from daytime royalty
daytimeroyaltyonline.com/topic/8546793/1/SOD: You Again (Wally and Judi Interview); 7/26 IssueSoap Opera Digest: Judi, you came back to DAYS as Adrienne, and also played another character, Bonnie. When Wally wasn't on the show, did you miss him?
Judi Evans: Omigod, yes! With Bonnie, it was different, but it so weird to be on the show as Adrienne without Wally. It felt like I was missing and arm, a leg and my heart.
Digest: Wally, you were on for almost a year as Justin before they brought Judi back as Adrienne. How was that experience for you?
Wally Kurth: I thought it was good, just because it enabled me to get my feet on the ground [as Justin], and not just have him as seen through the eyes of the couple. I was able to think about Justin and where he had been. That was important, especially now that the show has committed to keeping Justin and Adrienne together.
Digest: What was it like working together for the first time as Justin and Adrienne?
Kurth: It was amazing. When you come back, you never know what it will be like. We were on the show for four years together and we played together every day. I used to say that i didn't ever anticipated being back on Days because it's something you can't control. I didn't have my hopes up, one way or the other. Seeing Judi again brought back that feeling of, "Wow, this was a big part of my life!" I did Pirates of Penzance on Broadway years ago. It was three years of my life in New York, and touring the country, I did DAYS and after that, General Hospital [as Ned] and As the World Turns [as Sam]. Those are periods of my life that are gone, like chapters that are over. But working with Judi again was like, "Oh, I remember this chapter! We're going to spend more time on it." It's not like we're repeating what we did. We're starting over again.
Digest: Were you nervous how it would go, working together again?
Evans: Yes, because a few years had passed and usually you can't go home again. But the minute Adrienne turned around and saw Justin, it wasn't like years had passed. It felt like only a day; all those years melded together and all the feelings came flooding back.
Digest: Do you remember your first scene together in 1987?
Evans: It was very Sweet. Adrienne had just gone through something traumatic, and was sitting alone on a park bench, crying. Justin came over and handed her a handkerchief.
Kurth: I had just started working on television and I took it all very seriously. Al Rabin, our executive producer at the time, said, "Okay, when you see her, you are going to feel a love that you never experienced before." I said, "Okay, I 'll do my best." In my own life, I hadn't experience a love like [that], but I thought "I'm going to play it for all it's worth!" Justin gave Adrienne the handkerchief to dry her tears. That was the beginning. From that moment on, Justin was sort of the character that would be there to pick her up when she fell, who would comfort her when she was in a lot of pain. In that regard, Justin was heroic.
Evans: Before that, Justin was sort of a playboy.
Digest: Did you get a sense of early on that fans were responding positively to Justin and Adrienne as a couple?
Kurth: Maybe three or four months later, I remember getting my mail - I didn't even know that we got mail - but I got all these letters and that's when I realized, "People are watching!" There were people who thought Justin was a womanizing cad, which is what I played when I first came on. But Justin was so sympathetic. Adrienne had been molested by her father, and then she killed him. She was such a fragile character. Then you had this guy who did everything he could to make her feel better. Justin in was very romantic. He rented restaurants for her, arranged picnics by the beach and private fireworks for them. He wrote songs in her honor and then played them. I think the audience really respected the character because he was so gosh, darn romantic.
Digest: In 1987, what were your first impressions of each other?
Evans: Wally has such a great ease about him. I remember that from the beginning.
Kurth: When I was in college, I had a slew of very unstable leading actresses that I worked with. It got to a point when I thought, "Is this what acting is all about or is it me? Is this what I'm attracting?" And my first TV job I got to work with Judi and I thought, "This is fantastic!" I felt so lucky.
Digest: Are your joint fan event in June, on of the things that you auctioned for charity was your fist Digest cover together (11/17/87).
Kurth: It was Justin and Adrienne's first wedding. I remember that was also the first mainstream interview I ever did.
Evans: lee Smith designed the dress. It was stunning and so magical. Wally looked adorable. It really felt like we were taking wedding photos. For me, it's my favorite cover.
Kurth: They got us married really quick. The show wanted to do something different. Instead of having it take years for the couple to get together, Al Rabin said it was something they wanted to try. But I think later they regretted it because then Justin and Adrienne got divorced and all sorts of crazy stuff happened. When a couple gets married on a soap, it changes the dynamic. Cheating on someone when you're married has a whole different meaning.
Digest: How do you feel about DAYS bringing on Justin and Adrienne's son, Sonny?
Kurth: Gary Tomlin [former co-executive producer] told us after a scene on the set that one of Justin and Adrienne's sons was coming on the show, and we high-fived each other. We were thrilled!
Evans: It shows another fact to Justin and Adrienne's personalities, separately and as a couple.
Digest: One of the first things were learned about Sonny was that he's gay.
Evans: I love the way the show started out the storyline with Sonny. I'm looking forward to the way they're going to continue with it. The [acting] challenged they're giving us are wonderful. I'm looking forward to really doing it justice.
Kurth: It's very real and very refreshing.
Digest: What can you tell our readers about each other that they would be surprised to learn?
Kurth: Judi has a hellacious sense of humor! Sometimes she'll say something and it's like, "I can't believe she just said that!" She loves life and just has this great sense of humor.
Evans: I don't know because I was so raucous back in the '80's with my raunchy humor that I maybe overshadowed Wally. But it wasn't until I came back and worked with Wally again that I realized how raunchy and funny he can be. Every once in awhile, he comes out and says something and I'm just floored.
Digest: What's the best thing about working with each other?
Evans: The best thing about Wally is that he's a happy person. He never complains, never gets mad. He shares his joy.
Kurth: Judi's very passionate about life. Not everybody is that way. Some people look at life as a real drag. Not Judi. That's why I think it's fun to work with her. Since Judi and I both like the same optimism, I think we sort of fill our characters with that sense of being positive, which is good. It's something that you have to have if you're going to make multidimensional characters come to life.
