Susan Flannery who plays Stephanie Forrester in The Bold and the BeautifulSusan with co-star John McCook who plays Eric Forrester

When you tell her that most of the square-eyed folks in India know her as Stephanie Forrester, Susan Flannery breaks into a laugh quite uncharacteristic of her serious scheming demeanour in The Bold and the Beautiful. ?Most of my friends will tell you that I am totally different from the character I play,? she quips.

Thankfully, Susan didn?t need to play Stephanie for a few days. Although she is required to shoot for the longest running daytime soap ? shown in India on STAR World ? almost everyday, she, along with the rest of The Bold and the Beautiful cast and crew, was given two weeks off. And it was during this break that Susan had come to India, a country she ?always wanted to visit?.

Even though it is charity which brought Susan to India, she took time out to visit the Taj Mahal. ?I have come to visit the Habitat for Humanity centre in Chennai,? she reveals to Metro. ?After spending a week there, I went to Rajasthan and am now in Agra. I am really liking my stay here.?

A winner of three daytime Emmy Awards for playing the Forrester matriarch, Susan had even won a Golden Globe for Outstanding Acting Debut in a Motion Picture for Towering Inferno. ?In the US, at that time, working in films was considered to be good unlike working in television,? she recalls. ?Then the situation changed and it became fashionable to work in TV.?

But Bold and Beautiful wasn?t Susan?s first success story on TV. She became a big hit as Dr Laura Spencer Horton in Days of Our Lives, when she replaced Floy Dean in the lead role in 1967. Lack of motivation saw her quitting the soap in 1975.

?I stopped acting for five years in the middle and was just into television production,? says Susan. ?Then Bold and the Beautiful happened and I returned in front of the camera. The reason I agreed to do it was producer Bill Bell, who is bit of a genius and I knew he would make it work.?

And work it did, as Bold and Beautiful not only went on to redefine American television but also gained incredible following in all the countries it was beamed in. ?The success was pretty extraordinary and it was special since it came at a time when the international TV market was just opening up,? says Susan.

?I believe there are two reasons why the serial became such a huge hit. First, because it is the only daytime show to be set in Los Angeles and in the glamorous world of fashion. And the other reason is because it is a love story.?

But how has she been able to command the same respect and popularity through 18 long years? ?I think it?s got to do with the attitude I have in the soap,? feels Susan. ?When it started, the makers told me that Stephanie?s character is that of a woman who just really loves her family and will do anything to protect its interests.?

And that she has been doing even if it has meant being at constant loggerheads with Brooke Logan, played by Katherine Kelly Lang. ?Off the sets, we are all very good friends. Of course, we don?t socialise that much because that would mean we would keep talking about our work. But to be honest, we four ? John McCook (Eric), Ron Moss (Ridge), Katherine (Brooke) and me ? have been very lucky to be there right from Day One.?

Incidentally, Susan has also directed some episodes of the soap. ?It?s always fun but it is technically very challenging too. Then again, creatively a big high. The best thing is since the actors trust me as a co-actor, they trust me as a director. That?s essential to have as a director.?

Soon to be back in front of the arclights for more episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful, Susan doesn?t know when she will be back in India again.

?It will be great if I can come back as Stephanie to shoot a few episodes here,? she concludes.