FRIENDLY FIRE

Real-life pals Finola Hughes and James Patrick Stuart joined Digest via Zoom to dissect their characters' hot GH romance.

- Mara Levinsky

Soap Opera Digest: Well, well, well, if it isn't SOD's Best Couple of 2022! (Hughes breaks into a celebratory dance.) What does it mean to each of you that "Vanna" has been embraced so passionately by fans and critics alike?

Finola Hughes: It's everything! It's actually surprising, for me, because I wasn't thinking about any of that going into this; I literally concentrate on the work and that's it, I never think about the outcome.

James Patrick Stuart: I think that's one of the things that Fin and I have in common- to us, the work is its own reward. There were times, maybe two or three years ago, where I would look at Twitter and think, "Fin and I are really doing something special." Especially when Michelle [Stafford, ex-Nina] left, I thought, "Wow, maybe this is the time. What are the writers waiting for?" I always felt that when Fin and I got together, something really special was happening. It's almost like we were cooking a dish that we really took our time with, and it's just really satisfying that people are enjoying it as much as we are.

Hughes: I so agree with that and I think what's really lovely for us is that the writers wrote for us and for the way we speak. It's very adult and kind of daring and sexy and smart, and I really like that.

Digest: Certainly in the beginning, it seemed improbable that romance could blossom between these two characters, given how fraught their relationship was. What is your take on how they've evolved as a twosome?

Stuart: I love the fantasy of that of having someone that unattainable, that far away, that out of reach, coming into your life and becoming so important to you. I don't think. I've ever been part of a project that's gone on as long as this storyline has gone on, and therefore you earn the climax, no pun intended.