Soap Opera Digest: What do you remember about your first time working together?Soap Opera Digest: What do you remember about your first time working together?
Kristian Alfonso: I was petrified. I had no idea what I was doing. Peter was a far more seasoned actor. I was just hoping to God that I could remember, "Stand here, say this here, look up here." I didn't know what I was doing. But those first scenes were in Shenanigans. Hope had just returned from boarding school in Boston. [Alfonso hails from nearby Brockton, MA.]
Peter Reckell: Boarding school, right!
Alfonso: My accent was still very strong and...
Reckell: ...That's how they explained it.
Alfonso: Yeah, Hope went to boarding school in Boston, and then Bo and Hope hadn't seen each other in so many years and she was trying to come on to him, like, "You know, I'm an adult," but she wasn't. And he just kind of looked like, "Whatever, you're not going to pull the wool over my eyes, you're just a little girl, but hey, do you need a ride home?" He took a little time coming around. But I got him, you know?
Reckell: It was a real soap opera story. It was perfect.
Digest: Did you know when they first put you two together that this was going to be a romantic pairing?
Alfonso: I had no idea.
Reckell: I think they always try people together. Shelley Curtis [then-producer] just gave so much energy and worked really hard, and she always fought for us. She paid attention to us and did an excellent job of making Bo and Hope work. Because it wasn't up to us. It's the writing and the storylines. It was somebody up at the top paying attention to this couple.
Alfonso: I knew nothing, and Shelley would always put the fear of God in me as we would be walking out into a huge scene.
Reckell: Fear of God? What do you mean?
Alfonso: At the time, NBC didn't really think I could cut it.
Reckell: Really?
Alfonso: Or was it Al Rabin [former executive producer]? I think it was Al, because I just ran into Al and I said, "Al, remember when you didn't think I could cut it?" Twenty years later. I think it pushed me, absolutely. But Shelley would walk out and go, "Okay now, Gummi" -- she used to call me Gummi 'cause I love Gummi Bears -- "Okay now, Gummi, you need to whistle in the dark." I thought, "Okay, all right, here I go." And you know, so many years later, I finally said, "What did that mean, 'whistle in the dark'?" And she said, "I have no idea, but every time I said it to you, it worked." Honestly, it was just by the seat of my pants, try as hard as I can, and hope to God it works.
Reckell: One of the things that has worked for Kristian for these 21 years is that vulnerability. So many actors' egos get in the way that they can't hear. Obviously, over the years it's gotten more focused because she's developed as an actress, but that's what got her through the beginning years: She found who she trusted and who she would listen to. Shelley or I would say something and boom, she'd hear it and off she would go and it would be an adventure rather than...
Alfonso: Me doing what I want to do and you doing what you want to do but in doing two completely different scenes within one. So the fear of God seems to work well with me.
Digest: This couple has been popular for over two decades. To what do you attribute the success?
Alfonso: First of all, great writing to keep it interesting. I've said it before and I'll say it again: There is a trust and a respect with Peter and I, and we have a lot of fun doing what we do and I think that's what people see when they watch us.
Reckell: We also take care of each other. Because we move so quickly in this genre, quite often the actor is left alone to take care of continuity and lighting, all sorts of things, not just the words we're saying. If I see something is wrong with her makeup or she sees my hair is weird or I'm standing in her light, we'll say it.
Alfonso: Or there's something in his nose. Or if a performance isn't good. If Peter's performance isn't good, I'll say, "Do it again," or he'll do the same for me.
Reckell: There's no competition or anything like that...
Alfonso: ...Except if I have a better outfit.
Reckell: [laughs] Yeah, right. I'm so concerned about that.
Alfonso: I'm usually straightening him up on set too, 'cause sometimes his clothes are crooked. I'm like, "Oy."
Reckell: It's cool because that kind of energy...
Alfonso: Translates.
Reckell: People see it. You know, taking care of each other, and I think the audience just viscerally takes that in.
Alfonso: But bottom-line, I think that because we love and we're so passionate about what we do do that hopefully, the audience sees that we're having a great time doing it.
Digest: When were you first aware of just how popular this couple was?
Alfonso: Pete, remember when we were on the plane with Frances [Reid, Alice] and Shelley?
Reckell: Going to New Orleans [in 1984]?
Alfonso: We had just landed in New Orleans and they told us to wait. I'm usually the first one to take the luggage and get off the plane. And I remember hearing "Tonight ... I Celebrate My Love." And saying, "Hey, Pete, listen, they're playing our song." But it was a huge band outside the plane in the terminal and there were thousands and thousands of people.
Reckell: That was wild.
Alfonso: AndI just remember Peter grabbed me and my feet never touched the terminal; he just threw me into the car headfirst. Poor Shelley, somebody kicked her and pushed her out of the way. That was the first time I realized, "Wow, a lot of people watch this show." It was spellbinding, just astonishing. I thought, "Where's Frances? I hope she's okay."
Reckell: I guess the reason I sort of took over in that moment is before that, I had recently gone out on my first personal appearance, and it was in one of those star-shaped malls, right in the center. There were a couple of security guys there. I bought a new shirt and I got all dressed up for this thing and I'm like, "Okay, let's go out to the stage," and by the time I got to the stage, my shirt was ripped, buttons were torn off, my pocket was hanging, and I was scared.
Digest: Crazy! What do you remember about the New Orleans shoot?
Reckell: We had so much fun. That's where [the nickname] Fancy Face started, because we were doing this scene where I was going off to do undercover something.
Alfonso: You were undercover with Megan Hathaway. You were trying to get close to her and you left Hope back in Salem.
Reckell: There was this cart being pulled by a horse.
Alfonso: He jumps in and says, "Take me wherever."
Reckell: And she's the driver. She turns around with that smirk and "Fancy Face" just came out of my mouth.
Digest: Any favorite storylines that you have over the years?
Alfonso: I love the Princess Gina storyline. It was the most challenging thing I've ever done as an actress. I don't think it was supposed to get as big as it did. I remember when Ken [Corday, executive producer] called me and said, "You're going to be playing the piano and do you sing?" I said, "Trust me, you don't want me singing. You'll lose ratings if I sing. And I don't know how to play a piano." I loved the whole thing.
Reckell: I really enjoyed when I first came back [in August, 1995]. It was Billie/Hope/Bo and you had just found out you were Hope again and there was a lot of depth there because we were having to say goodbye to each other but then Billie left and it gave us some really powerful stuff together.
Alfonso: It was a lot of rediscovering.
Reckell: My first day back was when I found that letter in the music box or something like that.
Alfonso: Oh, the puzzle box. It was all about the puzzle box. Hope had written a note and put it in the puzzle box to Bo. And, of course, the day of the shooting with the puzzle box, I dropped it and it had been in the story for so long, the thing just shattered everywhere.
Reckell: The first day I came back as Bo and I read this letter and it was just us looking at each other, reading this letter, remembering the wedding. That was amazing.
Digest: The fans can't really accept Bo or Hope paired with someone else. Does that put pressure on you?
Alfonso: No.
Reckell: I think that it's most difficult for the writers, because they could pull us apart easily and hook us up with other people. It would give them more options. For them to have to keep us together because that's what the fans want is a difficult thing.
Digest: Any storyline that you'd like to see these two do that they haven't done yet?
Reckell: I've never ventured out of Bo. I've never played a twin or a chip in my brain. It might be interesting.
Digest: You've both left the show before. What keeps you here now?
Reckell: We're at home here, this is where we're comfortable. This is where I do my best work.
Alfonso: What keeps it interesting for us is that we haven't settled as actors or as people in our lives. We won't settle for less. We're always trying new things.
Reckell: And if one of us starts to go into that place of, "Oh, it's just another day," the other one kicks them in the ass.
Alfonso: To tell you the truth, I was excited walking in today as I was my first day. I'm just having such a great time. We're not doing brain surgery. I'm 12 minutes from work, 10 minutes from my sons' schools. It's just the perfect, perfect setting. I love it here.