Finola Hughes plays Anna Devane Scorpio on 'General Hospital'.
WILL SHE or won't she return to her role as Anna Devane Scorpio on General Hospital?
That's what a lot of Finola Hughes fans are wondering. But, as this is being written, Hughes has not commented on the rumors that Anna will go back to Port Charles to help her daughter, Robin (Kimberly McCullough), with a personal problem just in time for May sweeps. (You might recall that Anna's former husband and Robin's father, Robert Scorpio/Tristan Rogers, and another of his former wives, Holly Sutton/Emma Samms, raised the show's ratings when they returned for a short romp during February sweeps.)
Whether Daytime Emmy winner Hughes does or doesn't reprise her popular GH role this year, or at any time, she has already established herself as one of television's authorities on style, courtesy of her popular show How Do I Look? on the Style Network, which makes its new season debut on April 10.
When How Do I Look? was about to launch back in 2003, I asked Hughes what she hoped to accomplish with the show. She said: "I would like to reach people who may do many things very well, but somehow don't realise how they appear to others because of the style choices they make. Sometimes they spend so much time doing things for other people, they think they don't need to take time to do things for themselves."
Fast-forward three years, and when I asked Hughes recently what she feels she's accomplished with How Do I Look? she says, "I've been told by a lot of people who didn't think it was important or even possible to look better that they changed their minds once they realised that it could be done.
"I also wanted to show that when you look better, it raises your self-esteem. You like yourself more, and you appreciate that you're worth the time and effort you put in to look your best. And many people have discovered this to be true."
In each show, two people who believe they know the subject well enough to create a look for her, plus one fashion expert, will each put together an outfit. The subject will choose one of them, and is completely unaware of who did what. Also, the choice is the full package no belt from one outfit, for example, or shoes from another.
Why are the right clothes and accessories so important?
Hughes says it's a matter of showing who you are. She notes that actors wear costumes that tell the audience a lot about their characters. In real life what you wear does the same thing for everyone you meet on a given day. Clothes tell part of the story, and accessories fill in some of the details.
When it all comes together, and you feel you're really looking your best, Hughes says: "You're telling the world, 'I like myself,' and when you like yourself, it's easy for others to like you."
NOTE: Finola Hughes, who also has a recurring role on Charmed, is putting her creative talents toward developing clothing and jewelry lines. More on that to come.
