The late Scott Bryce, who died on July 12 from esophageal and stomach cancer, played bad boy turned hero Craig Montgomery on As the World Turns from 1982 to 1987, from 1988 to 1989, and sporadically through 2008.
After faking paralysis and blowing up a truck in misguided efforts to hang onto Betsy (Meg Ryan), Craig found redemption and true love with Sierra Esteban (Finn Carter), the woman he would marry and with whom he’d have two children.
There were other love interests, including his unique and fiery dynamic with Sierra’s mother, Lucinda Walsh (the late Elizabeth Hubbard), but once Craig and Sierra locked eyes and “Suddenly” by Billy Ocean played, nobody else stood a chance.
However, while Sierra was presumed dead, Craig had relationships with other women, including Emily Stewart (Melanie Smith). He became a surrogate father of sorts to traumatized teen Lily Walsh (Martha Byrne).
TV Insider has spoken exclusively to Carter, Smith, and Byrne about their late, beloved co-star.
“Scotty was probably the most influential person in my career,” Carter says. “Not to mention that I love him so. Oh, my heart cannot take this enormous loss.”
“I was so stunned that Scotty had passed because he just wasn’t the type to die,” Smith says. “Even when I found out that he’d gotten sick, I was like, ‘He’s going to get better. He’s going to get better.’”
“I think every actress on the show wanted to work with Scott because he always leveled the game,” Byrne observes of the two-time Daytime Emmy-nominated Bryce. “He was always ready to create and it was never about him. It was about the scene. Scotty had that ability that bad guys on soaps don’t have at all. Viewers have a good warm feeling about Craig and about loving him. That’s not the instant reaction with most soap ‘villains.’”
In the 1980s, actors on soap operas spent weekends doing personal appearances, meeting legions of lifelong fans across the United States and Canada. Smith recalls one particular devotee literally getting a ride of a lifetime with both her and Bryce.
“I won’t say where this appearance was,” Smith says, “because I don’t to ‘out’ my cousin, but we were leaving an appearance venue one time and one of the coordinators came up to me and said, ‘Your cousin is here. She wants to know if she can see you.’”
Smith and Bryce had a plane to catch; however, they made time for Smith’s cousin by letting her ride in the limousine they were taking to the airport for a while.
“My cousin is very sweet, and she was just in awe of Scott,” Smith fondly recalls. “She’s like in love with him. She was sweating and shaking. After we dropped her off and were on our way to the airport, Scotty looks at me and says, ‘You know your cousin stole my tie.’”
Smith recalls Bryce’s wardrobe item was a “brand new, gorgeous Armani tie.”
“We laughed so hard,” Smith shares. “We were on the floor of that limousine crying with laughter. I said, ‘Yeah, baby, that’s my tribe!’”
Bryce took his first break from ATWT in 1987, after Craig joined the “winners circle” upon finding out that Sierra’s son, Bryant, was actually his. Craig and Sierra wed, but he was soon presumed dead or missing by his loved ones. (Audiences knew that he’d survived.)
Bryce returned to Oakdale in 1988, much to the delight of ATWT viewers everywhere. The reunion was bittersweet as Sierra was thought missing or dead in a counter-revolution on the island of Montega.
Head writer Douglas Marland resurrected Sierra for Thanksgiving the following year. During her absence, Craig had romances with Smith’s Emily and Renee Props’ Ellie Snyder.
“Scotty and I had always gotten along, and we always had fun together,” Smith shares. “He was not just a wonderful actor, but he was such a wonderful person to act with. Scotty was devoted, prepared, and professional — the things that you’re supposed to be. There was a boyishness to Scott. He was handsome, suave, and charming, but there was a boyishness to him. It was his 1-2 punch. It was all part of his ability to disarm people.”
Smith says that she last got together with Bryce less than two years ago. “The second we saw each other, we broke into laughter,” she recalls, noting that there was still a lightheartedness to him, despite his hardships.
“One of the last things that I ever said to him was, ‘You know, Scotty, I think you’re the only person I know on this earth that I have never heard anyone say a bad thing about,’” Smith reveals.
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Byrne says the chemistry between her TV mom (Elizabeth Hubbard’s Lucinda a.k.a. Lily’s “No. 1 Mom”) and Bryce’s Craig was off the charts. “The energy between them, their dynamic, all the play, fun, and the intensity just jumped through the screen,” Byrne recollects. “Most actors wouldn’t go down to set just to watch other performers. They’d stay in their rooms. I would go and just watch them work.”
As Smith does, Byrne recalls sharing a lot of laughs with Bryce. “The laughter and the fun we all had together was very special,” she says. “We laughed all the time. Scott was so funny. He, Scott Holmes [Tom], Benjamin Hendrickson [Hal], Larry Bryggman [John], and Don Hastings [Bob] were all comedy guys. Off camera [Scotty and I] could be goofing about the dumbest stuff, but the most ridiculous, dumbest thing, and then, as soon as we walked on the stage, we were Craig and Lily. It was like flipping a light switch. It’s my relationship with him off-camera that I’ll remember [the most].”
When Bryce went to Hollywood, he played Jo’s (Nancy McKeon) boyfriend/husband, Rick Bonner, on The Facts of Life, and Corky Sherwood’s (Faith Ford, ex-Julia, Another World) boyfriend/husband, Will Forrest, on Murphy Brown. Both gigs came as a result of actresses or producer/directors seeing his work as Craig or having worked with him on that show.
“Scott’s work wasn’t just a scene he’d done [on ATWT] in 1986,” Byrne points out. “His work was like The Butterfly Effect.”
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“I love the friendship that we carried out into the world,” Smith says. “Even though it wasn’t constant, it was profoundly meaningful. I’ll always love that guy.”
“I really believe that Scotty is still here and watching over everybody that he’s ever loved, which is so many people,” Smith adds. “So many people loved Scott. I wasn’t one of his closest friends, but whenever I was with him, I felt like I was.”