Love At First Sight

Michelle Stafford And James Patrick Stuart Dish Their Whirlwind GH Romance.

- Mara Levinsky

Soap Opera Digest: So, last summer, you guys met, then pretty much immediately had to make out and do a love scene.

James Patrick Stuart: Yeah, when she met me, my trousers were actually halfway around my legs!

Michelle Stafford: No, here’s what happened. When Frank [Valentini, executive producer] said, “Oh, you’re going to have a love scene with him,” James was doing another scene, and then Frank brought him over and introduced us. I said, “I hear we’re going to get naked together and I just want to say, ‘You’re welcome.’ ” That was our first moment together.

Stuart: Yeah, that’s true! That was our introduction.

Digest: What were your first impressions of one another?

Stuart: This is going to sound like a pat answer, but the Valentin/Nina fascination is not that far from the James/Michelle fascination. She’s not only devastatingly beautiful, but she’s funny.

Stafford: I have nothing to say. That is so lovely!

Stuart: I showed up last summer looking to make a little money, then go off and do my smash-and-grabs on nighttime crime procedurals. All of a sudden this beautiful, funny woman is there. I’m like, “Ahh, shoot.” That kind of messed up my plan and I think that there’s a parallel in our storyline.

Stafford: I think James is a really beautiful, funny woman, too.

Stuart: Oh, you’re cute!