Ian & Barbara Crampton (B&B`s ex-Maggie)

This article was in the "Soap Opera Magazine" (1997) By Robert Waldron

 

Barbara Crampton: What I`ve noticed, now that our characters are married, is that I feel closer to you in life.

Ian Buchanan: Saying those marriage vows, even though it was as our characters, made me fell more connected to you, too. The same thing happened when Finola Hughes and I married on General Hospital.

BC: If I see you on the set, you`re the first person I`ll walk over to.

IB: (laughing) I even know your phone number by heart! The great thing abour being an actor is you get to live your life to the fullest. We have so many restrictions in life. But when you`re an actor, you get to be a lot freer. So you might as well really like, and maybe get to love the person you get to work with, because they are going to know you, sometimes better than people in your life ever knew you.

BC: Before we started working together, I knew of your work. I watched you on General Hospital. I even knew you reputation.

IB: What was my reputation?

BC: You had a reputation for being a wonderful actor. I remember when I came on the show, Bradley Bell told me he thought our characters would eventually become involved. I was so pleased. But when I first met you, I remember feeling intimidated. Maybe it was because of your Scottish accent. It`s funny because we play together so much now, but there was some wall between us the first couple months I was on the show.

IB: This may sound unfair, but I generally attach myself very closely to the people I`m working with.

BC: And you weren`t working with me at the time.

IB: It`s not something I do as a judgement of the other person. It`s kind of a necessity for me. When Susan Flannery and I worked togheter, we became very close. When I work with someone, I tend to be in their aces all the time. I don`t leave them alone. (laughing). I`m completely relentless.

BC: (teasing) You`re a very needy husband.

IB: It`s funny because I`m not a needy person. But as an actor I`m very needy. I need to know there the person I`m working with is, how they`re doing and what`s going on.

BC: Initially, I think I give everybody a chance to be close, and to be a friend. But I don`t feel like I need anybody to be close. I feel like I`m okay on my own.

IB: In my life, I spend a lot of my time alone. I always have. I`m very self-sufficient. So when it comes to acting, when I go to work, it`s like I want to run away with the circus. When I`m at work, I want to be a part of everyone`s life. They`re very important to me.

BC: When I`m at work, I`ve noticed that my mood revolves around what`s going on with my character in the script. I put myself in it, whether we`re on the set or off. But your attitude is, "just do it in that moment, trust that it`s going to be there for you in that moment." But I feel like I have to figure it out. So if Maggie is feeling bugged because Sheila is insutling her, and she doesn`t feel like James it there for her, I feel that energy too. I remember when Maggie was getting married, I felt so happy. I think you go trough those feelings, too.

IB: No, I really don`t. I never preconceived notion of what I`m doing. I always read the script, and memorize it totally myself. I don`t have the character until the clothes are on.

BC: Really? I know what I`m going to do the night before. Sometimes it`ll change when I`m on the set, but I plan exactly what I`m going to do when I read the dialogue. But even thought we`re approaching it comletely differently, I think we work really well together.

IB: Yeah, I think from the first day that I was a professional actor, I made a deal with myself that I`d put myself entirely into the work - that I`d have nothing to come home unless I did my very best. So it`s not something I can prepare for.....I trust myself.

BC: Do you think you`re like that in life?

IB: No, in life I`m very premeditated and meticulous. I`m very cautious.

BC: I think I`m probably more extroverted than you. I grew up in the carnival business where I met all different kinds of people. Every moment, there were people I didn`t even know coming up to me, everybody`s my friend. I can find something about everybody that I like. You`re also a little moodier than I am. I can be moody, but I won`t let people know. I`ll overcompensate and try to make it nice.

IB: Really?

BC: Mm-hmm. But when you`re in a mood that`s just the way you are. I find myself trying to talk you out of those moods sometimes.

IB: (surprised) Do you ?

BC: Of course, I do. Don`t I?

IB: Yes. And you do it very successfully.

BC: I try to get you to focus on another way of looking at the situation, so you don`t feel so badly.

IB: But you see, I`m not afraid of feeling badly. People are alway afraid of feeling badly.

BC: That`s the point.

IB: I`m not afraid of darkness or sadness...

BC: And I am more afraid of that. I`ll say "I don`t want to feel that."

IB: It isn`t damaging to me in the slightest. It`s something I can go to very easily, and come back just as easily.

BC: That`s true. But it worries me when you get into those places.

IB: It worries you because it forces you to fell something you don`t want to feel.

BC: (laughing) Yeah, and I want to talk you out of it. So I talk about something else to redirect you attention. But isn`t that what a good wife should do?

IB: (smiles) I guess so.