In 2009, Guiding Light stunned viewers with a love story the likes of which they’d never seen before: Olivia and Natalia, who’d once fought over the same man, were reluctantly thrown together. And they didn’t just learn how to get along — they fell in love! In the new book, Super Soap Scenes: A Time Capsule of Daytime Drama’s Greatest Moments, GL Headwriter Jill Lorie Hurst takes fans behind the scenes of how it all came about:
Tale as Old as Time
The tale of Natalia (Jessica Leccia) and Olivia (Crystal Chappell) was a classic, timeless love story. Two people are thrown together by circumstances beyond their control. They start out pretty much hating each other, but slowly start to depend on one another. They start to trust. A friendship develops. They laugh and cry together, protect and defend each other. As time goes by they realize – are shocked by – the fact that they have fallen in love. There are a million reasons for this love story not to have a happy ending but Natalia and Olivia overcome the obstacles and end up happily together at the end. It’s classic. The only twist was the fact that the two romantic leads were women, something that hadn’t yet been done on Guiding Light.
The Man Who Got Away
(Executive Producer) Ellen Wheeler created this story when Ricky Paull Goldin (Gus) decided to leave GL. After some consideration, Ellen decided to kill the character of Gus. Natalia would allow her nemesis, Olivia, to have his heart. Take it from there… Some people don’t like killing any character on a soap, but I believe that the death can be as important as the life, if it shakes up the town and spins great story for the characters left behind. This was one of those cases.
All for One and One For All
The writing team, the producing staff, and the actors fell in love with the story the moment it was pitched. The network and P&G were a little more cautious, but they never told us NOT to tell it. Their hesitation didn’t really hurt the story because we played the emotional beats full out from day one until the last episode. Committing to and telling a slow-building love story was a joy. Not rushing them into a romance allowed us to have a wonderful time with every moment. Everyone working on the show became invested in the couple! We had a great time figuring out who would support their love and who would oppose them. While it was a big, operatic story emotionally, it allowed us to play a lot of small, real moments – and we found plenty of room for humor. Both Crystal and Jessica are wonderful, dramatic actresses, but are also very funny. We had a great time playing the reactions of the many disappointed men in Springfield when they found out these two beautiful women loved each other. Poor Rick (Michael O’Leary), Frank (Frank Dicopolous), Matt (Kurt McKinney), Josh (Robert Newman)…!
How did the fans feel about Otalia? What were some of the highlights? The roadblocks? Find out in Super Soap Scenes: A Time Capsule of Daytime Drama’s Greatest Moments!
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