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When popular Finola Hughes joined the cast of AMC after a decade-long break from daytime, viewers were ecstatic! Over the next four years, they enjoyed Hughes' tour-de-force performance in the dual role of sisters Alexandra and Anna Devane. Not surprisingly, the news that the actress planned to exit the show in September 2003 following the tragic demise of Anna and David's baby was met with dismay. "[The show] knew that I was going to come back to Los Angeles. It was always in the cards, so it was just a question of when," she explains of what, to her, was not a sudden decision. "Things just didn't pan out a certain way that had been agreed upon, and so we came back. And that was that, really." Already parents to a son, Dylan, Hughes and her artist husband, Russell Young, had big goals for their future that necessitated getting out of New York City, where AMC is taped. "We wanted to increase our family and go back living the way we had before," she confides. Having since adopted a newborn boy and become the host of the Style Network's How Do I Look?, Hughes harbors no regrets about cutting short her time at AMC. "It's a relief," she says, "not to have to cry every day when you come to work." (SID 6/21/05)

Like former on-screen hubby Tristan Rogers, Emmy-winner Finola Hughes- who portrayed stunning spy-turned-P.C. Police Commish Anna Devane Scorpio (also a resident of the Other Side) from 1985-92- has very fond memories of her days as half of one of GH's reigning supercouples. 'Playing Anna was a wonderful experience,' the actress enthuses. But these days, Hughes is experiencing a different type of royal treatment- as the voice of Queen Anne in Disney's new animated video, Pocahantas II: Journey to a New World, which was released on August 25, and also featured the vocal talents of Jean Stapleton and Titanic's Billy Zane.
   "Disney just asked me," smiles the British actress of her role as the voice of the kindly monarach who welcomes Pocahontas to England. "My character is very aristocratic looking... very slendar, high forehead and complicated hair [laughs]. I finally got the high forehead I've always longed for. The story is based on what truly happened when Pocahontas went to England. She had to be presented before Queen Anne and apparently Queen Anne befriended h. That's the character I play- a warm, nice queen. I had so much fun doing it."
    This wasn't Hughes first foray into voice-overs, though. "I've never done a Disney [film], but I did do work for the animated Superman children's series. And I also did an episode of Life With Louie. I played a Shakespearean teacher, which was really very silly, but a lot of fun. But working with Disney is certainly different. They are very specific about what they want the characters to sound like, which is part of the reason why their films are so wonderful."
    Hughes, who followed up her stint on GH with roles on several TV series, including Blossom and nighttime sudser Pacific Palisades (ex-Kate), recently returned to the stage (she was one of the original members of Cats in London) in Noel Coward's Present Laughter. "We got great reviews," she notes. "Actually, Kin Shriner (Scott, Port Charles), Lynn Herring (Lucy, PC) and Ia Buchanan (James, B&B; ex-Duke, GH) came to see it. It was so nice."
    In addition to pursuing work in movies ('I'm concentrating on film right now, sort of low-budget, independent stuff'), Hughes is also busying herself with a new home she and her husband recently bought in L.A. '"We've got workers in the house, and it's a bit crazy," she laughs. "We don't have a kitchen, because we ripped it out. We do have a fridge and a microwave on boxes, and boxes with plates on them. It's quite horrendous. Oh, and plastic forks and knives. It's very classy- just like Queen Anne [laughs]."
   As for her return to the GH role that made her famous, Hughes is not ruling anything out. "They haven't approached me, but yeah, I think it might be nice to play Anna again," she muses. "But I'm not sure there's a place for her. I think they'd have to find a story that fits her." (SOD late 1990s?)