Fiona Hutchison (Gabrielle) juggles plot lines and parenthood
At just seven weeks old, John "Hutch" Viscardi had his very own passport and was jetting to Australia to join his mom, ONE LIFE TO LIVE's Fiona Hutchison (Gabrielle) when she shot a television series. Two months later, mother and son landed in Sin City to film a movie. And at the ripe old age of three months, little Hutch moved to the fictional hamlet of Springfield when Hutchison returned to the role of jewel thief Jenna Bradshaw on GUIDING LIGHT.
In less than a year, the actress was pregnant again with son Trevor, and has since managed to squeeze in theater and film projects with a gig on AS THE WORLD TURNS before returning to her old stomping ground as OLTL's tempestuous troublemaker. To say that Hutchison has been busy is an understatement. How does she do it?
A League Of Her Own
"If you are a doer or a creative mind, [parenthood] is not going to stop you," says the actress, who is raising her boys, now 4 and 3 respectively, with husband John Viscardi (ex-Father Tony, OLTL) in New York City. "If anything, it makes you much more purposeful in your life because you want to achieve for them."
According to Hutchison, having accomplished a level of career success has given her a personal satisfaction that empowers her to be a better mother. "I feel good about the fact that I'm doing my own thing separate from them," she says. "But of course there is a fine line because you don't want to be away from them too much, which means you have to give them quality time when you are with them."
Being A Player
Make no mistake: Hutchison isn't a part-time mom by any means. "We don't have a nanny," she says. "We have a lovely lady that helps us with baby-sitting once in a while, but we raise the boys. When I'm working, I take the brunt of it, and when John is writing or directing, I take the brunt of it. We take turns, and we always have."
The actress explains that another key to her success is making the most of her time, whether it's at work or play. "When you're at work, you need to be completely focused and in the moment, and when you're [with your kids], you can't just sit and watch TV or read while they play with their toys — you have to be actively involved with them, building puzzles with them, drawing or doing computer games... taking them on an adventure physically where you are devoted 100 percent to them.
Sure, there are days when it's not easy to do that, but you just have to make a decision when you get up in the morning and say,'This is going to be a fun day,'" she concludes with a laugh, "even on an hour's worth of sleep." — Irene Vitale
Fiona Hutchison
