's a real ham. I don't know where he gets it from. Courtney is very shy and reserved, but desperately wants to be an actress. I kept saying, 'Oh dear,' but she's done a couple of things at school where I've realized that she's got it in her."
When they're all together, the Smith family just wants to hang out. "There's one thing that we love to do pretty much every night that I'm home - 'covers: Mummy's big bed.' When everyone's done with their homework, we get in our jammies, snuggle in the big bed and watch TV. This has been happening since my daughter was 18 months old, and I could put her someplace and she'd stay there. Now my son has decided he gets too hot under the covers and sits out in a chair. My kids will probably read this and go, 'That's not what we like to do!' "
With Smith working such long hours at the studio, Nip, owner of a commercial real estate firm, takes charge. "He's wonderful," gushes the actress. "I couldn't do what I do without him. He's basically the working 'mom.' He's there with the kids to make sure they get on the bus, arranges car-pooling ... there aren't many men who would do that." Except maybe Bo.
As for this article your reading, Smith says she does believe in doing press for a reason, and she finally has one. "Watch the show," she proclaims. "You're going to enjoy it. I'm completely and utterly enjoying myself."
Along with the rest of her life. "That's the beauty of doing a soap opera," she muses. "You can do good work, be creatively fulfilled and still have a family life. I have had just as many hardships as anybody else, but I have had so many positives, who cares about the hardships? I have a great life. And I don't care how successful you are - if you have no one to share it with, it ain't worth it." - Rebecca Detken
Something to Talk About..SOD 6/30/98