Exclusive Interview: Lynn Herring On Life Away From General Hospital

General Hospital star Lynn Herring spoke with Soap Hub Insider in June of 2020, but this is the first time that interview is running on Soap Hub. During it, she talked about how she had used the time during the coronavirus pandemic to reflect on life in this exclusive chat.

Lynn Herring Talks About Life

What have you been surprised to learn about yourself during the quarantine?
Lynn Herring During the quarantine, I have realized I miss people and simple daily interaction more than I thought I would. We live so rurally already so it was easier for us to stay isolated but I didn’t realize how many connections you have out here just in daily life.

Going to the feed store or chatting on the porch of the post office or getting out of your truck in the middle of the dirt road just to catch up became nonexistent and I miss all the visiting terribly.

Have you found anything positive to come out of this?
Lynn Herring The positive realization for me during all this is a reaffirmation that nothing makes me happier than losing myself in Nature. I have seen more animal and bird life and more wildflowers and butterflies doing what they always do than ever. I just missed so much of it because I am always hurrying to get things done.

What a magical time it has been to slow down and observe the smallest living things even as the whole world has endured such sadness and suffering. I also have learned I have guilt that I am so fortunate to have this beautiful natural space to quarantine in and everyone can not share in it.

Isn’t there work to do on your ranch – there is plenty of room for social distancing?
Lynn Herring We never lack for anything to do up here because ranching and the Museum are constant. There are always fences to fix, animals to feed so life didn’t change as much as it did for others.

But, how has your pride and joy, The Raymond Museum that you created, held up with the stay-at-home restrictions?
The Museum has been closed and I do miss seeing all our visitors, but with Yosemite opening back up, we’ve started thinking of safe ways to open. The rooms at the museum are small, and the caboose is narrow, so it is tough to social distance – and I do not want to disinfect old antiques and take the chance of ruining some of our displays.

How are you dealing with both of your sons out of the house – or off the ranch?
I have missed my sons so much. Because they live in Southern California, they did not want to ever take a chance to bring the virus up here, so we missed many events that I cherish like Mother’s Day and Easter — small price to pay to keep everyone safe, but still miss them.

Lynn Herring Talks General Hospital Nurses’ Balls

Have you made a point to try to watch General Hospital and the Nurses Ball episodes every day?
I am so glad they are re-airing the Nurses Balls. Our crew and cast, especially the crew put in such long hours and put so much heart and soul into those shows that it is so satisfying to have folks get another chance to watch them and see things maybe they had not noticed or appreciated when they initially watched.

Have you added up all the gowns you’ve worn over the years?
I have tried to count up the gowns from all the Balls and it is unbelievable. When we started and Bob Miller was designing each gown in his own incredible way, we used sometimes 10 to 12 dresses each year. The more recent balls we have not used as many and so I have been trying to do an average. 🙂

If we did seven years of say 10 on average and seven years of four on average, a low estimate would be 98 dresses — that is wild. What a lucky girl I am to have had the joy of wearing so many beautiful things. So awesome. I really think it is over 100 gowns.

Is there a favorite gown that you’ve seen and decided it wasn’t so special, and something you didn’t like then that looks pretty spectacular now?
I could never dream to have a favorite gown. Bob’s designs were so breathtaking and unique, and Shawn Reeves, our current designer, always finds the most marvelous Lucy dresses. I have a special feeling as I wear each one for so many different reasons.

It is always so much fun when I first walk out on stage in a new dress and see the reactions and get the comments from the cast and crew. Who likes what and why about each dress is a fun discussion.

What is your favorite Nurses Ball production you were in?
I never really liked my numbers even though I had such a good time rehearsing them but I was so critical of myself, I could never just relax.

Talk Of Co-Stars

Which of Lynn Herring’s General Hospital co-stars’ performances still stand out?
The performances are the same, so many memories and such good experiences being in numbers and watching all the talented friends in their numbers. I loved Stone and Robin doing Romeo and Juliet, loved Stuart Damon doing Cinderella, Tony Geary always was amazing, Wizard of Oz numbers were awesome, Jane Elliot and Leslie Charleson doing a more recent number.

What is your favorite General Hospital memory of you and Kin Shriner during the Nurses Balls?
My favorite memory of Kin at the Nurses Ball was the great escape he made. The original Balls took long, long days and nights to film and we would often just stay in our dressing rooms and not go home. Many hours were spent by the actors not performing sitting at their assigned tables just chatting and waiting.

Kin was always so restless waiting around so during one of those long Ball days, he figured out that if there was an empty chair at one of the actor’s tables, they would know he was gone.

So using his Kin logic, he decided that if he just took his chair with him out the door, no one would realize he was missing and so that is what he did. When no one was really paying attention, he scooted himself and his chair right out the stage door and went back to his dressing room and took a nap. Classic Kin.

General Hospital (GH) airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Port Charles, check out all the latest that’s been posted on GH spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.