Brian Bloom

Driving 'Em Crazy!  Get ready for ATWT's Brian Bloom (Dusty) to drive you crazy in the forthcoming NBC movie of the week, Driving School.  His co-stars include Alyssa (Who's the Boss?) Milano and Tina (Family Ties) Yothers.  Brian took a six-2eek absence from World Turns to make the film.

John Loprieno

The Next Diane Sawyer?  Does OLTL's John Loprieno (Cord) (later ATWT's Brad Snyder) have a budding newscaster on his hands?  A few weeks ago John brought his 19-month-old daughter Daniele to visit the studio and gave her a complete tour, including ABC's World News Tonight, which tapes right next door to One Life.  Little Daniele proved she definitely has a nose for news -- she climbed right up into Peter Jennings' seat.

Elizabeth Hubbard

Ever since she started playing temperamental titan Lucinda Walsh on ATWT, Elizabeth Hubbard has been getting some strange mail -- fans asking for loans.

Lindsay Frost

Secret Met Fan.  ATWT's Lindsay Frost (Betsy) is a diehard New York Mets fan.  Recently she found out that Gary Carter, the Mets start catcher, was guesting on the CBS Morning Show (which tapes in the same building as World Turns) and Lindsay simply couldn't contain herself.  During a rehearsal break, she rushed over to the Morning Show and asked Carter for his autograph, which he very graciously gave her.  Later, in the ATWT fan club newsletter, Lindsay admitted that she now understands why fans besiege soap stars.  "Everyone is subject to these feelings," she said.  "We're all fans at heart."

John Wesley Shipp who won an Emmy as ATWT's Doug Cummings, recently starred in the controversial Broadway drama, Safe Sex.

Margaret Reed and Michael Swan

We Couldn't Resist Falling in Love!!  "It was kismet!" exclaims Margaret Reed.  "Michael walked into the room and he twinkled.  I thought to myself, 'He's so cute.'"

She's referring to her first meeting with her co-star Michael Swan. On ATWT Margaret plays Shannon O'Hara, and Michael holds down the role of Shannon's wily ex-husband, Duncan McKechnie.

Off-screen, they're anything but exes.  In fact Margaret and Michael have been backstage sweethearts practically since the day he arrived on World Turns to audition for the part of her leading man.

At first they both resisted their feelings.  They were both newly divorced and leery of getting involved too fast, too soon.  But they felt so comfortable working together that falling in love was inevitable.

Do you remember your first meeting?

Margaret:  Vividly.  It was April 8, 1986.  I remember because I wrote it down in my appointment book.  I wasn't working on the show that day, but the producers asked me to come in and screen test with Michael.

Michael:  I got there a little early.  Margaret hadn't even memorized her lines yet, so the first thing I said to her was, "Do you want to go over the script with me?"

Margaret:  That was our first encounter.  We went into the green room to run lines together.

It sounds like the attraction was instantaneous, almost right out of a sopa script...

Margaret: Kind of (she laughs).

You mean Michael was never shy and awkward...

Margaret:  Are you kidding?  Are we talking about the same man?

Michael: I remember the day before I was starting work, someone was giving me a tour of the studio...

Margaret:  I was in the make-up room when Michael popped his head in.  I went over and gave him a hug -- a kind of welcome-to-the-show hug.  He hugged me back.  That hug was telltale.

How does working together affect your relationship?  After all, you see each other at the studio all day -- you're hardly ever apart.  The intensity is pretty non-stop...

Margaret:  Actually, intensity helps.  It really does.  If things go wrong at work, I don't have to explain to Michael why I'm in a rotten mood that night.  He understands.  And when things go right at work, when we do a really good scene together, we have that to share, too.

But wasn't it difficult at first?

Margaret:  It was scary.

Michael:  We made a promise that no matter what happened to our relationship, we'd always give each other a hugh every day ... for friendship.

You seem so well-matched.

Margaret:  We grew up about 50 miles from each other in California.  Michael was raised in Palo Alto and I grew up in Salinas, but we didn't meet until last year.

Were either of you interested in show business as youngsters?

Margaret:  I remember going to see every Julie Andrews movie I could.  She was my idol.  I must have seen The Sound of Music a hundred times.  When I was 13, my uncle got my older sisters tickets to see the road company of Hair, which was playing in San Francisco.  But he thought I was too young to see it.  It was so frustrating.

Michael:  I started doing children's community theater when I was about 7.  I did shows all through high school.  After college, I did my first film, The Strawberry Statement, but for a while I thought I'd never make a living as an actor.  So I dropped out and went to work for my cousin's winemaking business in Sonoma County.

That winemaking stint turned out to be research for a future role, didn't it?

Michael:  Yes, I played Richard Channing in the original pilot for Falcon Crest.  It was a whole different cast.  Clu Galager and Samantha Egger were Chase and Maggie.  But that was 1980 -- the year of the actors' strike.  Everything got held up.  by the time the show went on the air in 1981, the cast had changed.  David Selby had my part.

In some ways, though, Duncan McKechnie is like Richard Channing.  They're both lovable rogues...

Michael:  That's true.  But I prefer to think of him as forceful and independent.

Is Michael "forceful and independent" off screen, too?

Margaret:  (she laughs) We both are!

What about romantic, candlelit dinners?  Do you take turns cooking?

Margaret:  Well, Michael picks out the wine more.  I like to try gourmet recipes when I have the time, but after a long day at the studio, it's so relaxing just to stop off and get a pizza on the corner.

Now that it's softball season, there probably isn't much time for preparing gourmet means, anyway...

Michael:  You said it.  Maggie is captain of the ATWT team.

Margaret:  And Swan here usually plays third base or pitches.

We've all seen Darryl Strawberry and the manager of the Mets have some serious go-tos.  How do Reed and Swan get along on the softball diamond?

Margaret:  I've had to pull him off the field a couple of times.

Michael:  She's a wonder actress, but sometimes she really has no sense.

Margaret:  Watch it, Swan, or I'll bench you for the season!

Michael:  Did I tell you I'm crazy about this woman?

Margaret:  ...well, maybe half a season...

Michael:  ...absolutely crazy about this woman....

And that's a wrap!

Cast

• Jennifer Ashe -- Meg Snyder
• Maggie Baird -- Taylor Baldwin
• Steve Bassett -- Seth Snyder
• Brian Bloom -- Dustin donovan
• Peter Boynton -- Tonio Reyes
• Lisa Brown -- Iva Snyder
• Patricia Bruder -- Ellen Stewart
• Scott Bryce -- Craig Montgomery
• Larry Bryggman -- John Dixon
• Martha Byrne -- Lily Walsh
• Finn Carter -- Sierra Reyes
• Ashley Crow -- Beatrice McKechnie
• Scott DeFreitas -- Andy Dixon
• Robert Ferro -- Muggins
• William Fichtner -- Rod Landry
• Henderson Forsythe -- Dr. David Stewart
• Lindsay Frost -- Betsy Andropolous
• Eileen Fulton -- Lisa Mitchell
• Rick Giolito -- Nick Costello
• Farley Granger -- Earl Mitchell
• Don Hastings -- Dr. Bob Hughes
• Kathryn Hays -- Kim Hughes
• Benjamin Hendrickson -- Hal Munson
• Jon Hensley -- Holden Snyder
• Anthony Herrera -- James Stenbeck
• Elizabeth Hubbard -- Lucinda Dixon
• Andy Kavovit -- Paul Stenbeck
• Julianne Moore -- Frannie Hughes/Sabrina Fullerton
• Margaret Reed -- Shannon O'Hara
• Bill Shanks -- Dr. Casey Peretti
• Hillary Bailey Smith -- Margo Hughes
• Count Stovall -- Roy Franklin
• Michael Swan -- Duncan McKechnie
• Anne Sward -- Lyla Montgomery
• Tamara Tunie -- Jessica Griffin
• Helen Wagner -- Nancy Hughes
• Kathleen Widdoes -- Emma Snyder
• Colleen Zenk -- Barbara Ryan