Soap Opera Digest: I have to jump in and ask about the oh-so-memorable sex scene between you two.
Ben Masters: That martimmy was the thing that did it--and the parrots and the monkeys and the donkeys. That was a wonderful time. That was when I learned that I would never get into a Tarzan loincloth again. My body shouldn't see the light of day.
Juliet Mills: Oh, rubbish!
Masters: Things that I do should be done in dark, murky places.
Digest: Were there any mishaps during the taping of that romp?
Mills: I don't remember any.
Masters: Make something up.
Mills: You will, I'm sure! I remember a lot of flying on a rope and clinging myself on top of him--very racy! The memory of it has lasted five years.
Masters: And we had all the animals around that had to be coordinated. They were trying to get a shot of the monkey doing something. Sometimes, as a human actor, you're second-rate.
Digest: Eight years ago, did you ever imagine your characters would get together?
Mills: I suppose so. Why not? But Julian wasn't available at the start.
Digest: His marriage didn't stop him from hooking up with anybody else!
Mills: He's hooked up with a lot of people.
Masters (smiling): Yes, he has.
Mills: But they keep replaying our [sex] scenes.
Masters: They do. Julian's relationship with Tabitha really only was to avoid her at all costs because Alistair had warned him there was something strange going on. Then there were times when Julian was at her house and his hair stood on end and things in the basement were exploding. But characters on PASSIONS have a way of forgetting that odd things happen.
Digest: Thanks to Tabitha's memory spells.
Masters: I guess that's what it is. Also, Julian and Rebecca delivered [Tabitha's] baby. That was so strange.
Mills: I've never seen those shows. They were horrendous to shoot. My legs were [spread apart] and he was going, "The head! The head!"
Digest: What do they really put in those martimmy glasses?
Masters: It tastes like sugar water. But it really does make you feel strange and drunk. They close the set, then we drink as much as we want and get stoned out of our minds and get driven home in a limousine.
Digest: Who is more evil, Julian or Tabitha?
Masters: Tabitha.
Mills: She'd contest that. She thinks some of these mortals are beyond the pale. She has certain principles.
Masters: Just because Julian's great-great-great-great-whatever burned you at the stake!
Mills: I've never forgiven the family for that.
Digest: Who should have custody of Endora?
Masters: Tabitha should have custody. He doesn't even know what day it is.
Mills: He doesn't have time. He's too busy getting laid.
Masters: Anytime he wakes up and thinks he wants to spend time with his kids, by cocktail time, he's forgotten all about it.
Digest: What has been your favorite scene together?
Masters: For me, it's the bit that preceded Tabitha carrying Julian up to bed to make mad, passionate martimmy love. Why Julian went there in the first place was to talk about Timmy.
Mills: They were nice scenes before we got drunk together on martimmies and were consoling each other on the loss of Timmy. It's always fun getting drunk with Ben.
Masters: I liked the birth of Endora, when the wolves barked at the moon on the front porch and bats were flying around inside her house.
Mills: I didn't enjoy that. They made this hideous little devil [to be the baby] that moved.
Masters: It had a tail. It was so strange and it could do these weird things.
Digest: And now Endora's such a beautiful girl.
Masters: Talk about that kid! [To Mills] You don't let her [Nicole Cox, Endora] see you in street clothes, right?
Mills: No. I don't see her before shooting, either. She comes on the set and I'm there. I don't know what she thinks, really.
Masters: They write these bold moves: "Julian picks Endora up and sweeps her into his arms." Juliet was nice enough to warn me, "She probably won't let you pick her up." I tried and she screamed, so they had to shut everything down for 10 minutes. It's not that she doesn't like me, but I hadn't been around her that much.
Mills: Endora's definitely Tabitha and Julian's proudest production. And the only reason they are even civil to each other. They have an antagonistic relationship, definitely.
Digest: If you could put a spell on Ben, what would you do?
Masters: Oh, dear. [To Juliet] Get out of that one.
Mills: I don't know.
Masters: Make me 35.
Digest: Because you're vets of the show, do you feel pressure to be perfect?
Masters: What? Here?
Mills: No, I just feel pressure to know my dang lines. You have to come prepared or you're sunk. You can't give a performance because you're too busy thinking of your lines.
Digest: So many of your co-stars love to work with you two, and say they have to be at the top of their game to be in scenes with you.
Masters: In the first couple of years, and I'm not going to mention names, they wrote a lot for Julian and there were a lot of big, long speeches and there would be somebody else in the scene and they would have one line and go, "What? I forgot. What was that?" And it would totally throw me off. I just hated that people wouldn't prepare.
Digest: What do you admire about each other?
Mills: I admire him as an actor. He's a very experienced, professional actor and lovely to work with. And I admire his wonderful sense of humor. He's an extremely funny, witty fellow.
Digest: Do you sometimes worry about what might come out of his mouth?
Mills: No. I always hope he says something awful!
Masters: I admire Juliet's wonderful, wonderful talent and sense of humor. I'm basically echoing what she said about me. I admire all the work she has put into this. She should be paid two salaries, at least. She never witches about it. I've never heard her say a negative thing. And I also think she's a physically beautiful woman.
Mills: Merci!
Digest: You never know what can happen in DIRECTV land with your characters.
Masters: Can we swear?
Mills: I asked Lisa [de Cazotte, executive producer] that and she said there will be no more profanity than there already is because they're still appealing to the young set.
Masters (sarcastically): We wouldn't have a hooker going off frame like she's giving a guy [oral sex]. Thank God, we're free now. This show definitely bends boundaries.
Mills: That semen talk [after Fancy was attacked] went on and on.
Digest: Well, we're so happy you're both staying. We don't know what PASSIONS would be without you two.
Mills: Thanks. You can print that!