She’s alive! Fan fave Rebecca Budig is returning to ABC’s All My Children as that adorable bag o’ crazy Greenlee Smythe—no minor feat considering the character died in a motorcycle accident last winter. Budig, who lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Bob Guiney (of The Bachelor fame), will tape several weeks of AMC in New York starting next month, then return to L.A. when the soap moves there at the end of the year. She’ll hit the air in January. This isn’t her first reentry, by the way. Budig quit AMC in 2005, came back in 2008, then quit again. The zany beauty gave TV Guide Magazine the scoop on why she can’t stay away.

What are you doing back? Didn’t Greenlee go over a cliff and plummet hundreds of feet into some kind of icy water?
I leave. I come back. [Laughs] I’m the Brett Favre of soaps. I think Greenlee went into a river. Or maybe a lake. I don’t know. Pine Valley is ridiculous. They even have a freakin’ ocean in that town.

How are the writers going to explain her miraculous survival?
Good question. When I got the call about coming back, I said, “Tell me how you’re gonna get outta this one!” They said, “You got any ideas?” I’m, like, “Nooooope. Not a one. That why I act and you write. So what’s your pitch? Cause I ain’t got nothin’!”

It’s been reported online that you only agreed to a recurring stint on AMC so that you can do other projects.
They got it wrong. It’s a contract deal. [Executive producer] Julie Carruthers and I had a really nice conversation where she was feeling me out about coming back. I said, “I’m open to returning, but I just want to make sure there will be a great story because it’s going to be right at the start of pilot season. I don’t want to commit to something that’s not worthwhile and fun.”

It’s not about the paycheck?
I love being part of a family. That’s what AMC became to me. I spent seven years of my life there. It’s not about money or anything else.

What was your reaction when the news broke that AMC was leaving New York and coming to your town?
I couldn’t believe it. I was so shocked I just had to go to the source. I emailed [ABC Daytime chief] Brian Frons. I emailed Julie Carruthers. I didn’t want hearsay.

Did you immediately think, “Hey, I can get my old job back!”
No! I wasn’t in that headspace at all. I burst into tears because of all the New York crew people who’ll be out of a job. These people are my friends. That was my first thought. What about the crew? What’s going to happen to them?

You’re a saint.
Oh, I’m no saint, believe me.

That’s true. I saw you giving Gary Dourdan a nasty lap dance on CSI.
Don’t remind me! [Laughs] I didn’t eat for a week before I shot that scene. I really feel for people who’ve worked at a show for 30 years and all of a sudden the show goes away. And of course I was like everybody else wondering “Is Susan Lucci going to stay with AMC?” No one cared about the show. Instead, everyone was worrying, “Will Susan move to L.A.? “ It caused such a whirlwind!

This couldn’t be more convenient for you.
I think the move to L.A. is really exciting. It’d be fun if they did a crossover between AMC and General Hospital. I love GH! I’ve always wanted to work on that show. I wanted Greenlee to be cured in Port Charles. But they didn’t want me.

As I recall, you weren’t happy with the way they were writing Greenlee, which is why you left earlier this year.
I want to play that interesting girl I played years ago. I think everyone at AMC wants to focus on character now, rather than having [plot move the show]. It’s about what’s going on underneath. They really want to revamp the show and take it in a better direction. Last time I was there, we kind of lost Greenlee along the way. I didn’t recognize her sometimes.

Like when she almost shared her wedding day with the two lesbians?
Don’t get me started. Greenlee and Bianca [Eden Riegel] had never been friendly. That never made any sense!

Greenlee was about to marry Ryan [Cameron Mathison] when she “died.” Now he’s romancing Erica [Susan Lucci]. Will Greenlee try to get him back? It’s not too late. Weirdly, they haven’t had sex yet.
They haven’t? And Ryan’s such a whore! But they do look great together. I have to say, I do love shooting those catfights with Susan.

A while back, [AMC head writer] Chuck Pratt stated in an interview that David Hayward [Vince Irizarry] is behind Greenlee’s rescue. Now ABC is now saying that isn’t carved in stone, and details are still being worked out. When all is revealed, will it make sense, or is this going to be yet one more goofy, senseless back-from-the-dead plot?
I think it’s going to make some sense, if they do it right and it comes from a character place, so that there’s a good and real reason behind it. If Greenlee’s alive after what happened, there has to be a reason why this person [who saved her] has not brought her back to Pine Valley. That has to somehow be justified.

Is there romance involved with Greenlee and her savior?
No. [Long pause] I don’t know.

Pairing Greenlee and David would be a smart way to go, though. Don’t you think?
I do. I absolutely do. When Leo [Josh Duhamel] died and Greenlee and David had scenes together, I felt like we had some great chemistry but that was never pursued because we had a head writer change at the time. That’s when Megan McTavish came in.

You have a role in the upcoming film “Please Give,” directed by the indie-film goddess Nicole Holofcener. Oliver Platt. Catherine Keener. Rebecca Hall. Cool cast! I looked it up on IMDB and it says your character’s name is Bigback. What the hell’s up with that?
I play this salesgirl who always wears things that show off her back which is really big. Amanda Peet is in the movie and her character is jealous of me from afar.

But you’re the tiniest thing on the planet!
No, I’m not! Susan Lucci is the tiniest thing. Then comes Alicia Minshew [Kendall].

Okay, then you’re the third tiniest thing. How did you get cast as a gal with a big back?
I got a trainer and worked out a lot on those exercise rings where you hang and swing from ring to ring to ring. We shot in New York, so I went and did the rings over on the Westside Highway. And my back did get really big! But I’ll never do it again.

So you’re a real actor now—like when De Niro got fat for “Raging Bull”?
They made me do it! They said, “You have the part but you have to get your back built up.” So I did.

But, seriously, a big back? Sounds a little creepy.
Well, it’s not like that anymore. I just did it for the film. My muscles have atrophied since then.

Jeez, creeper still! How did you feel about the way you looked?
I felt a little…butch. [Laughs] My husband tried to do the rings and couldn’t get across them once! But I really wanted to do it because the movie’s so good. And I just did a little thing—just one scene—in the movie "Date Night" with Steve Carell and Tina Fey.

You’re traveling in hot circles!
Oh, puh-leeze. I’m so not that girl! I’m not in the Hollywood social scene at all. I’m not a schmoozer. My husband is born for that—he’s so genuine and really good at meeting people. I’m from Kentucky. I just sit around and play poker with the neighbors. Just a nice meal and poker on Friday night, that’s me.