The Wit and Wisdom: PRESS ARCHIVES

A Pair to Remember (SID 2/13/05)
Robin Strasser (Dorian) and Tuc Watkins (David) take a walk down memory lane

One Life to Live's Dorian and David have turned their love of scheming and conning into a genuine love for each other. And viewers have returned that love in spades for the past decade, making them one of the show's most memorable pairings. Soaps In Depth sat down with the dynamic duo to revisit some of the couple's highlights and talk about new ones to come. -- Robyn Poplasky

Soaps In Depth: What was your first impression of each other?
Robin Strasser: (Laughs.) Note there was a long pause.
Tuc Watkins: I was a relatively inexperienced actor who was screentesting for a soap opera with one of the great divas of all time. I was real nervous and glad that I was wearing a sports coat; otherwise you probably would have seen me sweating.
Strasser: He actually gave one of the best auditions I've ever seen. Tuc has this wonderful, unpredictable manner. It was a scene where, let's see, you were trying to....
Watkins: Seduce you, I believe.
Strasser: And force a kiss on me. You were the last guy to audition, and when I pulled away from you, you ad-libbed a wonderful line.
Watkins: Right, rather than forcing a kiss on her, because that just seemed inappropriate, I just said, "Maybe next time." And sort of laughed and just left.
Strasser: Nobody had done that!
Watkins: But what Robin thinks is my wonderful...
Strasser: Spontaneity, creativity...
Watkins: ...was actually them saying right before my audition, "We gotta wrap this up. We're running out of time." So I just thought, "I've got to get through this as quickly as possible, or they may cut me because of time constraints."
Strasser: But he so one-upped Dorian. It was perfect. I say that's why they, quite rightly, gave him the part.

In Depth: What's your favorite thing about each other and each other's characters?
Watkins: My favorite thing about Robin is her willingness to go into the unknown. And my favorite thing about Dorian is that she thinks I'm hot.
Strasser: Well, Tuc and David, I'm going to do two answers exactly the same for each category. Tuc for his sense of humor and unpredictability and the same for David.

In Depth: What's each other's worst habit?
Strasser: Oh, I can answer that for him! I can get obsessive about details. We now have a code word for it based on an episode [in which] he really pulled me back from the brink. We were doing a scene in an airplane, and there were no seat belts. I was really serious, saying, "We can't do this scene without seatbelts!" He leaned over and said...
Watkins: "It's not your job to make sure that America wears their seat belt on an airplane. Do the scene!"
Strasser: (Laughs.) So, now if I get stuck on something, I look over at him and I say, "Is this a seat-belt thing?"
Watkins: Robin thinks I tend to...
Strasser: Uh-oh, it's The Newleywed Game.
Watkins: Robin thinks I tend to go for the funny in times when maybe the priority isn't to make a joke.
Strasser: I would like an opportunity to refute that!
Watkins: What I mean to add is that she's right. She's right. My first instinct is to find where it's funny, and I'll hone in on that like a dog with a bone. And sometimes I need to be reminded, as much as you'd like it to be, this is not a sitcom you're on.
Strasser: No, what I think you're picking up on is the times where I've pulled back from participating in what is, in fact, my joint fantasy with you that we are actually doing a sitcom. But he's so free and fun. There's always a nice surprise where we enjoy going with what happens on the set.
Watkins: But if I don't like her critique, I'll try to distract her by telling her her hair's out of place.

In Depth: Do you have a favorite memory of working with each other?
Strasser: Well, I have many. But there's one when Blair and Dorian dressed up as Marilyn Monroe in that wonderful pink dress that she wore in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. We tied David up in bed and I still don't know what we were trying to accomplish, but I loved being dressed up and seeing you handcuffed, shirtless in bed. There, I said it.
Watkins: Robin's favorite moment is my worst nightmare. In retrospect, how humiliating! While I completely appreciate how much fun Robin had...
Strasser: (Laughs.) And why it's one of my most favorite memories...
Watkins: For me, I really enjoyed exchanging Christmas gifts, and we immediately accused each other of re-gifting. But in a bigger picture, the things that I really like are when Dorian and David are cohorts. When we work together to destroy someone else, I think it's some of the most magical moments on daytime.

In Depth: Any embarrassing stories from working with each other?
Watkins: She just told you! Robin was supposed to slap me...
Strasser: Oh, okay! Tell that one!
Watkins: But on television, we have stage slaps where you don't really hit someone.
Strasser: And I came in that morning and said, "I can't. Dorian shouldn't slap him." I was talked into it, and I should have done a stage slap. Except in the heat of the moment...
Watkins: She clocked me!
Strasser: (Laughs.) And his expression was priceless. So was mine, because I couldn't believe I had actually done that. [Executive producer] Frank Valentini has saved the tape because as they cut, I went, "Oh, I'm not to be trusted."
Watkins: And I said a word that can't be printed in a magazine! I don't genuinely hold that against you, you know. Otherwise, I wouldn't bring it up. I just let it stew, and I take it out on you inappropriately.
Strasser: You didn't file a grievance or anything, thank you. Now, I was thinking when Tuc, in the performance moment, got carried away when he played Santa Claus with a huge padded belly. He came in, bent over and showed Blair and me his bottom and said, "Does this outfit make my butt look big?" I luckily could, as Dorian, go, "Oh, isn't he adorable?" But it may well have aired.
Watkins: But once again, as I've said earlier, they were running out of time, and they said, "Keep going."

In Depth: What's your favorite storyline?
Watkins: Mine from 10 years ago when Dorian and David opened a safety-deposit box to get the $27.8 million -- I want for the record that I remember the exact amount of that money. Rather than the money, we find a list of five questions that the true heir to Victor Lord would be able to answer. And the weeks that followed of Dorian and David trying to figure out the right answers to those questions by duping Todd was a lot of fun.
Strasser: Wow. I just keep seeing you handcuffed to the bed.
Watkins: (Laughs.) That's a good answer. Leave it at that.

In Depth: What do you think is the secret to the pairing?
Strasser: I do not think franchises give away the secret recipe. And I don't think it helps to overanalyze things. It's just a really fortunate occurance that we're getting to work together. I think it gives Dorian great vitality, and it has allowed me to play comedy and warmth -- what a joy after all these years of playing the same part.
Watkins: You can't really explain chemistry, as cliched as that is. But I do think that there's chemistry between Dorian and David and Tuc and Robin.

In Depth: What has been the fan reaction to the pairing?
Strasser: They're absolutely crazy about Dorian and David. And the great thing is that I've never been recognized more in my career or been spoken to with more affection and warmth and enthusiasm than right now. That's pretty flattering after 38 years. It makes my day.
Watkins: I get a lot of, "David Vickers is an idiot!" and I think, "They get it!"

In Depth: Do you have any predictions for the couple for the new year?
Strasser: I want them to be front-burner and full-tilt. Let the audience see what they've been clamoring for and enjoying so much. I'm ready.
Watkins: I predict that Dorian and David will both find out how much they truly do or truly don't love one another. Love comes in degrees, and when obstacles come up, you find out what you're made of and what your relationship is made of. I think that will be tested.

Robin Strasser
Birthday: May 7.
Birthplace: Bronx, NY.
Hometown: New York, NY.
Overachiever: Received a full scholarship to the Yale School of Drama, was a founding member of the American Conservatory and served as president of L.A.'s Women In Theatre.

Tuc Watkins
Birthday: September 2.
Birthplace: Mission, KS.
Hometown: St. Louis, MO.
Overachiever: Majored in communications with a triple minor in theater, psychology and French at Indiana University and co-founded the All-U-Can-Eat Players.

Other Quotes From Captions in the Article...
(on the scenes from 1995 where Dorian had David tied to a bed) "I looked preposterous! I was wearing a blindfold and couldn't see what was happening." -- Tuc Watkins
(about Robin) "She cares a great deal." -- Tuc Watkins
(about Tuc) "I still look forward to working with him every day." -- Robin Strasser
(what it's like to do a scene with Tuc) "Joy!" -- Robin Strasser
Watkins: "Do you mind being called a diva?"
Strasser: "No, diva actually means first lady!"