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    General Hospital's own writers could hardly have scripted things more dramatically... In late January, popular daytimer Jensen Buchanan was hired to take on the newly-created role of Melissa, mystery woman from Roy's past. The actress aired for a few episodes as Roy's love, Bobbie, showed up at Melissa's door to check out her potential rival. Cut to less than 10 days later. Bobbie once again arrived at Melissa's doorstep - only this time it wasn't Buchanan opening the door to Melissa's apartment, but a Buchanan look-alike, accompanied with by a voiceover, "The role of Melissa Bedford is now being played by..."
     As confused fans later learned, Buchanan's disappearance stemmed not from some wacky evil twin plot point, but rather a real-life lawsuit filed against the actress (as well as ABC and Buchanan's agent) by her former bosses, Procter & Gamble Productions and Televest Daytime Programs, who claimed she was still under contract when she began working on GH. (The Vicky storyline was still wrapping up as Melissa first started airing.) Cooler heads eventually prevailed (the suit has since been dropped) and Buchanan went back to work at GH.
     Today Buchanan naturally prefers not to discuss her legal wranglings. But there's no evidence that she's been soured on her ATWT tenure. "I'm extremely fond of Chris Goutman [ATWT's executive producer; former executive producer of AW]. He asked me if I would go back to sort of wrap up Vicky's storyline, [so] I did it for Chris. And I think they did such a great job, I thoroughly enjoyed it; it was a great experience. If that show was in L.A., I would never have left it."
     Luckily, Buchanan's current gig is more geographically friendly to her L.A. home (ATWT is filmed in N.Y.C.) and, oddly enough, came about much the same way as her return to ATWT. "The same thing [happened] with GENERAL HOSPITAL," she smiles. "[Executive producer] Jill Phelps [whom Buchanan had known when Phelps was E.P. at AW] is someone I adore as a friend and also as a producer. So when I heard she got the job [at GH] I called her; actually, we just started e-mailing back and forth. I don't exactly remember how [the opportunity to play Melissa] came about, but Jill had said, 'Would you think about it?'" Adds Buchanan with a laugh, "She also said, 'No special deals, no special schedules, no nothing. Just a simple, straightforward soap contract. You wanna come?'"
     The answer, obviously, was yes. And according to Buchanan, the timing could not have been more perfect. "I don't mean to be metaphysical about it, but it just seemed like everything was in the right place," she muses. "I would do anything for Jill. I've always wanted to work with A [Martinez, Roy], and my kids just started school full-time this year. Plus, it's been such a long time since I've lived in the same town that I work in. So that has been a dream."
     As have her on-set encounters with the rest of the GH cast, reports Buchanan. "I was a little nervous on my first day. I had a lot of dialogue, and we didn't know exactly what we were going to do with this character. But Jackie Zeman [Bobbie] was so nice to me. She showed me where everything was. She taped our scenes [on a VCR] in her room and gave me copies; she took me to lunch in the commissary. It was unbelievable. And I know Maurice Benard [Sonny] from our ABC days when he was on ALL MY CHILDREN [as Nico] and I was on ONE LIFE TO LIVE...but absolutely everyone was so warm and inviting."
     The same can't be said for her character's arrival in P.C., of course, thanks to Bobbie's less-than-inviting reaction. "The last thing I want Melissa to do is blow into town annihilating Bobbie," stresses Buchanan. "She's such a beloved character. So I'm trying to make this more about Roy. I'm not sure that when the character was originally conceived...that is was meant to be a long-term thing. If that's the case then you can really bring the bad girl to town, and then she leaves...or dies [laughs]. So there have been some adjustments made now that I'm playing the part and I have a long-term contract."
     As for why she signed on with GH long-term, Buchanan admits that it had everything to do with her life outside of work. Though she prefers to keep the current details of her home life private, Buchanan makes it clear that her children's best interest is paramount. "It's such a great schedule for my life and for my children," she enthuses. "I work a couple days a week. I don't have to go anywhere. Nothing could be better. I just needed to do something with my life, and this works really well with my two boys. But I live first, and then I'm an actress. My career fits into my life, not the other way around. So working in daytime has really provided me with a great life and a lot of security for my children. I feel very grateful."
     Apparently, the kids get a big kick out of their mom's career. "Conor says, 'My mommy is an actress. She's medium famous,'" laughs Buchanan. "Out here they go to school with people who are really famous, so I'm just medium famous. But one thing they do get hysterical about is when we're at the grocery store, and they see me on a magazine cover. They think that's so cool [laughs]."
     And if you want to know the truth, Buchanan thinks her job is pretty cool, too. "You'd think that, after all these years, I'd be hardened to life on a soap opera. But I still get the biggest kick out of driving onto the lot and having a parking space," she smiles. "I think people who have worked only on L.A. soaps have no idea how good they have it! But just something like being on the lot with the commissary [laughs]...It's second nature for everybody else, but I'm walking around with this big grin on my face!
     "I know I haven't been on the show for very long, but I was comfortable there from the very beginning," she concludes. "GENERAL HOSPITAL feels like the best fit I've ever had. It's like a big acting smorgasbord."