GL's Fiona Hutchison overcame trauma and shattered dreams to get where she is today. But even though the actress' life full of love, work and family is presently at its tranquil best, this human dynamo is ready for the next challenge.
Just the other day, GL’s Fiona Hutchison (Jenna) played out a scene, that appears to parallel her own thoughts about the new direction her life has taken. In the script Jenna, the former jewel thief who wound up stealing Buzz's heart was ruminating over giving up her career as a private investigator to be a stay-at-home mom to two small children. As Jenna fretted over whether she'd lose her edge and her sanity - the irony wasn’t lost on Hutchison, who recently gave birth to her second child. "I've done films, theater and had two great-soap roles; I have an Emmy nomination, a great husband (John Viscardi, ex-Tony, OLTL) and two wonderful children.. but where shall we go now?" she questions in her signature British accent "It's not that I have done it all. It's just that in he past being thrown into things has always turned out well, so why not throw me into the middle again and see what happens? Playing it safe is a new experience for me. Of course, I've never had a family before, so that is new and wonderful, but the lack of a challenge is a bit new." Not that Hutchison is complaining. After years of real-life turbulence, she says she's the happiest she's ever been in her role as mother to John Hutchison Viscardi ("Hutch'), 23 months, and Trevor Westmicott Viscardi, 5 months, who happens to play her onscreen son Ian/Stavros/Rocky (thanks to Jenna and Buzz's months-long argument over the baby's name). But like many classic “A Type” personalities, three months of maternity leave and a lagging storyline have left Hutchison longing for the old days when Jenna was planning her next big heist and Hutchison was juggling days on the set and nights onstage at the theater. "I think everybody thought 'Thank God Fiona is having boys because maybe that will use up some of her excess energy,"' she admits with a laugh. "But you know what they say: 'If you want something done, give it to a busy person.' So it didn’t stop me - I'm ready to go. In fact, even more so because I see what a joy it is to show my children what can happen in life. I'm even more excited about the unknown around the comer I want them to know they shouldn’t be afraid when one scenario ends because there will be another" And it's an adage that Hutchison knows all too well, starting from the very moment of her unexpected birth in Miami while her parents were in the middle of relocating to Jamaica. Growing up, both Hutchison and her imagination spent hours running free on the tropical is-land, while her mother and father provided for her in their roles as artist and doctor, respectively. But it was an offhanded comment from the Jamaican prime minister's wife, a dance teacher, that provided Hutchison her first direction at age 4. "I fell into (ballet) because (the prime minister's wife) told my parents I had some ability” Hutchison recalls. “I thrived and loved it. I never complained about going to class. I liked the way it made me feel and the discipline and training everyday.” When Hutchison was 10, the family moved to South Carolina, where her ballet study continued. Five years later, and with her parent’s approval she accelerated her High School graduation and moved to New York to attend the School of American Ballet professionally with the American Ballet before dancing professionally for the American ballet Theater. But two years later, tragedy struck when her father died unexpectedly. Hutchison's brothers and her mother were left to deal with their grief separated from each other "It was devastating to me," recalls Hutchison. "I was living alone in New York since I was 15, but just the thought that he was no longer supporting me emotionally, and sometimes financially, was a big change in my life," she admits. "And a year after that I fractured my spine." After a long and painful convalescence following the injury, Hutchison realized her career as a dancer was over. So the girl from Jamaica with the imagination set her sights on acting, but she would still have to face adversity before gaining prominence as OLTL’s Gabrielle Medina and GL’s Jenna Bradshaw. "When life gives you lemons, put on a pot of water and make a cup of tea. It was my mom who taught me that and there were many, many times when we needed to remind each other of it But I don't think she mastered it as well as I have been able to. My mom was a heavy drinker, so a lot of her fears were from the alcohol. I'm not a drinker, even though there was a period of about 10 years after my father died when I indulged in cigarettes and alcohol and everything you can think of. I just let loose, which is probably why I fractured my spine, because I was absolutely pushing it to the limit" The trauma of her father's death and separation from her family clearly took its toll on the young Fiona but fortunately she was armed with certain inner qualities - like perseverance - that she'd not previously discovered. "That drive, that openness to change, comes from my father, but I had to learn it In my teens and early 20s, change was terrifying - I mean, waking up in the morning and shaking," she admits. So with her sights set and her feet squarely on the ground, Hutchison took a deep breath and headed straight for her future, leaving dance in her past Hutchison quickly landed her first professional work via Ford Modeling agency and won small recurring roles on GL and ATWT. The honey blonde beauty also ma a foray into film, including the British export Biggles, Adventures in Time, which opened to royal premiere in London with Prince Charles and Princess Diana in attendance. But it would be her role as the often emotionally hysterical Gabrielle Medina on OLTL that would put Hutchison on the map as one daytime's most accomplished villainesses. But while her daytime star was soaring, her personal life was still in disarray. "I took the (OLTL) job in 1987, but my partying days were still in full swing. My then-husband (Sean Dromgoole) introduced me to a lot of things no one should be introduced to, and we were in the throes of a divorce," she explains. "I had to stop smoking and drinking because I went through so much on OLTL; I just had to stop and get it together And it was during that time that James DePaiva (Max) had left OLTL in search of greener pastures. His replacement was Nicholas Walker (ex-Trey, Capitol), whose out-of-left-field prediction for Hutchison's future proved unnervingly accurate. "I'll never forget it Nicholas and I were sitting on the sofa on-set running lines. At the far end of the set was John, who had just been hired along with a couple of the techies. They were all in fits of laughter because John is a very funny man. Out of the blue, Nicholas said to me, 'You're gonna marry him.' And I said, 'What? I've barely met the guy, and I'm in the middle of a divorce!"' But it was Viscardi who was there for her through her mother's unexpected death in 1991 and her exit from OLTL, which was clouded by controversy. Three years later, while she was already two years into her new role as GL’s Jenna, Hutchison and Viscardi hiked into the Grand Canyon to exchange marriage vows with their wedding outfits safely stowed in a backpack. After fulfilling her three-year contract with GL, which earned her a 1994 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress, the couple headed to the West Coast. There Hutchison starred in a number of independents and stage productions, while Viscardi wrote scripts for Warner Brothers TV show e It was only a matter of weeks after Hutchison gave birth to the couple's first child, Hutch, in September 1996, that GL approached her about a three-month return a Jenna. But what was intended as three months transformed instead into a three-year contract with the show. A year ago in July, Hutchison discovered she was pregnant with little Viscardi number two. Trevor was born in March and immediately became a part of the GL landscape when executive producer Paul Rauch asked him to play Buzz (well, technically, Jeffrey) and Jenna's infant son. Meanwhile, Viscardi left WB, but he still writes for television, acts (including a gig on ABC's Soul Man just hours after Trevor was born) and is a main source of giggles at the Viscardi home in upper Manhattan. "When he plays with Hutch, I can hear streams of laughter through the house," Hutchison says. On work days, Hutchison totes the two kids and a nanny to the GL studios in Manhattan. "It's really so beautiful to watch Fiona now.. she's just become this earth mother," says Hutchison's onscreen stepdaughter, Beth Ehlers (Harley). "She's just this nurturing, gentle, loving being with those boys, and it's beautiful to watch. And you can see that they're great kids. I learn so much just watching Fiona." “'l’ m not sitting here bellyaching, because this is a very new experience for me. I'm allowed to have my son Trevor play my baby, so I'm thrilled," Hutchison explains. "It allows me to spend more time with the family. And Hutch is sort of the studio mascot. When I don't bring him around to the studio for a couple of weeks, people ask where he is. I don't know if we'd get that sort of welcome on any other show, which is why I can't sit around screaming, 'What are we doing with Jenna?' I have never been happier in my personal life - GL is a very happy place for me; I feel cared for there. But the little engine inside me is still going, 'C'mon, c'mon, let's get moving.'  Did You Know *Fiona Hutchison’s Birthday is May 17, making her a Taurus. Born in Miami to English parents was raised on the island a Jamaica and Columbia, S.C. *She is 5-feet-4 with blue-grey eyes and honey blonde hair * At age 11 Hutchison won a scholarship to study in England’s prestigious Royal Ballet and was sent to London, where she began her professional training as a ballerina while attending boarding school. *She appeared in an ad for Excedrin *She co-hosted a cable tv series called Gourmet Getaways with Robin Leach *In her free time Hutchison enjoys swimming, dancing, horseback riding and cooking. SOM 9/1/1998 by Lisa Backus |