Fiona Hutchison’s return to One Life To Live earlier this year could be a model for other executive producers to follow.  Bring back a popular character -- Gabrielle Medina-Buchanan -- after a 10 year absence, played by the actress that created her.  Use said actress in a storyline that not only acknowledges but mines her character’s past.  Watch lightning strike twice.

“I met with each and every one of [the regimes running the show] since I left in 1991,” Hutchison reveals.  “And of course all of them were lovely.  A couple of times I was under contract somewhere else (Hutchison played Guiding Light’s Jenna Cooper from 1992-94 and 1996-98, and As The World Turns Celia Frasier in 2000.)  I did hit an off period where I was available, but it was obvious they didn’t have a clue how to bring her back.  I want to be known for something that is good.  I didn’t want to go back and reprise something that would fail.”

The current Max/Gabrielle imbroglio has hit the ground running.  “There’s no guarantee this still won’t go belly-up,” hedges the actress.  “But Gary (Tomlin, OLTL’s current executive producer) came to the table with the story.  Boom.  ‘This is what we’re thinking about.’  This was refreshing.  At one [previous] lunch, I was actually asked, “Well, how do you see bringing Gabrielle back? I said, “What do you want me to tell you?”

Watching Hutchison play scenes with James DePaiva (Max), it’s as if not a day has gone by.  “We went on-stage and went at it again.  We didn’t get together beforehand.  We didn’t need to, and we knew it.  You never know that these things are a done deal until you are physically on set doing your thing.  Even if we had gotten together and discussed it, it wouldn’t have made any difference, because you’ve got to deal within the context of the story.”

And that story makes perfect sense to Hutchison.  “Knowing that I was coming in to get back with Max, that was great. It’s not people coming in and rewriting stuff that never happened.  Gabrielle has been in jail for the past 10 years.  You’ve got to play it for what it really was, and the fact that Max did not give Gabrielle two minutes of his time during that time.  Now we’re going to deal with that.  There’s a great deal of history to draw on.” This week, that history comes into play in a big way when Max and Gabrielle come close to making love.

H feels lucky that she and her co-star have similar approaches to the work.  “I still believe there is homework that needs to be done, but I don’t expect everybody else to do it the same way.  It is awfully nice when your partner does, because you can take it to a higher level.  When we worked together before, Jim was into discussing things and pulling apart.  I always loved[that], and I am having as much fun working with him again.  The dynamics have changed a little bit -- he’s got children, I’ve got children --but coming as it is, ‘This is my job,’ and I always come to my jobs with 120 percent.  I give as much as I physically can.  But I don’t have the freedom at home to sit and study it like I used to.”

With good reason. H and her husband John Viscardi (ex-Father Tony Vallone, OLTL) have two sons, Trevor, 3, and Hutch 4 1/2.  Hutchison’s schedule the week of this interview had her at OLTL all week while her family traveled upstate.  Like any good mother, the actress fretted about the time spent away from her kids.  “They won’t be able to survive without me,” she says with a sincerity that suggests a part of her actually believes it. “I’m certain that I will scar them forever during [this week].  I’m quite concerned.  I’m calling saying, I’m quit concerned.  I’m calling saying, ‘John, how are they?  Do they miss me?  He said, ‘No, they are very happy.’  I said, ‘Well, do leave a message when they miss me.”

The actress maternal instincts are especially note worthy as she reveals that she never fancied herself a mother.  “One of the reasons my first marriage broke up was because my husband started to talk about children.  I thought, “What’s he talking about  I’ve married the wrong person.’  I was fortunate to get out before there was a child.”  Then she met Viscardi.  “I was not divorced, but I didn’t care if we were married of if I was divorced.  I was willing to have a love child, and that surprised me.  I wanted another one of him in the world.”

The two did get married, and now share a family Hutchison wouldn’t trade for anything -- not that she claims to be any kind of expert.  “I haven’t the foggiest idea how to raise children. The only thing I can do is love them, squeeze them, kiss them.  I’ve learned a lot about how to raise our boys by watching John.  he’s got a great deal of strength and great moral character and great humor.  A lot of humor is necessary, because you live in constant sleep deprivation.  You can’t be grumpy.  My motto,:  It’s up to me to be happy today.  You have to turn on the happy switch.”  It sounds like Hutchison already has.