Interview Outtakes, Part 4

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.


Marla Sokoloff: I had to look something up on YouTube the other day, and some of my earlier acting jobs came up. I saw something I had done on “Step by Step,” and I must have been 12. It was so strange, because I don’t even remember too many of those experiences. But I was a huge fan of “Full House” before I was on it, like most kids in the sixth and seventh grade. When I got on it, I thought I’d be the coolest kid in school, but it actually backfired on me and I got made fun of.

Jonathan Jackson (Lucky Spencer, “General Hospital”) on playing Kyle Reese in “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”: That was really fun and that was a cool show. I liked the “Terminator” movies growing up, so it was pretty cool to be on the show. In terms of being that iconic character, when you go into something like that, you don’t overthink that you are playing a character that is so loved already. You just go into it and try to put your own thing into it with a sense of respect for the original thing, but not too much that it makes you gun shy.


Betty White (Ann, “The Bold and the Beautiful”) on receiving the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be presented this January: I cannot tell you what a thrill this is. When they called me I thought: “Well, they’ve made some kind of mistake. They must mean another Betty White.” I am just beside myself. I can’t believe it, and I can’t be coy about it. I am just thrilled to pieces.

Jay Kenneth Johnson (Philip Kiriakis, “Days of Our Lives”): I like that the writers have been integrating a lot of the characters. It’s smart writing to mix it up. It’s a small town, considering there are three places that we go. I mean, you’re bound to run into someone you know at the Brady Pub, right? And, at the Kiriakis mansion, I think we have at least 20 people living there.

Courtney Thorne-Smith: I am very prompt. Right after I had Jack, I’d missed a phone interview. It had never happened before in my life. In the beginning, after you have a child, there’s just no room for it. Usually on a day where I know I have an interview, it is constantly in my mind, but it’s all gone, because you’re thinking about changing the baby, keeping the baby from crying, keeping the baby from crying, keeping the baby from crying. It supersedes everything.

Don Diamont (Bill Spencer, “BB”): When you have a character like Bill, one who you want to be a romantic leading man, and he is that cutthroat, that makes it challenging. It makes the relationship that much more dynamic, and I think the writers are doing an incredible job with this, Whether Katie wants to admit it or not, she is enthralled by this guy, and the way that he wields his power and his influence. There is that place in her where she wishes she could be more like him.

Interview: Love Is in Bloom for Marla Sokoloff

Marla Sokoloff has co-starred in the likes of “Desperate Housewives” and “Party of Five,” as well as “The Practice” and “Full House,” to name just a few. Now she is starring in her own Hallmark Channel movie called “Flower Girl.” Marla plays Laurel, and unlucky-in-love florist who soon finds herself having to choose between two men. One is the stable and sweet doctor, Evan, who Grandma Rose (Marion Ross) approves of, and the other is Stephen, a mysterious and handsome writer.

Marla was more than ready for a sweet love story like “Flower Girl.” And there is a lot to love about the movie, as she explains: “I am a sucker for romantic comedies. I just really love the whole concept of finding love. I love that Marion Ross’ character was the meddling grandmother. I love that it is such a great story.

“It’s just really nice in this day and age to sit down and watch a love story. I think everybody really likes to watch those kinds of movies where it just warms your heart and makes you feel like love is possible. Just sit down in your jammies with a bowl of popcorn, and watch it.”

Marla can relate to Laurel, and finds many similarities between herself and the character she portrays. “I like that she is so levelheaded about love and realistic about it. It’s almost as if she is trying to teach her grandmother about love and how it works in this day and age.

“Personally, I’ve always been like that: not so much the romantic, but more levelheaded and realistic about things. Laurel has a gut instinct about something and she follows through with it, which I try to do as well.”

She also appreciates and relates to Laurel’s attitude of not settling for less that what she deserves in life. “I’ve never settled in my real life, and in my love life. I really took the time to date and to get to know what I want out of a partner. I think that some people rush into things, which is why the divorce rate is so high. Being a little bit jaded and cautious when it comes to love is not always a bad thing.”

A week before Marla got the offer for the movie, she got engaged in real life, so she was able to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. “I was already doing research on flowers and weddings anyway, because I was planning my own wedding. So I got to research for myself and the character at the same time.

“One thing that was really cool is every morning Telaflora would deliver fresh flowers. These gorgeous arrangements would arrive to the set, and I would send pictures to my wedding planner of ones that I liked. I’d tell her I liked a certain flower, or this certain color, and stuff like that.”

All the flowers made the set a joy to be on. “You would walk onto the set and the smell was like heaven. The prop guy would let me bring some to my trailer, which is great because trailers never smell good.”

Working so closely with a television icon, Marion Ross, was also a wonderful experience, according to Marla. “Marion was awesome. She is such a sweetheart and so fun and so beautiful. Oddly enough, she is a little bit shocking and naughty at times. Sometimes the things that would come out of her mouth, you’d be like, ‘What?!?’ She has a dirty side to her mind, which I always appreciate. She was great. I adored her.”

Don’t miss “Flower Girl,” which premieres on the Hallmark Channel on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT.

Marla Sokoloff Remembers Her Full House Days

I recently spoke with Marla Sokoloff (The Practice and Desperate Housewives) about her new Hallmark Channel movie, Flower Girl (which premieres Nov. 14 at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT), and she was reminiscing about her days on the ABC sitcom Full House.

• "I was a huge fan of Full House before I was on it, like most kids in the sixth and seventh grade. When I got on it, I thought I’d be the coolest kid in school, but it actually backfired on me and I got made fun of. My mom actually had to take me out of school and home school me."
• "I was such a huge fan of everyone, so I was really shy. I remember John Stamos being incredibly sweet."
• "A few years back I went to see Bob Saget at the Laugh Factory. It was just by chance because a few friends were going, and they asked me to come. I never thought in a million years that Bob Saget would have any recollection of who I was, and all of a sudden I see him and he’s like: ‘Marla?!? What are you doing here?’ And I was like: ‘What? You know who I am? You remember me?’ He’s still such a sweet guy and he totally remembered my name. I was so excited."