Susan Lucci Opens Up On The Role That Brought Her Back To Acting

Susan Lucci didn’t think she’d return to acting after the death of her husband, Helmet Hubert.

However, the celebrated soap star is returning to screens in Jonah Hill‘s “Outcome,” and she was “very happy” to receive the call.

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Susan Lucci Thought She’d Never Get In Front Of A Camera Again

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PEOPLE reports that Lucci believed the script for “Outcome” was too good to pass up.

“I was very happy to receive a script from Jonah Hill, who I have admired forever,” she said.

“Frankly, it came at a point where I had recently lost my husband and I frankly never thought I would go in front of a camera again or step on the stage again.”

“Even though I recognized such good writing, I didn’t think I could do it,” she continued. “But when I went to bed that night, I couldn’t help myself – I started working on the part.

“So I called my publicist early in the morning and said, ‘Please don’t say anything. I’m going to read it again in the light of day.’ And then I did, and then Jonah called.”

Lucci called Hill a “brilliant and wonderful and warm” person to work with.

“Jonah’s direction – I knew he was a wonderful actor, but I hadn’t worked with him as a director. And he was as wonderful of a director as he is an actor… Everyone was just so professional and so supportive.”

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Jonah Hill Insisted On Susan Lucci For The Role

In a previous PEOPLE interview, Lucci revealed Hill, a fan of “All My Children,” insisted she took the role.

“Jonah Hill called me. He really did have me in mind for this part… And he was so lovely and wonderful to talk to, and I could tell he was really invested in this,” she shared.

“By the time we finished talking, I was like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna talk in the morning.’ I mean, when I hung up, I had this, talk about catharsis, I had this enormous cathartic gratitude that this came my way and that I was going to accept that challenge and I was going to do it the best I could. And I love that feeling, so I did take it and I was so thrilled.”

“Outcome” premieres Friday, April 10, on Apple TV+. Per Variety, the film stars Keanu Reeves as a Hollywood star who “must dive into the dark depths of his past to confront his demons and make amends after he is extorted with a mysterious video clip from his past.”