I've always loved witches," chuckles Robin Strasser, who is joining PASSIONS as a 300-year-old which named Hecuba on October 23. "I spoke to [PASSIONS's] costume designer and she said, 'The character lives down in a cave, so I was thinking burlap,' and I said, 'Let's stop right there. Burlap?' So, we're going to work on something."The daytime vet confides that she reached out to former soap ONE LIFE TO LIVE (where she played Dorian on and off from 1979-2000) before signing with the competition. "I frankly had been carrying a lot of grief and separation around about ONE LIFE," she says softly. "My agent had a very clarifying discussion with a very highly placed executive at ABC, and I said, 'So, what's the upshot?' My agent said, 'I think we'd better look elsewhere.' Once I digested that information, three jobs came in!"
Strasser booked an episode of Darren Star's new show, GROSSE POINTE, and a movie with William Shatner, as well as the PASSIONS gig -- which she already loves. "I went in and visited the beautiful PASSIONS set," she reports with a laugh. "It's a country club, pardon me! Everybody is so relaxed and laid-back and friendly, and they were so happy to see me: 'What are you doing here? Are you going to be Hecuba?' It felt so nice to be wanted. Lisa [Hesser, executive producer] sat me down, and we had a wonderful talk. I just wanted to work. I was ready."
Strasser says her stay is open-ended right now. "We don't know how long it's going to last," she shrugs. "We just know that it's going to be very exciting while it's going on. [Head Writer] James Reilly has a lot cooking. As usual, he keep a lot of it under his hat. So, I will sit there with my witch's cap, or whatever I'm wearing and just be patient."
Working on PASSIONS may give Strasser the chance to run into Liza Huber (soon-to-be ex-Gwen), daughter of another ABC diva, Susan Lucci (Erica, ALL MY CHILDREN). "Won't that be fun?" enthuses Strasser. She's beautiful. She came up to me, and you know what she said? 'Hello, do you remember me? I was an intern on ONE LIFE TO LIVE.' Of course, I remember her! I had a momentary flash: 'What if I introduced my oldest son to her, and they fell in love? Wouldn't it be fun if Susan and I shared grandchildren?' "
Speaking of sharing, it is true that PASSIONS is "conspiring" to hire former OLTL stars (Andrea Evans, ex-Tina, who now plays Gwen's mom, Rebecca) the way OLTL hired ANOTHER WORLD stars last year? "Oh," guffaws Strasser, "Like nobody's ever done that before."
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