Rick Hearst & Rebecca Herbst Wilshire Grand Hotel, West Orange, NJ April 2, 2006   I had an interesting time on the runway in Houston watching the guys load the USPS priority mail into the cargo hold just below my seat for an hour.  I’ll be thinking twice about packing packages to send off in the future!  LOL.  Well, after a few hotel snafus, we finally made it into the event.  I arrived early enough to get near the front of the line and since the event was first come, first seated, I ended up with a very good seat for the event.    I did NOT attend the Brokerage club event on the day prior, so for the most part if there were references to that I probably left them out.  I think I took OK notes at this one.  I didn’t catch everything but I’ve probably got quite a few of the Q&A.  We wrote down questions before the event and they were given to Becky & Rick on the stage and they took turns reading the questions to each other (after sifting through them and putting some aside, of course!  LOL) so if they look like they’re reading in the pics, they’re questions not a script.  Since there were 2 instead of my normal Q:A  I’m going to label them with whom the question was directed to

Rick:  How will Ric react to Alexis as the ADA?  Gently and carefully   LOL.  OK, seriously, with Durant and the way he’s been running things it’s like the DA’s office flip/flops on corruption.  I don’t think Ric’s going to be too happy with it, but eh

Rick:  Any truth to the rumor about Ric getting a little rough during lovemaking which triggers a memory from Alexis’s past about being raped?  Huh?  Read that again?  If anyone’s getting rough that would be Alexis.  LOL.  I mean blind folds, etc.  Wait a minute, what was the question again?  Oh, in reference to Sam’s father No.    Rick:  reference to Ric eventually sleeping with Sam?  Considering what happened with the Reese situation last year Never, LOL.

Becky:  Are you going to get a storyline besides you and Lucky being broke?  Greg has a good storyline coming up.

Both:  Does Liric have a future?  Rick - Well, yes because of their history but more like Jax is to Alexis. Becky - They’re always going to be in each other’s mind and heart.

Rick:  Besides Liz & Alexis who else would you like to be paired with?  Well, before I would have loved to have a story with Robin Christopher.  There were some comments about how happy everyone was for her that she had a story right now.

Becky:  Do you make all your clothes and your children’s clothes?  Rick interjected – Are you Amish?  Becky - No, she commented that she makes her formals for the Emmy’s, and that she’s planning on making hers and Natalia’s Emmy dresses this year.

Rick:  What are the most challenging aspects of playing Ric Lansing?  Making the ludicrous somewhat real.  He used examples like the Panic room and his drunken confession to Alexis on the table at Liz’s reception.

Both:  Most memorable fan encounter?  Rick thought for a sec then said, I heard someone got arrested yesterday!

Rick:  Who’s a better lawyer?  Ric or Alexis?  I think they’re pretty equal.  He said that he would have liked to have delved more into them working in the same law office but that TPTB seemed to want them on opposite sides so they could spar.  He mentioned that they were both strong willed people and it was interesting to see how they work out compromise.  “I guess it depends on the situation, I think they’re pretty evenly matched.”

Becky:  Who makes the better TV husband?  Hmmm have you seen where I live?

Rick:  Is Alexis or Liz the love of Ric’s life?  I’m not answering that!  They’re 2 totally different loves.

Becky:  Regarding mentions of her mother in previous episodes, is that leading somewhere?  No, there’s been no talk about bringing her mother on.    There was some discussion after this question about the more recent cast integration and focus on other characters on the show.  They mentioned Jason Thompson “Dr. Hair”.

Rick:  Do your sons watch the show and do they have suggestions for storylines?  Rick said that Cameron was watching the show one day when Faith used to be on and that she was going on and on and on about something and finally Cameron just said “shut up!”  LOL.  Then he told a story about Nicholas (from SSW, I think he said) and that he looked over and his son was talking to Chuck Pratt very animatedly and he thought, oh, no, and started to go over there but Chuck waved him away and when he asked him about it later, Chuck told him that he was giving him an idea for a story about Bennie’s grandson coming to Port Charles to get revenge for Bennie’s death against Sonny & Jason.  It wasn’t a story for dad?  LOL.

Rick:  Someone asked him about dancing, and Rick said that he couldn't right now because he had a snowboarding accident.

Becky:  question about Brian Frons & Jill Farren Phelps and the Liason campaigning?  Sometimes it takes a while for them to notice fan response.  She mentioned that Brian could be very focused.  (See above, looks like a tunnel vision gesture to me! LOL!)  She later mentioned that there were some more Jason & Liz scenes coming up.

Becky:  Someone commented on Liz during the epidemic and how professional she was during the whole storyline.

Rick:  Question about whether Ric is obligated to Alexis because of their baby or if he’s really in love with her Is Ric in love with Alexis?  Yes, he is.

Both:  Do your spouses watch?  Becky referred the question to Michael who was in the back and we heard him say “what show?”  Eh, he only watches for Mo & Steve.  LOL.

Rick:  Comedy or drama?  Mix of both.  I like the subtleties in comedy and I also like drama, I like going to those deep places.  Becky commented that when you’re doing drama like that you come in down and you leave down.

Rick:  Does Ric find out about Sam before Alexis?  I don’t know.  I think that we find out in 2 weeks but it’s one of those situations where we find out at the same time but not together (he said that he’d seen outlines but not the actual scene).

Rick:  Are you ever going to get a story that is not related to Sonny?  No.  I don’t mind, as long as there’s none of this, and he proceeded to get down on his knees next to the chair and kiss and stroke the seat.  LOL.

Becky:  You’ve been spending an awful lot of time at the nurse’s station, aren’t you afraid of turning into Amy Vining?  If I thought that, I would be very afraid.  LOL.  No, really, whatever keeps the paycheck coming.  I’m just happy to be here.

Rick:  Would you do Dancing with the Stars?  Hmmm well, let’s see, a girl won the first one, and a guy won the last one, so I better sit the next one out because a girl’s due to win again, so maybe after the next one.  Yeah, I would do it.  Becky could do the Skating with the stars one.

Both:  If you could pick your parents on the show, which characters would you choose? Rick – Luke, now that would be interesting.  Becky – I don’t know.

Rick:  Whatever happened to Rick promising to Liz that he would provide financial support for Cameron?  Lucky should be doing that!

Rick:  Who’s Ric’s best friend?  Rick looked at Becky and said, well, you’re the one I come to with all my shit.

Becky:  Would you like to work with Jason Thompson more?  Yes, I really like working with him.

Rick:  Do you think that Ric feels obligated to Kristina?  Becky - Well, he doesn’t to Cameron, LOL.  Rick – Kristina’s not an obligation, it’s something that he wants to do, she’s family.   Rick made some comments about Kali and what a ham she is.  She has her own mind.  He talked about the transition between the Smith twins and Kali and how spontaneous she is.  He told a story about the dock scene recently with Alexis and Sam, and how she kept talking and he picked her up and ran up the steps away from where Sam and Alexis were standing, and then they stood behind the wall while they finished up their scene.  He kept having to tell her to be quiet but she started shaking one of the trees and she told him it was the wind.  LOL.  Becky told a story about how Kali just came up to her one day in makeup and started hugging on her legs and petting on her then she looked up when Becky introduced herself (they hadn’t met yet) and she realized that she wasn’t Natalia and ran off.

Becky:  Is Liz like you?  Now more than before.  Before she had no spine, she just kept going back to people who tried to kill her LOL I like that she has a backbone and could make it on her own if she chose to.  What she has with Lucky is a real marriage.

Becky:  Do you keep in touch with Amber?  On & off

Rick:  Are Ric & Alexis ever going to get a house?  Rick – Oh, I know, I know.  That must be some apartment Becky asked if they were getting married.  Rick - We are married.  Becky -You are?  Did I miss that? Rick -yeah, it was a real elaborate wedding and everything.  LOL.  There was an ensuing discussion about Ric & Alexis getting rings.  Then Becky & Rick told the story about how TPTB wanted Ric & Liz to wear the same wedding rings after they had been stolen.

Both:  If you could play another character on the show, which one would it be?  Rick – I don’t know.  I like who I am.  Becky – Me, too.  I like Carly’s stuff sometimes but I wouldn’t want to do that everyday. Rick – How about that roll in the hay with Jax?  Holy crap!

Rick:  How did Ric’s name come about?  It was originally supposed to be Enrique, and it’s so suave, and so not me then they were going to make it Daniel or Peter or something but then they went back to Enrique and just cut it up.  Becky – Did you know that my middle name is Imogene?

Both:  how did you get into acting? Becky – I started when I was 6 ½, doing commercials, they would give you the toys for free!  Rick said that there were some composites of Becky and Michael when they were children in her dressing room and it was like looking at their children.

Rick:  Broadway musicals, have you seen Rent, what’s your favorite song & character?  Rick mentioned “Glory” and “America”

Both:  Who do you hang out with personally from the set?  Rick:  Tyler & Becky and Michael Becky:  Steve and his wife, Mo & Paula.  Rick mentioned that Steve had his baby boy and named him Jack.

Becky:  Do you still ice skate?  Not since the kids, but she mentioned that Ethan wanted to learn and that they were going to take him.  Rick asked Becky what a lutz was and she explained that it was a jump off the back leg and sort of demonstrated the position for us.

Both:  question from an audience member that would like to be an actress about advice on getting into the biz? Rick – get involved with drama through school if you have that as a option and if not, through your community Becky – mentioned that she hated getting up on stage in front of class and that stage was not for her.

Rick:  Compliments on the hallucination of Adella scenes from during the epidemic, are they going to expand on that in the future?  I hope so.  He said that he called the writers and thanked them for that scene.

Both:  How do you approach your scenes together?  Becky – Liz is coming from a place in her heart where she still loves Ric and cares about what happens to him Rick – but they’re at different places and relationships in their lives now.  Liz gets Lucky and Lucky gets Liz; Ric gets Alexis and Alexis gets Ric. Becky – there just wasn’t a lot of closure in that relationship. Rick – Ric needs to constantly let Liz know how sorry he is, and that he wishes her a good life.

Both:  What’s your schedule like? Becky – With Liz, I typically will work 2 days a week depending on storyline, and someone like Mo will work 5 days a week. Rick – I’m somewhere in the middle. Becky – They shoot from anywhere around 8:30 to 6-9 at night and I may come in for only 4 scenes in the morning or 4 scenes in the afternoon.  They talked about the coined term “getting Ric’d” from when Rick was first on the show and would show up in scenes with everyone all the time, and they mentioned that phrase was being used all over, even on other soaps such as OLTL.

Both:  Did you ever think that you would be acting on soaps? Becky – Never.  I wasn’t even allowed to watch soaps. Rick – After acting school, I never even thought about it.

Becky – Who’s a better kisser, Ric or Lucky?  I can’t answer that?  I’d better say Rick, of course since he’s standing right here.  It’s not real kissing you know. Rick – Yeah, ask my wife.