Soap Opera Weekly: Would you like to see a friendship, like the one developing with Frank, replace Rick's connection with Phillip?
Michael O'Leary: Yes, absolutely. But I'm like any other male actor on the show; I've been asking to work with Gina [Tognoni, Dinah]. Unfortunately, there's a line forming, so I'm trying to put myself in the front of the line.

Weekly: Why are you so eager to work with her?
O'Leary: First of all, I love Gina. She's great. She's irreverent and has a great sense of humor. We'd be fun together.

Weekly: What about Rick and Beth? The show briefly flirted with pairing them.
O'Leary: They did give us a little bit after Phillip's death. It seemed natural that they would fall into each other's arms. That didn't play out, but I love Beth Chamberlin.

Weekly: How did you and Lisa Brown (ex-Nola) start writing together?
O'Leary: Lisa read a treatment I was writing for a play and encouraged me to finish it. Once I finished it, Lisa collaborated with me on forming the whole thing and editing it. She got on me about it and said, "Michael, this is something you need to do." So, I finished it. Today we registered with the Writers Guild [of America] and we'll see what happens.