Flashback: Soap Opera Update
Highlights of Interviews with Stephen and Mary Beth
As He Was Preparing to Leave Days of our Lives
October 8, 1990
Excerpts of an Exclusive for Soap Opera Update
Written By Stephen Nichols
“Why I Had to Leave Days of Our Lives”
…I love acting. When I’m connected, it’s almost as good as meditation. I need to feel that connection. Those “connected” moments have unfortunately been fewer and fewer in the past couple of years. Many times, Mary Beth and I would work on our scenes for the day and say to each other, “What are we going to do with this?”
Mary Beth would always say, “Let’s just stay with each other; we’re all we’ve got today.” That was the case too much of the time. If an actor doesn’t have material that he can believe in, and he’s working three to five days a week some 50 weeks a year, then why is he doing it? For a paycheck? At this point, I can’t work just for a paycheck on a long-term basis. I need to feel the satisfaction that comes from a true collaboration- when all the elements are working toward one end: actors, writers, producers, designers, camera people, and with a director at the helm who has a vision, a concept. Some may say this is idealistic on my part.
I know that I will find myself in many situations that won’t work out this way, but I can’t find those golden opportunities if I’m tied to a soap contract.
The best part of the show was, of course, working with Mary Beth Evans. The first time I met Mary Beth was at her screen test. We had already seen between 16-20 actresses, and this was the second or third night of tests. There were only two actresses this night, and Mary Beth was one of them. After we did one scene, she said “That was shit” and walked away. I knew right away that she was my kind of actress. I followed after her and assured her that it was not “shit”. Two days later she had the job.
On her first day of work, she was absolutely brilliant. Patch had ransacked her apartment in Cleveland, and was hiding in the closet, watching her. I had written something in spray paint on her door -I think it was a heart with ‘you and me’ in the center….
She came into the room and saw the place in disarray. That was bad. But when she turned her back and caught a glimpse of the message on the door, she just cracked. She broke down right there on the spot. It was beautiful.
A good example of how so much can be said without words is in Mary Beth’s scenes when she is deaf- our scenes in the hospital after the accident, and when we’re home on the loft roof. Check those out. Mary Beth is so beautiful there- her work so clear.
It brings tears to my eyes to remember how Mary Beth and I connected in our work. The thing that people like to call chemistry (a hackneyed term in my book). For Mary Beth and me, it was simply concentration and trust- and yes, the trust was supported by our relationship off camera. We are the best of friends.
Sometimes, if one or the other, or both of us were having a hard time getting to the place we needed to be emotionally for a scene, we would whisper little secrets in each other’s ears that we knew might put us in the place we needed to be. When all else failed, we would get lost in each other’s eyes, or “eye” as the case was with me. We always respected each other if one of us needed to be alone.
We had some funny moments, too. Many of these were initiated by laughing jags which were commonplace with Mary Beth. If something tickled her, she would laugh until she cried and have the whole place roaring. I’ve seen her get four or five actors going at once, all with tears streaming- usually when the scene didn’t call for any tears.
One time we were taping a scene on the stage which was supposed to be outside in the rain. I warned Mary Beth over and over again that the floor was wet and slippery. We’re holding hands, we make our entrance, and I go down like a rock and pull her down with me. Thanks for the warning, Bozo.
Once we were in “Stockholm”, we got trapped in a water tank of some kind. We did take after take. It was late and we were cold and tired. Finally, at one point, Mary Beth looked straight into the camera said, “Is this a game show? Did we win yet?” Meaning, can we get the hell out of here now?
The thing that Mary Beth taught me again and again was not to take it all so seriously. She kept me balanced that way. She was always there to lighten me up. I’m too heavy, and anybody can tell you, when Mary Beth wasn’t working and I was there alone, I felt a bit lost.
Mary Beth could be laughing one minute and the cameras turn on and she’s instantly in the scene. The truth is, I don’t think I would have lasted five years on the show if it hadn’t been for Mary Beth.
I’m going to miss working with her more than anything, but we will always remain friends.
I love Steven Earl Johnson, and will miss him as much as anyone, but it’s time to put the old one-eyed tomcat to rest. May he rest peacefully.
A well-known actor once said to me, “When I do a scene and shed a tear, if I’ve done my job well, people all over the world in movie houses shed a tear with me, and in that moment we are one.” So here’s hoping that we’ve had some of those moments, both happy and sad, and that there will be more to come in the next 20 years or so. Thank you all for watching. My heart goes out to all of you.
-Stephen Nichols
Highlights From: One from the Heart
Mary Beth’s Thoughts Upon Stephen’s Exit From Days
As Told To Rosemary Rossi
There was Bogie and Bacall, Tracy and Hepburn, and Scarlett and Rhett. Then there was Patch and Kayla. All are couples who made a mark in one way or the other in the romantic dreams of people everywhere. Now that Stephen Nichols is leaving the mythical town of Salem, his beautiful leading lady Mary Beth Evans shares her sweet memories and thoughts of him. And remember Kayla Brady Johnson fans- “tomorrow is another day”.
***********************************
In Mary Beth’s Words:
I knew we were becoming friends immediately. During my screen test, I was so nervous and he was kind of laughing at me and being friendly and saying I did a good job. When I started, he really took me under his wing and showed me where everything was. We still go to lunch and exercise or something almost every single day we’ve been together. The days the other person isn’t there are so lonely.
I am the last person who wants him to go. I practically cried when he first told me he wanted to go. I thought, “What am I going to do without him on the show? And now that the couple is splitting, what is going to happen to Kayla? I don’t think that the fans will accept me with someone else. But I feel in my heart the only way they will accept me with someone else is if they kill him off. I don’t think Kayla would accept it if he just disappeared or something. I realized that this was something Stephen wanted to do for himself to better his life and his career and take some opportunities for himself. As sad as it is for Stephen and me, it will open up a lot of doors for both of us.
Stephen is leaving for the right reasons. On a show like ours, it’s like reading the middle of a page of a book…you never finish. You’re always in the middle. Some people can deal with that for longer periods of time than others. I think Stephen just needs a break.
One thing that makes it not so sad for me is knowing that we’re really good friends. I don’t think that will ever change. He still comes over to my house to see my kids and makes a point of calling me. He will always be my friend. The show is part of my life, but it’s a smaller part than the rest of my life. It is my living, and I love being an actress, but my children and my family and my friends are 95% of my life. Stephen falls into that 95%. I’d rather have that 95% of friendship than that 5% of work.
There was a time I was having problems with the baby (Katie) in the very beginning. He called me every day. He came over and brought me a portable phone so I wouldn’t have to get out of bed. When I brought Danny home from the hospital, Stephen had a cold and he came over to the house with a doctor’s mask on. He was so quiet holding the baby. He worked hard for that baby, too (laughs). He’s really a very thoughtful friend. On the plane the other day he said, “God, you have two kids. Isn’t that amazing? I knew you when you didn’t have any.”
My favorite scene was when I was pregnant with Danny and they were trying to hide it every way possible. It was a drag because if it showed, we’d have to take it over. And then Stephen and I did that little dream of his where I was pregnant. We ad-libbed everything. We put in all these things we had talked about during my pregnancy; singing songs, things Michael (her husband) did, and things Stephen had done with me being pregnant. Things I said to my husband about ‘no fat jokes’. We incorporated it all. In that scene, it shows how much Stephen loves me and how he cared about me while I was pregnant. It was a sweet time for both of us.”
The Patch and Kayla Story has been beautiful. They showed you that ‘you don’t have to be beautiful to be loved or to love yourself, and you can find beauty in yourself‘. That’s what happened to Patch. I’m very sorry to see it end. It has made all our lives grow. I know I have grown personally from the experience and I’ve learned from it. It’s a very sad thing for me, and I spend a lot of time trying to convince myself that it’s not.
-Mary Beth Evans
no comments