Heather Tom Says She was Confronted in Times Square by a Woman Furious Over One Life to Live’s Baby-Switching Storyline (Exclusive)

Heather Tom knows that fans have big reactions to the plots they see on-screen — and once she came face to face with one in New York’s Times Square!

At the time, Tom, 50, was starring on ABC’s One Life to Live as Kelly Cramer. The soap, which ran until 2011 on ABC, filmed at the time in New York City. Beginning in 2004, Kelly became involved in a storyline (which crossed over into ABC’s All My Children) where she, wishing to keep her husband to Kevin Buchanan (Dan Gauthier), hides a miscarriage from him. 

Her half-brother Paul Cramer (played by Tom’s real brother David) delivers babies for two women living in Llanview (the center of action on AMC) and gives one to Kelly. Kelly is originally unaware of the switch, but when she finds out, Paul tries to blackmail her. 

“The baby switch storyline was super fun, and I loved crossing over between One Life and All My Children, but people had big reactions,” Tom told PEOPLE exclusively. “I remember I was in Times Square one time, and I was crossing the street to go see a show. This woman stops in the middle of the crosswalk and she’s like, ‘You give that baby back!’ ”

Tom was shocked. “I was just like, ‘Okay, will do.’ Noted, but very visceral, angry,” she said. 

Tom said that even though a baby-switch storyline might seem a little too unlikely, “The things that we do on these shows, even though they’re heightened and they’re melodrama and they’re over the top, they boil down to real emotions. It boils down to Kelly wanted a baby, and she wanted a baby really bad.”

To make the storyline feel real, Tom had to “tap into” those emotions. “That want, that need is something you can tap into, and then play the reality of, ‘What the hell have I gotten myself into? This is not good.’ ”

When given an over-the-top plot, Tom tries to keep things grounded. “If I were in this situation, how would I deal with it? What tools does this character have to deal with the situation, and what is the base of this emotion? What drives this character? What’s her truth that will color whatever she does?” she said, “Maybe her truth is she’s never felt like she’s enough. That colors everything she does. That’s what I try to do, and that’s what also I think makes daytime fun.”

Tom’s ability to keep those emotions grounded is what makes fans react to the plotlines like it’s happening in real life.

Tom celebrates 35 years on soaps this year. She began in 1995 on CBS’s The Young and the Restless as Victoria Newman, before joining One Life to Live in 2003. In 2007, she began appearing on The Bold and the Beautiful, also on CBS, as Katie Logan. 

“It’s kind of crazy,” she said about the milestone. “It’s amazing to think that I’ve been doing this for so long and consistently for so long. I am so grateful.” 

While living in New York during her OLTL era, Tom often met fans while out and about, and she got a front row seat to how different soap viewers functioned, based on what show they recognized her from. “People had their networks. ABC viewers were ABC viewers and CBS viewers were CBS viewers. I remember I would be on the subway, and one person would recognize me as Victoria and another person would recognize me as Kelly. They had no idea,” she remembered.