General Hospital News & Gossip
News for the week of 02-Nov-2009
Only Michael Fairman asked Jonathan Jackson (Lucky) the question uppermost on everybody’s mind, after Greg Vaughan lost his recast Lucky gig. Jackson felt badly about Vaughan’s firing, but he said he wasn’t aware of any backstage controversy, only what TPTB told him, and that was the role of Lucky was now available. “I think I met Greg once or twice, and for what I know, he is an absolutely amazing person. So obviously, that is not a very fun angle for me. I wish him the best and that part of this has not been very fun. But it was more of a confusing thing for me coming back and not knowing exactly what was going on, on the other end of things.”
Also coming out of Fairman’s interview of Jackson last week: Lucky and the character James Franco will soon inhabit will mix it up on-screen. Music to JJ’s fans’ ears and JJ himself.
In an October 28th, Parker Springfield radio interview, Jackson said he avoided keeping up with the show and the Lucky recasts so that, in case he were to return, he would be able to work from a “clean slate… I’m just picking up where I left off, I’m just a little older now.” Jackson also described first working with mentors Tony Geary (Luke) and Genie Francis (ex-Laura) at age 11, as awesome. He thanked them for their “kindness and generosity, they never treated me like a kid, they treated me like an actor, they embraced me.” And that’s what comes across in the scenes, he added. He thought his past movie/TV projects, some in other countries, along with his GH history, might help inform his current soap portrayal. Geary was also on hand for the interview, praising Jackson as a fellow actor who taught hima few things even at age 11. Jackson, Geary said, “set a high bar for young actors,” so now he expects a lot from them when they come on the show. Together with Julie Marie Berman (Lulu) and Nathan Parsons (Ethan), 21, Geary thought they have a strong acting crew. As cynical and jaded as Geary said he can get, he relishes it when young guns come in with enthusiasm; it keeps him “grateful and full of wonder” when he’s working with young actors who know what they’re doing.
While farting around on Twitterlast week, I met SoapTown USA’s hotshot PSNS/DOOL/GH columnist and roving celeb-reporter, Dawn Griffin, chatting with fans and GH stars about current story, characters and some upcoming interviews. So, I took the liberty of asking Griffin if she wouldn’t mind being interviewed by me for a Q&A. Lucky for me, she agreed. Below is a portion of the interview (for the rest, check out my farchtung blog):
How would you characterize your writing style and your approach to soaps?
When I wrote my first Days column, I worked hard to make it a professional piece. I was then advised to let my personality come through, so that’s what I try to do. For PSNS, I gave myself a “Zsa Zsa Gabor”-type personality, so it would seem that a different person was writing that column. Eventually, everyone figured it out, so I stopped doing it. I try to be no-holds-barred, but in a good way, because you never know just who is reading your column. When Hogan Sheffer was the head writer for Days, I was told via his secretary that he loved my columns, which I really appreciated hearing. Sometimes I would hear the characters repeat my very own words on the air and I thought I was imagining it, until I was told that Sheffer was reading my columns. It was so cute!
You also interview soap celebrities. You recently Twittered about having interviewed Brian Gaskill (ex-Rafe, PC) on his latest project, and interviewing Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth, GH). Wow, what was it like to first start interviewing these famous people you see on the TV screen everyday? Were you scared?
I was nervous when I first started doing interviews because, hey! you are talking to a soap star! Eventually, it got so much easier, and because I attend events and meet the actors in person, I realized that they are just normal people like us, so it makes it far more comfortable for me. Fans like to imagine the actors as some untouchable person, but they’re not really. They have to pick up the kids from school, too. Most of them are nothing like the characters they play – in fact, most of them are pretty silly!
What challenges, let's say, have you run across in your interviews? Are the soap celebs nice in general? Any buttheads?
The only real problem I’ve had is getting some actors to talk. Some of them are just not talkative, which is perfectly normal. Tyler Christopher (Nikolas) from GH is one that you have to really work to get going, because he’s actually pretty quiet. Everyone I have spoken with over the years has been awesome, no jerks in the bunch, I can honestly say. I did have one actress complain that I misquoted her, but that was resolved when I had my transcript to back me up.
My favorite interview story was when the editor called me one day in a panic and asked if I could take someone from GH – in like 15 minutes. I said, okay, who is it? She said, “It’s Rick Springfield.” I about died, because I had a big crush on him back in the day, but when he called, I was ready for him. I try to talk to the actors about something I know is a passion of theirs. With Rick Springfield (ex-Noah), I only touched on his return to GH and instead, asked him about music and songwriting, which he really seemed to enjoy. The whole time, I kept thinking to myself, “Oh my God, I’m talking to Rick Springfield!” I make it a personal rule not to go gushy and fan-girly during the interviews, but that’s not always easy to do, as you can imagine!
Any exciting interviews we should look forward to?
I have an interview running now with Austin Peck of ATWT and I have Becky Herbst of GH coming soon. Brian Gaskill, formerly of Port Charles, [spoke to me last week]. I’ve been promised Crystal Chappell of Days as soon as production wraps on her Venice web series. Right now, we only have two people doing the actor interviews, so I plan to be on the phone a lot!
Natalia Livingston (Rebecca; ex-Emily) ends her run on GH. She will leave with nothing but the best thoughts about the writers, producers, cast and staff. She thanked them and fans.
Soap fan, NYC marriage family therapist and published self-help author, Damon L. Jacobs, conducted a detailed interview of Jackie Zeman (Bobbie) – and by detailed, I mean, there are five parts to it so far. He delved into Zeman’s reduction of air time, executive producer Jill Farren Phelps’ insulting dismissal of characters 40 and over, and life after divorce. The part of the interview that got a lot of longtime GH fans riled up was when Zeman admitted that Phelps nixed the camera lingering on Bobbie and Scotty giving each other a chaste kiss in a restaurant (this is from Part 3): “I remember one day a scene was written, Kin [Shriner] and I were in a scene and it was written we would kiss at the end of the scene. It was a public kiss, we were in a restaurant or somewhere, it wasn’t an in-bed love scene. I remember Jill saying to the director, ‘Take the camera off them.’ She was standing only a few feet away. We asked ‘why’ when it had been written in the script. ‘Our audience doesn’t want to see old people kissing,’ that’s what she said.”
Unbelievably, Zeman said she and Shriner didn’t take this insult personally, adding that Phelps was clearly referring to their characers. Zeman didn’t agree with Phelps though, believing viewers cared about older characters as well as younger.
Julie Mond (Lisa) causes a ruckus with Scrubs, because she used to be Patrick’s fling. November 18th is her first foray.
Marsha Thomason (Vegas) will accompany James Franco onto GH.
Gossip for the week of 02-Nov-2009
Jonathan Jackson (Lucky) supposedly signed a six-month contract with GH. But, rumor has it that he really signed a long-term, multi-year contract.
General Hospital News & Gossip, Copyright © 2008 Carol Banks Weber. Published by SoapZone.com / Jeff Jungblut. No part of this page may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Opinions expressed on this page are those of the author and may not be representative of SoapZone.com or its advertisers. Don't steal scoops.
