Exclusive Interview: Catching Up With Amy Stoch from Days of our Lives

 

Veteran Days of our Lives fans recall that there’s a reason Steve (Stephen Nichols) started wearing the cloth over his eye that earned him the nickname “Patch!” He and Bo (Peter Reckell), once the best of friends, had a fight over Bo’s girlfriend Britta, played by Amy Stoch.

Exclusive Interview: Amy Stoch

While Stoch is known for he role as Missy in the Bill & Ted (Alex Winter, Keanu Reeves) movies, most recently, Bill & Ted Face the Music, she counts many TV shows among her credits including the series Knots Landing, Cover Up, Dallas, and she appeared in the Gunsmoke reunion movies in the 1990s. The actress recently chatted with Soap Hub about her many roles.

For which part are you recognized the most when you’re out and about?
Not Missy [my Ted & Bill role] because those films were so long ago, but perhaps with the third film, Bill & Ted Face the Music, that will change. I do have this T-shirt that says ‘Be Excellent to One Another’ and I wear it in my own quiet way. I was outside a Starbucks and there were two L.A. police officers there. One saw my T-shirt and said, ‘I’d vote for them.’ I asked if he knew the movies. One of the officers said yes. I said I was in all three movies. He looked at me and smiled once he realized I was Missy.

In 1985, on Knots Landing, Valene had adopted a new persona, Verna, to deal with the grief over losing her twins. While working at a diner, she grew overwhelmed. Gary had found her and stepped in to help her just as he had when they were teenagers. You played a young Valene in flashbacks. The scenes from past and present were edited together brilliantly.
I met Joan [Van Ark, Valene] in the makeup trailer. She was so lovely. I was so happy to meet her. She said, ‘Oh, my goodness! You’re too pretty to play me!’ She was lovely. The best part was when the episode aired and I saw how it all edited together. That push into me as I’m recognizing Gary helped me fall in love with filmmaking more than anything else.

In addition to working with Peter and Stephen on Days of our Lives, you also shared screen time with Charles Shaughnessy (ex-Shane).
They were all nice guys, wonderful and fun. Charles Shaughnessy was great. And Miss Peach, played by Pamela Kosh, is a friend of mine. I did find the daytime experience a difficult one, but I’m very glad I went through it. I learned a lot.

You played opposite Patrick Duffy (Bobby, DALLAS). Your character was Lisa Alden, Christopher’s (Joshua Harris) biological aunt.
Yes. Patrick was and is a very nice man. Ken [Kercheval, Cliff] was very giving and conscientious as an actor. The whole cast was. To be able to do a scene with Barbara Bel Geddes – Miss Ellie – was a high honor. I was a big fan of the show. My whole family was. It was a good season. I got to turn ‘bad’ and play scenes with Larry Hagman [J.R.] I liked the storyline.

What was it like being in the Gunsmoke reunion movies?
I love all the work I’ve done. The Bill & Ted films have a big place in my heart. The Gunsmoke movies also have a special place in my heart, too. I got to play the daughter of James Arness [Matt Dillon] and ‘Mrs. Walton’ [Michael Learned] played my mom. In one of the films, Richard Kiley [A Year in the Life; Man of La Mancha] was a guest star. When I was a working actor, I wasn’t ever star-struck. I didn’t want to be their best friend — I wanted to be the best actor for the part and also to be friendly and collegial. [Chuckles] Now all these years later, I do look back and say ‘Wow. Now, I’m getting star-struck.’

You were also on the series Cover Up in 1984. Did you work with the late Jon-Erik Hexum? He tragically died after an accidental self-inflicted gunshot discharge.
Cover Up was my first television show. I wasn’t on [when he was on the show]. But I remember reading about it. It was a tragic loss and so avoidable. I do feel that it was a lesson for the industry. Years later, when I was doing Gunsmoke, we shot guns. We were not only put through a training session, but the prop guys were always on set. They had the gun until the very last minute, and when they handed it to you they’d say it was live and so, you knew it had a live round in there. So, I think all of those precautions were because of that one tragic moment [with Hexum].

Amy Stoch can be seen in Bill & Ted Face the Music, which is out for DVD and Blu-ray. The film can be seen on Digital HD from Amazon Video and iTunes now.