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2024 Daytime Emmy Nominee Wally Kurth · The Daytime Emmys Specials

• 0:02
  So we'll gome to day. Tell me any specials here on jail, Jamdi.
• 0:04
  I'm James Lord Junior. And this guy is no stranger to the Emmys.
• 0:09
  Nominated for Emmy actually back when the gh Days. Also he's been nominated
• 0:13
  if this category with his current thing on Days Are Alive. But he also
• 0:18
  is an Emmy winner for his music I'll Stand the original song back in the
• 0:21
  Day. But he's been awarded another nomination for a daytime Drama supporting actor.
• 0:28
  My friend Waldy Kirk. Thank you for that introduction. James, you look
• 0:34
  good. I'm doing well. How are you. I'm doing good to good
• 0:39
  to see you same here. It's a beautiful day in La today. You
• 0:41
  look outside, beautiful beautiful. Yeah, it's I live down here in Manhattan
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  Beach. It's beautiful down here. Sometimes it can get cloudy, but it's
• 0:47
  it's clear today. Well, I'm in Inglewood. It's not far song here
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  you go. Neighbors, Yeah, so we're neighbors, definitely. I'm always
• 0:55
  down there. My favorite Ralphs is in Manhattan Village. Oh imagine I love
• 1:00
  that. Oh maybe they'll see you there. See I go to all the
• 1:03
  time, all the time. It's like to me, it's just it's a
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  nice, big rouse that has a little bit of everything. So I used
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  to go there. Yep. So congratulations, congratulations, congratulations. How does
• 1:15
  it feel? It was great? I mean, it's always it's you know,
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  it's it's always an honor and it's humbling to be nominated by your peers
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  because they you know, I'm a voter. I watch reels, I watch,
• 1:29
  you know, reels that aren't me. I watch any submissions and I
• 1:36
  judge, so I see, you know what comes down, and uh so
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  I really do appreciate it. I mean, it's it's lovely. It's love
• 1:44
  to be recognized. Yeah, you are, I mean because you are one
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  of the few doing two shows. Of course you're on General Hospital, You're
• 1:52
  on Days for Our Lives. This is for your work, is Justina.
• 2:00
  But for a story, I mean for this though, it was kind of
• 2:02
  a sad thing. So tell folks, what was your wheel? Like,
• 2:07
  what did you what did you turn out? Well? I had two very
• 2:12
  emotional stories. Those are probably my only main stories of the year. So
• 2:17
  they they were you know, obviously Victor's death and for me, Victor was
• 2:23
  like a father and so I knew that was going to be emotional stuff,
• 2:27
  and they had me, you know, breaking down, and and I thought
• 2:30
  they did a good job of I always like it when the character breaks down
• 2:35
  by himself in a way that's he and that's how Justin would do it.
• 2:38
  You know, he would be strong with everyone there and then he would fall
• 2:43
  apart when he's by himself, and they they did that in the in the
• 2:46
  Victor's stuff. So I started out. I picked a scene where I actually
• 2:51
  have to tell Maggie that his plane went down in the Mediterranean. And then
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  I had the scene where I get off the home with Sonny and Bonnie comes
• 3:04
  in and can see that I'm hurting and then gives me a hug and I
• 3:07
  break down in her arms. And then I did a little scene at the
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  at the funeral, which was not a big you know, it was more
• 3:14
  of me again. It was just lovely in a way I could. I
• 3:16
  felt like I did a pretty good job with it, and that I was,
• 3:21
  you know, started off strong and funny, and then you know,
• 3:23
  he catches himself just happened to get you know, talking about that he'll never
• 3:29
  you know him, that he misses him and he'll never forget him. And
• 3:31
  then we cut to the whole story where I'm looking at the letter and I
• 3:36
  realized that Angelica has basically disclosed the truth about Victor's about Victor being Alexander's father,
• 3:46
  and then I tell I tell alex that story, and there was some
• 3:50
  emotional stuff there where I tell him I'm not your dad, Victor is.
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  And then again once again at the end, I'm looking at the letter and
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  you know, Bonnie comes in and I break down in her arms again.
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  So there there was a lot of a lot of crying, James, a
• 4:01
  lot of crying and and I'm I don't. I don't. I've never won,
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  but I do. I'm not. I'm smart enough to know that those
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  kind of emotional stuff when you're grieving about your father or your son, in
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  which I was kind of doing both. You were I was like, oh,
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  put you the ringer, I mean, you put you through just and
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  also on the side notes, you really are missing John Aniston, I mean
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  like, I mean, you're also a colleague. You know, I know
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  you've been through before with John Ingle on General Hospital. I guess like you're
• 4:36
  listening another yeah, and the truth is and the truth is yes, John,
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  and I you know, he was like a father figure to me.
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  He was obviously a mentor. When I started on the show, he had
• 4:49
  you know, been doing soaps for a while, and I really looked at
• 4:53
  him as a you know, as a mentor and and to show me how
• 5:00
  it how I'm supposed to be a professional actor. And he led my example.
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  He didn't really offer a lot, but you just you know, just
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  rehearsing with him every day. And I you know, when I first got
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  to the show, I worked with him a lot. Yes, it was
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  either Judy or John every day, and uh so we really got to know
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  one another, and I think he respected me and we were friends, and
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  uh you know, when I came back, he was happy to see me,
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  you know, and it was just John I just one of those guys
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  that you just can't help but really feel close to, even though he made
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  not pour his heart out and I didn't. We didn't get too deep into
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  anything, but he was always just there, you know. And uh yeah,
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  so I was able to use some of John too in those scenes,
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  you know, just let my feelings for John come through. Yeah. I
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  couldn't believe when they were trying to do that whole thing saying that Homeboy was
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  not your son. When he started doing I was like, where'd that come
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  from? Now you've been in time, so you know, storyline you change
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  and it's like what I was like, where we're like where I'm from?
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  Well, let me tell you something. I didn't know it first. I
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  thought, oh my god, they're taking my son away. They didn't tell
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  me. I was like, what that can't be right. I mean,
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  especially Rob was like, you know, the star of the show practically,
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  like he's definitely the main focus of certain stories. I'm like, oh,
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  there goes any future story with him, I guess. And then about a
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  couple of weeks into it, I think, or maybe a couple weeks after
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  we after we tape those scenes, it came. I don't know whether Rob
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  told me or someone told me, and I went, okay, okay,
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  I feel better now, yeah, yeah, we feel but we feel better
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  as we all felt better to you, I were like, okay, well
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  wait a minute, that hasn't aired yet, right, so you'll you'll get
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  you got more stuff coming up, so I can't. I guess we should
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  talk about that. But yeah, that's right. You guys don't even know.
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  Yeah, it's working up, you guys tape so far in advanced so
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  far yeah, yeah, yeah, but this is so it's good that you
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  recognized for your work this year because I mean it was good. It was
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  really good work quality. I mean, I mean, you know, you've
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  been in business for a while and you know how it goes and ebbs and
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  flows and whatever. But yeah, that some really good stuff. You got
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  to get stuff choose round. Thank you. You know, I have a
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  I've been doing this such a long time, like you said, and I
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  have a way. I know that we only get one take and everyone has
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  to deal with that same thing. But I tell you knowing that you prepare
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  for it, and so you really know, I know, my dialogue backwards
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  and forwards. Literally, I sometimes go, let's go backwards, you know
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  what I mean. So I have it in my head so then I can
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  forget it. Yeah, just it's there. You've uploaded it. Now you
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  get it. Now you hit you hit play, and you just take it
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  moment to moment and let it unfold. The dialogue will unfold, if you
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  know, if if you're working with an actor who's you know, doing what
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  they're supposed to do as well, which I do you know, Suzanne and
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  Judy and Rob you know, they're all pros. So you have to trust
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  yourself and you have, especially those emotional scenes, you really have to trust
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  yourself. You know. I'm just like, you gotta go there, and
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  just like it's either gonna go. You're gonna have it or you're not.
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  And don't push it. Definitely don't push it. Don't try. Yeah,
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  that never works. Have you got have you got used to the one take
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  thing? Just like this is this is this is reality. You know some
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  actors they tell me I just I didn't want I just I want to go
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  back, and you're just like next once, the next thing. I mean,
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  you don't care once the next thing. I don't even like doing it
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  a second time. I'm like, really, I don't know if I can
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  do it twice. That's funny. Oh my god, that is funny.
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  Oh my god, freak it up. Funny General Hospital. I said,
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  the scenes where you're skipped to my Lwin to tell Nina about all all her
• 8:56
  dirty deeds and you skip me your way over there and then trip and fall
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  into the pool. We laughed so hard on that. We said, I
• 9:05
  think Wally's too much fun. In those scenes, you're like your life is
• 9:13
  over a girl, and you were like, just just kip. We laughed,
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  we laughed. I asked Cynthia after I said, Cynthia did, did
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  that that looks silly the way I kind of ran off and he goes,
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  oh no, it was great. It was because I was like, but
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  in the script it actually says he hurries there, and because I also knew
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  that I was going to be hurrying into the pool and tripping, so I
• 9:37
  had to have that. I thought it worked cut really well. I actually
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  put that scene, those that that that clip into my Emmy reel for General
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  Hospital. I told the whole story. Okay, good, but that was
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  one of them that begain. It was like, because you know what,
• 9:52
  Sobside goes, you fight over here, you threatened, while three days later
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  like it was like you're like life with or Bitch and you just, oh
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  my god. The audience we couldn't start. We thought it was those one
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  of the best scenes of the week. We're just like, that's the week.
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  But then he thought, like, what you're gonna tell you? You're
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  gonna tell you like, I'm not gonna work, you know. I had
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  fun that the guy there was a guy named Anthony who does He did the
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  stunt, and he he's done stunts for like George Clooney and a lot of
• 10:24
  people. And he did a great job. I mean he really once again
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  one take he did it once in his head fell into the water and then
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  I got in the water. Yeah. And so then the rest of your
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  storyline, though most of the year was you with amnesia played Eddie made,
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  Edie made. I'm like, that was so fun. I mean, it
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  was the fun. And then bringing back Rina and it was like I was
• 10:48
  like this, you say us had a good time. He's had a good
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  time, it I did. I mean, I know some of the fans
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  thought it was going on too long, and and let's face it, it's
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  amnesia, you know, and and like and plus why would I only remember
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  Eddie? Mean, it wasn't really aneesia. It was kind of like PTSD
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  and I kind of found it. I fell into like an alter ego where
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  I like it was it was almost like hypnosis, Like I was hypnotized in
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  a way to protect myself from the cruelty, from the torture. Being a
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  quartermain at that time, the pressure was too intense that I just pushed that
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  part of my personality aside. Embraced the musician, the inner musician, rockstar,
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  and he just lived in that little world and hoped to could just stay
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  there. I mean, we all, that's why I'm an actor. I
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  could put all my my regular day to life a way to get to step
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  in, put on a suit and tie hed just in Kiddiaki's or Ned quartermain
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  and uh so I felt it makes sense to me. You know, I
• 11:48
  pretend to be somebody all the time. Almost every day, I pretend to
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  be somebody. So I understood why Ned just said, you know what,
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  I'm out, I'm Eddie, I'm out. And I actually there was one
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  thing how would were right. We're like, we're like there's a little chemistry
• 12:01
  that like because you guys would never really touch each other. It's like I
• 12:05
  like that he was flirt with her a little bit. Oh like that was
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  kind of fun. Okay, we got Eddie got to go around a little
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  bit, and you know, I know, I thought i'd I thought I
• 12:15
  thought I was gonna be a regular at that bar. I was hoping for
• 12:18
  like at least another month of story, just me just hanging at that bar,
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  talking to people, make forcing them to listen to to my terrible songs.
• 12:28
  I don't know, just like singing at there. I didn't spend nearly
• 12:33
  enough time at that bar, that's for sure. What but what but just
• 12:37
  when they told you to bring back any made on some form, obviously some
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  form, what what was your first reaction? But again that was a long
• 12:46
  time ago. Kids, But now that you know, what was that?
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  What you thought about that, James? I don't, I don't. I
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  don't say much over there. I did. They just tell me what to
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  do, and I smile, as it sounds great, let's do it.
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  I just I did. I thought it sounded great. I go, well,
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  good luck, because all I know is that as a writer they have
• 13:01
  an impossible task. Oh, by the way, the writers that thought of
• 13:07
  it went on strike like a week after that storyline started. I mean so
• 13:13
  so much of the material was written by producers and directors. I know,
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  I know they were the ones that are writing. So thank god they did.
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  They followed through and they said, you know what, let's make the
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  most of it. And so I have to give kudos to those guys that
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  pulled that off, because they really did, excuse me, a really pretty
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  good job of the whole Eddy history. And I changed very little, and
• 13:43
  I love working with Robert. That was awesome. That was funny. Yes,
• 13:48
  that was very funny. Got me into that club. And I only
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  really say one song the entire That's it. That was it, what happened,
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  that was it. I did that all the man, which is what
• 14:00
  Eddie did years ago. That's great. I loved how that came off.
• 14:03
  We did that in one take and then uh, and then I sang that
• 14:05
  you know, Ciren song a lot. But other than that, there wasn't
• 14:09
  a lot of on stage performing, so it was, uh, it was
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  mostly just story and I don't know it was I love story. I love
• 14:16
  acting. I don't care what I find it more challenging about, like how
• 14:20
  am I going to solve this? In fact, when we got out of
• 14:24
  the water and I was on the beach and I was resuscitated, I remember
• 14:26
  going, I gotta land this thing. I got to land this story,
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  and I like so I that was the one time where I wanted more multiple
• 14:35
  takes on the beach when I was trying to remember who I was. Yeah,
• 14:39
  you know, because I had to talk about the talk about the song
• 14:43
  and how it all made sense, and it didn't really make sense when I
• 14:46
  was saying, I'm like, I'm not. We're gonna keep taping this thing
• 14:48
  until it makes sense to me, because if it doesn't make sense to me,
• 14:52
  it's not gonna make sense to the audience. So when I finally did
• 14:56
  do it, I thought, and I watched it, I went, Okay,
• 15:01
  it makes sense to him, so I believe it. And that's what
• 15:03
  I was going for. Even if it didn't make sense to the person's watching
• 15:07
  it, it may it looked like it made sense to Ned, and that's
• 15:09
  what I was going for. So I was happy. How that how I
• 15:13
  sort of landed it. Yeah, and lastly, Jane Elliott's back, and
• 15:16
  yeah, we love her, we love her, we love her, We're
• 15:20
  so glass She's back, we love her, long braid, we love all
• 15:22
  of it. Yeah, for you, your Buddi's back. How does it
• 15:26
  feel? Fantastic? And I'm so happy And I tell her, well,
• 15:30
  I know you, and I said, look, I know you, don't
• 15:33
  you know you're not on social media, Jane, But just so you know,
• 15:35
  the fans love you, They love Tracy Quartermain, they love having you
• 15:41
  back, and none of that. Jane, I love you and I love
• 15:43
  having you back. Ned is a happier person. Now that Jane is back,
• 15:48
  Walling's a happier person. So it's just fantastic. And also having read
• 15:54
  it back, it's been great for the show and it's great for our story
• 15:56
  and for the quartermin house. So I don't know how long she's going to
• 15:58
  stay. She's gonna be kind of like Jane, kind of in and out.
• 16:00
  But I think Jane will be around for a while. I think Jane's
• 16:03
  not she retired right, she was back. I mean, I mean she's
• 16:10
  she looks like she's having a hell of a time. So, yes,
• 16:11
  they're giving a good story. They're giving a good story and a mat of
• 16:15
  Seaton. It's just a joy to behold. We love her too, we
• 16:18
  play, Yeah, we love her. We just see you guys are a
• 16:22
  unit. You guys are all again. Yeah, and it really is.
• 16:26
  It's a nice it's at that that that's really nice that I have with characters
• 16:30
  that the audience loves and really is connected to actors that I enjoy working with.
• 16:34
  When you have that situation, you know it'll be fun. It'll be
• 16:40
  a fun future. So, folks, he's up for a daytime, Emmy,
• 16:42
  He's up for a daytime Emmy again. Are you coming to the show?
• 16:45
  Are you coming? Of course? Well, you know, James,
• 16:48
  the last two times I've been nominated were both those times where there was COVID.
• 16:52
  It was COVID protocols, so I had to if you can believe it,
• 16:56
  and I'm I'm not afraid to say it, I had to make two
• 16:59
  speeches pretending like I won on tape. First of all, I had to
• 17:03
  do like a selfie putting with under thirty seconds. I was like blah,
• 17:07
  speaking really fast, thanking everybody. And then the following year I was nominated
• 17:11
  as again or maybe two years later, and they pretended it was at Emmy's,
• 17:18
  so I actually had to walk on stage in a tuxedo, grab an
• 17:21
  award on stage, look into the camera, and give an acceptance speech when
• 17:26
  I really didn't win yet. It was just pretending like this is what I
• 17:30
  would say if I won. That was the year that I was nominated for
• 17:33
  the Lead Actor against Maurice, so Maurice won. But I'm just happy that
• 17:37
  I'm actually going to the wards ceremony and I'm not going to have to,
• 17:41
  like, you know, the speeches are always I'm gonna be nervous. I'm
• 17:45
  going to be totally nervous. I'll admit it. It's nerve wracking. The
• 17:48
  one time that I was there back in twenty eighteen when I lost to Greg
• 17:55
  on Days, I was on gh he was on Days, Greg won,
• 18:00
  I was a nervous wreck. I was like, Oh my god, what
• 18:00
  am I gonna I mean, you know it's it's it's nerve wracking. We're
• 18:04
  gonna say I want to sound profound. I don't forget anybody. I know
• 18:10
  you want it's yeah, I mean you definitely thought about bullet points and what
• 18:12
  I'm gonna say. But anyway, it's nerve wracking. But but it's Friday.
• 18:18
  You're gonna say the date Friday, June Friday, June seventh, and
• 18:22
  I believe it's gonna be We're gonna be taping it at five here in Pasadena
• 18:27
  for eight eight pm on the East coast, so it'll be tape delayed.
• 18:30
  Yeah, I'll be I'll be there. I'll be there, all right,
• 18:33
  I'll see in the red carpet. Yeah. So, folks, Wally Kurt,
• 18:36
  watch Days for All Lives, watch General Hospital. He shows one both,
• 18:40
  So go ahead watch more there and thanks for watching our specials. See
• 18:42
  you next time,