TUC ON "ONE LIFE TO LIVE" AND DAYTIME
[Quotes in bold are new.]

On "One Life to Live"

(on his decision to leave OLTL in 2006) "I kind of live my life in three-year chapters, and after three years, I think David has said all he has to say for a while. That's not to say he won't have more to say down the road, because I think it's a great cast and working at One Life is a great opportunity to have a lot of fun with people I like working with." (SOW 11/28/06)

(on what he would like to say to his fans) "Let's see.... 'I look forward to seeing you on modes of public transportation such as subways, buses and airplanes,' because that's where I get to talk to most of them." (SOW 11/28/06)

(on whether he would return to OLTL) "I've moved on in the past, and come back. I would love the opportunity to see if David has some really cool adventures in Llanview again someday. That would be a lot of fun." (SOW 11/28/06)

(on returning to OLTL in 2007) "Frankly, it was a 'bait-and-switch' deal on ABC's part. They lured me with an invitation to be chauffeured by limousine to Radio City Music Hall for an event in my honor. What actually happened was a kid from the production office showed up at my house on a Vespa, no helmet for me, and said, 'If you come do a few episodes, they've agreed to buy you lunch.' I was hungry, so I accepted." (SOD 3/13/07)

"Well, you know, if you have worked as an actor long enough, you certainly know that nothing is permanent. And I think, regardless of what happens on Desperate Housewives, if OLTL wants to tell interesting stories that involve David coming back in to cause some trouble, then I think it sounds like a lot of fun." (SID 11/20/07)

(speaking to a reporter about his constant comings and goings from OLTL) "I empathize with you. It's not easy to consistently come up with, 'Oh, boy, he's coming back again? I've got to come up with another headline. Why doesn't he just stick around or leave forever?'" (SID 4/7/08)

(on whether he likes being bi-coastal between OLTL and Desperate Housewives) "Whenever I live in L.A. for a long time, I get itchy to live on the other coast. Listen, I have nothing to complain about. I have a great life. I work on daytime, prime time, and we should all be as lucky." (TVGuide Canada Suds Report 7/11/08)

(on OLTL's headwriter, Ron Carlivati) "The great thing about Ron coming on is that is not often that a character, a writer, and an actor, all sort of get it together. Sometimes an actor does not have a handle on what the writer and director is gunning for, and not have the full grasp on something that you are very familiar with. ... I have been through a lot of different writers on the show. I have never really noticed that much difference in the writing, but I really did notice a difference when Ron started. I remember going up to Frank's [Valentini, executive producer] office going, 'The writing is different and I really do think it had made several strides forward.'" (Michael Fairman on Soaps 1/30/09)

(on whether or not he laughs with the other actors during filming) "Well, we usually get the laughing done at rehearsals in the morning. But, that is also when and where we find stuff. It's where we tweak what's there, or punch up a word you might not have punched up, if you had not been rehearsing it with the other actor. We get the 'funny' out of the way in the morning or during dress, so when we get to tape we are not wasting anyone's time." (Michael Fairman on Soaps 1/30/09)

"There are a lot of serious subjects that they tackle on that show and it makes it easier and more fun to watch when you can cut to something that is either silly or funny so that you can have your audience laughing in the first quarter of the hour and crying in the third quarter of the hour." (SOD 2/10/09)

"I just have a lot of fun coming back, and I know that whatever it's going to be, it's going to be something that is a lot of fun. I remember that when I first started on the show in the mid-'90s, I always knew what was coming up and where it was heading -- mostly to see how important I was going to be to this program!" (SID 2/23/09)

"Whenever I speak with the show about coming back and working for a while, the question that I never bring up is, 'What will I be doing?' Because I know that whatever it is, it's going to be fun!" (SID 2/23/09)



On Daytime Soaps

(on filming shirtless scenes) "Part of the reason that I am here is that [soaps] are a looks medium. When you are an actor, you have to know what your market is, and I don't see any point in fighting that. So, I am always taking showers. I am the cleanest guy in Llanview." (SOD 11/7/95)

"So often, you hear people in the industry say, 'Don't stay on a soap too long because you learn bad habits.' The bad habits that I've learned are to be on time, learn your lines and act natural in front of the camera. So if those are the bad habits that I've learned, then I'm willing to learn some more. It's really the best job I've ever had." (SOD 6/4/96)

(on the future of the soap opera industry) "I don't think people are watching less television. I just think they are watching it differently. I know the way I watch television is different. I TiVo everything and watch it a few days later. ... I think in the future there will be even more shows, just not on the traditional three networks. Soaps are escapism and people love that." (FOX News Online 8/16/05)

"Daytime is full of archetypes; it's a medium of archetypes. There's no getting around that, but it's how you deliver that archetype unexpectedly that creates a character as opposed to a cookie cutter." (SOD.com October 2005)

"Some friends of mine in school would plan their course schedule around soaps, but I never quite got it. I mean, I understood that people could become addicted to them. You either get it, or you don’t. And that’s just not one of the things I got." (Michael Fairman on Soaps 1/30/09)

(on whether or not there's a stigma attached to daytime stars) "I think there used to be a stigma, but you see actors go back and forth between TV, film, daytime and theater pretty seamlessly now. I think those lines aren't so definitively drawn anymore. There's not a lot of difference between a daytime soap opera and a nighttime soap opera -- except maybe they spend a little bit more money on hair-styling and lighting." (SOD 2/10/09)