Q&A with Lisa Hesser
(Executive producer, Passions)

Passions, the new NBC daytime drama set to premiere July 5, may have many unknowns in its cast, but there's no need to worry because seasoned soaps producer Lisa Hesser is at the helm. The Fordham University graduate began her daytime career as an intern at One Life to Live in 1983, rising through the ranks and becoming a coordinating producer under executive producer Paul Rauch before leaving in 1991. Hesser was reunited with Rauch during her stint at Santa Barbara from 1991 to '93. After two years at All My Children, Hesser returned to NBC (and the West Coast) to help start up Sunset Beach.

Earlier this year the Peacock network again tapped Hesser, this time to execute the vision created by Passions's head writer James E. Reilly. Recently, Hesser took time out of her busy schedule to give TV Guide Online a Passion-ate preview of the eagerly anticipated soap.— Michael J. Maloney


What is the most important thing that you learned from Paul Rauch?

Paul's one of the best in the business and he's certainly proven that with his work on Guiding Light. Paul has a wonderful eye and a sense of story. I picked up a lot of valuable things from him just by osmosis. He brings out the best in people and makes you want to give the best.

What are the challenges in starting up a new soap opera at a time when ratings are down?

It's certainly an ambitious project. But I truly feel that if there's anyone you're going to try and resuscitate the medium with, it's Jim Reilly [former head writer of Days of Our Lives], who's proven himself to be such a successful writer. The biggest challenge has been in the casting. For me, the two most important elements are the writing and the casting. I think we've put together a terrific group.

A lot of established daytime stars like Finola Hughes (ex-Anna, GH; now AMC's Alexandra) and Krista Tesreau (ex-Mindy, GL; ex-Tina, OLTL) had read for Passions. Kim Johnston Ulrich notwithstanding, there really aren't a lot of names in the cast. Did it just come down to going with the right actor for the part and not picking a name for publicity's sake?

Exactly. We tested several well-known soap names and they were all terrific. What we ended up doing was casting the person whom we thought embodied the role the best. It's a difficult process when you're starting a new show because, in a sense, it's like putting a puzzle together. You don't want to cast one person without seeing what his or her chemistry would be like with another person. When we put the cast together we had a big barbecue to welcome everyone; we looked at the cast as a group and we thought, "This is fantastic. These people look like families." We have some actors playing brothers and they really look like brothers.

One of my big concerns was shooting over 300 pages of script material in seven days with almost the whole cast. This was two days after everyone met each other. We teamed actors up in dressing rooms and we all got to spend time together. It was a wonderful bonding experience.

One "unknown" who has gotten some pre-premiere exposure has been Liza Huber (Gwen), the real-life daughter of Susan Lucci (Erica, AMC).

I worked with Susan during my two-and-a-half years at All My Children and all I can say is that Susan and Helmut [Huber, Lucci's husband] have done a wonderful job because Liza is a terrific young woman. She's also a talented actress. I think she's going to be a terrific part of the show.

Critics say that soaps don't have visionary head writers and that the shows aren't multigenerational, but Passions seems to have both of those going for it.

Viewers will find that Passions is the quintessential soap opera. It's based in family, tradition and romance — all the things that people look for when they tune into daytime drama. There's an element in Passions that is perhaps supernatural, but I would say that the basis of the show is really about family.

When Jim Reilly touched upon supernatural topics on Days, such as Marlena's possession, the story would ultimately be about relationships — like Marlena and John.

Yes. What you'll see from day one with Passions is that Jim has this amazing ability to create these families and draw people into them. The characters are accessible. You know who you're rooting for from the get-go. It's there and it will be on the screen. You "get" who these characters are right away.

How busy did the initial location shoots keep you?

[Laughs] I was gone 16 days in the month of May. I was in Paris and up to Oxnard [CA] to shoot there.

Will there be continued extensive location shooting a la Sunset Beach?

No. That's something that's really wonderful and specific about Sunset Beach. I [produced] the majority of the locations for the two-and-a-half years that I was there. It's beautiful for them, but we won't be doing that kind of shooting. Maybe every once in a while.

There's a myth that the soap audience only enjoys watching the young characters, but viewers like the "older" characters, too.

Yes. Jim's been aware of that. You won't just be seeing the teen-age girls and the younger guys. You'll see the parents and how the kids relate to them. Passions encompasses multigenerational aspects.

Will you have input into the story, or do you see yourself more as an (executive producer] Ed Scott to [writers] Bill Bell and Kay Alden on The Young and the Restless?

It'll be along those lines. [However] Jimmy is very receptive. We have outline meetings every week. He's open to any suggestions that we might have. [Laughs] But you really don't have that many. The only thing that you want to ask is, "Where are the next five scripts?"

Sunset Beach started out being very different, but many of the changes that have gone into that show have made it more of a traditional soap — it dropped that film look in favor of videotape, and the stories, like the Ricardo/Gabi/Antonio triangle and Ben's back-from-the-dead wife, are more traditional.

I think what we learned quickly at Sunset is that you can't pace a story too fast. You need to know who the characters are before you can get an audience that is willing to stick with you.

The promos for Passions use the term redefining daytime drama as opposed to "reinventing" it.

Exactly. And I think that's just what Jim has done. Everyone keeps asking: How is it different? Well, it's not different, because the stories are very traditional. But what Jimmy has done is packaged them in a more contemporary way.

In addition to the location shoots, can viewers look for any special events during Passions' premiere week?

Pretty much every day during the first week will have a special something. I think that's the key to Jim's success. I've been a soap fan my whole life. I used to baby-sit the children of Michael Storm [Larry, OLTL]. I've known him for a long time. Through college I became a General Hospital fan and through that exposure to daytime I found that you can become very smart as a viewer. You have to watch Friday for that cliffhanger storypoint and then tune in on Monday to see how it picks up. However, Jim's very smart about writing those hooks on any day of the week. You don't know. You have to tune in every day to see what will happen next.

There's been a lot of promotion for the show. You've probably done more interviews in the last few weeks than in your entire daytime career!

Or would ever want to do! Seriously, though, I'm a relatively shy person. But it's all going fine. We had a tech rehearsal [in the studio a few weeks ago] before we started up full production. It's been very exciting. I was fortunate enough to be in on the beginning of Sunset Beach. I learned a lot there. This has been just great. I'm knocking wood all the time. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.

While on Days, Jim's writing brought that show to within three-tenths of a ratings point of tieing Y&R. That must instill a lot of confidence that he can make Passions a success.

He's wonderful in every facet. He's a good friend, very supportive and loyal. He's one of the best at what he does and he loves doing it. From my end of things, I couldn't have asked for a better situation.