Happy Hour Passions Mystery Guest Chat
with Ben Masters (Julian) held at NBC.COM on May 17, 2000

NBCLive: Welcome to our second Happy Hour with Julian Crane! Ben Masters, who plays the unstoppable Julian Crane, is with us tonight for another very special evening.

For the first half-hour, Ben will be here sharing his thoughts on one of his and Julian's favorite topics - love and romance. During the second half-hour, we will be joined by a mystery guest. The first person to guess the guest will win a cool Passions Prize.

NBCLive: Welcome Julian!

Julian_Crane: Welcome, all of you who've ventured back onto this site. We'll see what this evening brings!

Starshine_tw: Dear Julian, I can never find true love - every guy just ends up using me. What should I do?

Julian_Crane: I would, quite frankly, find a way to get even with these fellows! Can you get hold of their bank account numbers, and possibly funnel the cash into your own account?

Starshine_tw: Dear Julian, I really like this guy, but I just found out that he's my brother, and I'm really hurt. What should I do to ease the pain?

Julian_Crane: Is your mother a lovely, long-legged doctor? If so, I suggest you stop seeing this young man, and hunt for someone who is at least a first cousin!

ivy_crane2000: I really like this guy, but he is married? What should I do?

Julian_Crane: Well, try to enjoy all of his favors on the side. Make sure no one finds you. Isn't there some small inn on the outskirts of town where the two of you might tryst?

Snuggypoo: Julian, I have a crush on this boy, but my friend is dating him. I've liked him since I was 8 and she met him last week. What should I do?

Julian_Crane: I've found that if you act really cheap around him, and give him the impression that you'll give him whatever he wants, that usually works. It works for me.

KMCG8R: Ben, tell us what attracts you to that place where we once were, before whiskey and evil women shaded and tainted out hearts.

McKenzie_Westmore: Seeing as with all this Dr. Eve Russell and jazz, that's what I would imagine for Julian - a little jazz music…

McKenzie_Westmore: I'd like to congratulate KMCG8R on being tonight's winner of the Mystery Guest contest! KMCG8R wins a signed copy of a "Passions" script!

cuteangel145: Ben, if you were able to choose to be another character on the show, who would you be?

Ben_Masters: Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald. I think the boy's up to no good.

shadma_21-guest: McKenzie, do you ever get creeped out by the very "close" relationship between Ethan and Sheridan?

McKenzie_Westmore: No, I never get creeped out. We actually laugh about it. It is pretty funny!

Bryce-Lynne-guest: If you weren't working on "Passions" what would you be doing?

McKenzie_Westmore: I'd be in Cincinnati right now going to the Conservatory of Music. I had just been accepted there in musical theatre, right before I got the call for "Passions." I'm not expecting to go back for a long, long time. This is keeping me pretty well tied up, and I'm happy with that!

Ben_Masters: I'd probably be cleaning out the restrooms at Dodger Stadium! ;-)

chatters-guest: Ben, how do you feel about playing such an evil man day in and day out? Do you think it makes you (even) more evil in your daily life?

Ben_Masters: Why would you ever say that I play an evil man? My logic is quite sound. The things I do make total sense. I'm merely protecting what my family has taken years to amass. I'm not evil. I'm sensitive, loving, kind, and I'm hunting for a new puppy. ;-) No, it doesn't affect my personal life.

shadma_21-guest: Do either of you actually watch "Passions?" Are you fans of it like all of us?

McKenzie_Westmore: Yeah! I watch it almost every night on tape with my mom.

Ben_Masters: I tape it, every day, and I watch it every day, just to see what strange things are going on that I'm not involved in.

lissa1999-guest: McKenzie, what is the funniest thing that happened to you while taping Passions?

McKenzie_Westmore: Probably the fantasy with Sheridan and Luis in the locker room. Because Galen had to come out in these little things...you can't even call them underwear! I was just so embarrassed; just could not stop laughing. And neither could he!

xharla: When will either of you will be making an appearance in New York for NBC?

McKenzie_Westmore: Blondie's tomorrow night. Lunch with the cast of "Passions" on Friday. And of course the Emmys! The lunch on Friday will be a live chat right here too. That's noon Eastern time, or 9 am Pacific.

Starshine_tw: McKenzie, since tonight's topic is romance, what advice do you have for all of us on the subject?

McKenzie_Westmore: Oh my goodness! Where do you start!?

Ben_Masters: Pretend I'm not here. ;-)

McKenzie_Westmore: Oh boy. Gotta have a moonlit walk on the beach. That's always a great place to start. Ben is being bad!

Ben_Masters: I'm too old to be bad! ;-)

LdDreamer24: How have both of your lives changed ever since you started "Passions?"

McKenzie_Westmore: Really, it doesn't seem like all that much has changed, except I don't have that much time on my hands. I'm not home as much. My cat doesn't know who I am any more!

Ben_Masters: It's really given me something to obsess about, almost every waking hour of the day. I've stopped playing bad golf like I used to a lot. And I find that I go to bed thinking about my life in Harmony, and I wake up thinking about it. I like to say I live in that box. I have two lives. One is that life in that box, the television. And the other is the rest of my life. And they're both pretty pathetic. ;-)

McKenzie_Westmore: I find I have no memory for anything but lines any more. I wake up thinking about lines, and I go to bed thinking about lines.

Ben_Masters: I was in the grocery store the other day, and I said to the checker "How dare you?! How DARE you?!" ;-)

NBCLive: We are almost out of time for this week. Thanks Ben for joining us, and thank you McKenzie for being tonight's mystery guest. Did either of you have any last thoughts to leave our audience with?

Ben_Masters: I would just like to say that I appreciate people spending this hour with me and with McKenzie, and keep watching the show! It's going to get stranger and stranger.

McKenzie_Westmore: I had a great time tonight. Thanks to everyone for joining!