Robert S. Woods

Transcript of Soap City's Chat with OLTL's Robert S. Woods
(Bo Buchanan) -- January 20, 1999

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Robert: Hi everybody. I'm sitting here in my kitchen and just finished reading tomorrow's script and I'm looking forward to chatting with everybody!

Marty2634 asks: Hello Robert. How did you feel when "OLTL" "Brass" got rid of Clint Richie?
Robert: Well, they didn't really get rid of Clint, I guess they made him an offer he couldn't accept... it was his choice to leave and I was unhappy to see him leave.
I miss him a lot, he was my big brother. And I hope someday he'll come back.

Marty2634 asks: Hello Robert, what aspect of Bo Buchanan's character on "One Life To Live" do you most admire?
Robert: Oh gosh, he's pretty honest, I admire his honesty. Wish he was taller. He's a man of his word, I think that's good.Yeah, I draw a lot, I guess we're there so long... a lot of what makes him angry makes me angry and vice versa, and what makes him laugh makes me laugh. I think he's one of those characters that's closer to the actor than lets say Dorian or Todd and Roger; there's a big difference between them, but Bo and I are a lot closer as far as temperament and everything.

ClaudineHBS asks: What are Hillary and Catherine like on the set? It seems like they would be so much fun to work with.
Robert: Yeah, they are a lot of fun. Both of them sing so they're always singing something. I don't even know if they know how much they sing. I've known Catherine for a long long time. We were talking about it yesterday, I guess it's about 18 years, and I've known Hillary about six years.

tersjag asks: How long have you been OLTL, seems like I was watching you years ago, and you look just as good now as you did then!
Robert: Well thanks, maybe it's time to look at buying a new tv... maybe you should adjust the horizontal and vertical knobs on the television 'cause I can't fit in the same suits that I did back then.

kalelover19 asks: Nora and Bo show some fancy footwork on OLTL. Are you a good dancer in "real life" or is it just good choreography?
Robert: Well, I used to take cotillion dance classes as a kid and I can still remember about 3 steps in any dance that an orchestra would play. My wife and I go out dancing sometimes, we've always been able to get around a floor without hurting anybody or getting hurt.

angieangeleyes asks: Last night when Wortham was chatting- rumors were flying that Laura Koffman had been fired. I was under the impression that she was on maternity leave. Please tell me there is not truth to the rumors?
Robert: I don't know, officially I haven't heard anything one way or the other. I've heard rumors. I'm sure she wants to spend a lot of time with her baby so it may be good.

Marty2634 asks: Hello Robert. What makes Bo Buchanan such an interesting character to play on "OLTL"?
Robert: It's been more interesting this year than say 6 years ago. I think I'm blessed to have a character that comes from the Buchanan familyand work with Phil and Clint and Erika. I think a lot of what makes the characters interesting is the people and writing is very very important and everything revolves around the story.

Sandiwoods asks: We were all saddened by the death of Michael Zaslow. What can we do to support the cause?
Robert: Well, if you're anybody that's in New York, you can come to "A Night at the Golden Theatre" in NY to hear A. R. Gurney's play "Love Letters" read by Alec Baldwin and Kim Zimmer on January 25. It's a fundraiser. Oherwise anybody that would like to make a contribution to Michael's organization ZazAngels, you can certainly do that. I worked with him when he was on our show in the 80s. We didn't have any scenes when he was back this time but years ago when he and Jenny got married, of course he wasn't Roger, he was David Renaldi, I was best man at his wedding and we got to do scenes together back then. We spent a lot of time talking after the show. That's when I learned about Amnesty International, was through Zaz. He's always been a cause guy.

Bonora99 asks: What do you like to do in your spare time?
Robert: Well, most of my spare time is taken up being a dad and being a family man, a husband. Right now we're starting to break through to a wall to another apartment, we're going to expand our apartment in New York City. Most of the time I'm with my son, if he has free time at the same time. We play golf. This past weekend I shoveled a lot of snow and we had a little bonfire and went sledding, cooked chili dogs on the fire. In summer we play golf and go kayaking some, mostly family stuff. Nathan and I went scuba diving a couple of years ago. It was the first time I went on vacation, just a guys' vacation. Jim DePaiva and Kassie, we went diving in that living sea at Disney World and dove in that big fish tank aquarium. I like to scuba dive.

cindyleeann asks: I love the chemistry you and Nora have. Which wife do you feel you had the best chemistry with?
Robert: I'll give you the safest answer and that's the current one. I've been blessed. I've worked with some really neat ladies over the years. I'd say everybody's different and "best" is hard to put your finger on. I think it's up to the audience to decide what they enjoy watching.

AnnOnnymous asks: One of OLTL's and ABC's classiest moves in years was re-hiring Michael Zaslow. What was the set like when you learned of his death?
Robert: Well, it was very sad, naturally, because we watched a friend who was still as bright and articulate and active as he could be physically, this disease just takes over and it was really sad to watch and at the same time it was a real inspiration to see how he fought to raise public awareness and consciousness of all dehabilitating diseases. I mean this is a guy who didn't give up. We were all very sad when he passed, going to his memorial service was an inspiration, and he lives on through his organization, which is really typical of Michael.

BoandNoraFan asks: If Bo is such a smart man, surely he will be able to see that Lindsay is not the "pillar of honesty" that she would have him believe she is! Lindsay herself said "Bo is nobody's fool." I understand Bo is hurting, so he might be a little gullible for a while, but I would love for him to be the one to discover Lindsay's little secret about his sperm report!
Robert: *laughs* Yeah, I hope the same thing. What sperm report? I hope that I find out too. It's kind of embarassing, makes me feel like the President almost, everybody knows all these secrets.

Chelsyna asks: How do you feel about the possibility of Bo becoming a bad guy - "wearing a black hat"? That might be fun to act out, but do you think that it's consistent with the character?
Robert: No it isn't. It was consistent with the promotion... I didn't make up that copy. But I don't know what they have planned... he might be bitter for a while, it might be a new facet to his personality. But I don't think they have anything planned to turn him into a bad guy.

wingnthings asks: Hi Robert. You have been so moving the last few days on OLTL What is your opinion on how OLTL is focusing on mainly new characters?
Robert: Well, I've been lucky recently and really appreciate the fact that they gave some of the old guys something to do. It's not just a problem that OLTL, I don't think we're having... I think it's across the board. Everybody's looking for younger demographics, they want another "90210" or "Dawson's Creek". I think that even 17/18 year-olds, mid-20s would still like to watch Asa as much as anybody. I think older characters -- you have to have that stability. It's nice to have new, young people -- there was a time that I was young and new, which was a long time ago. But everybody has a first day on the show and a last day on the show, it's what you do in between -- and some of the older characters. We're very fortunate that we have a producer that likes to write and watch the older characters, Jill, she likes the established characters, and its obvious that she likes the new ones also. I guess she likes mature characters because we got some new mature characters on the show.

IluvBOandNORA asks: I am a GREAT big fan of yours..How long do you think Bo and Nora will be apart?
Robert: Gosh, I don't know. Indefinitely, it's pretty... I'm sure he'll forgive her but I don't think he'll ever forget.

PMR56 asks: Hi Bob.....How did you feel about dragging Dead Drew around for 2 weeks?
Robert: *laughs* it was pretty extreme. I guess he flipped out quite a bit, Bo kind of went out there where the buses don't run... It was an odd bunch of scenes but it gave me challenge...they were challenging scenes, it wasn't your every day type work. It's been a great year for me, I'm real... I feel lucky and I'm happy with what's happened this year. I've had more fun this year than in the most recent previous years.

AnnOnnymous asks: Why would Bo keep a crooked cop like Sykes on the force? This makes no sense to me!
Robert: Well, Sykes tried to direct us during that investigation and his conscience was getting to him and his heart was in the right place. The motivating factor is they like John Bulger, I like him and I want to see him stay. You wonder why he didn't go down with the rest of the Graham family, but I think that's the reason.

edwinh81 asks: Wouldn't you agree the writing has gotten a lot better now that Harding Lemay is aboard?
Robert: Yeah, this is one of the old masters, he's been in this a long time and he understands that whole serial format with beats and playing something out. We're real lucky to have him.

Sandiwoods asks: Will you be at the fan club luncheon? there are 9 devoted fans who hope you will be!!
Robert: Yes, that's something I try to make every year. It's near the end of April. I think it's the 25th.

BoandNoraForever asks: Hi Bob, what is your favorite scene with Hillary? You Rule!
Robert: I've seen scenes we did that crack me up that I don't even remember doing, it's hard to pick out a favorite one. We had a golf scene, we were playing miniature golf, they were kind of funny... when we won that jitterbug contest, that was memorable because we were so sore. We went on a date once when we went to a drive in theatre in vintage clothes and some of the scenes... after Georgie dropped her clothes and I went home, those were not fun scenes. We've been lucky to have a real good body of work between two people so it's hard to pick one scene.

Bonora99 asks: Who do you miss that used to be on the show?
Robert: Certainly Clint, I miss Thorsten Kaye, Jerry Anthony, Steve Fletcher; Michael Storm still comes back occasionally but I miss him being there all the time. Sara, she's dead... Judith Light was a lot of fun, she was great on the set. I miss Brynn, she should be at the top of the list.

kalelover19 asks: Welcome, Robert! I love the chemistry between Bo and Sam. Is the chemistry the same off screen?
Robert: *laughs* Well, it's not so hostile, I don't think. Probably a lot more laughs. We laugh more than Bo and Sam. I see him at the gym a lot, but the chemistry is a little friendlier than Bo and Sam.

merm1 asks: Would Bo raise Nora's child if it is not his biologically?
Robert: I don't see him raising it. It's hard to say. It's up in the air whose child it is. I believe it's Sam's child.

BoandNoraForever asks: Hi again Bob. So in case you didn't see my first post I met you at a studio tour in Aug. One of my friends with me lives in Scranton, PA and you told us about a car you bought from there. She would like to know if you got it home in one piece??
Robert: Oh yeah, its a 1952 Dodge power wagon, it's an old vintage truck. And I had it, as a mattter of fact, I was driving down the hill just to beat the snow so my son could go sledding. But we picked it up in Scranton. The very famous seafood restaurant in Scranton, it's a family-owned business and one of them sold me his truck. Scranton's a great town, really pretty.

UncleSlapshot asks: Do you ever check out the numerous Bo & Nora sites on the Net ?
Robert: I'm a dinosaur when it comes to computers. I'm not online. Somebody brought a laptop over here and got on line and they showed me a site that amazed me, there were pictures on it and all synopses of stories. Pretty soon we're going to get online. I can see the superhighway, I just haven't seen the onramp yet.

Sandiwoods asks: Are you really an old rock and roller, or do you like the tango?
Robert: One of the first songs that I ever remember on the radio was the "Blue Tango" and they let me pick that song when we did the tango, but I love old classic rock and roll, R&B, the blues, I got all that stuff in my dressing room. Almost every Time/Life CD collection, I have almost every one of them in my dressing room from the 50s, 60s 70s 80s and even the 40s.

kimbees61 asks: Do you ride motorcycles in real lfe?? Thought the story with Bo & Hank getting bikes was great.
Robert: That was fun. I used to have one but I don't any more, this was several years ago before I had a son. I know a lot of people that have one now. Nathan, who plays Hank, has one, Jim DePaiva has one. I know a lot of guys with bikes but I haven't had the desire to go out and buy one.

edwinh81 asks: The Buchanans all seem to be leaving, would you like to see some former Buchs return or have the show create some new Buchanan cousins?
Robert: I hope that something works out that Clint can come back. As far as the Buchanans there's 3, then the next generation. But I think its important to have the 3 there. I don't know what I'll do if Phil ever retires.We all 3 came on about the same time. It's hard to describe but it's like a real family. You sort of rely on one another within the show. It's an identity thing. I just hope Clint comes back at some point and of course, I'd like to see new cousins and kids, that's fun to see, but it would be great if the 3 old guys were there.

UncleSlapshot asks: When will the Daytime Emmy people start to acknowledge to great work being done on OLTL ???
Robert: Thank you, that's a nice question to ask.

IluvBOandNORA asks: Hi Bob again, do you think you will ever get a fan club of your own someday...?
Robert: Thanks, I don't believe so. I think one of the reasons is I try to put out a mailing once a year and send it to everbody, of what we've done and what they haven't seen in magazines. I have a problem asking people to send money so I can send them stuff in return. I rely on our show fan club to go to the luncheons and things like that.

Bonora99 asks: Will there be a short-term or long-term Lindsay/Bo pairing?
Robert: Yeah, it's one of the two. I don't know how long it will be but I think its something that's going to happen. Actors are always the last people to know. The investment that people have in the show adds to the drama, that's the business we're in. It's the fact that people like the couple and want to protect them, that's what raises the stakes and makes it watchable. It's like watching one of these amateur video disaster things, you think it's horrible but you can't help but watch it.

kalelover19 asks: Who inspires you, Bob?
Robert: My wife just giggled, i'll say her. I have family pictures up all over my room, that's a true inspiration. Sometimes you wonder "what am I doing it" and then you think, oh yeah, I'm making a living and doing what I want to do. I am lucky

Uncle_Slapshot asks: Do you get to hang with daytime performers from other shows and networks ?
Robert: It's one of the things that's really nice about the Emmys or Soap Opera Digest awards, is it's like a little reunion because a lot of these people, you know them 20 years and some know each other 30 years. Don Hastings has been on ATWT way over 30 years.

janeavril2 asks: Any chance that your wife will be back on the show? She was very good in the 1888 story?
Robert: I don't know. I wonder what happened to Chuck Wilson and Mimi. She'll fall right off the couch now... sense of humor, well there you go! I know it's funny, I'm looking at one of the props that's hanging in our dining room right now, they gave it to me when they wrapped that story. Our son, Tanner, cracks up when he sees Clint, who he calls Uncle Bucky, and his mom all dressed up in cowboy clothes and he falls over laughing when he sees it. I wanted her to play Melinda Kramer...i thought that would have been a good role for her recently.

Marty2634 asks: Robert, did you enjoy filming those baseball scenes with Mel?
Robert: Oh yeah, that was a fun day... we had a scene where we were sitting there talking and they were going to do it in the studio and they wanted to do it on the spot, and I had to instantly memorize on the spot, but from then on it was nothing but fun. The screwier it got, the better. It was a fun day, we shot it right in Central Park where the skyline's pretty low.

AnnOnnymous asks: Have you set limits on the topics you'll discuss in this chat or is Soap City censoring all references to Roger Howarth?
Robert: I don't think ABC's censoring anything. We were talking about Roger earlier. What do you want to talk about?

bubblegoose123 asks: What advivce would you give an aspiring actor/actress?
Robert: Get up and do as many plays as you possibly can, volunteer and audition for student films and get all the experience in front of the camera, read everything you can get your hands on.

LovingOneLife asks: Hi, do you have any scoops about Viki and Ben?
Robert: Well, I just watched the other day, it was the first day Ben was on the show, and something's going on there, or will.

BoandNoraForever asks: How are the Garth Ryland myteries coming? We are dying to see you in them!
Robert: Very slowly, too slowly. But we're still working at it, somebody called me the other day and wanted to read one, so it's not a dead issue. This past year I haven't had a lot of time to devote to it. If he's still alive, we'll see.

Litlbit31 asks: Is there a plan for you to get revenage on Blair for bashing Nora in the Sun?
Robert: I think that would be nice. I didn't like that newspaper thing. I cracked up when I saw it, when I saw the picture. Those prop newspapers are amazing. I talk to some of the people who put that together, over at the network and they're really fun.

wingnthings asks: Hi Bob! You always give great performances and I hope you along with Roger are nominated for the Emmy!
Robert: Well thanks, I hope that you're right!

Marty2634 asks: Robert, will you be performing in any primetime tv specials or movies in the future?
Robert: Well, Garth, I'd like to see that happen. We all have out clauses to do things but it's tough to get away from the show if you're busy and into the story.For me, financially, I'm better off staying on the show than I would be going off and doing something else.

DocGinaNJ asks: What's the most outrageous practical joke you ever pulled on the set?
Robert: *laughs* The most recent was, I put onions in Phil's pocket. I took the onions off the extras' salad... the wardrobe people weren't too happy with that. I've tied black string to props so when someone walks through the set, things fly off the wall, and I have a little music recorder and I'm always recording my own sound effects and music for scenes.A lot of the time when there's a crime scene, the theme to "NYPD Blue" comes out of my pocket.

GoodGodKoRnY asks: The way I look at it, the situation with Bo and Nora, and the situation with Cassie and Kevin and Barbara are all Todd's fault! Barbara and Kevin wouldn't have slept together if Todd didn't take everyone hostage,and then Barbara wouldn't have shot Drew, and in turn Nora wouldn't have felt the need to get pregnant to save Bos life! So, isn't it all Todd's fault?
Robert: I blame Todd for everything. I don't think President Clinton would be in the shape he is in now... I think its Todd's fault. I think he's in cahoots with Saddam Hussein and I think he's the true boogey man. Everything that goes wrong is Todd's fault as far as I'm concerned.

threehole9 asks: I don't like you as a cop; can you be something else?
Robert: Yeah, apparently I can, because I've had so many different jobs. I produced a soap opera and movies, and had the oil business with Asa, produced records. I'd be happy to get a new job. The only problem is I like being a cop. It's fun to play, all those guys at the station have a built-in set of a family of cops. We use the same atmosphere people each day. It's a lot of fun. Why don't you like Bo as a cop?

FanofKU asks: What do you think is going to happen to the President?
Robert: I don't know. I watched the State of the Union last night and boy he can give a great speech. I watched his attorneys today but personally, I don't respect a man... as a father I get tired of explaining to my son why the President's in the jam he's in.

Sandiwoods asks: Have you finished the tree house, and if so, is it winterized?
Robert: No, and no. The last person to give me a hand was Krimmer.
We got one section of the roof, we're still working on it, it will be winterized one of these days... well, I don't know about winterize but you could certainly sleep during spring and summer.

julesspeak asks: do you like taping the sad scenes (ex. Drew's death)? Is it hard to get the tears to come.... do you think of something sad?
Robert: Whatever's gonna work, a lot of times it comes out of sad things that have happened in your life... with family, my dad passing, the music they had for that day, if you believe in the situation... that Cat Stevens song they played really got me. Those are tough scenes to do, it's all foreign. I mean we all have those deep emotions but it's strange doing it for that many people. But that's the business we're in.

CUTIEJ76 asks: What is going to happen to Barbara? Is she just going to go off the show and not suffer?
Robert: Yeah but not on-camera, because she's in Los Angeles, she's paying for her crimes in Los Angeles. I miss her a lot too, she was really great.

smason35 asks: Is Bo going to become a ladie's man?
Robert: I don't know, that would be kind of fun... for a while. Some probably wouldn't like it either, like a cop -- don't be a cop and don't be a ladies man. This is all new stuff to me, chat rooms, and it amazes me that there are so many people waiting to ask questions. If it wasn't for all you people out there, we wouldn't be able to do what we do and I thank all of you for it. We'll try to give you a good show. Stay tuned. As you know, Bo and Lindsay's rooms are very close.