General Hospital News & Gossip
News for the week of 30-Aug-2010
Vanessa Marcil (Brenda) isn’t Vanessa Marcil Giovinazzo yet—at least not in the legally-wed sense. The press fell in line last month by referring to her by her married name, going by US Magazine’s source—a Marcil rep—claiming that the actress wed CSI: NY actor Carmine Giovinazzo already. However, the same press learned last week that Marcil and Giovinazzo were preparing to marry later on this winter. Marcil took on her longtime boyfriend’s last name professionally prior to their upcoming wedding and earlier this summer gave the okay to ABC Daytime to use Marcil Giovinazzo in promos, etc., in advance of the wedding. "We have been in love for 11 years. We've always been in each other's lives,” she told ABC Soaps In Depth for its September 9th issue. The reason she took a month to clarify the situation publicly was because she was living her life outside the public eye as usual and only recently found out about people’s misunderstanding regarding her marital situation. "I'm completely unaware, as all my friends and family always like to remind me. We grew vegetables and we are so living under our own little rock! We don't even have a TV!"
Vanessa Marcil Giovinazzo (Brenda) appears on The Doctors syndicated series September 13th, as a part of the mom-tourage-themed panel to discuss topics of interest to women and children.
In Nelson Branco’s August 25th interview, “Goodfella,” Brandon Barash (Johnny) displayed a kind graciousness towards several of his key co-stars that has held him in good stead with GH fans. After revealing that originally, Johnny’s days were numbered in months not years from the onset, only to be saved for more later, Barash loved on Lisa LoCicero (Olivia), Julie Marie Berman (Lulu), Maurice Benard (Sonny) and Nathan Parsons (Ethan). He praised LoCicero for bringing the other half of their chemistry set, Berman for bringing his character to life in the first place (he’d love to do more story with her, as confidantes perhaps), Benard for keeping him prepared (“…I knew I had to know my shit backwards and forwards when I began working with him. And be ready to play because that’s what he likes. One great thing about Maurice is that he loves to be surprised in a scene, so I’m always keeping him on his toes in a good way from my end”), and Parsons for giving his loner character a qualified friend to talk to and share adventures with. “When you look at Nathan when he first came on the show and you look at him now, there’s an obvious growth. Not that he was a bad actor before, because he wasn’t, but his greenness has worn off. He’s really fleshed out a nice character.”
Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis) predictably brought buzz with her in an August 11th BuzzWorthy Radio interview that made the rounds in the past two weeks online. The always-opinionated actress raved about her Santa Barbara work as Julia in the past, stating that the Patrick Mulcahey-written, Shakespearean material was superior to just about anything else in mainstream-entertainment out there at the time, and that’s why she stayed on the soap. GH, when it came around, became about paying bills and sending her only daughter Kate through school to the 7th grade. She indicated disinterest in playing up mob stories (suggesting that’s why TPTB brought in another attorney, Diane, to do Sonny’s dirty work, because they knew Grahn would refuse), as well as her preference to do other stories outside the mob, but stressed that she’s not in charge. She doesn’t harbor any animosity towards those in charge; it’s just the way it is. She gets to do her own thing in some other projects that were merely hinted at.
Adrienne Barbeau (Suzanne) was only supposed to be on GH for four to five weeks, long enough to re-introduce Vanessa Marcil Giovinazzo (Brenda) to the canvas. But TPTB loved her presence so much they requested she stay a little longer, which she is happy to do. Read more of Suite101.com/Chip Snyder’s August 22nd interview.
Soaps.com writer Lori Wilson approached Adrienne Barbeau (Suzanne) from a slightly different angle in her interview, delving a little more into the actress’s reaction to doing her first soap, as well as a little synopsis of her “Vampyres Of Hollywood” sequel novel, “Love Bites.” While it has helped Barbeau to be paired off immediately with the generous, lovely Marcil Giovinazzo – who doesn’t mind going over lines together beforehand – and welcomed with open arms by cast and crew, having to go over so much with zero rehearsal time has been challenging. It’s one thing to memorize two pages of dialogue and blocking, then rehearse scenes in four days before filming. It’s quite another to do this without any rehearsal and pull it off in four minutes.
Go here for a chance to win Barbeau’s second novel.
Mark September 3rd on your collective calendar. That’s when Sonny sees Brenda up close again after a nearly seven-year absence. Just prior to their fateful meeting, Brenda receives notice of another stalker—a dark mob lord of probably the Russian order named “The Balkan.” “The Balkan” will not show his face just yet. They are either currently casting the right actor to play “The Balkan,” or they already have their man. “The Balkan” will cause Sonny, Jax and even Jason to come running to help protect Brenda.
Leslie Charleson (Monica) has been put on recurring status, her expired contract from 2009 chosen by TPTB not to be renewed.
Denise Alexander (Lesley) will guest-star on Pretty, a Velvet Candy Entertainment-produced indie web series for its second season.
Soap Cruise goes on its fourth voyage January 27-31, 2011 – boarding in Miami and traveling to Key West and Cozumel – with an opportunity for fans to mingle for that week with Brandon Barash (Johnny), Bradford Anderson (Spinelli), Jacob Young (ex-Lucky; JR, AMC), Walt Willey (Jackson, AMC), Adam Mayfield (Scott, AMC), Mark Lawson (Brody, OLTL), and other soap stars from Y&R, B&B, and DOOL. Activities on board the cruise include Q&As, karaoke, soap star talent night, Senor Frogs/Cozumel beach party, autograph- and picture-taking sessions, and acting lessons. The first 175 fans to get in on this deal will receive an exclusive VIP breakfast with the soap stars. Info: 1-866-364-0330.
Gossip for the week of 30-Aug-2010
Lisa LoCicero (Olivia) sure makes a big deal out of her badass character about to go badass on the next interloper who messes with kin, but she has yet to show me just how badass she is. Every single time she’s confronted with a real badass (Claudia, Carly, that nutjob dad of Kiefer’s), Olivia backs down and makes lame-ass threats and excuses after the fact about how badass she could be if it weren’t for a), b), and c) external factors. Hey, you’re either badass or you’re not. Brook Lynn looks like she could lay out 10 mobsters without batting an eye; she was ready to kick Maxie and Lulu’s lame asses in a NY minute. Recently LoCicero made a lot of empty noise about Olivia kicking Carly’s ass once it comes out what Carly tried to pull on Dante. Whatevs.
We know “The Balkan” is coming. He’s some Russian badass mobster out to possess Brenda. But his righthand man, the Jason to his Sonny, may turn out to be a Lucky lookalike, which would give Jonathan Jackson a delicious double duty. If Jackson plays Ronan O’Reilly, Lucky will tapped by Interpol to go undercover to deal with “The Balkan” mess.
General Hospital News & Gossip, Copyright © 2010 Carol Banks Weber. Published by SoapZone.com / Jeff Jungblut. No part of this page may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Opinions expressed on this page are those of the author and may not be representative of SoapZone.com or its advertisers. Don't steal scoops.
