Technically she was a topless waitress (there is a difference), and Debra Jo Rupp said she found the experience "terrifying." Not because of any nudity required -- there's never been much call for that on daytime TV -- but because she had to work with the great Susan Lucci.

It was in 1980 and it was her first acting role (other than a few commercials) and, in a 2005 interview with "Soap Opera Digest," she said was intimidated by playing against some of the giants of daytime.

Of course, some of them were a little past their prime. She talked about starring opposite Hugh Franklin, who played Dr. Charles Tyler Sr. on the series, and who died six years after she appeared on the show.

She said he had bad hearing at the time, and so "he just looked at you, and if you paused, he came in with his lines! Fra Heflin [who played Mona Tyler] pulled me aside and said, 'Don't ever pause.'"

She must not have been too traumatized by the experience, though, because she jumped at the chance to return to Pine Valley years later. She did a guest turn as a drunk for a few days in 2005.

She said she's become "a huge ABC soap fan" and so she had something of a fan-girl experience on set.

"I brought my camera and took pictures," she said, calling her new co-stars "the prettiest people you've ever seen in your life and just sweet and adorable."

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