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Robert S. Woods And Hillary B. Smith Discuss Why They're Still OLTL's Most Popular Couple--Despite Their Breakup   Soap Opera Digest November 21, 2000   Robert S. Woods joined ONE LIFE TO LIVE in 1979 when the rowdy Buchanan clan descended on Llanview. He left for a brief stint to play Paul Stewart on DAYS OF OUR LIVES in 1986, but returned to the fold a year later.   Hillary B. Smith began her career on THE DOCTORS in 1982 as Kit McCormick ("I took that sucker off the air in six months"), then moved on to AS THE WORLD TURNS in 1983 as heroine Margo Hughes. She joined OLTL in 1992 as Nora Gannon and soon hooked up with heart-of-gold Bo, who had loved and lost quite a few women by then.   In Bo and Nora, OLTL had a real couple who courted in real time and savored every moment along the way--which their portrayers are happy to do here, too.   DIGEST: This interview is for the 25th anniversary of Soap Opera Digest, which is much longer than either of you have been on daytime. HILLARY B. SMITH: Thank you. [To Woods] She can stay. DIGEST: What changes have you noticed over the years? ROBERT S. WOODS: In your magazine, I've noticed a lot. SMITH: The quality of your paper has gotten better. Digest was the only one back then that had any interest in the actors. It got to the point where I wouldn't do those magazines, but Digest was something I'd do because it was much more of us--like TV Guide. WOODS: I did something where [another magazine] said, "Do something silly." I said, "I don't think so." DIGEST: So, I guess the cover of you two topless is out? SMITH: Not unless it's the Halloween issue. Can you take my head and put it on someone else's body? WOODS: That's easily done nowadays! DIGEST: What changes have you noticed in daytime over the years? SMITH: Well, I'll use ATWT as an example. [The late] Doug Marland was the quintessential soap writer. He was responsible for huge pairings like Luke and Laura. He left GENERAL HOSPITAL when the Luke and Laura rape was turning into a romance because he didn't feel that was something he wanted a soap to convey. He truly believed that what we did here was something that should be morally and ethically sound. There should be role models and lessons. Actions should breed reaction and consequence--there was that ripple effect. He had integrity. When I came here, [former Executive Producer] Linda Gottleib was trying to change daytime. DIGEST: Do you see the evolution as positive? SMITH: Unfortunately, no. I think the soap operas that have maintained the true soap genre are most successful. Maybe not in demographics or whatever, but I look at Bill Bell and what he's done to YOUNG AND RESTLESS. He's kept very true to the soap format, and therefore, Y&R fans are diehard. He uses the same people over and over--their pasts and their histories--and he weaves them in so you never lose track of the faces you love, which are the reasons why you watch. WOODS: You've got to appreciate that if there's a big explosion, there's a legacy left from that. You can't just say, "Oh, that was just that," because the audience remembers. I think some shows have tried to fix something that wasn't broken. DIGEST: What's better today? WOODS: The sets are deeper, the lighting's improved. SMITH: We can tell a story in a more interesting fashion now using the production values we have. That's wonderful. But it's important to have a story worthy of that. DIGEST: People aren't tuning in to see the lighting or the camera angles. They're watching to see what Nora does when she finds out Lindsay jabbed her with a syringe. WOODS: They already have an idea of what she'll do because they know the character. After you asked us to do this interview, I started thinking about Bo and Nora. Correct me if I'm wrong, but at the height of our popularity together, we were working one or two days a week because Hillary was doing that other show [the NBC prime-time sitcom SOMETHING WILDER], so they had to just write character stuff. We had a lot of fluff scenes that didn't go anywhere because we couldn't move story. I think one of the reason people will not let go of that relationship is that they enjoyed watching that. DIGEST: Absolutely! You guys dancing, eating ice cream in bed... WOODS: One of the best scenes we ever had was written because the show was short, and they needed to fill it in. It was about a haircut. People remember that scene because of its entertainment value. It wasn't just plot, plot, plot. SMITH: Hey, Bo and Nora dated for two years. WOODS: People miss the fun we used to have, that's what it is. What's the most fun you've had here recently? SMITH: I think Lindsay coming after me with a needle was kind of fun [laughs]. WOODS: I like the simple things. Viki's over here, who knocks on the door? It's Dorian! [To Smith] You have that now with Lindsay. DIGEST: So...what happens now in our industry? SMITH: I think there is a market out there for good storytelling. To the fans, Nora is a real person. Bo is a real person. And if you get back to the simple storytelling of what makes Bo laugh, that will make the audience laugh. That's what we have to get back to. WOODS: Even when I'm in the police station and all this crap is going on, there could be moments that are light and funny. I'll tell you something--there were so many funny, goofy, idiotic things that happened to me when I was in the Army in the middle of a war [Woods was a Green Beret in Vietnam.] It was just nuts, but there still were laughs. DIGEST: What do you say to all the Bo/Nora fans who want your characters back together? SMITH: They don't need to put Bo and Nora back together romantically to accomplish what the audience wants. I've enjoyed the scenes we've had [recently], even though technically they were breakup scenes again for Nora because she was reliving the breakup of the marriage again. For him, it was like, "Oh, God, I've got to go through this again?" WOODS: Those scenes were really good... SMITH: ...because we found we still enjoyed each other as people, and we found moments to laugh and smile... WOODS: ...genuinely funny as opposed to silly. SMITH: Do you remember the golf date we went on. [Woods laughs.] That developed the characters and showed them outside. They gave us a two-dimensional script where we could bring our third dimension, which is who we are. And I'm sorry, but Bob Woods just happens to be a very funny man. WOODS: There's a downside to this, too. I remember being told by a writer, "Well, I don't have to worry about you guys." Yes, you do! If you've got a big, old oak tree that's 100 years old and you want to keep it around longer, you've got to prune it and feed it and care for it. If you ignore it's going to go... DIGEST: Bonk. WOODS: Yeah. SMITH: Remember the necking scene at the end of the golf date? We're necking, and I banged my head against a door [laughs]. We were allowed to bring humor into the situation, and it was explored. I think sometimes people are afraid of humor. DIGEST: What do you think will happen to daytime in the future? WOODS: There's always going to be a market for soap operas, but I think it'll be different. There's a chance we might not be on network TV--maybe cable, SoapNet. DIGEST: What would be on instead? WOODS: Probably Regis. SMITH (laughing): WHO WANTS TO BE A BILLIONAIRE? WHO WANTS TO BE A THOUSANDAIRE? Hey, at 2 o'clock at my daughter's school they're all watching [OLTL]. She said, "Imagine my surprise when I walk in the common and there you are." Kids are still watching. So, I'm lying about my age now. I'm going to age up so everyone thinks I look fabulous. I'm telling everyone I'm 60 [laughs]. WOODS: I'm going to tell everyone I'm dead. DIGEST: What story would you write for your characters? WOODS: Bo would resign as police commissioner and become a detective. People forget that what really keeps P.I. agencies alive is working for law firms. DIGEST: He could work for Nora. WOODS: ..but be in and out of the police station. SMITH: I'd be more proactive--I'm done with the victim business. And I don't want [her] memory back. I like it just where [she's] got it. WOODS: Not even a little more? SMITH: If she got it back, I'd like her to keep it under wraps so she could figure out what Lindsay did to her. In the meantime, I'd like to explore the relationship with Colin. Why isn't Todd up on kidnapping charges when he kidnapped Nora just like Nora did? Everything Colin did, he did for love and isn't that what soaps are about? He got the antidote from the hospital, which pinned him right away. It's all set up for a really honorable story. Then, what does she do? Does she go to Bo? Hank? The closest friends that she remembers are her two ex-husbands. WOODS: ..who are in the position to nail the guy. SMITH: I like the friendship and the closure that Bo and Nora have. There'll always be that to play with, to use as a barrier to other people coming in their lives. It causes nice conflict--they're using it now with Melanie and Bo. DIGEST: Where do you think you'll be in 10 years? WOODS: Ten years...look at what's happened with technology in the last 10 years just in my home. We've got compact discs, computers, cellular phones... SMITH: My Palm Pilot! WOODS: I still go to the stationery store and get a date book, and then I don't write anything in it. DIGEST: Then how did you remember this interview? WOODS: I got a memo. DIGEST [to Smith]: Where do you think we'll be in 10 years? SMITH: Hopefully, right here.