AOL Talks To Carolyn Hennesey on "General Hospital"

[JamesG]

The following interview has been cut to only focus on GH:



Your day job on GH has your lawyer character Diane trying to keep Sonny out of jail.
She actually told a mobster how to dress for a recent court appearance.

Diane gets to do what nobody else does. Again, the writers and the actor have collaborated. They've carved out this niche.

Diane is the only one who gets to tell Sonny what to do. Carly doesn't even get to tell Sonny what to do because there's so much sexual tension between them. That isn't the case with Diane .. .[wryly] as much as Sonny would like there to be.

She gets to be the Greek chorus, the voice of reason.





It used to be where actors were pigeon-holed into doing one genre -- daytime, nighttime, film -- now, it seems that there are no rules.

Yes. You used to not matriculate from one to another.

You're on a soap? You're a soap actor.
Film does not do TV.
TV actors do not do commercials.

All those rules have been bent to the point of breaking.





GH has new opening credits.
They look great, but there's someone .... missing.

Oh, honey! I think they have all the contract players on, but I'm still not a contract player.

I think if I were I can almost guarantee I'd be in the opening credits.





So you're ready to pose, turn and shoot a 'Diane' look right into the camera?

[Laughs] In a heartbeat!

Although not being on contract affords me the liberty to more easily go off and play other roles like Barb.

I also have a book tour. I'm really trying to work with the Burbank school system.





What's your children's book -- Pandora Gets Heart-- about?

The primary lesson is that you have to take personal responsibilities for your actions. You're going to make mistakes. That's the only way, unfortunately, that you get out of the ordinary.

So many people I'm seeing these days are not taking responsibility. The whole notion of passing the buck has been elevated to an art form.



Who's the target audience for your book?

I would say eight years old and up. I've also had 80-year-olds read it.




A book tour and two TV roles. How does it work scheduling-wise?

Both shows are on ABC, so it works out great.

There's a hotline from the Cougar Town production office to the one at GH. Everyone's on the Bat-phone. And everyone is playing nice.

http://insidetv.aol.com/2010/03/03/c...eral-hospital/