Interview: Carolyn Hennesy, 'General Hospital'

TVG: Look at you, Mrs. Author! This past month, your first book, Pandora Gets Jealous has been followed by Pandora Gets Vain: The Carolyn Hennesy Story! [laughs] Who knew you were a writer! Just who the hell is Carolyn Hennesy? People demand to know… CH: Carolyn Hennesy is vain and gives it to Pandora! These books are targeted at tween girls, but adults get a big kick out of them, too. I was in a writing workshop working on a series of short stories when Michael Scott, a prolific Irish author, suggested I run with this idea. So, this blossomed into something I couldn’t have ever conceived.

TVG: You’re so multi-talented…
CH: I’d like to think I am! [Laughs] Well, I can certainly multitask. As a writer, it’s very gratifying to create an entire world in your head.

TVG: Is it safe to assume there are no mob hits in the books?
CH: Yes, because teen girls need that dose of reality! [laughs]

TVG: And I read that one of your many talents includes being a trapeze artist! What the hell is that about?!
CH: I have flown on a trapeze, yes! No, that line should be taken out of my bio since I haven’t been on a trapeze in a year-and-a-half because I’ve been busy on General Hospital and writing the books. Don’t laugh mister, I was a pretty good flier in my day, I’ll tell ya. It’s great exercise…

TVG: Perhaps you’ll find yourself flying through the air on ABC if your network ever resurrects Battle of the Network Stars! You never know…
CH: Or we can incorporate that into Diane’s secret life!

TVG: I hear Diane’s quite the acrobat in the bedroom.
CH: No, it’s really Max who is flexible in the bedroom. Diane just stands there in black leather with a riding crop! She can be very limber though. Swinging from the chandeliers isn’t a no-no in her house.

TVG: Let’s talk about how fierce you are as an actress. Along with being named one of TV Guide.ca’s Sexiest Stars, you were also nominated for a Soap Opera Spirit Award as outstanding female actor in a new role or recast. I’m delighted we have someone of your calibre in this model-eat-model industry of ours. You’re the accidental soap star!
CH: Well, thank you! Let me tell you, being on your Sexy list made my year. That’s way cooler than winning an award. [Laughs] Seriously, let’s get our priorities straight here, people! But I don’t consider myself a soap star even at this point. I’m certainly a delightful supporting character. Diane is a facilitator for a lot of things.

TVG: If someone told you years ago you’d be a breakout soap star...
CH: I would have looked at you as if you were crazy. I don’t fit the typical soap actress profile. I’ve got curves, God love them, but I’m not willowy. There’s a specific kind of beauty in soaps; it’s almost ethereal. Look at Becky Herbst [Liz]! That kind of beauty is just not possible, but yet it is. I’m very confident about my appearance, but I’m also a realist, so I never in my wildest dreams would have imagined I’d be on a soap. I’m happy that I bring a lot of humour to the show, and that’s not even the norm for a soap opera. I would have never thought these two days of work would’ve turned into 18 months when GH’s casting director Mark Teschner called me up for the gig.

TVG: Perhaps you should name your new book: Pandora Gets A Contract! Why hasn’t ABC signed you yet before someone steals you away?
CH: I don’t know. Phone calls need to be made!

TVG: [starts dialing Brian Frons cell phone number] Well, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.
CH: They really are the powers-that-be. 

TVG: Does anyone ever confuse you for former Soap Opera Weekly editor, Carolyn Hinsey? I’ll admit I’ve accidentally spelled your name when I meant to write hers!
CH: Not really, but when Carolyn left Weekly, our executive producer Jill Farren Phelps admitted she got a few fuming calls from people asking why Carolyn Hennesy was fired!

TVG: So when did you first realize Diane was a big hit? After your breakout debut, almost immediately every critic and their mother raved about your performance and talent.
CH: When they had Diane defend Jason [putting on her best lawyer voice] in the trial for the murder of Lorenzo Alcazar. That’s when I knew Diane wasn’t just a peripheral character anymore because of the extreme amount of dialogue I was given and the tremendous amount of responsibility that I knew she could [have as a permanent fixture].

TVG: To say your chemistry with Nancy Lee Grahn [Alexis] is off the charts would be a gross understatement. In fact, some critics have suggested Diane and Alexis should star in their own TV series.
CH: Diane and Alexis’s friendship is wonderful. We’re the new Lucy and Ethel of daytime TV. We’re a great comedy team, which is sorely lacking on the show.

TVG: So, I’m bringing up the question every fan wants answered: Are Alexis and Diane into each other in a bad way down there? Let’s face it; there is a sexual undercurrent in your scenes that is sometimes explosive. In fact, they're the only authentic couple on GH!
CH: [Laughs] Well, Max would totally be into that! Jerry would probably be running the digital camera! And it will never happen in a million years! 

TVG: Sometimes it’s better not to address the subtext, and let’s face it, I don’t trust [GH head writer] Bob Guza to pen a daytime version of The L Word. Do you and Nancy know you share the kind of undeniable chemistry most soap couples would kill for?
CH: I can easily say my mind has never gone there deliberately. Friendships between women of a certain age are very unusual for soaps because they are usually clawing each other’s eyes out. So Alexis and Diane’s friendship is [groundbreaking] in itself.

TVG: True that — but I’m still convinced they swing for the other team. And from what I hear, Diane’s getting some Big Pussy [played by Sopranos star Vincent Pastore] in the near future! Did you get on with Nancy like a house on fire right away or did you gals claw each other’s eyes out? I hear she’s a real bitch [laughs, jokingly].
CH: [Laughs] Omigod! I was terrified of her. Nancy’s an acting powerhouse, and she works in such a different way. She memorizes all her lines during the walk from her dressing room to the makeup room. For me, it takes days and days to memorize a script. Nancy’s intense and serious, which is why Diane and Alexis work because my character brings out the humour in Alexis. I’m still the new kid on the block, working without a contract, so I’m not clawing anyone’s eyes out yet! [laughs]

TVG: It’s funny because GH used to be one of the most hilarious soaps on daytime. Today, not so much.
CH: We’re trying to resurrect the comedy factor. It’s not just Alexis and Diane, either. Diane and Spinelli are funny. Diane and Max are funny. Diane and Jason are even funny. And of course, the crazy triumvirate of Diane and Spinelli trying to make sense of each other while Jason looks down on them like they’re both out of their minds is just hilarious.

TVG: Did you watch GH, or soaps for that matter, before you were cast?
CH: I hadn’t watched soaps for years, and I think that was the saving grace that kept me on the show. When Teschner called me, he said, “You’re going to play Sonny Corinthos’ lawyer.” I responded: “Fantastic. Who’s Sonny Corinthos?” After a long pause, Mark informed me Sonny’s the biggest mobster in Port Charles, and that Maurice Benard [Sonny] and Steve Burton [Jason] are two of the biggest names in daytime. Had I known what Maurice and Steve represented and how big these characters were, the intimidation factor would have skyrocketed, and I might not have brought it the way I had brought it. Immediately, Maurice picked up on the fact that Diane and myself were not intimidated by Sonny and we both [went to town with the relationship].

TVG: Ignorance isn’t bliss — it’s success! Have you created a back story for Diane, yet?
CH: Yes I have, and there’s more than one! On my message boards, a fan asked me to [give her intel on Diane]. So I wrote back with: Diane has a loft overlooking the Port Charles harbour with her houseboy Quan, who she rescued from a Thai prison. But we can’t talk about that time in her life because it was a covert mission. She drives a Jaguar, which is always in the shop. Oh, and she has a pet snake. Diane can also be found in the seedier part of town listening to jazz in a club. And sometimes she’ll get up and sing Ella Fitzgerald’s greatest hits!

TVG: Sounds like my kind of girl.
CH: She loves to try new things but hates to exercise. There are many layers to Diane, and a lot of them aren’t on the up-and-up.

TVG: You were pre-nominated as outstanding supporting actress this past year for the Daytime Emmy Awards for your first year on the show as a recurring character!
CH: I know! It was incredibly gratifying and even better than winning. As Bob Guza said, “You finally left the building,” because I would chain myself to the studio doors and scream: “You will write for me. I will not leave!”

TVG: I always thought Guza would be wise to pair Diane romantically with Luke.
CH: And Anthony Geary [Luke] just won his 47th Emmy Award, too! It’s funny because some fans will complain: “Who is this day player with all this air time?” To which I respond, “If you haven’t noticed, I am no longer a day player!” [Laughs] But yeah, I’d love to work with Tony more often. Tony Geary redefined soap acting — along with Kin Shriner [Scotty]. Tony’s the Marlon Brando of daytime, and it’s because of Geary that Diane can exist on this show. But Luke and Diane would bring down the wrath of Luke-Laura and Luke-Tracy fans. Even Diane fans do not want to see that happen, but it would be a tremendous coupling if I do say so myself!

TVG: Alexis would be so jealous… In real life, your late, great father Dale Hennesy was an Oscar-winning production designer and you’re the niece of actress Barbara Rush.
CH: My father won the Oscar for his work on Fantastic Voyage, and was nominated twice for Logan’s Run, and Annie. He also designed King Kong, Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask, Dirty Harry and Young Frankenstein, to name a few. My aunt worked with all the greats, too, from Rock Hudson, Brando, and Paul Newman. I grew up seeing both sides of the industry. 

TVG: Were your parents cool about you pursuing acting as a career?
CH: My mother was insistent that I learn how to type! [Laughs] But my father supported my acting aspirations because he had such a fond respect for the craft.

TVG: Do you bring your father’s Oscar to the GH set to taunt your co-stars?
CH: Yes, I wear it around my neck all the time! [Laughs] I’m the only person I know who has actually rehearsed their Academy Award speech holding an actual Oscar!

TVG: And soon, you’ll be reciting an acceptant speech at the Daytime Emmy Awards if there is any justice in the world.

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Nelson Branco is a Toronto freelance entertainment journalist, who regularly contributes to Hello! Canada, The National Post, The Los Angeles Times' theenvelope.com, TV Guide USA, tvguide.com, Inside Entertainment, OUT, and fab magazine, along with spearheading the soap coverage for TVGuide.ca's popular daytime TV hub. After graduating from Ryerson University in 1997, he moved from Toronto to New York in 1998 to take on the roles as senior news editor at Soap Opera Update. Branco first freelanced for Soap Opera Weekly as an intern in 1994, and after leaving Soap Update to help create and launch Bauer Publishing's In Touch Weekly in 2003, Branco continued to freelance occasionally for its sister publication, Soaps In Depth. Most recently, he helped create and launch Canada's first celebrity magazine, Weekly Scoop in 2005 as its news and entertainment director. Branco is also a contributor to a new TV show titled Planet Soap to air in Canada and America.

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