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THE 31st ANNUAL DAYTIME EMMY AWARDS
Geary, Stafford Named Top Actor and Actress
Posted Friday, May 21, 2004 10:49:14 PM
by Dan J Kroll
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR
Anthony Geary (
Luke Spencer,
General Hospital
"If I had thought I had a shot at this I would have told somebody to do my hair," joked the wispy-haired actor.
Geary repeatedly praised co-star and fellow nominee Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos), who he said "carries the show."
Geary also said that he encourages the show's writers to keep his character dark. Geary has now racked up 9 nominations for his work as Luke Spencer and tallied three Emmy wins. Despite that, the actor admits that he sometimes doesn't like stepping into his on-screen persona's shoes.
"He isn't always a thrill for me to play," Geary confessed. "I like Luke's humor. I like his darkness, I like his edge."
Still hooked on the dark side of his character, Geary offered a storyline twist that even multi-talented headwriter James E. Reilly (Days of our Lives and Passions) couldn't have dreamed up.
"I was hoping that the murderer on Days of our Lives would turn out to be Luke," he deadpanned.
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS
Michelle Stafford (
Phyllis Summers, The Young and the Restless)
"I'm freaked out and I'm not gonna cry. Otherwise, I'll make fun of myself after the show," stammered Stafford as she accepted her Emmy.
Stafford dedicated her award to children "who think they're freaks" and the mothers that "show them a creative path." Offering encouragement, Stafford added, "All that goofiness might find you on a stage like this one day."
Stafford, who joined The Young and the Restless in 1994, has garnered three total Emmy nominations. In 1997, she won the Supporting Actress crown. Last year, she was nominated in the Lead Actress category. This year marked her first win as a Lead Actress.
Last year, Stafford was the subject of a bit of a mini scandal. Several scenes, which media outlets dubbed "key scenes," were accidentally omitted from Stafford's Emmy reel. It was widely implied that these missing scenes dashed Stafford's chances of winning the Emmy. Stafford, however, felt that there was too much "hoopla" made over the tape mishap and notes that she is actually
glad that those scenes were left out.
"I hated those scenes. They weren't really my best work," clarified Stafford.
Said Stafford of her Y&R persona, "[She] is just a freak of nature. She is manipulative and she is conniving and then she twists things around to make the audience think, 'I feel bad for her. She's right to be murdering that person.' She's just a victim of her demons, like we all are"
PART SIX: DRAMA SERIES
