SOAPNET ONLINE CHAT TRANSCRIPT
STEPHEN NICHOLS
July 20, 2006
Moderator: Hey guys, the chat with Stephen will begin in just a few minutes so get your questions ready!
Stephen Nichols: Hello! This is the Patch man!
Stephen Nichols: Thank you very much! The patch only annoys me for the first 60 seconds that I have it on. Then I get acclimated to it. The weirdest thing about my first day on the set was putting it back on. It all came back to me. I remember what it was like to be acting with half of your vision. But then the feeling goes away.
GBB: Will Steve be getting his harmonica back any time soon? Or his pool cue?
Stephen Nichols: Actually, the pool cue will be coming up soon on air. The harmonica not yet. I’m looking forward to playing some more, though.
Patch1986: First off, welcome back!!! It’s been a long time comin’! With the recent news of Matt Ashford’s departure, are you concerned how this will affect your storyline? Are you at all worried that the new writing team will be able to handle the continuity of Steve and Kayla’s past and keep it true and fresh for the fans? Also any chance you might return to the silver screen? (my I still love my Witchboard movie!!!) Thanks! …best, lisa f.
Stephen Nichols: I am sad about Matt leaving because I love working with him. I love the relationship between Steve and Jack. We’ve always had a good working relationship. We just play off each other so well. He’s not dead so I anticipate that at some point he’ll be back. I don’t worry about the new writers. I don’t want to jump the gun. But I know Hogan is a good writer because I’ve seen his work. I’m hoping he’ll be able to pick up the thread of Patch and Kayla’s story. All he needs to do is look at old tapes of Patch and Kayla and look at what’s happening now because it’s all there. He’s a writer who pays attention to character so that’s great. My plan is to direct my own films so at some point I’ll put myself in one of my own movies. I’m trying to find some good material to develop.
Amy: Hi Steve, LOVE you and Mary Beth, always have & always will!! 🙂 Can you spoil us a tiny little bit on the current direction Steve and Kayla are headed? Any more smoldering kisses anytime soon? 🙂
Stephen Nichols: I do believe we have a couple more kisses coming up. I can’t give you a hint as to where Steve and Kayla are going because I don’t know.
pandkfan: Hi Stephen! I am sooooo happy you and Mary Beth are back–it brought me back to the show after 16 years! I know the two of you work very hard on all of your scenes together. I was curious how much leeway you are given to make changes to the script.
Stephen Nichols: We are given some leeway but we do try our best to make sense of what we’re given in terms of the writing and dialogue. Sometimes things are missed when the continuity is off so we do make changes. We are respectful to the writers and producers and get them changes before hand and we work it out. We’re making a transition between the old and new teams so it’s going well.
piggiesRcold: If Days offered you the chance to direct episodes would you do it?
Stephen Nichols: Absolutely!
Kim: Steve and Kayla are the only couple on Days that fans would never accept being paired with anyone else. Does it put a tremendous amount of pressure on you and MBE to recapture that magic after all these years, knowing the fans are so excited to have you back?
Stephen Nichols: In my eyes we’ve already recaptured the magic from the very first day we were on screen together. There’s no pressure anymore, we’re over that. There was tremendous pressure before we taped those scenes but from that day on we’ve become comfortable again and it’s so rewarding. If there’s no conflict, there’s no story so I think at some point we’ll have to be separated in order to get back to each other.
susiedays: Hi Stephen. My question is does it effect your eyesight wearing the patch all day at work? Glad you are back on Days.
Stephen Nichols: Hi Susie. I never wear it all day; it’s usually sitting up above my eye on my forehead when I’m not on camera. When I’m not on camera, it’s not on my eye!
Stephanie: You seem to draw from a wide range of acting abilities in the roles you’ve played on daytime. Are there any specific film and/or television actors who have influenced your acting style?
Stephen Nichols: I have to say that my all time favorite actor is Marlon Brando. The reason is because he was totally free, relaxed, comfortable and available to play and explore. He went with his impulses and put anything that came up out there and it was usually interesting and compelling. I don’t think I’ll ever match that man’s level of skill but I still think of him everyday.
Stephanie: How do you think Days of Our Lives – as a television show – has changed since you were last on the show 16 years ago?
Stephen Nichols: I think DAYS has changed in the same way that all of daytime shows have changed. One day on a show can last as long as three weeks. Mary Beth and I came to the show with haircuts one day and we were sure we were finished with the day we had been taping and we were safe but sure enough, we were still taping that day! We used to go on location and do exteriors but that doesn’t happen anymore.
Nancy: How much of your success do you attribute to your stage work? What role would you most like to perform on stage? (I think you would kill as Howie Corbett in “Rabbit Hole.”) I just started watching DOOL again because you and Mary Beth Evans are back. It seems to me that you two really care about your characters and the quality of the work. Continued success, Nancy from Little Rock
Stephen Nichols: Hi Nancy. I don’t know if I attribute my success to my stage work but I do believe I learned more about my work and how to do my work from being in front of a live audience. I’m not familiar with the play, Rabbit Hole though I have heard of it, but thank you! I always wanted to play Stanley from A Streetcar Named Desire. I did it for a scene class years ago. And that was the first time I had the feeling that acting would be something I’d be doing for a long time.
Roberta: I was hit by a drunk driver and am now permanently disabled. Do you think that soap operas should address issues such as drinking and driving because soaps reach such a vast audience?
Stephen Nichols: Roberta, I do think it would be good if soap operas addressed more pertinent issues. Maybe certain things are sensitive or they feel that issues would be sensitive for a cross section of their audience. It’s always been a problem in TV that fear prevents some of these stories from being done.
Carole B: Enjoyed your interview on Soap Talk with Mary Beth. I was wondering when the tape you did of Mary Beth will be available on soapclips.com? Sounds like it will be lots of fun to watch.
Stephen Nichols: Mary Beth and I had a great time on Soap Talk. It’s too bad the show is no longer! As soon as I have the time to get back into it I will get some clips up. It should be in the next couple of months.
carter: hey there! do you keep in touch with anyone from GH? when you and mary beth were on the show together, did you have a lot of backlash from days fans who wanted to see you guys back on their show as patch and kayla?
Stephen Nichols: Hey Carter. There wasn’t any backlash when we were on GH. The only problem with that pairing on GH was that they didn’t develop the character of Katherine enough to make her relationship with Stefan work. The only person that I really keep in touch with from GH is Tyler (Nikolas).
Barbara: What is your favorite Steve and Kayla scene from the past? What about now? Any scene since your return that stands out?
Stephen Nichols: I thought the snowy arbor was nice stuff. When he offered her the ring in the cabin. I always liked the scenes where Kayla nursed Patch back to health. He trusted her enough to let her remove the patch. The Emily/Gideon story was good, too, when we did the Civil War characters. There are some scenes coming up where Steve takes Kayla back to Cincinnati and we did some good work there.
Anna: This is kind of an odd question and one you might not know the answer to Stephen but i have to try! I know that lady in red was kind of patch and Kayla’s official song but there were two other songs that played a couple of times for them one was called something like if your heart comes out tonight and the other was a duet that had the chorus only in my heart can I love you. Do you know who sang either of those songs? I have wondered for YEARS where I could get a copy.
Stephen Nichols: You are very strange, Anna! That’s a strange and weird question. (laughing) The first song is called If Your Heart Comes Out Tonight. A guy named Jake Groska wrote it and the show recently tried to get it from him but he couldn’t find a single version of the song. They did recently re-recorded it and I believe it will be used soon on the show. I’m not sure about the second song.
Jenny: Aside from Mary Beth 😉 who were you most forward to working with again on DAYS?
Stephen Nichols: I can’t really answer the question because I don’t choose favorites.
Darline: I have been a Days watcher my whole life. I remember when Steve left the show. Can you tell me who was behind his “death”?
Stephen Nichols: Hi Darline, the guy’s name was Lawrence Alamain. There was a bomb on the boat meant for Bo and I visited the boat and was blown up. Alamain or somebody had his men switch the coffin so that it wasn’t buried. We don’t really know WHO did it, though!
Cissy: Steve was a person who wore every emotion right out there for everyone to see. He cried easily, got angry fast, loved hard, laughed loud. Nick is far more reserved and is played nearly ever emotion very close to the chest. Was that a choice made by you or the writers, both? How long before we get some insight into what Nick’s thinking/feeling?
Stephen Nichols: Hi Cissy. Maybe I was just overacting in the past. (laughing) Imagine yourself as a person who wakes up in a motel room and has lost his entire life and has no ability to remember anything. It was my choice to take on the persona of someone who is very watchful of everyone around him. He’s only had three years of life in Cincinnati and the rest of his life is gone. So, yes, it was a choice to play it this way.
Anita: What’s on your IPOD (or other portable music device) right now?
Stephen Nichols: Anita, hi. Up until recently I did not own an iPod. My daughter got a new one and gave me her mini. I hooked it up and downloaded all these interesting podcasts. I also have several recordings of my daughter singing because she’s a budding songwriter. She writes deep, interesting music.
chertex: Do you have a message board for your fans? I go to most of the Days stars boards and I was wondering if there was one for you now. It’s great to meet you online like this. Before, we didn’t have internet so it’s great to get to talk with you here and maybe at a message board. Thanks so much
Stephen Nichols: Hi Chertex. Go to stephennichols.net and you can find all the links to different websites and message boards for me.
Cissy: What’s up with the lack of airtime, dude?! I tuned back in to Days after 15 years just to see Steve and Kayla and you’re hardly ever on. Please tell us that gets better soon!?
Stephen Nichols: Hi again, Cissy. The show is in a transition right now. I believe that Mary Beth and I came back at the beginning of that transition so there wasn’t a solid story in place for us yet. With Hogan arriving we’ve been told there’s solid story being written for us but if it doesn’t happen, you can complain all you want.
Stacie: Hi Stephen, it’s so nice to have you back onscreen. My question-Is there a particular place, anywhere in the world that you haven’t been that you’d love to visit? Thanks!
Stephen Nichols: I would love to visit Tibet and Greece. I’ve been to Spain but I didn’t spend much time there so I’d like to see more of Spain.
Tjay: Hi, Mr. Nichols! I became a fan during your run on GH and followed you to DAYS. You’re one of my favorite actors… Now, as everyone is waiting to see what breaks things wide open for Nick/Steve, would you rather Steve rediscover his love for Kayla as the man he is now or have everything rush back in a flow of memories?
Stephen Nichols: Hello Mr./Ms. Tjay. I believe that Nick is Steve because a person is who he is. There may be a veil of confusion but there’s no way he’s not who he is. I don’t think he will remember everything in a rush because his head would explode! I would prefer it if his memory returned in little moments that he had that the audience could then share in.
Jillian: Thanks for chatting with us. I want to know if you find it difficult to play Nick as being distant from Kayla when you and Mary Beth seem to be such nice friends in real life?
Stephen Nichols: Hi Jillian. Yes it’s very difficult to play distant from Mary Beth/Kayla because off the set we are such close friends. We are always laughing together and we finish each other’s sentences so we’re like an old married couple.
GBB: We will be seeing Steve interact with his old friends like Frankie and Bo, even John, anytime soon?
Stephen Nichols: Hi GBB. Where’d you get that name? It’s been a little weird that Steve hasn’t interacted with his old friends although he doesn’t remember them so it would be uncomfortable for him to be around people he doesn’t know. However, there will be some scenes coming up with Bo. Remember that we are in transition so I’m giving them another few weeks to pick things up. Then you can get on the phone and start complaining!
sail70: I found Get the Dime to be an incredibly powerful film with amazing imagery. Are you continuing to develop Fear of Falling while working on DAYS?
Stephen Nichols: Hi Sail70. thank you very much for your comments about Get the Dime. My main interest is filmmaking and directing. I’m having a great time doing DAYS and I will get back to filmmaking as soon as I settle in on the show. Fear of Falling is still in development. I will make that film some day.
superfannnn99: Stephen! I am SO glad you and Mary Beth are back!! Will Steve have a dream or fantasy about Kayla soon? That’s what I’m hoping for. They used to have wonderful dreams of each other. Steve needs to be the one to have one, so we’ll know how he’s feeling about her right now.
Stephen Nichols: Hi Superfann. I’m a little confused. Maybe I don’t know what you guys have seen yet but I really believe that I’ve had several moments where Steve and Kayla have connected. But yes, more fantasies are always great!
Stephen Nichols: Thanks everybody for chatting, it’s been fun. Keep watching and know that we’re giving the show everything we can to make it good for you!
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