FIONA: Well, there are four men in my life and they go in order of John Viscardi my husband, little John Hutchinson Viscardi, Paul Rauch and last, but not least, Mr. Harry Abrams. Without these four men, my life would be very, very different and it's because of all four of them that I'm back. Obviously I feel very, very lucky I have a healthy baby, a very understanding husband who is able to be very supportive and cope with the fact that since "Hutch" was 5 weeks old I've been traveling and working. You know there's some daddies who would say, "Excuse me, where do you think you're going? You're not taking my kid anywhere." But John's not like that. He absolutely adores and misses Hutch tremendously while he's in Los Angeles. He works at Warner Brothers, so we're doing the bi-coastal thing. And then I've got Paul Rauch who I've worked with before, who I have a huge amount of respect for and always have. We've certainly gone round the bush several times in creative discussions. I've cut my teeth working with him. I've done a couple of films but my first extensive role on a soap was with Mr. Rauch. And last, but not least at any rate, is Harry Abrams who I've known for 10 years and who've I've been signed with for 2 years. For those who know Harry, which some people do, some don't...he's a good guy, he's a tough agent and a very supportive agent.

Q: So you feel you've learned a great deal from Paul Rauch?

FIONA: Oh my god. Oh my god. It's just invaluable. And if you are a young actor, to all the young actors on this show if it's their first time out and they're working with Paul, they are very fortunate.

Q: Many people are saying that they can already tell the changes at GL.

FIONA: Oh yeah. First of all his energy. Second of all his precise eye on what needs to be done. And he won't suffer fools gladly and that's a very good lesson to learn when you're a young actor because it's very easy to fall into lazy patterns. I think what Paul's very good at is he realizes that you know there's a lot of kids that come out of high school or college or maybe you've been working in a different area of business as I was, but you're young and you're suddenly making a lot of money in a very big city. And that can do things to performers because it's not a guarantee, it's what's happening for the moment and one should never forget it's about the work, it's not about the paycheck. There are traps, there are definite traps in daytime.

Q: So how did the GL opportunity actually come up. Did Paul approach you and Harry?

FIONA: Yes. He called me first I believe at home in Los Angeles. I was away in Australia when the whole idea of Guiding Light came about and it wasn't going to work out - this was before Paul came on board - and it wasn't going to work out. Then when I got back Harry told me that there had been some changes. And sure enough that Sunday night Paul called and we had a chat. And you know it's one of those chats, "How can we get you back, I'd like you back on a permanent basis." And I said "Oops. Thanks for the wrong number (laughing)." Paul and I know each other well. No, I said "Paul it would be marvelous to work with you but there's another person you need to talk to. And he said "Ok. Who do I have talk to?" And I told him Harry Abrams. He goes, "Ok. Ok. Well, after I talk to Harry I'll see you on set." And I'm saying, "Oh I don't know. I have to go do a movie, I have to go"...but with Paul he doesn't take 'no' for an answer. Thankfully. Thankfully for all concerned. I went off to do a movie in Vegas with Roddy MacDowell. That was great fun. While I was doing that the deal got solidified. The only little hitch, which wasn't really hitch, was that Paul wanted me like yesterday.

Q: Was it difficult for you moving from L.A. (and away from your
husband)?

FIONA: Basically all I did was take it step by step. Hutch and I were
already on the go. I mean my suitcases have been packed since he was 5 weeks old and he's now almost 5 months. So I really treated coming back to New York as just a location. I went from Vegas to NY and then back to LA for Christmas. So it really feels like I'm on an extended location shoot and probably will until John is able to relocate here.

Q: Is he going to try to do that?

FIONA: Well yes he's trying but it's tricky because his situation at work is very good for him and he's a year and a half in. And no one wants to just drop everything they've worked toward...We try not to make too many decisions one way or the other. Right now I'm here. The show's been very kind to provide plane tickets so we can go back and forth. I'm not superhuman, so I don't know. There will come a time I'm sure when I'll be going "Oh my god." We also decided if we're working it on both coasts, which does tend to happen in our business - your careers just get going - we decided if we're going to do that, we should do it now while Hutch's tiny because there's going to come a time when he really recognizes Mummy and Daddy. And at that point, we'll work towards getting it together on the same coast.

Q: In addition to Paul Rauch, you also expressed excitement over working with Justin Deas again in particular. What's your working relationship with him like?

FIONA: Oh yes. Very good. Justin and I, let's see we've known each other since he came on the show which is awhile now. And I've always been a big fan of his wife Margaret, now I don't know if he knows it. You see, I didn't know him before, but I knew of Margaret. So when I found out that they were getting married, he went way up in my estimations. Very good tastes, very good tastes, in actresses and wives. And they've got 2 little boys and I do find him terrific to talk to, I did before, but even more so now because we have that in common. Here we are about to do a romantic scene but we're talking about how many times the little baby poops in a day and what should I give him to make him poop. So it's a different set-up to the scenes that we have, but far more meaningful, far more interesting in some ways. Different layers to play.

CBS: Were there any other differences for you when you came back to GL?

FIONA: Yes. I've got bigger breasts (laughing hysterically). I'm telling
you.

CBS: Yeah and those ball gowns don't exactly hide anything.

FIONA: Did you see that? I was really quite shocked. There's no padding in there you know. For me to get that look, I used to stuff big wad of padding in there and even then it didn't fill out the way it filled out. There was this shot of me going across the floor and I thought my God, I didn't realize they looked that way. No wonder I was so popular with the males.

CBS: (Read Fiona many e-mails fans sent in). Must be neat to come back to GL and have that kind of support.

FIONA: Well to go anywhere and have someone care that you're going there. It's wonderful. I ran into Lucy Johnson (VP, CBS Daytime) at the radio thing. When I went up to her she said, "All your stars are in alignment Fiona, how are you feeling?" And I just looked at her and I said, "You know I don't know what it is but it all feels good. I don't know why it came about now."  When I had the baby, I didn't know where life was going to go. I figured I'd be doing project to project. The only place I thought I'd be going back to if I did go back would be One Life To Live. Because we had been having discussions before the baby was born. I had been taken to lunch twice here in New York and talked to about a contract. Harry was talking to them. It was being planned that once the baby was born, I'd go back to OLTL. It was vague as to when. I worked up until my 8th month, then the baby was born and I got another gig and so I just went off.

CBS: So it was quite a coup for GL to steal you away.

FIONA: I thought oh great, great. Paul coming on made all the difference, then there was no doubt in my mind that this is the place to be. No regrets or doubts at all. But if somebody would have asked me 6-8 months ago what was my prediction...my prediction was Gabrielle (the character she played on OLTL) in '97.

CBS: How about the first day or week back at GL - how were you greeted on your return?

FIONA: Oh I went out on set and the whole crew applauded. That was a very warm feeling.

CBS: A lot of the same familiar faces?

FIONA: Some and then some new faces. The show feels very different from when I was here last. And it's a very positive difference. There's a lot of good, positive energy going around - that's 'cause of Paul. It's a real professional feeling here. Which it was lacking when I left. Part of the
reasons I did chose to leave when I left was - the driving force was my husband was off at a job with Disney in LA. So I knew it was time to make a change for him. But also the show was just not an exciting place for me at the time. Good time to make change.