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After A Decade Long Absence Fiona Hutchison Returns to OLTL By: Delaina Dixon TV Guide Online May 24, 2001
 For Fiona Hutchison to return to One Life to Live as Gabrielle Medina, the timing had to be just right. After all, Gabrielle is no ordinary vixen; fans still clamored for her return and a reunion with Gabrielle's onscreen love interest, Max Holden, a decade after she was carted off to jail. The new OLTL regime under executive producer Gary Tomlin set the stage for Hutchison to reprise her signature role. With ten years of new experiences — Hutchison played Jenna Bradshaw on Guiding Light and Celia Frasier on As the World Turns — and a shorter, spiky haircut, Hutchison is back in Llanview and feistier than ever. Read on to learn why Hutchison decided to make the return now and how Gabrielle — and the actress who plays her — have changed over the years. — Delaina Dixon What was the catalyst that initiated your return? At some point or another, during each executive producer's reign on One Life to Live, the subject of Gabrielle's return has come up. I've been contacted and done the lunch thing. But not until Gary did it seem like it was right. I learned Gary had been trying to reach me for a good week before he did because I was out of the country. When he did call, he said he'd like to get together. And I said, "Wonderful, anything but lunch." He said, "How about breakfast?" and I said, "It sounds like a great idea." Sitting down opposite each other, it was like slipping on gloves; it was great. He was very straightforward, he had [Gabrielle's return] all mapped out — what and how he wanted to do it and how he saw it evolving. It was so refreshing. I'd had these conversations in the past, but I always felt it wasn't the right feeling. I felt as if I was being checked out, instead of someone coming to me with a decision already made. It was very healthy and very refreshing. Gary doesn't play games. He's an honest and honorable man and that doesn't always happen these days. Was it always in the back of your mind that you would return to One Life one day? It was really tongue and cheek because it always came up as a rumor, almost yearly. Someone would read it and call me to ask if I was going back to One Life, and I would say, "No I'm presently on another show, or I'm doing this or that," but having lunch with various producers would spur that on. Where has Gabrielle been since she left the show? I went to jail. I spent many years in jail. Carlo Hesser blackmailed me that he was going to kill my son if I exposed him. He was the one who wanted me to kill Megan and get Viki to turn into Niki Smith. I didn't go through with it, but I had to cover for him, so I took the rap for him. Al came to live with me once I was released, but we had no money whatsoever and I couldn't get a job. Max turned his back on us, so basically, I would do anything to keep my son and myself alive. Al was working two jobs while going through high school and I was doing whatever I had to do; I was a cocktail waitress at some point. It was quite desperate times. What are some of the keys to bringing a popular character back to a show and making it a success? I don't know, I've never done it before. (Chuckles) Gabrielle is an incredible character. For her to survive ten years after she was only on the show for five years says an awful lot in itself. They wrote her incredibly dark and bottomless. There was just nothing that she wouldn't dare to do. Characters like that are incredibly hard to come by. First you have to have the writer and producers who are willing to go to the edge with a character. I'm one of those actors that if you give me the chance, I'll turn 180 degrees for you to do it. To come back to the history this character has built in, that's a very rare thing. Everybody that I work with here has layer upon layer of history and relationships and colors to call on. And I think the writers have done a remarkable job bringing Gabrielle back. It's in keeping with what Gary had told me from the very beginning, how he saw it. It's the lioness coming into the den, and so far, so good. Along the way, I'll add some depth and color. It's appropriate with Gabrielle's past and what she's been through; there's a whole lot of resentment and animosity in the direction of Max. [The show] is very amenable and very receptive to me adding those layers. How has Gabrielle changed since she left Llanview? There are two things that have not changed. She is still — make no mistake — as desperate and as passionate as she ever was. But she's learned how to put the facade on which she never knew how to do before. She's had to survive. She's a lot tougher, and the anger, resentment and hatred has absolutely been in a pressure cooker. It will explode; the lid will come off at some point. We'll see glimmers of this over the next few weeks of the show. She'll seem like a really cool customer, but then you'll see, there's the old Gabrielle. She's not as polished as she'd like to think. Has slipping back into the character been effortless? The lovely thing for me is the first two pairs of eyes that I looked into [belonged to] Phil Carey (Asa) and James DePaiva (Max). And I know those eyes so well. It was really like getting onto a bike again, it was just lovely. The moment I looked into Jim's eyes and started working, I was right back where I was before, and it feels right. I feel safe, happy, and dangerous at the same time, because there's always an element of danger between Max and Gabrielle; it's still there, and probably heightened because of everything's that happened. So your return will reunite you with your former onscreen love, Max Holden. The story is Max and Gabrielle. One would be silly to bring back Gabrielle unless you're going to play it with Max. But that doesn't mean you can't involve her in other things as well. It has to be about Gabrielle and Max, but they can't live happily ever after, that's just not what the two are about; they are oil and water, and they always will be. But something happens to them physically when they are in the same room. They can't stop their emotions from coming to the surface. It's like a cat with catnip. You can't resist it, even though you know you should. Love and hate, there's a fine line between the two. You have this radical new look. What inspired the change? When Gary [Tomlin] saw [my short hair], he absolutely loved it. I had cut it last year for a project that I was doing, and I loved it and kept it. Gary wanted to bring back Gabrielle with some differences, so he thought it was great. He said, "I want to write her in many ways, and see her change too. The fact that she's got very short hair is just another symbol of the changes she's gone through." So the hair is one of the ways Gabrielle has changed over the decades? We showed some flashbacks of Gabrielle and Max from when they were together. For the viewers who may have not been around ten years ago, we want to show why we're making such a big deal of these two characters meeting again, and give them a little bit of taste of what was. And for those who were there, we want to show them that things do change, but some things stay the same. And it's 2001. Gabrielle with long hair? I think that would just be a throwback to the '80s. A lot of ABC characters have crossed over to other shows. Would you be willing to take Gabrielle to some of ABC daytime's other towns? I'd be delighted to. I think it would be delicious fun. What do you remember most about your first years as Gabrielle? The love scenes I did with Jim. We choreographed them and worked very hard on them. And one of them caught the eye of the archdiocese of New York. He called up the executive producer at the time, Paul Rauch, to say that we can not have this, so we knew we were doing something right. People were calling up [the show]; they were really affected by it. Entertainment Tonight did a segment which asked, "Has Daytime gone to far?" We were the couple featured. And the speeches Gabrielle would have in church, telling God to shove it, also sort of caught people's attention. Are you mentoring daytime newcomer Michael Tipps, who plays your son Al? I certainly am putting him through the paces, I'm not letting him off lightly, that's for sure. (Chuckles) But he was charming and gracious enough to take me as his date to the Emmys, so I guess I haven't been too tough on him. What happened to your character, Celia Frasier, on As the World Turns? Celia went off into the deep blue sea on her raft, and I like to think that she's happily ensconced in Scandinavia somewhere living it up. How's your husband, John Viscardi (ex-Tony, OLTL) and your boys? He's writing another play. John is, he is what is good in me, and the boys, I don't know how I got so lucky, we are very blessed. Nothing is ever so perfect. But luckily, through the grace of God, we've got healthy and happy little boys. They love to laugh, they like to play a lot; we have lots of cuddles and giggles. Obviously, my favorite thing to do is to spend time with the three of them, I absolutely adore it. How has your life changed since you returned to One Life? Life hasn't changed that much, only the venues have changed. It's another
set, but it's a set I'm familiar with and a crew that I'm very fond of.
I think if anything's changed, it's me. Thank goodness [the show] has not
changed so much because there are people I love and adore here. But I'm
happy to say that I've changed, which is a healthy thing.
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