Susan Lucci makes peace with ‘All My Children’ axe, moves on to ‘Deadly Affairs’

TORONTO – When ABC axed the long-running daytime soap “All My Children” last year, venerable star Susan Lucci was livid and used the epilogue in her memoir “All My Life” to chide network heads for their decision.

But the amiable actress, who played conniving shrew Erica Kane for the show’s 41-year duration, says she’s moved past the dismay she felt back then.

“It has taken me this entire year — the show went off the air just a little over a year ago — and I tell you quite honestly, it has taken me all this time to make peace with it,” Lucci, 65, said in a recent telephone interview.

“It’s almost impossible for me to say ‘All My Children’ and Erica Kane in the past tense, I think largely because so many viewers keep her and the show alive in their hearts, and I feel that way.

“But you have to go forward, and I feel fortunate to be going forward with such great projects, such great people.”

One of those projects is the new series “Deadly Affairs,” which airs Thursdays on Investigation Discovery (it debuted last week) and profiles actual cases of relationships that were tainted by adultery and ended in tragedy.

Lucci hosts and narrates, playing a sultry and shrewd character similar to the “All My Children” role that earned her an Emmy Award nomination almost every year since 1978 (she eventually won it in 1999, ending a much-lampooned losing streak that was touted as a curse).

“It is not Erica Kane but it is certainly a nod to Erica Kane, and that’s how it was presented and that made me happy,” said Lucci, who will also play a crafty character in the upcoming Lifetime comedy-drama series “Devious Maids,” created by “Desperate Housewives” mastermind Marc Cherry.

“I think that, from what the viewers tell me — they stop me in airports and wherever — that they’ve been missing Erica Kane.”

And what better model for the host of a series that details soap-opera-style love triangles and quadrangles than the man-hungry Kane, she added.

“The passion, the deception, the revenge — all those things certainly have happened to Erica, for sure, on ‘All My Children,’ and she’s been heavily involved in all of that stuff.”

By contrast, Lucci said she’s been happily married to manager Helmut Huber for over 40 years.

Their secret?

“Certainly you have to get lucky, and secondly, and I had instincts about my husband that he was the right guy and luckily I was right,” Lucci said from Las Vegas, where she was celebrating Huber’s birthday.

“He’s very smart and very self-assured and has a great sense of humour, and he made me laugh then and he makes me laugh now.”

“Deadly Affairs” is shot in New York, where “All My Children” was filmed until 1999, when ABC relocated the set to California to save money.

In fact, “Deadly Affairs” even hired the same hairdresser, makeup artist and wardrobe stylist Lucci had on “All My Children” in the Big Apple.

“So that’s wonderful and inspires confidence. It makes me very happy to work with them,” said Lucci, whose other recent projects have included a recurring role as herself on “Hot in Cleveland.”

Lucci said she’s also kept in touch with “All My Children” creator Agnes Nixon as well as the defunct show’s production staff, its casting director, and several cast members. Among them is Eden Riegel (the original Bianca), Richard Paull Goldin (Jake), Jill Larson (Opal) and Alicia Minshew (Erica Kane’s daughter, Kendall).

“We all either text or get together for dinner whenever we can,” said Lucci.

Nixon also created the long-running soap “One Life to Live,” which got cancelled by ABC around the same time as “All My Children,” leaving just four soaps on network television.

Lucci said she has faith the genre is safe.

“They are such hard-working, talented people, it takes so much effort and expertise to produce these shows, that much material and hour-long original programming every day.

“I want to see them continue and I certainly hope so. With the millions of fans watching, I think they have a good chance.”

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