Soap Opera Digest January 23, 2023

Rodney Van Johnson, best known to soap fans as PASSIONS’s Russell family patriarch, T.C., tells Digest he couldn’t have been happier to add B&B to his resumé. “I’ve always wanted to be on BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL because everyone wants to be on B&B,” he chuckles. “Because it is bold and it is beautiful and so your ego says, ‘Yeah, I want to be there. I think I’m bold. I think I’m beautiful [laughs].’ It was great to be back in the environment of soap operas. It’s a hard job. It’s a challenging job but also, as an actor, it is a very rewarding job and I really enjoy that.” Van Johnson, who plays Sheila’s attorney, instantly hit it off with her portrayer, Kimberlin Brown. “We laughed a lot, let’s put it…

Nina and Willow are both in for the shock of their lives when Carly confesses that the women are mother and daughter. “Carly is kind of pushed into a corner,” sets up Cynthia Watros (Nina). “She’s been keeping this secret about Willow being Nina’s daughter for months, but when she finds out that the best potential bone marrow donor for Willow is a relative, she realizes she needs to tell the truth. Nina is in the chapel with Sonny, praying for Willow’s life, when Carly comes and says, ‘I need to tell you something.’ Nina says, ‘It’s all right, Sonny, you can go. I’m sure she just needs to yell at me about something.’” Once Sonny exits, Carly comes clean. “She says to Nina, ‘Willow is your daughter.’ I played it…

On the day that Sally and Chloe are supposed to have an important meeting with Jill, Ms. Spectra is in her hotel suite battling morning sickness. “Sally has been kind of in denial that she’s pregnant, but dealing with the nausea has made it very real,” sighs Courtney Hope (Sally). “So it’s hard to gather herself and be ready to meet with Jill. Right now she’s wondering, ‘Am I going to be okay for this pitch?’ But then her real fear is, ‘What if I get sick during the meeting? What am I going to say?’” Sally has a lot riding on the outcome of the chat with Jill. “Sally isn’t one of Jill’s favorite people, so Sally knows this meeting won’t be a cakewalk,” says Hope. “She’s really trying to…

Bill and Sheila make love, and Bill confesses to Sheila that he loves her. “For the first time in a long time, maybe ever, Bill has found acceptance,” states Don Diamont (Bill). “Sheila doesn’t tell him what he can or cannot do. She doesn’t say, ‘You should be this or you should be that,’ or, ‘This is a negative part of your personality.’ She is actually very protective of him, at a time when he needs that. Bill is emotionally vulnerable.” For that reason, Sheila is the right woman for him right now. “When it comes to his emotional state of being, he sees love and punishment as one and the same, and maybe he deserves them both,” explains the actor. “He feels he is not deserving of anything better. This…

Sarah runs into Justin and Bonnie and asks Justin to represent her in her divorce, a turn of events Xander is finding hard to face. “This is end of the world stuff for Xander,” says his portrayer, Paul Telfer. “Think about everything he feels and went through to save Sarah and get her back. She was kidnapped, drugged, reverted to being a child and became somebody else, Renee DuMonde. They came through all of that. The moment they’re actually together and happy, Xander messes it up. It’s 100 percent his fault. His only excuse is he did it for love, like he did with the baby swap. But it’s just not a good enough excuse, is it?” Bonnie suggests that Sarah give Xander a second chance, noting that her empathy comes from…

with Josh Kelly (Cody, GH) It feels like a bit of a transitional time for Cody, since Britt has just left the canvas. Did you enjoy working with her portrayer, Kelly Thiebaud? “Oh, yeah. She’s just a fantastic tic scene partner, a really, really great actress. If you don’t have a good scene partner, you’re kind of acting into a void. You can still craft a decent performance, but it is so much better when you have someone really good to work with, and she is really exceptional. Kelly brought different things to our scenes and played them in a way I wouldn’t necessarily have expected.” A moot point now, perhaps, but do you think his feelings for Britt were sincere? “Yeah. I think he really feels bad about everything and…