Hollywood Gets Lucky

Arriving in Port Charles at the age of 11, Jackson had no idea what it meant to have been cast as the son of Luke and Laura, soaps' most famous supercouple. "But it was better that way," he reflects, "because I wasn't intimidated; they were just nice people that I was working with."

Since then, Jackson and his GH dad, fellow Emmy victor Anthony Geary (Luke), have developed a close relationship, and despite their age difference, Jackson says Geary followed Luke's lead and treated him like an equal rather than a son. "Tony's just been a great guy," sighs the younger actor. "He started out as more of an acting mentor, but as I grew up, he really became one of my best friends."

In fact, the two have become so close that Jackson says Geary doesn't even want to contemplate another actor playing Lucky. "It would be weird for me to see someone else in the role, and I know Tony's going to pull out all the stops to not let that happen," he offers. "I don't know what they're going to do about recasting the part."

From the sidebar, "But how do you really feel?":

Anthony Geary (Luke): "The first time meeting him was at the screen test. We did the scene once, then twice, and then he said, 'You know, they wouldn't be spending this much time with you if they didn't like you.' And so we finished doing the scenes. That was the first thing I remember about him. He treated me like a peer from day one, and even with me being inexperienced and 11 years old, he never looked down on me about anything. He really has been a mentor and a friend and an amazing person from day one."

From the sidebar, "Through the Years":

Lucky flees the Triple L Diner in Canada and arrives alone in Port Charles: "What I remember most about that is that I worked one day with Tony [Geary, Luke] and Genie [Francis, Laura] in Rochester [although it was supposed to be Canada], then I didn't work with them again for a couple of months--I was on my own! Another cool thing I remember is that I had a scene on a bus with an elderly lady played by Ron Howard's mom. She was just the sweetest lady and really fun to work with."

Lucky hooks up with cousin Sly Eckert shortly before Uncle Bill is killed: "I also remember trying to figure out what kind of effect they were going to use to show Tony as Bill carrying himself as Luke out. That was interesting!"

Lucky searches for the key to Timoria, Stefan's cryptic computer game:

Lucky is shattered when he learns that Luke raped Laura: "I remember doing the show with Tony and having an incredibly intense morning with him. We were physically pushing each other, really gearing up for it. Then he had a five-page monologue that he did, which was 15 minutes of straight Tony, and he was just brilliant. He blew me away! And then I did the scenes with Laura when she came back and that was a lot of fun. I hadn't worked with Genie in a long time so it was great to work with her again."

From the sidebar, "Final Thoughts":

Anthony Geary (Luke): "Jonathan is quite simply terrific. He's one of the actors I respect the most--he's a peer. On a personal level, I'm sad that he's leaving and that I can't work with him anymore, but he's grown bigger than 'the box.'"