Ashley Jones Discusses her New Apple TV+ Film In Flight, The Bold and the Beautiful and more...!

Ashley Jones is a four-time Daytime Emmy-nominated actress, writer, director, and executive producer who recently sat down for an incredible conversation in The Locher Room!

Fans know her as 'Dr. Bridget Forrester' on The Bold and the Beautiful, the number one serial drama worldwide, and as 'Daphne' on HBO’s hit series True Blood. Her career spans primetime favorites, Lifetime movies, and her other daytime roles on The Young and the Restless and General Hospital.

Ashley recently appeared in In Flight on Apple TV and returned to The Bold and the Beautiful on CBS/Paramount+. With exciting projects on the horizon for 2025, Ashley had plenty to share as a single mother, writer, director and executive producer.

Don’t miss this inspiring chat with a powerhouse talent. 

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hi everybody, happy to have you here with me in the locker room today.

(00:09):
I'm Alan Locker.
The multi-talented Ashley Jones is stopping by to tell us all about her new role in the
Apple TV Plus film in flight.
Ashley is a four-time daytime Emmy-nominated actress, writer, director, executive producer,
and mom.
As Noah is Dr. Bridget Farvester on the Bolden and Beautiful and has definitely on HBO's

(00:31):
hit series True Blood.
Her career spans primetime, favorites, lifetime movies, and her other two daytime roles on
the Young and the Restless and General Hospital.
Ashley will be returning to the Bolden and the Beautiful this Christmas and with the exciting
projects on the horizon for 2025, she is planning to share as a single mom, writer, director,

(00:52):
and executive producer.
Please help me welcome to the locker room for the first time, Ashley Jones.
Hey Ashley.
This is so much fun to come and join you.
We have a mutual friend that speaks very highly of you.
We do.
Kimberly J. Brown, tell me how do you know her, Mara from Guiding Light for the famous?

(01:12):
Yes, I've known her for decades.
She's a dear, dear friend of mine, like one of my closest friends.
We'll know her from Soaps, they know her, of course, from Halloween town, the beloved Disney
classic, and many other roles.
She's fun, so many other things.
So it's so much fun to come and celebrate with people when they're like, they realize that

(01:34):
we know each other, especially in the soap world.
Did you never, you never worked together?
You know what?
We had never worked together.
That should be on my little to-do list for the new.
Yeah, as executive producer and a writer.
Thank you.
Yes.
I know your bio, I was like, oh my gosh, that sounds like I'm a busy person, but you know what,

(01:54):
Ellen?
I'm such a busy person.
I feel like I, yes, I feel like I'm very scheduled lately, and I think that's kind of what
it takes in this day and age to continue to make things happen.
And as you said, I'm a single mom and, you know-
To an eight year old.
So that keeps you busy.

(02:14):
Of course, I co-parent.
So he does have a dad.
Sure.
But, yeah, financially, he has done his thing.
I do my thing.
So it's, yeah, we have to still, you know, you have to make life happen and you have to make
it happen quickly and turn over ideas and turn over projects because in our business,

(02:35):
as you well know, as soon as something's done, what's next?
Absolutely.
Well, let's talk about the current project in flight on Apple TV Plus.
Tell us about your role.
I am proud of this project.
It was a little labor of love, but it's a fun, it's a suspenseful thriller.

(02:56):
It's not a horror movie.
It's more of a thriller.
And-
Anything in an airplane is a thriller, usually.
Lately.
Wow.
Yeah, that's absolutely true.
And they, it's a fun film because they did a lot with just a few locations.
And so you feel that feeling of a little bit of suffocation, which is what the main character

(03:18):
is feeling.
And it's very, it's a very cool thing.
I don't want to ruin it if anyone does end up wanting to watch it.
But I play a slightly different character and it's kind of a cameo.
It's not a huge role.
But I, the executive producer of that, which I'm so proud of him, I worked with him years
ago, years ago.
And on a show he did.

(03:39):
And he thought of me and we kind of lost touch and you know the beauty, one of the beauties
of social media is it's easy to find certain people.
And it was so much fun to reconnect with him.
And then we started talking about, oh, let's work together again.
I said, I love to.
And then a couple months later, this fell in our lap.
And it was easy.

(04:00):
You know, when people make it, this was a lower budget movie.
It looks a lot more expensive than it is.
It's a fantastic job.
But when people offer you great roles that are fun and juicy and something you've never
done before and you get to drive down the street to Burbank, actors want to take those roles.
So you get a certain amount of talent when you're in LA as opposed to like, you know, you're

(04:21):
trying to make it locally in a different city.
That is the beauty of working in LA.
Now LA makes everything else difficult.
But, uh, permits and license and tax credits and all that, but they're getting better.
I think they're trying.
Well, I was excited when I, you know, saw the cast, Christo Fernandez is one of your co-stars.

(04:42):
Yeah, very cool.
He's amazing and Ted Lasso.
Amazing and Ted Lasso.
I've become really friendly with Tiffany Smith.
She's honestly, if anyone gets the chance to work with her, work with her.
She is such a talent and one of those people that is go with the flow very easy to work
with.

(05:03):
And she carried the movie.
Did you watch?
I mean, she is the, yeah, she's in every city.
So that was really fun and I hope you--
Are you a fan of thrillers yourself?
Well, whether I would say yes or no, I must say yes because I am, um, I've been in a lot
of them for television movies.

(05:25):
And I've been in a couple of independent feature releases, but the majority of my career
are outside of soaps and primetime, like network television, like the CSI's and CIS's,
true, you know, things like that.
I, um, true blood and things like that.
I, it's been lifetime.
And lifetime has a couple of different formulas that they use that work very well for them

(05:50):
and the main one is thriller.
And I've had the, um, incredible opportunity to executive produce and then direct a couple
of these movies.
And so I've become, um, very well versed in the thriller genre, especially for television
movies.
And there's different thriller genres.

(06:10):
There's this thriller one that you're going to send to Europe.
There's the thriller one that you want in the theater and you want, you know, rated
R or whatever.
And then there's the thriller one that you want on your TV at home after your kids go to
bed in case they wake up.
So it's a, it's a very specific formula for lifetime.
And I am proud to be a part of it.
I'm actually executive producing one that I, um, I'm not going to say anything too early,

(06:35):
but I'm pretty sure we're going to get a green light.
It's one of their originals.
It's a bigger budget and I'm very excited.
It's based on a true story, which we're, we're getting more into the true crime realm is
very popular right now.
True crime is so huge.
Uh, Jay Webb said in flight was a fun movie.
Um, when did you, you know, being an actress, when did you, um, you know, be an actress?

(06:57):
When did you start dipping your toe into directing and writing and executive producing?
Was there a moment where you said I need to sort of, you know, take control?
Uh, very, very good question.
And, um, yes, I think, I think this happens to a lot of people, but you get to a point where
you, you know, you're doing good work.

(07:20):
You're getting great feedback.
You're testing for projects.
And then you just, it's not, well, you know, you don't get paid to, um, I mean, everyone
probably knows this, but in case you don't, you don't get paid to prepare an audition to
read the script to study it to go to the first, second, third call back, um, do a chemistry
test, all that stuff.
And then you lose the job and that's a lot of an investment.

(07:41):
And you have to just let it go.
Because otherwise, if you hold on to that stuff, you're just going to carry all this baggage
with you.
And I'm really, really good at letting, um, rejection go.
Really good at it.
I've trained myself to be that way.
But it kind of like a light bulb went off in my head that I don't, if I can create some
projects and I can make stuff happen on who really holds the power, where do we really

(08:06):
get the ability to create as opposed to being a puppet actors have, I'm not saying actors
are puppets acting as my first love.
And I absolutely think that they are 90% of the project.
We thought said some people do pull the strings and where I sit in this industry is I am not
a, a lister.

(08:28):
So I, as a working actress that has never had another job for the most part and I would
make my money in this industry, uh, including like Instagram and stuff like that, which is still
a part of entertainment.
I, um, I had to kind of reassess, how am I going to provide for my son and how am I going
to reinvent myself in a world where I, you know, uh, 40 something year old white blonde isn't

(08:56):
really in no one's looking for that.
So it is my love.
I'm not going to abandon the industry.
So where do I belong?
So that's kind of a question you start to ask yourself.
But with that said, that was, that was the like, um, my little light that I need because
this helps everybody look a little better guys.
I, what, with that said, that's kind of what started me like really, really aggressively

(09:22):
moving forward.
My love of wanting to produce and my love of like my interest in, I was in my early 20s
when I was sitting in the director's chair asking a thousand questions wanting to know,
I was shadowing before I knew what shadowing was.
I was doing that in my teenage years on Dr. Quint Medicine woman.
I was, I would talk to different people.
I just, I always kind of wanted to know like, who's here first?

(09:44):
Wait, why was I called in at 2pm?
There was so much other stuff going on.
I wanted, um, I wanted to be a part of the action.
And I thought, I was very, very curious, how do you make all this happen at a very early
age.
So my brain has kind of always been, um, that way.
And I love, I love nothing more than being in the video village when you can see like

(10:08):
all the magic happening.
So it's all, you're, you're given an opportunity.
If it, if you love what you do and you're on that set, there's so much to learn if you
want to learn it.
You're, you're just, you're really, you're, you're, you're given this wealth of things to,
to explore and learn.

(10:29):
Every day, every day is a masterclass.
Yeah.
Um, and now, it might even be like the makeup room, you know, somebody teaching you, you
know, you're just given all of this.
Well, far away, I, uh, my first movie I directed, I was going and, and giving the makeup department
so many different little kindly, but little tips on, you know, someone had thinning hair.

(10:52):
And I'm like, oh, that's so easy.
Don't talk about thinning hair.
I don't want to see that on the monitor.
You fix it with this and this and this.
It's two seconds.
It costs $10 at NAMES.
Go get it.
Um, little, so yeah, I've been in the business since I was five years old and I've had
a, a very curious, you had a front row seat, Ashley.
And I've had a front row seat.

(11:12):
Yeah.
Well, my result, what led you, what, you know, you did a commercial at five, I think at nine
you were doing plays in high school, what led you into the arts?
Um, I don't know if I was born with like the desire to do it.
I, I don't actually remember that far back, but I remember someone stopping my parents

(11:33):
at a mall and asking if we wanted, my brother and I wanted to be in, in a commercial,
an audition.
They didn't ask if we wanted to be in it.
They asked if we wanted to audition.
I thought they were saying, oh, you got a commercial.
You get to go do something and, um, I didn't understand.
It was a cattle call for, oh, I mean, at that point in time in 1980, 1981, there must have

(11:57):
been hundreds and hundreds of kids auditioning for a national commercial.
Um, I really thought in my mind I had it and I was, I do remember that part.
I remember I can distinctly remember standing in line and I, everyone getting tired.
I'm like, no, we're almost there.
I was the one in the family that was like, no, just hold on.
We're going to get the, anyway, I walked in saying like, oh, finally, I get to meet you
guys.

(12:17):
And I did get the commercial and it never occurred to me that like, I wouldn't get it.
That rejection and the doubt started happening in my twenties.
But throughout my teens and stuff, it just never, and it's so funny looking back on life.
I've realized it's such a good lesson about so many things.
When you think you can do it, no, you're not going to get everything.

(12:40):
You're just not.
But when you have the confidence that like, oh, absolutely, I can do this.
It goes pretty far.
It does.
And it really helps you feel, people want someone that feel like, oh, wow, that person,
I feel like I could give that person the job and I'm not going to have to worry about
them.
And, but a lot of doubt creeps in as you get, you become an adult.

(13:03):
And it's taken me decades to taper the doubt and get my confidence back.
I think you said it earlier too.
We have responsibilities as we get older to that, make it, I think, more real about what,
you know, we need to pay Jack.
Yes.
You have to, I mean, yeah, no one's paying for your rent or mortgage.

(13:24):
No one's paying for your kid's school.
No one's paying for the food.
You have to, yeah, a lot of things become very, very real as you get older.
And it's not even just like you have to think ahead and plan ahead.
You have to plan for your life and it can get, it can, that's the kind of stuff that can

(13:49):
wear on you.
And you know, I mean, Alan, it's no secret to everyone that we went in the last
five years, our industry's completely changed.
It changed a while ago for a little bit, but then it really changed between the pandemic
happening and then the strike.
It really, I think a lot of studios re-evaluated who they need and why they need them and what

(14:15):
shows they want in the air.
And so there's less, there's a lot of shows on streaming, there's less network shows
where you really made your money.
And you could, a lot of actors could survive off of 10 guest stars a year, have a good life,
a decent life in LA.
But it's definitely thriving on some level.
All of that's changed.

(14:36):
And yes, everyone could say like, oh, there's so many shows in the air.
There's so many opportunities for actors.
But some of these shows, what people don't understand, they will do all of your scenes in
one day and offer you $2,000, then you have to get your agent to, not even $2,000, like
$1,800.
And you have to get your agent to negotiate you up to your rate, which you were a pretty pandemic.

(14:57):
And a lot of people don't want to pay that.
So it's to get what we used to get paid is a little different.
So you have to kind of reinvent yourself.
Yeah, it's so true.
And I heard also like a lot of productions are doing local hires rather than flying people
somewhere because-
Well, now that I'm on the other side of it, exactly producing and directing and stuff,

(15:19):
a lot of it, I wish I could say that I'm not one of those people that are doing that, but
you're at the mercy of everyone's at the mercy of who's paying for it.
100% the budget.
You have-
I'm not sorry, but if I'm going to put up $4 million, then I get to call all the shots.
But if I don't have that money and I'm at the mercy of a studio or a network or a production

(15:42):
company that is putting up the money, I have to answer to them.
And if they say, "No, this role, so many of my friends are like, "Oh my gosh, you're producing
your directing.
Can I be in your-?"
Well, of course you could be in my film.
Do you want to fly yourself to Atlanta and put yourself up locally?
And happily push you through.
You're exactly right.
Yeah, it's true.

(16:03):
How did you end up in Los Angeles?
Was that like where you set up to go?
Interesting question.
I went-
I came out here originally to film a Dr. Coin Medicine woman.
I was 14, almost 15.
And then I ended up getting a mini series and stayed out here to film part of that, but that

(16:24):
filmed all over the nation and part of Canada.
But Dr. Coin brought me back to LA.
And I-
Did that first paying gig?
No.
Well, outside of commercial-
Commercials, yeah.
Dr. Coin Medicine.
That's a pretty good first gig.
A lot of the- if you're younger, you don't know what that is.

(16:46):
Oh, they do.
But I was just-
If you don't know, it was one of the biggest shows on CBS for years and years and years, starring
Jane Seymour.
And-
And a funny little fun fact.
Years later, I'm now working with Ali Mills, whom I watched and loved on Wonder Years.
And that was my coming of age show that I watched every episode.

(17:11):
Is now on Bold and the Beautiful.
Yeah.
I get to hang out with her husband Orson at the time when he was alive.
And Orson was on Dr. Coin Medicine Woman.
Full circle.
Yeah.
Very fun.
And then since then, I've done some stuff for HSN and TVSN and KVC and stuff.
And Jane Seymour has some stuff on- so it's fun to like get to circle back and meet people

(17:36):
that- that, you know, you've met years ago.
The industry is so, so, so small and the journey's always end up crossing.
But-
You go to Pennsylvania when you do KVC or do you do it out by you in California?
Yeah.
I've done it- well, I did it mainly during the pandemic.
I haven't done it since they've gone back.

(17:59):
I haven't been in person in Pennsylvania now.
But I-
And then I did a lot in Australia and some in Italy.
But again, that was- that was Zoom.
So we're talking about doing more in-person stuff, but I have a little- I have a little
work to do there.
And- and I feel like I just need to clone myself because I have a little work to do.

(18:20):
You need more of you.
Were you a soap fan before you started working in Soaps?
Oh, I love this question.
I was a big soap fan.
I was in all my children fans.
Not a CVS girl.
I mean, I did watch Young and the Russell's a little bit.
But I was a huge- oh, my children fan because- and this is how everyone else is a fan.

(18:41):
My mom was a fan.
Yeah.
And I was a huge fan of Cliff and Nina.
Do you guys remember Cliff and Nina?
Yeah, it's Peter and- and I interviewed her.
Um, I'm blanking Taylor.
I'm blanking.
Taylor.
Yes.
Taylor Miller.
How?
Really?

(19:01):
I mean, I guess I just- it was a crucial time in my life where I was going through stuff
as a coming-of-age girl and I was identified or something.
Really, really seared in my brain.
Um, but to me, they're not Peter and Taylor.
They're Cliff and Nina.
So funny story.
I- and also like Susan Lucey and all that kind of stuff.
But it was Cliff and Nina for some reason in my brain.

(19:21):
I get to meet Susan later in life and it's been- many times.
It's been fun.
But I'm in- I'm in an office to test for something.
Not getting the restless?
No.
Um, it was a totally different show and Peter Bergman was there for something.

(19:42):
And I got very, very, very- he was- and I didn't even get to talk to him.
He was in a different room and I got very nervous.
Um, shortly after that, I do book Young and the Russles.
And I'm on my first day of Young and the Russles and I'm sitting in the makeup chair, first
of any soap opera ever.
I'm 18 years old.
And Peter just walks up.
Hi, I'm Peter Bergman.

(20:04):
And since next to me, and I start sweating.
In a way that's like, Cliff, you say- I'm like, this is so weird.
I feel so uncomfortable.
I can't believe- my makeup artist is like, "Are you okay?"
I think you're getting sick.
You seem warm.
Are you- and I'm like, I know exactly what it is.
So Peter gets up to shake my hand like, "Walk him to the show."
And I shake- and I say, "Oh, you okay?"
You seem a little clammy.
And I like- I wanted to faint.

(20:25):
I wanted to die.
I didn't have anything to say to him.
Of course, now I know him so well.
It's so different.
But I was a- I've never forgotten that moment because when I get to meet people, and I'm like,
"It's no big deal.
Oh my goodness.
I live in it.
Please don't think of- I mean, it's not about me.
It's about the moment that they got to have with me in their living room every day for

(20:47):
a certain amount of time.
And- but I- so I was a super fan.
Yeah.
It's- it really, you know, meeting somebody like that who you really almost watched
every day.
It's a big deal.
And you're like, for a couple of years, like middle school and high school, so.
Oh, I- I get it.
I got it.

(21:08):
Um, how did the role of Megan Dennison come about?
Do you remember your audition and screen test?
I do.
Um, those back before cell phones, really.
We had a couple of us had them, but we had them like- he had to plug them into your car.
Then they were like, "This big."
Huge, huge.

(21:29):
And we had Pagers.
And I was, um, and Thomas Guides.
That's how old I am, guys.
Tom, do you remember Thomas Guides, Ellen?
I do, yes.
I didn't know what it was until- I worked for Disney back in- in early 90s and would come
out to California for- for business.
And people would talk about them.
I- I never had heard of that on the East Coast.
We didn't have that.

(21:50):
So I was from Texas and we didn't have that.
But I get out here and I'm talking to other actors and they're like, "Oh, you don't have
a Thomas Guide?
Well, how are you gonna- no, you have to- so on your audition slip, it would say like 42
F-18.
And that page 42 F-18 was the location of your casting office.
So you had to like go- I mean, kids today have no idea.

(22:12):
No, I mean-
Wow.
No idea.
Hey, that's nice though that they gave it to you.
They would give you- most of the time they would give you that, not always.
Um, and this was like back when they would try to factor your stuff and not everyone even
had a fax machine.
So I'd have to go to like my library at school or kinkos.
I mean, this was old school.

(22:33):
And then I remember getting a fax machine and I was like, "I'm working so much, I have- so
all my friends were like, "Oh, well, Ashley is the fax machine because she's working so
much."
You're like, "I'm so cool, I have a fax machine."
Max machine, which, uh, my son would have no idea what I'm talking about.
No idea.
Um, I was on the 405 driving from one audition to another one and I got a page.

(22:57):
And my agents have always been very funny.
By the way, I've had the same agent since I was 17.
So they put me on down in the Russas.
They put me in old school and true blood and all the big things I've ever done and, uh,
both in the beautiful obviously.
But they, uh, I got a text, call us back immediately.

(23:19):
No one says that unless you, someone's died or you booked a job.
So I'm like trying to get off the 405, trying to pay phone.
I mean, this was like back in the day.
And, um, and I found a pay phone and they were like, "You booked junk in the Russas, you don't
have to go to the next audition."
And I remember like dropping the phone.
It was just, it felt so good to book something.

(23:39):
And I only booked like one or two episodes and I thought it was such a big deal because
it was like, I don't know.
I still at the time that soaps were such a big deal.
And these, I still think soaps were such a big deal.
Uh, so it was bigger to me than like getting Dr. Quinn or the miniseries I got.
And that role turned into two Emmy nominations and a contract and I was on it for four and

(24:04):
a half, five years.
I mean, really, it's amazing when you, so many who have spoken to hire for three days,
hire for a day, you know, it's, it's a testament to the talent.
The chemistry.
And I really think it's a testament to the powers that be, the powers that be, like that was

(24:25):
the, that was Bill Bell.
He really knew when he found a story, he really knew how to write it.
So does Brad.
Brad is, uh, Bill Sun, obviously, if you don't know.
And he's the one, he's the head writer for both and the beautiful.
But his dad was kind of called the father of daytime and I was so blessed to know them
and know them well and get a lot of time with them.

(24:50):
And he was, he took my, um, you wanted to know a lot about me when I went in and he was adamant
that I finished and graduated Pepperdine and he wanted me to make good grades.
And so if my grades, if this ever came and he's like, you won't, I won't write you out.
I'll just move it.
So just let me know if you have something that's important.
And I was like, oh, okay.

(25:10):
And today I would be like, oh, I would never go in and bother, you know, Brad with that.
But back then I was like, Mr. Bell of a test tomorrow.
So I don't know what to do because you have me in the script and I mean, I was 18, I mean,
I just went in and would tell him.
And I'm like, and I didn't, I just went straight to him and went knock on his door and say,

(25:31):
I kind of, my finals are next week, but you have me in three shows.
So I don't know what to do.
He's like, we'll move your shows to the week after.
You know, he's like, you're going to graduate.
By the way, it's done nothing for me to graduate except the fact that I can say, yeah, absolutely.
Many of the fans are commenting that you have chemistry as much as you say it's, you know,

(25:52):
bill or Brad, it is about chemistry with others because, you know, they saw something and
they kept kept you on board and, you know, I don't get to see him right?
No, no, no.
Oh, because that would distract you.
For thank you for being here and if you're here and they are, they are, they are, they're

(26:17):
they're, they're talking all about Vicki, I think, said you were the best farthest or there
is.
Oh, that's a big statement.
I don't know if that's true, but that is a big statement.
What, you know, even though you watched a time, this was your first gig at 18 on daytime,
did somebody take you under their wing to show you the ropes when you got there?

(26:42):
You know, young and the restless, I think it was a little different.
It was a bigger show.
It was an hour show and there was a large cast.
The people that I started connecting with quickly, Jennifer Garrys, Sabre and Janay, she played
my sister.
Yeah.
My dad in the show who's no longer, um, setting it in.
Yes.

(27:02):
And, um, and Jess Walton, but it wasn't like one, you know, er, er, Braden did in a sense,
but I was so intimidated by him.
It was a little scary for me at that.
Now he's not scary to meet all, but at the time he was, I think to any 18 year old, he would

(27:23):
be.
Yeah.
And then I only have had ever had to do a couple of scenes with him and I was, yeah.
But again, you know, as we were talking like, you know, you watching things when you were
on set, I mean, just watching that for people work is a master class.
It's right.
The Amrita offset and the politics offset and a lot of politics offset, which is, to me,

(27:48):
I found fascinating and, um, just kind of soaked it all up and I was a pretty big observer
back then.
And then I got my, I got my footing and I felt more comfortable doing things, but I didn't
really feel like a real player in data.
I mean, I was nominated.
So it wasn't like I didn't do a good job, I guess, but I didn't feel like I really could

(28:10):
like say, okay, I, I, I, I, boldly beautiful gave me something different and, um, I was still
in extension of the bill family and I felt very comfortable coming back to CBS because
we were right across the hall.
I knew the entire, oh, Christian, the blog, oh, that's who I should have named, um, and
Lordly Bell.

(28:30):
They did take me under their wing.
Christian though really, really, really did.
And we ended up working together off on a different project later.
Um, I got to know Christian very well.
I got to know Christian, I got to know Christian, I got to know Christian, I got to know

(29:05):
Christian.
Christian.

(29:34):
Christian.
Christian.

(30:12):
Christian.
Christian.

(30:41):
Christian.
Christian.

(31:18):
Christian.
Christian.

(31:56):
Christian.

(32:21):
Christian.
Christian.
And I really, really love that family.
And I really love Brad.

(32:41):
And I'm deeply invested in so many things at that show.
I'm shadowing right now to direct.
I'm doing some things with Kelly overseas.
- Heather did, Heather?
- Well, Heather's directing.
Heather's been here a long time and I am.
Heather's directing and writing.
Yeah, I adore Heather and I--

(33:03):
- And my friend Lawrence's writing,
Lawrence's writing,
some other people from the officer writing.
I do get to go back as an actress now and again
and I will be back at Christmas, which is fun.
I use the-- - Not as exciting.
- I use the marker Christmas.
They bring the family home so I can go out.
- Family should be together at Christmas.

(33:25):
- Yes.
- Mel just said Ashley is brilliant.
She taps into all of Bridget's trauma from her mom.
I still wish Bridget would go full villain on brick
after all the years of emotional trauma
brought her daughter through.
(laughing)
- Now if we did that,
as a producer, Rain, my producer had on,

(33:49):
Brooke is the star of the show for all intents and purposes.
There's other stars, but Brooke is,
is she's been one of the main, main, main pushes of the,
you know, thrusts of the show for so long.
And of course, Ridge, you don't,
if you go head to head with some--
No, I think we could go head to head as mother and daughter

(34:09):
and come out okay, but you don't wanna go so head to head
and bring up all the past.
And also one is so you have to be careful
about bringing up all the past,
'cause there's a lot of the past.
And you're like, oh, you don't even wanna
remind the audience all the time that like,
wait, how many husbands have we all had?
How many people we slept with?
How many babies have we had or lost

(34:31):
or we don't know where they are?
So there's a sense of present,
presence that needs to happen on a soap
to really, really make it work, especially as an actress.
You have to play the moment and you have to play
what's in front of you and not so,
it doesn't always work in a film,
'cause in the film you wanna play,
and you can play some of the past.

(34:51):
And there's times to definitely play the past.
And I definitely play it with my mom in some areas,
but we play a lot of forgiveness.
Who do you think is Bridget's love,
like which guy would you say?
- Oh, without a doubt, there's no question.
It was Nick, Jack Wagner.
- Were you a Melrose fan before working with him?

(35:16):
- I was, I was.
But I didn't really watch his,
I watched the early years.
- Early Melrose, yeah, yeah, before.
- What are you really not much about him?
- Yeah, Jack and I had a great time working together.
We, our chemistry really worked.
And yeah, I, he, I mean he was fantastic on the show.

(35:36):
He was a great find and he was,
I thought it was a really smart move for them to bring him on.
And it was, everything worked, yeah.
- Not end-branded, beamer, did you have fun?
- Breaking into your works well too.
I just think that it, that was Bridget's,
the love of Bridget's life.

(35:56):
Branded and I, I think what's interesting is sometimes you have,
most people, I hope most people don't have this.
But you have different phases of life
where you have that chemistry love
that you can't kind of control it.
And then you have the mature love that works.

(36:17):
And then you have the light forever love.
I don't know, I, some people have different levels of it.
I've been told there's different, you know.
I'm still looking for lots of things in my life.
So we won't go into personal look.
(laughing)
What I think would be interesting for Bridget,
if they ever wanted to bring Bridget back.
And I think the reason as a producer writer,

(36:39):
if I put my producer right ahead on,
the reason to bring her back to the canvas long-term
would be Logan, her son.
And so you bring Logan back into the fold.
And then it makes sense to bring Brand in back.
And if you did, if they wanted to,
who knows and if he's available.
But that is, I think that's a different kind of,
it's a different kind of love when it's a very mature,

(37:02):
it's not based on chemistry.
It's based on really, really knowing someone really well
and wanting to be with them for the rest of your life
for all the right reasons.
And knowing that you're deeply in love with who they are
and it's not how they make you feel
and all that kind of stuff.

(37:22):
Not that Nick couldn't have been that to her,
could still be that to her.
But I think it'd be interesting to play that.
That would be a reason for me to wanna come back
for a long-term storyline.
'Cause I think that's a fun thing to play out.
And then Brand in is so hot and cute and great
that he's would be needed on the show.
And again, there's plenty of triangles
that could get involved with it.
So.

(37:43):
- That's for sure.
When you think back, starting young in the rest of the 18,
what do you think you learn there
that has really helped everything since?
- I was a lesson I learned from Ed Scott
our executive producer at the time.
He's now back at Young in the Restless,
that's the executive producer there.
And the booth is what we call it.

(38:03):
It was a silly, silly storyline, but it was a big one
and Bill felt very strongly about it.
And I ended up, I was nominated for an Emmy for it
and it was only because Ed, this is back when he had more money
and more time and we were doing like one,
maybe one and a half shows a day.
I think we were only doing one show a day.

(38:24):
So we had time and we don't really have that kind of time anymore.
But it was a storyline about, I found a bra that wasn't my bra
and it must have been someone else's bra
and I thought it was my sister's bra
so it was my sister having like relations
with the guy that I liked.
And I just wasn't going that deep with it.

(38:46):
And he took me aside and said,
you'll never get anywhere if you don't make everything
super, super personal.
You've got to dig deeper and I know you have it in you
and I'm not, I'm going to make you do this over and over again
until I find it because I know you can do it.
And he's like, we're going to take a 30 minute meal

(39:08):
and I want you to come back with a totally different set
of circumstances in your brain.
I want you to make this really personal.
And he didn't tell me how, I didn't say go method,
he didn't say pull.
And I took the time to think like, I just really, really,
really, really, really started believing the material,
like really believing it.
And I got so upset I couldn't look at Sabrin

(39:29):
and I played my sister.
So I was like, cheater, cheater, I mean, like,
and then I went back and did the scene
and there was like lots of levels of anger
but anyway, it's fun, it's really, really fun to do.
And I got, it was nominated.
What I learned from that is there is,

(39:51):
there's depth to everything and you really, really,
you have to find it and so never underestimate.
You can't just read what's on the page.
You have to find meaning and go so, so much deeper.
And I was young when I really learned that
and it's helped me out a lot.
I think back to that a lot actually.
'Cause when I read a scene and I'm like,
this is stupid, I don't get it.
And it means nothing.

(40:13):
How am I gonna, I'm like, no, no, no.
And in my brain I go back to the bra and the couch.
That's what I think.
So.
- I mean, and isn't that just so wild?
Like he just pulled your side, said this,
took that 30 minute break but it's a lesson that stayed with you.
- We don't have 30 minutes.
It's today's favorite cool stuff and come prepared.

(40:35):
Ellen, how do you know so, so well?
Have you always been a fan?
- I grew up watching As the World Turns and Gotting Light
because of my mom and then worked on both shows for 13 years.
- As of what, were you right?
- Yeah.
- Oh, that's right.
Okay, Kim did tell me that.
That's what I thought.
- Yeah.
- So then you knew all of the actors very well

(40:57):
and you understood the genre and yes.
- Yep.
And started this really two weeks into the pandemic
just because I thought it would help your people up.
- It made sense.
And so it was, we were, this was what,
this was our connection to things.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- And we could have our camera.
- It was a way for people to reconnect.

(41:21):
My friend Leslie Kay from As the World Turns Played Your Sister.
- We worked really well together.
- The fan said your chemistry was off the charts.
I didn't get to see you.
- So there's so different.
We were very, very, very different
and it worked really well.
And then of course they did what soaps do best

(41:43):
and they put a triangle
and we were in love with the same guy.
And I don't even remember who the guy,
was it Antonio Sabato or I don't remember who it was.
It didn't matter who it was.
It was the chemistry between Leslie and me
and it was, I mean, it worked really, really, really well.

(42:04):
She's a phenomenal actress.
- She's good.
- She's really good.
And there's certain people that know how to be incredibly present
and turn it on and a dime.
And a lot of sub actors know how to do that to be honest
'cause you have to.
- Well, and that's why they hire so many of you
in lifetime movies and hallmark movies

(42:24):
because you could--
- And we're all like a lot of guest stars on primetime.
Nobody has time anymore.
You want someone that knows how to do it, knows the genre.
I mean, knows the angles and the lighting and the marks
and can do it.
Matter of fact, most of us when we do other things,
even lifetime, which also has a strict budget,
but a lot of sub actors that come on, they're like,

(42:47):
"Wow, we have so much downtime."
I'm like, you think?
Because I'm directing or something.
But I forget that we have no downtime on it.
- No.
- I mean, I haven't been on a soap set since 2009.
I can't imagine.
- What?
- No, what the pace is today.

(43:07):
- Oh, I don't know how to do the good old days.
Ellen, those were the--
- I did.
- Those were the slow days.
- That was the slow days.
That was the slow days.
- We could laugh and hang out and out for water,
go get a dike hook and come back and rehearse one more time.
And honestly, now, and it's interesting,
I'm in the booth 'cause I'm wanting to direct.

(43:28):
And when they come in and they ask for like,
you can hear them and you know, it's just saying like,
oh, we're just running it really, really fast
'cause we did some cuts and I just wanna see you do it.
And you're like, of course, of course,
that totally makes sense.
It's an actor, I would want that too.
But you're sitting there and we're all like,
woo!

(43:48):
Why is this taking a minute and a half
for them to rehearse the scene?
This is really to cutting into our tape time.
There is just no time.
- Yeah.
I mean, and the amount that they, you know,
like you said, you used to do one show a day.
Many shows are doing like two or three a day.
Yeah, it's really, and that's a testament again

(44:09):
to all of your talents because that is--
- Especially production,
for production to be able to do it and pull it off.
- It is a skill, it is a skill.
Tell us about Daphne and True Blood.
Was that--
- That was an extraordinary time.
I was in the throes of a huge storyline

(44:32):
with Brandon Beamer at the time.
So I was doing, "Bold and Beautiful" during the day
and then True Blood pretty much at night.
Many, I mean, at least I say many,
probably four or five times.
I would leave Paramount Ranch and Malibu
did not have time to go home
because I had a call time at "Bold and Beautiful."
So there was no sleep.

(44:54):
I would leave with my makeup on and my hair done,
kind of like this, and go, "I already had bad
"a makeup on everything.
"I would come to set and I would sit in the chair
"and they would kind of touch me up and I would learn lines
"and I would think, like, when can I take a nap?"
And I probably did some of my best work then
because you have no time to overthink it.
You're just so in the moment

(45:14):
and all of your inhibitions are gone
and you're just there and vulnerable and emotional
and it was a really fun time in my life
and I would not take it back.
But I could not do that now.
You can't do that as an adult with a child.
- Yeah.
- I mean, who would have be at a full-time nanny,
but why would you do that?
You wouldn't see a child.

(45:34):
- So the show was generous and let you do both?
- There were some issues, but yes.
Both shows were being as generous as they possibly could.
They did fight.
I heard later there were a lot of,
and this is like something that no one would know
unless you get in the nitty gritty of it.
Viacom owns CBS in Paramount.

(45:59):
And Showtime is owned by a different parent company.
So they were not, had it been HBO, I mean, sorry.
HBO was owned by a different company.
Had it been a parent company of Viacom,
which I think was Showtime.
It might have been a little more congruent on what,

(46:20):
it might have been a little smoother,
but HBO was completely out of the family
when it came to Viacom.
And that's how far up it gets when you're doing
multiple shows at once.
And then the show owners have to,
they had to talk a lot.
I just can clearly remember the...

(46:42):
Greg and Adam having to talk a lot.
I don't know that anyone's done that since I did it,
because I think it was, it was from Bold and Beautiful.
I mean, I know they do crossovers like
primetime on CBS and they make that work.
And that's a little bit easier.
But when you're a contract player on one show,

(47:03):
it's hard to be a contract player on another show,
especially a family that's not in the same network family.
With that said, I didn't really feel a lot of it.
My agents took a lot of the brunt.
And I...
They put their fore.
And I...
Oh, I had the time of my life.
It was a five-month-old.

(47:24):
I repressed in Sam Tramal.
Sam Tramal, Carrie, Alan Ball.
I mean, come on, it's got me a word winner.
I got to hang out with Alan for months and months and months.
All the writers on that show, Michael Layman,
was directing a lot and writing so many phenomenal people
that I've been able to keep in touch with.

(47:45):
And...
I love Carrie's new show on CBS.
Mary is such a gem.
And then, who's the... why am I blanking?
Oh my gosh.
Like the hot, hot, hot guy.
Why am I blanking?
Steve and something.
Well, yeah.
Steve...
Oh, no, I know who you're talking about.
Brother.

(48:05):
The brother.
Sookie's brother?
No, it wasn't a brother because she was sleeping with him.
Well, Anna and Steve...
Oh, no.
I love Anna and Steve and we're fantastic.
I keep in touch more with Anna.
And Anna Camp.
I went to her 41st day party last year.
That was really fun.
I keep in touch with a lot of them as much as we all did.

(48:26):
Oh my gosh.
She was totally forgot.
Just you just blew my mind.
Yeah, she was phenomenal.
Anna, yeah.
And Anna...
That's where I think I was introduced to her.
Yeah, loved her.
Please.
And she's gone on to do huge, huge things.
Yeah.
Oh my god.
True Blood was one of our favorites.
Loved it.
It was...
I feel really like looking back and like...

(48:48):
How did I just get that thrown in my lap?
And it's been...
I feel like...
But yeah, like what you said earlier in the interview,
just getting these experiences and getting to learn from...
A little things along the way and trying to figure out
what to do with them all.
And then you start putting the pieces together and you're like,
"Oh, I think this means that I actually do know how to produce."

(49:10):
Or, "I do know how to write.
I'm writing two movies for Lifetime right now."
Very specific discipline.
It's not my...
It's not my usual discipline because writing is a very lonely activity.
I thrive up above that.
And what Narmie just said was that Alexander Skarsgard was...
Yes, oh thank you.
What is it?
Oh my god.
Oh my god.

(49:31):
The cookies that kept walking by me.
Yeah.
I forgot.
Yeah.
Totally forgot who he was in that too.
It's been a while.
Wow.
He's done a ton of other stuff.
Knowing that you're writing, directing, acting, if...
You know, powers at B said you have to choose one.
Is there one you would really choose right now, do you think?

(49:52):
It's always been acting, yeah.
Acting.
Still, that's great.
It's where your love is.
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, I know you spent...
A point of art is my choice and best.
Yeah, but I...
It's the part...
The sad part of the business is that we don't know...
You know, just because I love doing it and I know that I'm good at it,
doesn't mean I get to do it every day.
And it doesn't mean that...

(50:12):
You know, so...
But again, like...
That's being realistic.
I mean, you know, you are in an industry.
You know, there's so many talented people who don't get that opportunity to ever show it.
Well, I've talked to some Academy Award winners that say, you know, every time I work, you

(50:33):
know, Dinsel Washington doesn't.
Al Pacino doesn't.
Dustin Hoffman doesn't.
It's like...
Only one person gets to play that role.
And so it's...
Yeah, and I think in order to keep our brains active and keep our sensibility about it,

(50:53):
you have to create opportunities.
Absolutely.
Well, you spent a short time in Port Charles.
How was that experience?
I don't know.
I thought you were about to speak.
Well, you were about done.
Parker.
I...
You know, I always say this because I learned so much from every experience.
I loved it.
Working with Frank, I loved working with Nancy.

(51:15):
Nancy is a spitfire.
She keeps showing your toes.
She is a spitfire.
I found her fascinating and would happily go back and work opposite her anytime Frank
saw fit.
The whole experience was really amazing for me, but it was also amazing for me.

(51:35):
Kind of like my true blood experience is wrapped up and doing a big storyline on
both and beautiful.
I was seriously pregnant.
I worked on General Hospital up until I was almost...
I think I was four days shy of being eight months pregnant when I said I think I'm done.
Can you write me out?
I need to go.

(51:55):
And then Frank called and said, "Absolutely.
We want to honor everything.
When...
What day do you think you'll come back?"
And I was like, "Well, the baby's doing May, so I don't know.
June?"
And he was like, "Great, okay."
And I was like, "He'll never brighten me in it, June."
My son was born May 24th and I went back June...

(52:18):
Three weeks to the day.
So it was June 16th or something.
I went back three weeks after he was born and then they finished up a storyline and then
I think they had hiatus or something.
But yeah, I was like breastfeeding and there was a whole lot of stuff going on.

(52:39):
And I don't regret it really.
It was...
I don't know.
Well, and it will always be in your brain because of being pregnant.
You'll remember that experience forever.
But what I learned from that experience was that you don't want...
No one thing has to identify you.

(53:01):
So I'd become a mother and I really wanted to honor that and that's the most important
thing in my life.
Anyone that knows me now absolutely knows that.
But I can get that...
There was a thing that was like, "Oh, no.
I can go back to work too and I can do it all.
It is hard to do it all."
And I wish I had taken more time.
I regret that a little bit and I don't think it would have heard anything if I had said

(53:21):
to Frank, like give me two months.
But I did it.
I proved to myself I could do it.
And yeah, so it was kind of like all of that was wrapped up in that memory.
But I loved it there.
It's a different vibe because I came in as the outsider coming in.
I didn't...
I mean, I know them all pretty well and stuff like that.

(53:45):
The Bell family is like a family to me.
And I grew up there.
So it's a very...
You're in all my children, Gail.
Was General Hospital in your periphery?
Yes.
Very much so.
Yes.
And then of course, Jack was on the show Wagner.
And I knew Kristen...I mean, I knew a lot of them personally.
Michelle Stafford happened to be on the show then.

(54:06):
She was doing the same thing I was doing.
Meaning like it's working.
So it was not like I didn't have friends there.
I didn't feel comfortable.
But my...it's just a slightly different vibe.
But yes, it was fun.
You know, I mean, I grew up again.
My mom watched all my children.
But then I remember...I distinctly remember waking up from an app coming in and Luke

(54:29):
in the world, we're getting married on the TV.
And my mom was like, shh shh shh.
So, so-- [LAUGHTER]
So it was-- yeah, it was coming up.
You know those were moments that are seared in my brain.
And so when you grow up with that, and soaps are so important
to then get to be on one later, it's really--
[INAUDIBLE]
Completely agree.

(54:51):
Did you ever tell Peter why you were suiting--
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
And then his wife thought it was really funny.
And yes, and then I was nominated for an Emmy.
And he wrote me a handwritten note that I have upstairs.
So did Don Jiaman.
Don is great at that.
Don is amazing.
He will-- he is the first person to celebrate

(55:13):
any major thing that happens in your life.
So I have like Susan Flannery, a big actor's gal,
John McCook.
I have some fun things.
But from back when I was a teenager, I have Peter and Don's--
and Bra.
I mean, Bill, of course.
But yeah, that was pretty-- those are pretty fun moments

(55:34):
as I have in a little box upstairs.
I love that.
And that's so sweet of them too.
Of course, I lost to Cameron Grimes and Heather
Tom multiple times because you can't
compete with Cameron and Heather, especially Heather.
But now Heather and I have a really fun relationship.
I just adore her.
That's awesome.

(55:55):
Do you have a favorite role to date?
It's brazier because I feel like I know her so, so well.
I used to say, Daphne, because Daphne was so fun.
And it was so fun to be challenged in that way
and be amongst some of those people that I thought were--

(56:16):
but now I find it fascinating and mesmerizing
that someone can keep all these characters alive
and intriguing and interesting.
The whole world, like I show like, well,
the beautiful is on in so many different countries.
And people still want an episode tomorrow and tomorrow.
And whether you love it or hate it,
or you're writing on, I laugh so hard

(56:38):
when I read the comments on certain things and forms
and Instagram.
And they're just ripping certain things apart.
But they're taking the time to go in and rip something apart.
And the more comments, it's like, well, they're doing their job.
They have people watching and talking
and feeling passionate about something.
And then that helps them change the storyline or not

(57:00):
or whatever.
But to be a part of something that is that successful,
I guess, is the right word.
And I don't take any credit for the success.
I'm writing the co-tells of something.
And a character that's held on this long that people--
But you understand the passion because you watched it yourself.

(57:21):
And you started on Y&R when you would still get snail mail.
Oh, yes.
And now you're talking about--
I'm grateful that I was not handling PR
when all of this could happen instantly.

(57:43):
It's harder.
It's different.
Yeah.
Just even the keeping stories, the secret,
is tougher than it was back in those days
because of no social media.
Yeah, we even got--
I think it's OK that I say this.
I don't know if Eva's listening.
Eva's our publicist at full, the beautiful.
I don't know.
I got an email from her late last night saying,

(58:04):
I know you're going on the locker room.
Please use the Christmas stuff.
It's kind of secretive.
She asked the constantly keep her feet.
And she has to know every single thing.
And anyone can go on Instagram.
And by the way, we can ruin something
by posting a picture with someone in the back.
It's like, they're in that scene.

(58:25):
That means they're alive.
So--
Yeah, there's a lot more balls in the air
that you just have to--
you may not be thinking you're ruining something
with no intent of ruining something.
And it gets--
and you all work so hard.
So those surprises are--
For some reason.
And there's some fun.

(58:46):
So I mean, you know from watching--
I'm doing-- you know, now that I'm pitching these lifetime
things.
And one of my notes was about the really moments.
And the executive at the network was like,
you should know this better than anyone.
We need Friday Cliff Hingers every act.
Because their commercial bridge--
you know, like the Friday Cliff Hinger,
don't you remember that?

(59:06):
I was like, yes, I lived it.
Yes, I know.
I know.
And they're like, well, write it.
I'm like, OK, I understand what you want.
I just didn't know they wanted to like every, you know,
15, 20 pages.
But they-- yes, that's--
we, I say we-- the genre--
the soap genre created that.
And it's so fun.

(59:27):
And I don't want to ever steal that from anyone.
It is so much fun to get the Friday Cliff Hinger.
And you have to wait till Monday.
There's nothing like it.
There was nothing better when I literally was a fan and watched
and had no idea of what was coming.
And you'd be calling your friends who you knew watched.
Oh, remember when you would have to VHS it.

(59:49):
Put it on VHS.
And if it didn't work, you were like, I don't know.
I had a take it for me and mom.
Mom, I would be-- I would call my mom at school
because she was a school teacher.
And like, mom, they didn't take.
Who can you ask one of your teachers?
Can we call dad secretary?
It didn't work.
It's not working.
She's like, can you calm down?
Maybe you just didn't realize, you know,
because we wanted to know.

(01:00:11):
And looking back and though, like, it was just--
it was fun that brought us all kind of--
even my dad, where he would sit down and watch,
but he would hear about it because we were in the other room.
My dad finally, later in life, did.
But he didn't early on.
So does my dad now.
But that's because I've been on it.

(01:00:31):
Absolutely.
Ashley, I'm so glad Kimberly introduced us.
Thank you so much for playing this.
I try to give his like this, Claymore.
I talk a lot.
And I'm overly enthusiastic.
So forgive my--
Do not apologize for anything.
I hope we get to do this again.
You're absolutely lovely.
Absolutely.

(01:00:51):
Any time, reach out.
I'll reach out.
Everybody.
So say it again.
I'll reach out about our lifetime stuff for next week.
Please do.
In flight on Apple TV Plus, and everybody
knows tuning into the "Bulled in the Beautiful" weekdays
on CBS.
Yes.
We'll have more fun stuff coming overseas next year
that you'll get to watch.

(01:01:12):
But those are all in the work.
So thank you for your support.
Thank you for your support on social,
on watching the stuff that we do.
Thank you for your support of Alan.
All this stuff is really important to us.
And it helps keep our industry alive.
And we love you.
Have a great evening, Ashley.
Thanks so much for doing this.
Absolutely.
You too.
Bye.
Bye.

(01:01:33):
Thanks, everybody, for joining today.
Thank you to Ashley Jones for kicking December with us.
And don't forget, in flight is on Apple TV Plus.
If you haven't tuned in to the whole--
sorry.
If you haven't subscribed to the locker room,
you could do so down below.
Turn on the notifications for reminders of all upcoming shows.

(01:01:55):
And don't forget, on Friday, December 6th, Robin Scorpio,
Kimberly McCullough will join me live.
Have a great evening, everybody.
And as always, please stay safe.
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