Nancy Lee Grahn, one of the most popular players in all of soapdom, won a 1989 supporting actress Emmy as Julia Wainwright on Santa Barbara. These days, she's juggling two gigs -- by day, she's hotshot lawyer Alexis Davis on General Hospital; by night, she's the emotionally unstable Denise Fielding on Melrose Place.

So is it true General Hospital has finally offered you a contract?

Yes, we've been trying to work it out for a month now.

So, like, what's the holdup?

These things take a long time. Plus, I've been distracted, what with Melrose, and I also have a bit of a love life now -- no, don't put that in.... Oh, never mind, I don't care. And I've been going out of town a lot. And there's a lot going on with GH, too, what with the launching of Port Charles. Contracts are a process. They always are.

How can the writers be planning something for you if they don't know for certain that they have you?

Because we all know we're going to work this out, that's why. If I have anything to do with this -- and I do -- we will work this out.

So does this mean they do have major plans for you?

I'm assuming so.

You mean, you haven't asked?

No, I haven't. So far, faith has worked very well for me. I just believe that everything is going to be good. Things have always worked that way.

Don't you think it's kind of weird that the public knows all about your noncontract situation? It's been written up in all the magazines. The fans are clamoring for you to get one -- in fact, they're writing to [executive producer] Wendy Riche demanding it. I constantly get asked about it online. This stuff never used to see print in the old days.

I find it so completely, totally odd. I feel two ways about it: On one hand, I feel that my privacy is being a little violated, but on the other hand I think, "Isn't it great to have all these agents out there?" And, quite frankly, they were more useful than my real agent.

Do you think all this interest and concern had an influence on Wendy finally offering you one?

I believe that Wendy's objective is to please the fans. I truly believe that. But I also believe Wendy doesn't do something unless Wendy really wants to do it. So, yes and no.

So now that you've shot all eight of your Melrose episodes, sum up the experience.

Well, I finally got the knack of working in film on the very last day I shot.

But you've done tons of guest shots!

But you have to do them with consistency or you don't ever get comfortable. It's like that on a daytime soap, too: It took me six months to get comfortable on Santa Barbara -- and daytime is so much easier because it's in a controlled environment. Filmed shows like Melrose are totally different. You're trying to get into an emotional place, and they have to cut because there was a plane, they cut again because there's a helicopter, they cut again because a car drove by, we cut again because the camera missed the shot. It's all so technical.

And you get such little screen time in return for all that. I mean, you've had like 2.5 scenes an episode! You actors have it so much better on daytime.

All along I've said that! Nobody's part on Melrose is that big. Doug Savant has very little to do and he's a regular, you know? It's a very big ensemble.

Then why an eight-week run? Why not condense your scenes into a shorter, punchier story arc like they do on N.Y.P.D. Blue? Or will the answer to that be obvious as the episodes play out?

Yes, that will make sense. It all turns into a court battle. But I thought there would be more. It was a big deal to get the part. They saw a lot of people.

Like who?

When I walked in for my audition I saw Elle MacPherson. I don't know who else.

Do you know for a fact that you won't be back next season?

No, I don't know that. I was contracted for eight shows, which will take me through the season finale -- but they didn't kill me off. As Aaron Spelling has said, "If you haven't blown up on one of my shows, there's a chance you can come back." I think he said that in People.

"Blown up"? How do you know that he wasn't referring to weight? You know, like the Hunter Tylo situation?

Very funny. All I know is that Denise leaves town. She doesn't die.

Actresses seem to like themselves better on film. Do you find it more flattering than video?

No.

I'm not surprised you think that. You look incredible on GH. Everybody does. To digress, I can't believe GH did not get an Emmy nomination for lighting.

Neither can I. They have the best lighting I've ever seen on a soap.

So what's with the That Girl flip they gave you on Melrose?

Oh, you just sort of let them do what they're gonna do.

Even when they want to make you look like Marlo Thomas?

I thought I looked more like Florence Henderson. But same era. By the last episode, I finally said, "Look, just blow it straight, will you?" And they did. I know what looks good on me, but I need to be more assertive.

Doesn't that often get mistaken for bitchiness?

Yes, it does, but I don't really care -- it's my head up there on TV. The hairstylists on Melrose are really good, actually. I just don't know what that flippy s--- was. In film, especially when you're on location, there's usually so much going on, you have no idea what you look like. On video, there's always a monitor nearby. I can see what's going on.

As many years as I've known you, I never remember to ask you this question: Did you secretly resent having to share your Emmy with Debbi Morgan? It was the only acting tie in Daytime Emmy history.

Not at all. She's fantastic. It was a very competitive year -- Jane Elliot, Arlene Sorkin, Robin Mattson, me and Debbi.

By the way, why did you put yourself in the supporting category? You were not a supporting actress on SB. Did Marcy make you do it?

Why are Jackie Zeman and Vanessa Marcil in supporting this year? Because Genie Francis is the star of GH. On Santa Barbara, my feeling was that if my picture gets taken off the wall in order to put up a picture of Marcy [Walker] and A [Martinez] -- which is exactly what happened -- then they were the leads.

Now this interview is gettin' good!

And I say what I say with great love for them. Lane and I were Beatrice and Benedict -- supporting characters! Those are always the most interesting parts anyway, even if they don't put our pictures on the wall.

Speaking of Lane, it's no secret you two had your tiffs -- yet the on-camera chemistry was beyond compare. Talk to me about this. How can actors take backstage hell and turn it into onscreen heaven?

That didn't have a lot to do with Lane and me. Mason and Julia were so well developed and defined -- which had to do with everybody's contributions -- that the characters just functioned on their own. Lane and I knew how to act, so our differences didn't matter. The last eight months of Lane's run, he and I were not speaking. We would literally not speak to each other until we were on the set and they'd yell, "Five-four-three-two-one!" When he acted like a pissy little s--- (and you can write that because he did and [laughing] he'd probably say the same thing about me), I would use it because Mason, at times, was also a pissy little s---. You just find a way to use these things to your advantage.

And Lane was doing the same?

Absolutely.

OK, let's get to GH. Lots of flirty stuff happening with you and Wally Kurth -- is it safe to say they're going to put Alexis and Ned together?

I don't know. I also have pages and pages coming up with Tony Geary. When Patrick Mulcahey and Michelle Val Jean write those scenes they're just so much fun.

Well, they're not gonna get into a romance with you and Tony. He's on the record as saying Luke can flirt, but he'll never have a romance with another woman. Even if they write it, he won't play it.

That's OK, too. Unconsummated sexual energy can be very interesting. There's so much more to play than romance when you have those negative and positive ions flinging back and forth. The thing I like about Luke and Alexis is that they are enemies, there's conflict already set up, they hate each other! That is always the best way to start a relationship. There is no drama without conflict.

What about Wally?

I love Wally. I think he's adorable.

But is he staying?

I don't know that he even knows.

It's so easy to bitch and moan about the writing on GH lately, but I do feel sorry for anybody writing under circumstances where they don't know if they've got a star or not. So many actors on GH have kept things hanging. How the hell do you write for two different eventualities?

You just write it. Besides, Wally's contract isn't up until August. There's time to do something.

Plus, they could always recast.

Oh, I don't know... people love Wally.

Yeah, but he was himself a recast. Soaps can't keep crumbling under the weight of actor departures. Sometimes you have to keep the character going no matter what. Besides, if Ned goes, who else could they put you with romantically?

That's the problem. I don't know.

How about the young ones -- A.J. or Jason? Or their daddy, Alan?

Hmmm....

Does it interest or concern you that you're going to be given a teenage daughter on the show?

Yeah, it concerns me, quite frankly! [Laughing.] How can I possibly have a teenage daughter when I'm so young? No, really, I don't want to turn into a TV mom. I think being a mom in real life is great; being one on TV is problematic. I want to stay sassy and interesting.

You've always appealed to a smart brand of soap fan, people who are desperate to see intelligent women on daytime. Why do you connect so strongly with the audience on this level?

They respond to me because I respond to that same kind of woman myself. When we watch TV, we want to see a representation of what we are, what we want to be. We want intelligent, successful, classy role models. When considering playing a character, I ask myself this question: If I had a daughter, would I want her to watch this character? Would she look at her and say, "She's cool"? And, most importantly, would she want to grow up and be like her? There are a lot of intelligent people watching daytime drama. The people that make the soaps talk down to the audience so much, they act as if they're just a bunch of yokels who have no life. Not only does it insult the people watching, it insults me because I used to be a big soap viewer. It insults my mother who still watches them. We are bright women. There are a lot of us out there who want someone onscreen they can relate to.

Well, answer this: Why do we see so few examples of this kind of strong, smart woman on daytime, when the shows are run by women? There's a female president heading the daytime divisions at all three networks. The network programmers are virtually all women, as are at least half the executive producers and many of the head writers.

Well, aren't there a few bright women characters? You see so much more than I do.

Well, yeah, but there are so many more who are victims and doormats. So many are women whose entire identity is wrapped up in the man they are obsessed with. Sure, there are exceptions: There's you, there's Hillary Smith as Nora -- the list is really pretty short. Just try finding one on Days of Our Lives or a Bill Bell show. That's why people respond to you the way they do -- because the kind of person you play is so damn rare.

Can I tell you something, though? That's a personal choice that the actor makes. I could easily be playing Alexis like a lackey, because that's sort of the way she was initially written. I could easily be letting Stefan lead her around by her nose. I have no interest in playing a woman without a backbone. I get bored. The audience gets bored. It serves no purpose.

And the point would be?

Um... if there was a point....

And the point would be?

I don't know. I can't offhand think of one. Maybe if the point was that there is no point to being a useless bimbo. Or that there are repercussions to being a useless bimbo.

Would you play one if the paycheck was phenomenal?

No, even that would bug me. I don't want to play a part without consequence. Humor is also really important to me and you don't get to have any of that if you're not playing a smart role. I like language! I like to use big words that roll trippingly off the tongue! These dialogue writers on GH are bright people. And they prefer, I think, to write for someone who speaks more like they do. Maybe sometimes it doesn't seem this way, but there are still a lot of us working in daytime who resist stupidity with every fiber of our bodies.

Taken from TV Guide Online