Interview Outtakes

Most of the time when I am conducting an interview with a soap star, I have more interview material than space for printing the interview. Here are some blurbs from stars that did not make it to the print version of the interview, but were too good not to publish.

Dominic Zamprogna, pictured (Dante Falconeri, “General Hospital”), on working with James Franco: He’s great. He’s just a really nice guy and he’s a really passionate guy, interesting guy. He’s able to do a lot right now cause he’s been blessed with some great things happening in his career, and he’s taking advantage of it. There are a lot of people in his situation who don’t want as much as he wants or to accomplish what he wants to accomplish. He’s grabbing life and fulfilling whatever he wants to fulfill, which is amazing. There should be more people out there doing what he is doing. I think James just realized that [being on a soap opera] was something he wanted to try, and why not? He doesn’t care what people think, otherwise he wouldn’t do half the stuff he’s doing. I think that’s the problem with a lot of actors these days. They do it for the wrong reasons, and they’re losing sight of what matters. You’re not supposed to be doing this so you can get famous; you’re supposed to be doing this because it’s a fire burning inside of you and you have a passion to do this. I can say that’s why almost everybody on this show is doing it, and that’s definitely why James wanted to be a part of it.

Jennie Garth (ex-Kelly Taylor, “90210”), on husband/actor Peter Facinelli: “My husband is such a serious guy most of the time, but he's funny. Makes me laugh, I know that. I love that part of us when we're having fun together. Whenever we come to a crossroads and we are like, “Marriage sucks and it's hard,” I can always come back to, “But you make me laugh so much.” I don't want to end that.

Luke Perry (ex-Dylan McKay, “90210”), on his aversion to Twitter: “We live in a world where people are obsessed with the cult of Twitter, where they have to jump on and tweet every damn thing that happens. And they all have followers. Think about it: This is a media-generated thing where everybody can have followers. I question people who want to have a bunch of followers, and that presumes that they themselves are, what, the leader? I’m not buying into any of that. It’s so weird that everybody wants to tweet and everything, and I’m like, why don’t you just go and do it? I can’t do that – I like to do.

James Reynolds (Abe Carver, “Days of Our Lives”), on working with armed-forces veterans: “I started working with the active duty military about 12 years ago, working with the U.S.O. and with armed forces entertainment. It kind of took me back to those years ago when I was a young Marine serving overseas, and I began to recognize that in this country we ask a very, very small percentage — we don’t even draft anymore —and so we are asking a very, very small number of people to not only protect us in those places that we need protection, but to be the leading edge of whatever our foreign policy may be at the time. I got a letter a few years ago from a young woman whose husband was serving in Afghanistan at the time — this was about seven or eight years ago — she was losing their family home while he was in Afghanistan. It made me realize that we need to draw more attention to what is going on with these young men and women that we’re asking to put their lives and bodies on line for us, and we cheer them and do all of this here, but then we forget about them when they’re not there. So it seemed like a natural fit, and I wanted to make a point to them that all Americans care about them, regardless of political point of view.

Interview (Days): James Reynolds, "Abe Is a Man of Integrity"

James Reynolds has portrayed Abe Carver on “Days of Our Lives” since 1981 (taking leave from 1990 to 1991 to portray tycoon Henry Marshall on “Generations”), and in that time, his character has ascended the ranks of the Salem Police Department from police captain to commissioner to Salem’s mayor. Now, honest Abe is in the fight of his political career as he battles the not-so-upstanding EJ DiMera to retain his position of mayor. I spoke with James about his tenure as Salem’s stalwart public servant, as well as the fireworks that this impending election definitely will set off.

Daytime Dial: You’ve been quoted as saying: “Abe was a minority character of tremendous integrity who was not working for somebody else. He was in charge — and that meant a lot to the African-American audience.” Tell me more about Abe’s impact on “Days” and the “Days” audience.

James Reynolds: Well, Abe’s kind of an iconic character in a lot of ways, because he’s been there for so long. He has been the guy in charge for most of the time that he has been in the public eye. He is so strongly woven into the tapestry of what Salem is. You can’t have a picture of Salem or the people of Salem without Lexie and Abe, and that can’t be said for many of the other shows that are on the air, whether they are daytime or nighttime shows.

DD: Abe has always been a man of integrity, but now he is running against EJ for mayor, and we all know EJ will stoop to just about anything to be elected. How can Abe hope to prevail?

JR: He hopes to prevail by actually giving answers, actually presenting solutions to problems. That’s Abe’s plan. The issue is that EJ plans to win through chicanery. The city’s important to Abe. This is the city he grew up in. This is the city he loves. There was a point where Stefano offered Abe the governorship if he would drop out, and Abe refused that. While that’s something he thinks about for the future, the city of Salem is where the people he loves and his family are, and that’s something he wants to leave a stamp on. He wants to see this town succeed and grow and progress. With Abe, he really does want to serve.

DD: I love the strong, protective relationship that Lexie and Abe display for one another. She is standing by him and sticking up for him through all of this, even though EJ is her brother.

JR: Yeah, well, everything in Salem is a little bit incestuous, as we know. It would be difficult to run for office in Salem without someone being related to someone else. There is a conflict there with Lexie, but her husband always comes first. She loves Abe deeply and dearly, and has always been conflicted about her brother and about being a DiMera.

DD: The big debate is coming up — can you give me any teasers as to what viewers can expect?

JR: Very much like the recent debates in the real world, our debate is going to make a huge difference going forward in this campaign. Both of us are going to perform fairly well, but there are going to be some things that happen during this debate that will affect the election deeply.

DD: As you look back on your career with “Days,” what have been some of your favorite story lines for Abe?

JR: I’ve been fortunate; there have been so many. My first one absolutely was the Salem Strangler, where Abe came on the show just a few weeks ahead of Roman. Abe and Roman were designed to come on the show together. So, the Salem Strangler will always be a fond story for me.


Abe finding out that he had fathered a son with Fay was a story that I think really resonates even today. And when Abe and Lexie wanted to have a son together and adopted Isaac, which transformed in a baby-switching story. There have been so many over time, and I’ve learned to appreciate all of them.

James Reynolds’ 20th Annual Celebrity Basketball Game

Group Shot From Last Year's Game

The James Reynolds’ 20th Annual Days of Our Lives Celebrity Basketball Game to benefit the South Pasadena High School Boys Basketball Program and the Fremont Centre Theatre will be held Friday, May 29th, 2009 at 7:30 pm. Joining Reynolds on the court will be Days of Our Lives stars Bryan Dattilo (Lucas), Jay Kenneth Johnson (Philip), Eric Matsoff (Brady), Arianne Zuker-Lowder (Nicole), Kyle Lowder (Brady), Terrell Ramson, Jr. (Theo), Shawn Christian (Dr. Daniel Jonas), Rachel Melvin (Chelsea) and many others.

The event will take place at South Pasadena High School’s Main Gym located at 1401 Diamond Avenue in South Pasadena, one block behind the school. Doors will open at 7:00 pm and there will be a raffle as well as a silent auction.

General Admission tickets are $15. VIP tickets are $125 which includes backstage access at the game, a team jersey, a photo with the teams, a gift basket and priority seating.

Tickets can be ordered by visiting www.FremontCentreTheatre.com; or by calling (323) 960-5056; or by emailing daysgame2009@gmail.com. Cash and credit cards will be accepted.

Interview: Soap Stars Share the Magic of the Holiday Season, Part 2

Allyson Rice (ex-Connor, “As the World Turns”): I LOVE Christmas. It’s my favorite holiday. I put up an absurd amount of lights in my yard and on my house, including an 8-foot-tall inflated Santa on the roof. They go up immediately after Halloween (none of this after-Thanksgiving nonsense!). Starting last year, I decorate my car in lights as well. I wrap about four strands of multicolored lights all over it and plug them into an adapter inside the car. I have actually started to keep lights up in my house and one strand on the front and back porches throughout the entire year now. It just makes me happy to look at them. I say, Why limit the wonderful festive feeling of the season to only a month or two out of the year? I also make handmade Christmas balls (pictured) that we decorate our tree with, and I give them to family members as Christmas gifts. My grandmother started the tradition, and my dad and I, and now my youngest niece, are the ones who have kept it going, thanks to my mom’s encouragement after my grandmother passed away. I put up an art studio in my backyard earlier this year, where I have all my jewelry-making supplies, and I’ve set aside one corner of the place for my Christmas-ball-decorating supplies as well, so that I can make them year-round, whenever the inspiration hits. And of course I play the Christmas playlist I created on my iPod while I make them (I have more than 400 Christmas songs on it!).

Kassie DePaiva (Blair, “One Life to Live”): Normally I spend Christmas up in the Catskills with my immediate family, and between Christmas and New Year’s, I have cousins who come up from Atlanta with their children, and we just sit by the fire, play in the snow, snow-ski, and just eat, drink and be merry. It’s all a very fun, family time that has become tradition for the past 15 years. Usually there’s a lot of good snow, and there is always a lot of good fun.

Mario Lopez (ex-Christian, “The Bold and the Beautiful”): I spend the holidays with my family. It’s family and friends and a lot of food, a lot of cocktails and a lot of love.

Murray Bartlett (Cyrus, “Guiding Light”): It’s about being with family. I usually spend the holidays with family. Because it’s the middle of the summer in December in Australia, I’ll spend the holidays with family on a beach or something. It’s beautiful where we go — there’s the beach and the ocean, there’s tropical rainforests. Also, I remember back in 2000, I rang in the new millennium on a sand dune with my best friends. We just hung out there and waited for the New Year. That is my perfect kind of holiday.

James Reynolds (Abe, “Days of Our Lives”): Every Christmas when my son was young was a special Christmas. A child’s excitement on Christmas morning goes deeper than just getting things. There is a sense of magic and fantasy in the anticipation of this special day.

John O’Hurley (ex-Jim, “The Young and the Restless”): We are developing a family tradition. We just bought a place up in Vermont in an effort to return to authenticity. We’re now going to be spending our holidays up there; it’ll be our return to an authentic Christmas. It’s going to be spent in Vermont rather than L.A. I think Vermont is such a beautiful state, and the holidays are more special up there.

James Reynolds' 18th Annual Celebrity Basketball Game

(Group shot, click on the picture to see a larger version.)

Here are some pics from the 18th Annual Celebrity Basketball Game, with James Reynolds and other Days of Our Lives cast members from the past and present. The proceeds benefited the South Pasadena High School boys basketball team and the nonprofit Fremont Centre Theatre.

The game took place May 30 at South Pasadena High School.

I think Bryan Dattilo might be committing a foul on Brandon Beemer ;)

The James Reynolds’ 19th Annual Days of Our Lives Celebrity Basketball Game

The James Reynolds’ 19th Annual Days of Our Lives Celebrity Basketball Game to benefit the South Pasadena High School Boys Basketball Program and the Fremont Centre Theatre will be held Friday, May 30th, 2008 at 7:30 pm.

Hooping it up will be Days stars Bryan Dattilo (Lucas Roberts), Kyle Brandt (ex-Philip Kiriakis), Mary Beth Evans (Kayla Brady), Alison Sweeney (Sami Brady), Kyle Lowder (ex-Brady Black), Arianne Zuker (Nicole Walker), Martha Madison (ex-Belle Brady), Rachel Melvin (Chelsea Brady), Shelley Henning (Stephanie Johnson), Rashann Orange (Thomas Edward Kramer), Jay Kenneth Johnson (Philip Kiriakis), Patrika Darbo (Nancy Wesley), Stephen Nichols (Steve "Patch" Johnson), Blake Berris (Nick Fallon), James Reynolds (Abe Carver) and Brandon Beemer (ex-Shawn Brady).

The event will take place at South Pasadena High School’s Main Gym located at 1401 Diamond Avenue in South Pasadena, one block behind the school. Doors will open at 7:00 pm and there will be a raffle as well as a silent auction.

General Admission tickets are $15 for all attendees. VIP tickets are $165, which includes backstage access at the game, a team jersey, a photo with the teams, a gift basket and special seating. Only 40 VIP tickets will be sold. For more information, call 323-993-3376 or email DaysGame2008@gmail.com

There are several ways to order tickets:
*Visit ovationtix.com/trs/pe/540621, and order tickets online. Online ticket orders are confirmed by receipt.
*To order tickets by phone, call 866-811-4111 and leave your ticket information on the voicemail.
Tickets will be held at the door. Only cash or checks will be accepted for payment. No credit cards will be accepted at the door.

Days' James Reynolds In Georgia

Press release:

ARLINGTON, Va. – Actor James Reynolds, known as Commissioner Abe Carver on NBC’s Days of Our Lives, will visit three Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools (DDESS) in Fort Stewart, Ga., March 17-18. As part of the USO Celebrity Education Program and the National Education Association’s (NEA) “Read Across America” program, he will spend quality time with dependent children of soldiers experiencing multiple deployments and talk about the importance of books. Reynolds will also read Jon J. Muth’s book, “Zen Shorts,” participate in theater games and hold Q&A sessions.

Launched in 1997, NEA’s “Read Across America” program focuses the country’s attention on literacy and motivating children to read, and master basic skills. Recognized worldwide by DoDEA, a civilian agency that serves the children of U.S. service members and Department of Defense civilian employees, the annual reading initiative is celebrated every spring and is officially observed on March 2, the birthday of beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss.

“I enjoy touring with the USO and supporting our troops,” says Reynolds. “Being an actor and a Vietnam veteran, I recognize the importance of reading and understand what military kids nowadays go through. It’s not easy and anything I can do to help them, I am there.”Reynolds joined the U.S. Marine Corps after graduating high school. Serving far from his family home in Oskaloosa, Kansas, he was stationed in Hawaii and later deployed to Vietnam. After serving more than a year in combat, Reynolds was wounded and returned to the U.S., where he was eventually discharged. A long-time supporter of the U.S. military, he has embarked on five USO tours and was the first person to participate in the USO Celebrity Education Program, a specialized tour that allows celebrities to share their talents and show their appreciation for service members and their families.

Best known for his role on Days of Our Lives, Reynolds has logged more airtime than any other African American actor in U.S. television history. Acting for more than 22 years on Days and another year as the Emmy-nominated star of NBC's Generations, he averages 100 of airtime each year. A seasoned thespian, Reynolds received an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama as well as an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Daytime Drama Series for his work on Days.

Despite his hectic schedule, he and his wife own and operate the Fremont Centre Theatre, where just last year he directed National Pastime starring his son, Jed, as Jackie Robinson.

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, there are currently 1.4 million active-duty U.S. service members and 1.2 million members of the National Guard and Reserves, with many serving overseas and most serving away from home. In additional to the many other programs and services provided by the USO, entertainment tours are essential to fulfilling the USO's mission of boosting the morale of service members stationed far from home. Entertainers who recently participated in USO tours include Kix Brooks, Neal McCoy, Dave Annable, Minka Kelly and Elliott Yamin, among others. AT&T, Inc. is the official telecommunications sponsor of USO entertainment tours. For a list of recent and upcoming USO tours, visit www.uso.org/whatwedo/entertainment.

To learn more about the USO or to find out how to support the troops, visit http://www.uso.org/.

NAACP Image Awards Nominations

This just in from "Days of Our Lives":

James Reynolds (Abe Carver) has been nominated for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series. The other nominees are, Antonio Sabato Jr (B&B), Bryton McClure (Y&R), Kristoff St. John (Y&R) and Michael B. Jordan (AMC).

The awards will be televised Live on Friday, March 2nd on FOX.

For a complete listing of all nominees, go to: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=2783056.

Congratulations and good luck to all the nominees!