Courtesy/ABC
Shortly after the finale of One Life to Live aired, it was announced by the CBS soap, The Bold and the Beautiful, that Daytime Emmy winner, Hillary B. Smith (Nora, OLTL and Guya, Venice) was joining the Brad Bell sudser in the newly created role of a sexual therapist ( or as they say,”a psychiatrist who specializes in sex therapy”), Dr. Stacy Burton!
Now TV Line has a new interview with Smith on her decision to tackle a brand new daytime role on the very successful B&B, what she thought of the ending of One Life to Live and her thoughts on the fallout from when Prospect Park bailed out at the last minute when they were supposedly moving One Life online. Here are a few excerpts below!
Hillary on what attracted her to her new role as Dr. Stacy Burton: “To be perfectly honest, what drew me to this role was the opportunity to work with Brad Bell… and that’s basically it. [Laughs] I could have gone on that show as a janitor and I would have been happy to have the experience to work with him. [Laughs] I have not seen a script yet, but Brad called and gave me a little thumbnail sketch of who I’d be working with and what I’d be doing. I’m going to be working very closely with a contract player and helping them deal with a crisis, so that works for me.”
Hillary on watching the final episode of One Life to Live: “I was in New York at [an Upper West Side sports bar] with a bunch of the cast and crew and there were times during the episode that I just started to cry, and others when I laughed out loud. At one point I had tears streaming down [my] face — especially when Woodsy [Robert S. Woods] and I say goodbye to each other [on camera]. That was really Woodsy saying goodbye to Hillary and Hillary saying goodbye to Woodsy, and that was tough. Just remembering the day we shot it all, you know, was sad. We just looked around the room and wished everyone well and hoped we’d see each other again. But lives move on. Actors are supposed to be nomadic by nature, but we found ourselves forming a family — dysfunctional albeit, but a family nonetheless — and then suddenly our family was gone.”
Hillary on how Prospect Park impacted the ending of OLTL and its stories: “I think there was unfortunately a lot of running around and fixing things. They had an ending in mind and then Prospect Park bought the rights and they changed a lot of the ending so that it could continue… So, that was very difficult and was probably really hard for [headwriter] Ron [Carlivati]. And then when the rug got pulled out again [when Prospect Park canceled their plan], they had from Thanksgiving until it aired [in January] to move things around and try to get some sort of closure. I think they did a remarkable job considering how the ending was supposed to go and how it did go. I tip my hat to them.
Hillary on if she had confidence that Prospect Park could pull off moving OLTL online, since she has been part of a successful online soap venture with Venice: “I didn’t quite understand how they were going to do it. I don’t understand how you can raise money for something that doesn’t have a proven revenue point… but you know what? It’s none of my business how they were going to do that. Just give me the script, tell me when I’m going to show up and I’ll be there to bring that character to life. I was nervous and concerned about it at first, so it took awhile for a deal to be hammered out, and then when it all went away I was so sad. I was sad for the fans, that they had it cancelled again on them — that’s the hard part. So, it was very bittersweet saying goodbye. And then when this offer [for B&B] came through, it was like, I guess we all move on.”
What do you think of Hillary’s comments on the ending of One Life? Are you looking forward to seeing her on B&B? Let us know!
Diane says: 
Brian 
Jan 
kay killgore 
david 
Goodluck to all who gave us 43 years of happiness. God Bless
gloria 
Jared 
Mo 
Brian Greene 
Susan M. 
Joan 