Hall: And the rest of your family?
Hogestyn: The kids have known this business all their lives, and it's no big deal. Sometimes when children come over to visit, new kids in the neighborhood, all of a sudden they put it together. Yesterday, I took Alex and one of her friends to Pizza Hut. There was a Christian group there that was visiting Malibu, and they went....
Hall: Ahhhhhhhh!
Hogestyn: All that. "What are you doing in a Pizza Hut?" It was pretty funny. Alex's friend said, "Does that happen to him all the time? Isn't that weird? Do you like that?" She was all inquisitive about it. Alexandra said, "He's just Dad." What about your family?
Hall: Well, mine are younger than yours. I've got small children (sons David, 10, and Tully, 7). We were on vacation last week, and the kids were in the pool with some children. David came over and said, "Those people are talking about you. It's so funny, Mom." It tickled him. The boys and I were in Cape Cod to get away from everything and this one (pointing to Drake) and three of our co-stars had booked a gig there.
Hogestyn: So we're [at this public appearance] and this woman says, "Drake, I wasn't feeling that great this morning. I wanted to make sure that I was going to be OK to come to this show, so my husband went to church without me. Come to find out he was sitting next to Deidre Hall. Of all the days I didn't go to church. I'm so jealous." The guy was beside himself. He came home and told his wife about it.
Hall: He was sweet. It was so wonderful to have that vacation.

Soap Opera Weekly: If the show ended tomorrow, what would the two of you do?
Hogestyn: This is a big piece of our lives. I would miss it immensely. I don't necessarily know that I would go back on the audition road. I don't even know if I'd keep acting. I'd say I would cash the chips in and go back to where I came from, [live by] some lake in Indiana. But you know what: The kids go back there and say, "I'm so glad we don't live here." That was one of the [retirement] dreams that I had -- sitting there with a beard, chewing tobacco, whittling on a chair, [and saying], "I remember when I used to work with Deidre Hall." My grandkids would be hovering around my feet and the fish would be jumping in the lake. Never going to happen (laughs).
Hall: I don't work a five-day week as a rule, and I've managed to fill that time up. It hasn't been that hard. I volunteer at school. I'm working because I love it. Yet, I don't not envy women who have a stay-at-home job, because you miss stuff. Sometimes you miss kissing your children goodnight. Sometimes you miss their robot show at camp. I'd stay home and do more work at school, travel the whole summer, call you and see what you're doing.
Hogestyn: The only time there have been conflicts in [my personal life] have been over the show. Hours. Long hours. Missing events. To touch on an even touchier aspect is some of the compromising [on-screen] positions that you and I have been in over the years. My wife loves me desperately, but try to explain that situation. Hopefully, she won't be tuning in now that Ben (Schieferstein, Hogestyn's stepson) is on the show (as a gang member).
Hall: Oh, my gosh!
Hogestyn: They taped the show [at home] today, but Victoria called and said for some reason it didn't [record]. The first thing I did was flip through the Rolodex in my mind. What else was shot that day? I'm pretty safe. I wouldn't want her to see how well we do what we do.
Hall: If you could show her raw tape...that before the kiss you're talking to the lighting guy and I'm polishing my nails.
Hogestyn: Victoria has never been here to watch what we do.
Hall: My husband has the opposite reaction to watching us on-camera, but he's in the business. When Steve (Sohmer) was [executive vice president of NBC] he would call my dressing room and say, "Hey! What are you doing over there with that guy?" He would watch me rehearsing on the monitors all day. He'd say, "You know what? Show as much skin as you can." There's nothing more difficult to do than a bed scene.

Weekly: Usually on daytime, after a certain age, you no longer have many bed scenes. But the two of you are still going strong.
Hall: (To Hogestyn) You look better than you've ever looked. You take such good care of yourself that you're fun to watch undress, you know? We have a female audience. They love that.
Hogestyn: You say we have a female audience, but do you know how many men watch this show who are so jealous of what I do? It's, "John Black rules. How's Marlena? Give her a big one for me." I'm the luckiest man. [People] want to see mature love. They want to see tasteful love. It's nice that they give us those heartfelt moments where we're having pillow talk or whatever we're doing. John and Marlena are a pretty racy couple. Remember, Marlena raped John on that plane.
Hall: You're so crazy! That isn't what happened.
Hogestyn: John was going to leave town, because it was too much of a problem -- the two Romans thing was going on. You came to the plane and did what you do best (laughs). John and Marlena have always had a very physical [relationship]. They connect that way. It's healthy for everybody to see, from children to adults, that there are a lot of sparks in relationships, sexuality and playfulness -- and that should be happening in everybody's lives. Maybe people look at [those scenes] and think, "I wish my relationship was like that," and try to incorporate it into their lives.
Hall: Daytime has always been good about showing people a way to be. How to deal with children, how to deal with relationship....

Weekly: Does it surprise you that the audience still wants to see John and Marlena love scenes?
Hall: You know what surprises me? That people stay [tuned] for 35 years. That they invest as deeply as they do. That they write, that they call, that they come to fan events. I'm always touched by it. It's a little shiny present that we get from being on the show.
Hogestyn: Fans have an emotional attachment to the couple. The couple tries to do the right thing. As far as the lovemaking on the show, that's interesting. John and Marlena have probably made love every possible way you can do it. Can we do something different? Can we do something more dynamic [next] time? Or do we just love each other as two human beings and let that saturate the scene -- that seems to play out pretty well. Maybe people like to see that bonding, that there is this core couple who love each other through everything, through all the good times and bad times.
Hall: A fantasy. "Gee! I could live there."
Hogestyn: As I've said before, we ask the audience to enjoy a chapter in our book for an hour a day. We try to sprinkle it with a little bit of everything for all the viewers. We're grateful that they keep tuning in and following along with us.

Originally published in Soap Opera Weekly, Sept. 3, 2002