Bo Buchanan is a man of action. Whatever it takes to get his job as Police Commissioner done, he’ll do it! And Robert S. Woods approaches his job – playing Bo – in the same manner. When his storyline called for Bo to go undercover, Robert underwent a complete makeover to create an entirely new character, a bomb expert named Major Austin. His powerful performance as Bo raced against time to save Llanview earns Robert SOAP OPERA MAGAZINE’S Star of the Week honors.

“It was the biggest risk I’ve ever taken on the air,” says Robert. Bo’s disguise called for him to cut his hair very short and dye it blond. He also shaved his beard, leaving only a mustache, which was also dyed blond. To change the color of his eyes, Robert wore ice-blue colored contacts. His new identity in place, Bo set out to infiltrate the notorious Irish terrorist organization called the Men of 21.

“Susie (Bedsow Horgan, executive producer) and I were talking about Bo going undercover and cutting his hair off for over a year,” Robert reveals. “It’s nice to have an opportunity to through a radical physical change. You can always go back, but it just sort of shakes things us a little.”

Bo’s undercover work was filled with many scenes of intrigue and adventure, but some that really stick out for Robert were the scenes when Bo and Patrick were crawling around in the air-shaft tunnel. “They were done all in one day, on a Saturday,” he says. “We had 27 setups–and I was in 25 of them. I was literally on the set the entire day from 10 a.m. to about 1:30 a.m. the next morning. It was a long, long day, but I think those scenes paid off.”

And his co-star Thorsten Kaye (Patrick) agrees. “Bob’s the best,” says Thorsten. “I couldn’t have gotten through that Saturday with anybody else, because he’s got a good sense of humor about himself– and about the work– but will still come through when it’s time to come through.

“He’s an actor who cares about his work and cares about the other actors and that’s what makes him so good,” Thorsten adds. “You know he’ll be there 100 percent every time.”

Robert confesses that he won’t soon forget his radical makeover. “I had about a three-week period of my life where nobody gave me a second look–I could ride on subways, go places and not be recognized,” he reveals. “Walking around with that kind of makeover is like being given the ultimate gag thing,” he adds. “And the funny part was that by the time it started airing, I’d changed back.

“Another funny thing happened in the middle of my disguise thing,” Robert recalls. “I looked up at the TV one day and General Hospital was on the air and there’s Tony Geary (Luke) dressed up looking like Samuel Clemens. I thought , ‘Well, we’re all undercover,’ but I did like my get-up better than I liked his.” ----SHEILA STEINBACH