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Soap Opera Weekly
January 30, 2007
Spotlight on Hillary B. Smith
Hillary B.
Smith can't wait for the fireworks to begin when One Life to Live's Nora
moves in with Asa. Neither can we.
SOW: How did they get you to re-sign?
Hillary: They lured me with the news that I would be living with Asa and
working with Catherine Hickland. I went, "Yeah, that works for me!" I'm very
excited. It opens up a lot of possibilities.
SOW: Why Asa's?
Hillary: Something major is going to happen in February and a Buchanan
comes to my rescue.
SOW: Talk about pregnant with humorous possibilities.
Hillary: Oh, yes. Not only is Nora living at Asa's, Matthew is there,
Clint's there, Bo's got to come over and see his father and he'll be dating
Paige. And then there's Nigel. I'm thrilled.
SOW: Has Nora completely recovered from her stroke?
Hillary: They had me do a scene where Nora has a doctor's appointment,
and I had residual numbness and weakness in my left leg and slight numbness on
the left side of my face. But all in all I was doing incredibly well.
SOW: How did playing those scenes in the hospital affect your concept of
what it must be like to be paralyzed?
Hillary: Well, I've had that happen. I didn't have a stroke but I had a
tunor in my face. The second time they removed it I was paralyzed. I had to
learn to get the left side of my face to match the right side of my face so I
could work, if I was ever going to work again. Funnily enough I started working
right away and have never really stopped working. I've been blessed. It was a
momentous occasion in my life that made me focus on things that most people
never have to think about. When you have physical ailments that you have no
control over, you raise your hands up to what's supposed to be and you stop
trying to control things.
SOW: Do you think Nora has become a stronger person because of her
stroke?
Hillary: Not only is she stronger and wiser, but she has her priorities
in place. She learned the only person you can count on is you. And that you've
got to stop looking for it elsewhere and just start being it. That's the way she
came on the show. She came on the show much more independent, and it wasn't
until she fell in love with Bo that love came into her life at all. Then, when
things fell apart with Bo, she kept looking for the replacement of that. And
now, after the whole thing with Daniel and having had the stroke, she realizes
she's not going to find it anywhere else. It's just her and Matthew and that's
it. Hopefully. It will be very interesting to see how she's changed.
SOW: Those Buchanan boys love playing poker. Will Nora join?
Hillary: Nora probably knows how to play strip poker (laughs). The
Buchanans are a rather chauvinistic lot. I don't think they're up for a girl to
join their poker ring.
SOW: Are Nora and Lindsay going to be rivals over a man?
Hillary: Possibly. If there is a man involved, we won't be fighting over
the man so much as the ramifications of that relationship.
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