September 8, 1998
From Soap Opera Digest Online….
Behind The Scenes at the Cover Shoot
Despite the subject matter of this Digest cover story – General Hospital’s Katherine Bell returning from beyond the grave (doesn’t she look great for a used-to-be-dead person?) – the mood was upbeat and fun at Digest’s cover shoot. Co-stars Stephen Nichols (Stefan) and Mary Beth Evans (Katherine) laughed and joked while posing for the camera, as tunes by Natalie Cole, James Brown and Frank Sinatra filled the air from a portable CD player. (Nichols even treated all gathered to a little warbling during the Sinatra set!) “Okay, we’re done,” teased Evans after the first shot was taken. Nichols, too, kept things light. When asked about the emotions Stefan is feeling now that he knows Katherine’s alive, the actor teased, “She’s not dead? Oh, my God [laughs]! That is quite a shock, I must say. Katherine is the second person now in his lifetime who has come back from the dead. But, of course, Stefan knows he is in a soap opera, so that would make more sense for him.”
By the end of the shoot, a good-natured Nichols was ready to head off for a short vacation, while Evans prepared herself to return home for the day. “I’m ready to move back into my Pasadena mom mode now,” she smiled. “Just put on my tennis shoes and wash my face.”
Katherine’s Alive! Now What’s She Hiding?
GENERAL HOSPITAL’S Katherine Bell Proves That Rumors of Her Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated:
At this point on GH, the big question-just where has a presumed dead Katherine Bell been these three months?-has been addressed. We know she was not really dead, but rather given a high tech drug by Helena Cassadine to make it appear as if she were. We also know that Katherine was then spirited away by her new protector to Serenity, where her life was miraculously saved. But the really big questions -the ones everyone, from Kat’s former fiancé Stefan, to her formal “rival” Laura, is asking now are: What does Katherine remember and, more importantly, what does she want? Hmm.
“There is uncertainty about what Katherine remembers about those last few moments on the parapet before she took her swan dive,” begins Head Writer Robert Guza, Jr. And the picture doesn’t get much clearer on Tuesday, when Kat stops by Wyndemere for a visit. “We see her going toe-to-toe with Stefan,” notes the scribe. “On the one hand, he is totally floored to see her. But on the other hand, Helena is the one who brought her back. And Stefan knows if Helena has something to do with it, it means him harm. So he’s really trying to figure out several things: How invested is Katherine in Helena? How much has Helena worked Katherine? And what is Katherine’s agenda? There’s all sorts of stuff going on now. She’s basically got all this ammunition, and Stefan’s trying to figure out how she intends to use it and whether or not she has any feelings for him.”
“Katherine does have an agenda,” admits her portrayer, Mary Beth Evans. “When she finally does have a confrontation with Stefan and they talk about what transpired, I think there is a glimmer of hope he will come clean with her-but he doesn’t. That’s a big turning point for her. She doesn’t want to make him pay, but make him feel some part of what she felt before the fall. Now, she wants to say to him, ‘I’m going to conquer this and show you how awesome I am.’ That’s one of the reasons why she cut her hair. She is standing tall.”
A fact which is not lost on Stefan, according to his portrayer, Stephen Nichols. “She really has changed,” he concedes. “He knows that. Stefan has to backpedal and reexamine his feelings for her, but at this point, there’s really no room for that because Katherine is acting so strangely. She’s trying to force him to tell the truth about this feeling for Laura. But he just stands there and listens and doesn’t really admit to anything. Stefan doesn’t say a whole lot in words. but there is a whole lot going on between the lines.”
Such as? “Stefan is caught between a rock and a hard place,” Nichols sighs. “He’s happy Katherine’s alive because he really felt responsible for her death. And he is definitely sill in love with her. But there is something that stands in their way. There’s something that stands between them that hasn’t been dealt with, and they cannot go forward until it is. Stefan’s main priority now is to ensure that no one finds out about Nikolas. His main concern is, ‘Does she remember what she discovered right before she fell?’ Apparently, at this point, Stefan believes she doesn’t remember.”
For Nikolas, who’s completely unaware of what really transpired on the parapet, Katherine’s return is a cause for celebration. “He is genuinely overwhelmed to see Katherine,” states Guza. “Nikolas loves Katherine. And however much there might be a part of Nikolas that wishes that his uncle and his mother might be together, he does also love Katherine.” And, notes Evans, “the feeling is mutual. “Katherine loves Nikolas and wants to keep their friendship alive. Where that goes, I don’t know, but he means a great deal to her. She doesn’t really have a family, and he is that to her.”
Later in the week, Katherine goes a-visiting again, this time to see Laura. “It’s really a cool meeting,” enthuses Guza. “We do this sort of Sleeping Beauty thing where Laura pricks her finger on the thorn of a rose, and we turn to see Katherine standing at the door of the Spencer kitchen.” Despite the fact that Laura has already been clued into Katherine’s return, “her appearance really gets to Laura.”
After shaking off the initial shock, “Laura gets down to trying to figure out exactly what Katherine’s agenda is,” explains Guza. “She wants to know what Katherine remembers about the night on the parapet, and finally what she’s going to do about it. Meanwhile, Katherine is saying to Laura, ‘I just want to let you know that I do not think my fall was your fault. I don’t blame you. I know you showed up at Wyndemere for Nikolas, and I love that because I love Nikolas, too.’ Basically Katherine leaves Laura very worried, very nervous, with Laura not having found out what she wanted to find out. She still doesn’t know what Katherine remembers, and she still doesn’t know what Katherine intends to do. But what she does understand is that when Katherine talks positively about Helena, there’s something more going on there. As soon as Katherine leaves, Laura picks up the phone and calls Stefan.”
“I think Katherine is going about things cleverly,” smiles Evans. “She wants everybody to think she’s ok with everything. Her big agenda and her scheme will unfold on its own. But I think she’s just setting the stage and doesn’t want to show her hand yet.”
Concurs Guza, “Katherine is playing her cards very closely to the vest. And all Laura and Stefan can do now is wait and see how Katherine plays it out. But this is a game where things are going to get very heated. I can promise you that.”
What if Katherine hadn’t gone over that parapet? Playing devil’s advocate, we posed this question to Mary Beth Evans, Stephen Nichols, and Guza. Could the romance of Stefan and Katherine have turned into one big happily ever after? Here’s what they think:
Evans: “For me personally, I love the idea that they could have gotten married and lived a happy life. I love romantic stories. I loved that love story and I thought it was really coming along nicely. That’s what I always wish for….but that’s not what makes a good drama I guess.”
Guza: “If Katherine would have not gone over the parapet, Stefan would have married her. Would they have been happy? I don’t think so. I don’t think that Stefan will ever be happy. He is a tragic, doomed, hopelessly noble character. I don’t know that Laura could make him happy either. I don’t know if there is a woman on earth who can make him happy. I just think there is a hole in his soul that cannot be healed. The key thing that which makes him such a great romantic character for daytime is, you want to find the woman who could complete him. Could it be Katherine down the line? Maybe. Could it be Laura? Maybe.”
Nichols: “Stefan and Katherine would have gone through with the wedding, but they would not have lived happily ever after. There is no such thing for Stefan. Just ask Bob Guza [laughs]. Stefan will never be happy.”
HAIR AND NOW
We know she’s got a new attitude (coming back from the dead can do that to a person), but what’s really behind Katherine’s new look? “I kind of wanted to do it for myself,” reveals MBE. “And I thought for the character, it’s the perfect way to say, ‘I am not going to be all the things that you were trying to make me. I’m my own person and I’m going to take over this town. I’m not going to look like Laura, and I am not going to be like Laura‘.” While Katherine may no longer be like Laura-esque coif, some could argue that she now resembles yet another prominent PC woman. “I think she looks a little like Helena now,” smiles Guza. “I had nothing to do with this, but I love the idea of cutting Katherine’s hair. The haircut is fairly similar to Helena’s. It’s like, ‘Wow! There’s the clone. It’s baby Helena’.” [laughs]
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