Fight for Your Right To Party
'Red Widow' Gets The Axe
Erika Slezak Looks Back on 40 Years As Viki on 'One Life to Live'
by Michael Maloney, posted Apr 27th 2011 10:00AM
There really aren't words to describe what Erika Slezak must be feeling these days. The revered star, who has won six Outstanding Lead Actress Daytime Emmys for her iconic role as Victoria Lord Banks on 'One Life to Live,' is celebrating her 40th anniversary in Llanview this year.Of course, like fans of the genre everywhere, the legendary actress is dealing with the news that ABC has canceled the long-running soap opera. "Please tell all our fans how deeply sorry I am to be losing this wonderful show that has so much heart and so much life," the actress said in a statement after the cancellation news was announced. "I will miss my work, my friends, my 'OLTL' family so very much. I consider this to be a terrible loss to the television community and especially to the New York community."
Today, the soap is honoring Slezak's 40 years of service with a special Viki-themed episode. It's one that fans will want to record and keep forever.
AOL TV spoke with the actress about her anniversary shortly before the cancellation news was announced, and she joyfully reflected on what 'OLTL' has meant to her. For starters, it certainly doesn't seem like 40 years have gone by.
"I sometimes still feel the same way that I did when I first walked into the studio 40 years ago -- young and not knowing what I was doing," she said. "Now, I know what I'm doing, but I can not believe that amount of time has gone by. There have been so many stories and so many people I've worked with."
AOL TV: Do fans tell you what was going on in Viki's life when they started watching? By the way, I started watching just before Joey was born.
Erika Slezak: [Laughs] Yes. They do. Generally, that happens.
What is it about serialized storytelling that creates that sense of intimacy?
People watch us because they want to see how the lives of these characters will unfold. I, myself, got hooked on 'General Hospital' years ago. I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next to Tracy or Luke and Laura. It's like when you're reading a well-put-together novel. You don't want it to end. ['OLTL' creator] Agnes Nixon created a core group of wonderful, warm and interesting people.
Different writing regimes come in and tinker with history. Fans recall Dorian [then played by Nancy Pinkerton, now Robin Strasser] watch Victor Lord die in the mid-'70s.She did! She watched him -- a la 'The Little Foxes' -- until he was so far gone that she knew there was no saving him. I think he had a stroke, a heart attack, and then a stroke and then was in a coma and then died. So yes, it was her fault.
And then, head writer Michael Malone came in almost 20 years later and re-wrote that one of Viki's alters actually killed Victor. How do you handle that?
You go along with it. There's nothing in my contract that says I have a say in story. I'm hired to play what they write. What [Michael] actually did was he had Tori, Viki's alter, go in and smother Victor with a pillow with Dorian watching from the bathroom. The weird thing was when [Victor] popped up alive [in 2003] wanting Jessica's heart.
Viki's scariest alter has to be icy, emotionless Jean Randolph.
Oh, yes. Jean has no emotion. She's practical. She's the one who says, "Yes, we will do this. No, we will not do that." She's the part of all of us that puts aside emotion and puts aside any kind of feelings. She has no guilt, no regrets. She does what needs to be done. That's fun to play because you can say the most horrible things to people. She doesn't care!
The show recently threw a surprise party on set to celebrate your anniversary. Were you surprised?
Yes. I had no idea. There was a notice at the studio saying there was a St. Patrick's Day party. I thought, "That's really nice." David Coleman, our guard and "mayor of Llanview," said, "Oh, that's interesting. A party on your anniversary." I said, "No, David. They'd tell me."
[Later] I saw everyone standing there. I was speechless, which for me is kind of unusual. It was incredibly sweet. I was more than touched. I was in tears. So many people were in a video tribute to me in including Agnes, Bob Woods [Bo] and Nathan Fillion [ex-Joey].
Nathan always speaks fondly of his time on daytime and, sadly, you don't always get that from alumni.
No, you don't. He's a lovely guy. He always comes by to say hello when he's in New York. He's a super guy.
The actors who play your children must learn a great deal from you.
I hope so. I know that we get along brilliantly. I love them dearly. I wish Dan Gauthier would come back permanently as Kevin. Now we have Tom Degnan playing Joey. Melissa Archer [Natalie] and Bree Williamson [Jessica] are wonderful young actresses and so completely different, which is great. They're all terrific.
Creatively, the show is in such great shape right now.Frank [Valentini, 'OLTL's' executive producer] is awesome. He cares so much and he does so much. He goes home with mountains of scripts. He's on conference calls. I don't know when he sleeps! He understands the business of television. He knows what people want to see and knows how to present it to them. He is very smart.
College kids used to schedule their classes around their favorite soaps and gather in student unions to watch them together. Today's 'OLTL' is just as great as ever. Where has the audience gone?
When I started on the show, we had four or five channels. We now have 500. Our whole world has become so fickle. People have so many choices. Ours is a very special medium. People will say they didn't watch for a while and then they come back and it doesn't take long to get caught up again. It's very hard to tell who's watching because of all the recording and people who watch on SOAPnet.
It's unfortunate they can't seem to accurately record who's watching because I suspect the numbers are much higher.
I think so. A lot of people watch, but they don't have Nielsen boxes.
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