ABC
Once upon a time, in a soap galaxy far, far away — specifically, over on CBS’s Bold and Beautiful — General Hospital‘s Rick Hearst (Ric) and Alley Mills (Heather), interacted as fellow employees of B&B’s Forrester creations, Whip “Whipple” Jones and Pam Douglas. And both actors were tickled to discover that they would be reunited on GH as a slick attorney and his incarcerated client.
Mutual Admiration Society
“When I worked with Rick on B&B, I remember having some funny scenes with him and also just getting to know him as a person,” says Mills. “He’s terrific! We did some fun stuff together; I think Pam thought that she and Whip might have a little romance or something because she was a little bit clueless. Although she did have an actual affair with Jack Wagner [as his B&B character, Nick Marone] and Patrick Duffy [as his B&B character, Stephen Logan], so it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility that Whip Jones would like her! But he didn’t [laughs].”
When they shot their first GH scene together, in which Ric burst into Heather’s exam room at the hospital and declared himself to be her new lawyer, “We just roared with laughter,” the actress recalls. “I just thought it was hilarious that he was going to be playing my lawyer. I just love it! I mean, it’s too bad that Scotty [Baldwin, Kin Shriner’s alter ego] isn’t, because I think that would have been funny, too, but Rick is such a good actor and a sweetheart.”
Hearst readily returns the compliment. “Working with Alley on B&B was in a completely different fashion — it was much more light-hearted and flirty and fun and whatnot. On GH, as I was working with her more and taking on Heather’s case and going from episode to episode really covering, like, ‘What is this case that I’m taking?,’ I got the chance to understand a little bit more about her Heather. I know that as a role that was [played by] Robin Mattson, right? And to see Alley take a hold of it … I mean, she just has this intensity! Not that Robin’s wasn’t; Robin’s was intense. But Alley brings this sort of kooky nature that can then just flip on a dime to venom — to, you know, off-kilter serial killer! It’s been great to play around with that with her. She’s so masterful at it. I really respect her as an actress and it’s been phenomenal working with her again. Beyond being a veteran in this business, she comes from incredible roots as an actress and loves the process. She so loves being an actor and just really digs into it, which makes it so fun to work with her.”
