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CBS Soap Does 'Dallas'
(Friday, April 02 01:33 PM)

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - A CBS daytime soap will pay a winking tribute to one of the network's biggest prime-time soaps later this spring.
Larry Hagman is scheduled to make a cameo appearance on "The Bold and the Beautiful" in May, CBS says. The brief role will reunite him with his old "Dallas" co-star, Linda Gray.

Gray is now a regular on the daytime drama, having joined the cast this year. She'll meet up with Hagman's nameless character on a flight to (where else?) Dallas, when he asks if the seat next to her is taken.

Hagman and Gray were a TV couple for a decade on "Dallas," the long-running CBS drama that was a Top 10 show for seven straight seasons from 1979-86. Hagman earned two Emmy nominations for playing despicable oil baron J.R. Ewing. Gray earned one herself for playing J.R.'s boozy, long-suffering wife, Sue Ellen. Both reprised their roles in "Dallas" TV movies in 1996 and 1998.
Hagman has worked rather sparingly in recent years, appearing in "Primary Colors" and the short-lived 1997 series "Orleans." Gray's post-"Dallas" credits include the TV movie "When the Cradle Falls" and a starring role in FOX's "Melrose Place" spinoff "Models Inc."

Gray Days for B&B

The Bold and the Beautiful has amped up its star power recently by casting several well known actors from primetime television shows. B&B's latest acquisition has been Linda Gray, who fans may best remember from her days as Sue Ellen on Dallas and more recently for her portrayal of Hillary Michaels on Models Inc.Gray will be playing the role of Priscilla, the mother of Samantha Kelly (Sydney Penny) and an old friend of the Forrester family. Read on as Linda Gray shares about her new character and her first impressions of working in daytime and her B&B co-stars.

SC_Monique: How did the role on B&B come about?

Linda Gray: Well, I met Brad Bell [executive producer/head writer] a year ago, and they asked me to do a role that needed a contract attached to it. I had other commitments at that time so I couldn't do that. So, Lesley-Anne Down got the role and I was absolutely thrilled! And then this year they wrote this very strange, weird lady, and he thought of me and called me back.

SC_Monique: So you're going to be playing Samantha's mother, Priscilla. Can you tell me a bit about the character?

Linda Gray: Just a bit; she's sort of a very hands-off mother, she's not terribly involved and not terribly motherly. She's kind of into herself and into her worldly socialite activities. She's into herself, period, and anyone else that sort of gets into her realm, she either eats them up and does all that stuff. She is not terribly nice. But everything I've been doing has been with a smile, so it's like one of those kinds of black widow characters.

SC_Monique: So she was friends with the Forresters many years ago, and I know that you've tapes some scenes with John McCook and Susan Flannery. How has it been working with them and under what circumstances does your character return?

Linda Gray: Well, first of all, working with them has been a joy, and I feel very blessed that I had my first scene with them. Susan orchestrated this fantastic rehearsal and we all went into John's dressing room. We read the whole scene over and over and changed things and you know, tweaked things and made it flow and fluid. I think Susan did it primarily to make me feel comfortable on my first day. And it did help, because I'd never worked in this media before so it was hugely helpful.

SC_Monique: What is different for you about working in daytime as opposed to a show like Dallas or many of the other projects that you've worked on?

Linda Gray: Well they're all different in so many ways, but I've mainly done hour-long, dramatic shows, which you know, they take a long time. When I did Dallas I was in make-up at five in the morning and sometimes didn't get home until seven-thirty at night. Even though we were a finely-honed machine, we didn't go up until eight or nine o'clock at night, we never went past six, six-thirty, you know something like that, but it was a long day. I mean today I was shocked because we got so much done. You don't have to stop and reset for somebody's close-up and medium shot and all this, especially when you're doing an emotional scene, that's essential. So you could get a flow going.

SC_Monique: So the momentum is definitely faster paced on B&B?

Linda Gray: Right, absolutely.

SC_Monique: What is their relationship like between Priscilla and Samantha who is played by Sydney Penny? You said your character is self-obsessed, so how does Samantha react to that in the scenes and how does she cope with having that kind of mother?

Linda Gray: Well she's very strong; she's a very good actor. It was really lovely working with her as well, and you know she's feisty. She gets in her mother's face, which makes for a great sparring match out there. So we kind of go at each other you know and she holds her own, which is delicious. So we can really work together very well, for me anyway.

SC_Monique: So you're enjoying the character so far?

Linda Gray: Oh, I love it! I love it! You know yesterday I had a couple of lines and they were like, boo-hiss, you know, from the cast and crew. It was like, "Oh, my God, what kind of dialogue is this? What am I saying? This is horrible!" And of course I say it all to her. It's not terribly motherly.

SC_Monique: Well it's good to see someone like that coming on the show, someone who is really strong and feisty like that.

Linda Gray: Oh, good!

SC_Monique: Have you ever watched The Bold and the Beautiful?

Linda Gray: I work a lot and I travel a lot so I haven't really. I like to see all the shows because I think it's important. It's important to find out what's going on, I mean I kind of look at it as what people are doing, who the new people are, how the family core stays together. I love [that] about Bold and Beautiful. I like that John and Susan hold it, you know. I think that Dallas was like that, and once the family unit starts dissipating, I think audiences kind of panic. They like to see their familiar, family people there. And I think that's essential, and that's why I like the show.

SC_Monique: There are several people on B&B that you've previously worked with, right?

Linda Gray: Yes! Susan was on our show, on Dallas. I didn't get to work with her because she was mainly involved with Mr. Hagman -- as most women guest stars were [laughs], and the wife wasn't usually around! And then Brian Gaskill.

SC_Monique: From Model's Inc.

Linda Gray: Yes, and I know Lorenzo [Lamas] and I think that's it.

Mommy Dearest

Former Dallas star LINDA GRAY (Sue Ellen Ewing) joins the cast of B&B as Priscilla Kelly, Samantha’s mom who comes to town to visit. CBS.com chatted with Gray about her first daytime role.

CBS.com: How did your role come about on B&B?

LINDA GRAY: A year ago I had met [Executive Producer and Headwriter] Brad Bell. I think I was given some erroneous information. I thought they wanted me to come in for a few episodes; in reality, they wanted me to come in for a few years! [Laughs] I had other obligations, so I wasn’t able to do it. This year they called me [and asked,] “Would you like to come in for a few episodes?” And I said, “Perfect!”

CBS.com: Did you know any of the cast before joining the show?

LINDA GRAY: I knew Susan Flannery [Stephanie]. [She] had been on Dallas, so I knew her. I know Lorenzo Lamas [Hector]. And Brian Gaskill [Oscar] played my son on Models, Inc.. It was kind of this wonderful, extended family.

CBS.com: What was your first day on the set like?

LINDA GRAY: Terrifying! [Laughs] I’d never done a soap and I’ve never worked before [with] three cameras. So, I really didn’t know how to behave. [It] was like the first day of school; I didn’t know where I go, I didn’t know what rehearsal things were like. And the director’s in a booth, you don’t see the director. Everything was odd, except John McCook [Eric] and Susan Flannery made it absolutely a dream. Susan gathered everyone in John’s dressing room and we ran the scenes. We rehearsed, we talked, we kept running it and running it until everyone felt comfortable. If there were any changes, you know, we did it then. She did it specifically so I would feel comfortable in this new medium. And I did. Every moment that passed I got a little less anxious. It was a long day, yet I went home confident. The thing that was lovely about it was you’re not really aware of the camera being there. It was rather like doing a play because today we had a pretty intense, dramatic scene and we could just go knowing there's somebody on me, there’s somebody on Sydney [Penny, Samantha], there’s somebody on everybody. You don’t have to stop and wait and build up this whole emotional thing again and stop and wait and build up this whole emotional thing again and stop and cut and wait and relight and all that. So, that’s the joy of working on the show. The people are always great for me.

CBS.com: What kind of relationship do Samantha and her mother have?

LINDA GRAY: Oh, it’s tricky. I don’t think I’m supposed to say. It’s strained, I would say strained with a capital “S.”

CBS.com: Priscilla comes to town during a difficult time for Sam. Is she a comforting, coddling kind of mother?

LINDA GRAY: Do I play a comforting, coddling mother types? Nooo! [Laughs] I remember Brad Bell said, “Oh, I thought of you when I was writing this episode.” I called him back and said, “Um, I hate to say anything, but why did you think of me?” [Laughs] She’s not quite the loving mother type.

CBS.com: There are a lot of meddling moms on the show, like Stephanie and Jackie. Would you say she’s a meddlesome mom?

LINDA GRAY: Oh, no, she doesn’t meddle at all because she really doesn’t care. [Laughs] So, I think I’ve just taken motherhood to another level.

CBS.com: Do you think there will be a love interest for you on the show?

LINDA GRAY: Who would it be? I mean, no one would put up with that nonsense. I think I’m coming in just to be the mother and I’m out. I don’t know. I don’t know anything around here!

CBS.com: You had some scenes with Eric and Stephanie. Maybe she could come between them.

LINDA GRAY: The two of them are divine. They’re like the rocks, you know. That’s what was so fabulous for me. It always seems like you know those kinds of people. You know, we always tried to welcome a new guest star when they came onto Dallas. And it’s really so lovely to feel welcomed like they welcomed me. Thank God my first scene was with them. So, it was kind of like, “Okay, now I’m safe.” It was great.

CBS.com: Are you still approached by people who recognize you from your role on Dallas?

LINDA GRAY: Oh, sure! All the time.

CBS.com: Do you think Priscilla is anything like Sue Ellen?

LINDA GRAY: Oh, no, no, no, no! [People] will probably compare [the characters] because I always play these kind of - I call them interesting characters. People [ask,] “Why do you play these weird, dysfunctional women?” For me, as an actor, they’re much more interesting. Mrs. Robinson was interesting [Editor’s Note: Linda Gray starred in The Graduate in London’s West End], Sue Ellen was fabulously interesting and so is Priscilla Kelly. So when I drive home it’s like, "Oh, isn’t it nice to be me?" And we leave them there.