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THE SECRET OF THEIR SUCCESS SOU, 11/16/93 by Debbie Schafer They called him the kiss of death on ONE LIFE TO LIVE, after Bo Buchanan became involved with a woman, you knew her chances for survival weren't so hot. That is, until he finally found the yin to his yang in Nora Gannon.   Bo and Nora have become the couple we love to watch. This dynamic duo achieves something that is a rarity with most soap couples: They are just as entertaining outside -- as inside -- the bedroom! Whether they're sending out sparks as they trade lighthearted jabs, or emitting a snug familiarity as they crash on the couch after a long day, the on-screen magic that is Bo and Nora strikes a chord with many real-life couples.   We met with Hillary B. Smith(Nora) and Bob Woods (Bo) at the San Domenico Restaurant in Manhattan to discuss what it's like to portray the couple, and how Bob and Hillary relate to each other when they're not acting. As they laughed together and finished each other's sentences, it was obvious that part of Bo and Nora's success stems from Bob and Hillary's real- life friendship -- and, as you can probably guess, there was never a lapse in the conversation!   Bob, when Hillary was considering the role on OLTL. she said that you had been "the draw" for her, 'that she had known your work "for eons" -- how do you respond to that, and were you equally familiar with her work?   BOB: That was a compliment -- she was a child when she watched me.   HILLARY: I was not! I wasn't a full-grown woman yet, however (laughs)...   BOB (laughs): Well, you were pretty young when you watched ONE LIFE...   HILLARY: No, when you came on the show -- when was it?1979?   B: Yeah.   H: I had graduated from college.   B: You had?   H: Mmmmhmmm. That was the year I graduated from college.   B: But I had never seen AS THE WORLD TURNS.   H: He didn't know me from a hole in the wall. When we met, it was, 'Oh, hi.'   What did you think when you finally met him, Hillary?   H: He was just as cute as I remembered. It was fun, I was very excited...   B: We have a lot of fun....For me, I said this recently, it was just like getting recast on another show, really starting over fresh. A lot of the stuff that I've always wanted to do on the show I've never been able to do until recently...this lighter, comedic material.   How have your impressions of each other changed since your initial meeting?   H: I've always liked his work -- I've always thought he was obviously adorable and everything else -- but since working with him, I didn't realize that he had as much range as he does, and every time we would go out on the floor, I was always just sort of bowled over by the things he would come up with and the things he'd do. And it finally got to the point where it was like, 'I've never played straight man in my life and I'm playing straight man and it's really fun.”   B: I have a real dry sense of humor. My dad always said to me, 'You don't laugh when you say something funny; laugh on the inside, and that'll make it funnier if you keep a straight face.'   H: That's the thing -- he says things with a straight face, and he's used to that. So he says something that cracks me up, and I am laughing and I get yelled at to stop laughing so we can get on with the scene....And he's Mr. Angel.   Everyone raves about your on-screen chemistry, but there has to be more that makes Bo and Nora such a popular couple...What do you think it is about them that makes them so popular?   H: I think because their whole relationship is based on something very, very normal. They were thrown together in a court situation -- met each other, then dealt in law together, then they worked together to find the driver of the car that forced Bo and his wife off the road....It's everyone's fantasy that you meet a handsome man through work or what not, and it just sort of leads into romance....It was just very natural; it was romantic...   B: Yeah, romantic without the false passion that so often happens...   H: And it was fun and it was funny...and it was also not teen love, but it was something -- you know-- mature...because (ahem) I am now a mature woman, in a mature relationship...   B: Guilt by association. I think it's a perfect relationship. They enjoy each other, they have fun, they have love. It's fun to watch, I hope. Their appeal comes from their being real, then?   B: Two people just talking, telling a story...   H: And loving each other....They're not your basic soap hunks, either one of them -- I mean, he is and has been for years...   B: Oh yeah! I go to things and people don't even know me they think I'm on the crew!   H: Unlike--- who? Kelly Ripa and Susan Lucci -- you know, there's that kind of "look," and we're (Bob and I) normal people...or I am, as I said.   I think you're being too modest--your fans rank you in the "supercouple” category   Silence -- then they burst out laughing.   H: Excuse me?   B: This is news to me! I know that people, judging by my mail, do like the couple ....   H: We think of ourselves as just "us;" we don't think in terms of what's out there...   B: You lose the notion that people actually see it.   H: Yeah, you do. It's really something that we do for us. Okay, so you didn't realize you had earned such an esteemed designation. How does this new knowledge affect you?   H: Us as a supercouple? I think it's great! I want to know who else is on that list of supercouples... Marlena and Roman on DAYS, Erica and Dimitri on ALL MY CHILDREN...   H: It's interesting because the couples that you're mentioning are all about the same age. There's a maturity there, there's a history there...I mean, granted there's very little history with these characters -- Nora's only been around a year...   B: I know, but it seems like longer...it seems like they've known each other a long time.   H: Yeah, it does.   B: It comes out of how comfortable it is to work with someone.   How do your spouses feel about your fabulous on-screen relationship, and the closeness that you obviously share off-screen, as well?   B: Mine couldn't be happier.   H: Neither could mine!   B: First of all, for me, I'm in a little better mood when I get home. Sometimes I'm still griping about something, but I think she's (Bob's wife, Loyita) happier that I'm happy. And she knows and likes Hillary.   H: And that's real important, that you get to know the spouse. I'm a firm believer that it's not just the actor you're taking on, you're taking on that whole family....My husband (Nip) has met Woodsy and they get along very well.   B: We kind of have the same humor, I think.   H: I got so frustrated with my husband one day, I turned around and I said, 'You know, I leave you just to go to you during the day!' They're very much the same person. They say the same things; they have the same opinions ...and Loyita and I are similar in a lot of respects --   B: Yeah, that's true because she (Hillary) has much more energy than I have, and my wife does, too. I'm kind of a slug....I have changes and moods more than you have. I don't see you in a bad mood.   H: Really? Yes, you have, you've seen me when --   B: Yeah, but that was something...   H: That was an extreme. Other than that I'm pretty steady.   B: Hillary's always like singing and everything...   H: Yeah, I'm more annoying...   B: I'm a couch potato.   Is your son Tanner as jealous of Hillary as he used to be?   Bob and Hillary burst out laughing.   B: He was at the studio the other day...   H: He laughed...He didn't say hi, but we're making progress.   B: But he's not as bad; he's not like, 'What's he doing dancing with her?'   H: He wasn't freaked out about me. Sometimes he just won't say hi. It just was kind of an unfortunate situation. What's worse than seeing Daddy in another woman's arms?   Knowing Bo's ill-fated history with women, what is your prediction for this couple?   H: Nora's not going anywhere. This will be the exception.   B: You know, there was a time when I considered just going and getting out, getting a new character somewhere -- that annoys me to no end, you can't even believe how much that annoys me: that Bo's this bad luck guy, all his wives die. And it's funny because this question has been asked so many times: 'What's gonna happen to Nora?' People assume that Nora's going to die just because she's with Bo ....I don't think Nora's going to die. Bo maybe will die.   H: And then Nora will be like one of those Pakistani females-- she'll kill herself in the funeral home!   If Nora and Bo make it to the altar, how can they fight that dreaded case of "marriage death" that befalls so many soap couples?   H: Dating seems to have been interesting; why can't marriage be also?   B: Yeah. Marriage is not boring, It is on the soaps because you deal with all that philandering stuff which Bo never did anyway. Bo has always been pretty loyal.   Can you pinpoint the ways in which Bo and Nora's relationship has changed since dealing with their recent tragedy (Nora being convinced she was the driver who forced Bo and Sarah's car off the road, resulting in Sarah's death)?   B and H: It's not over yet...   B: We still haven't cleared up her headaches... So there's more seriousness ahead...   B: Yeah, but I think they get over that. I just don't see them breaking up...I don't know what could break them up now. They've obviously been strong enough to survive. So I think it's like, 'Bring on the world!'   Debbie Schafer (Soap Opera Update Nov. 16, 1993 by Debbie Schafer)