One on One
Like Father, Like Son
Photography by Jim Warren
Edited by Janet Di Lauro

PORTRAYING GENERAL HOSPITAL'S UNCONVENTIONAL LUKE SPENCER and his spirited progeny Lucky has inspired a special closeness and camaraderie between Anthony Geary and Jonathan Jackson. When SOAP OPERA WEEKLY proposed that the actors interview each other, both were eager to tackle the assignment. Relaxing in a friend's Hollywood apartment, the pair discussed a wide range of topics, including predestination, privacy and their personal pet peeves.

ANTHONY GEARY: The characters that you and I play come from a place of rebellion. I grew up in the late '50s/early '60s with a lot of protest in the air. It was easy to access social dissatisfaction; the older generation didn't know us, just like James Dean talked about. You're growing up in the '90s. Where do you access rebellion?

JONATHAN JACKSON: I think the '50s, '60s and '70s took care of all the shocks. Musical groups out there doing wild things isn't really a shock anymore. It's been done. What you are forced to do then, is go for things that are constant, that are always there, like the conflict between families.

AG: Are you saying that rebellion is ever present?

JJ: Yes. Rebellion comes from needing to be heard and understood. When you talk and they're not getting it, it's frustrating. The communication isn't there. That's constant throughout every generation.

AG: You don't rebel against your family; you don't have conflict there. So what are you fighting against at the tender age of 15 that accesses you to the bizarre life of Lucky Spencer?

JJ: My struggle, personally, is more [about] my relationship with God, who I am, who I want to be and the struggle of trying [to get there]. I use that a lot with Lucky--the fact that he's searching to figure out what's right, what's wrong.

AG: So when you play Lucky you're dealing with Jonathan and "the Ultimate." You're really going to soul depth?

JJ: Yeah. My preparation is praying a lot of the time. It's saying, "Help me through this. Help me figure this out." Now, let me ask you a question. How did you come about creating Lucky?

AG: I think you created the character of Lucky. But if you would like to go there, sure, I had something to do with the story that brought us all back. But Lucky was a historical fact. The last show on General Hospital on which the audience saw Luke and Laura together, Laura was pregnant. She told Luke about it. I'll never forget doing that scene. Genie (Francis, who plays Laura) had no children at the time, and it was the first time she ever said those words to a man. She was so incredible that day. So beautiful. I'll never forget how excited she was. I got swept up in it and thought afterward: I'll never forget that. Nobody will ever tell me they are going to have my baby, and if they ever do, I will never feel like that. But the feeling of the moment was extraordinary. That's why you are such a living, breathing miracle of fantasy. What question led me to this rhapsody?

JJ: About creating Lucky...

AG: I didn't have anything to do with him, except that scene. When we talked about coming back, there was, of course, one child.

JJ: Wasn't that kind of scary, bringing on a kid?

AG: It was terrifying. It remains terrifying.

JJ: Did you guys have a backup plan, if it didn't work out? Would you have killed him off? Recast?

AG: In the original story Lucky needed a bone marrow transplant. You weren't even on the canvas. You were still wherever [Luke and Laura] were, and Bill Eckert's son, Sly, was your only match. Interestingly enough, that was used later with another baby for which those who conceived of [the idea] were not recompensed. But are we bitter? Nooo!

JJ: Do you feel a responsibility to be a role model to the audience?

AG: People should not be looking to people on television, politicians, nor public figures of any kind as role models. People on TV do not love you, folks. You must connect with the people you know. Whenever I can say, "Don't do it," that's my mission in life. I'm an actor playing a character. I'm going to bring you some diversion. I'm not bringing you the answer. I'm the juggler in front of the king. I have no desire, incentive nor raging need to guide my audience anywhere.

JJ: What is something that really ticks you off?

AG: What I hate most in life is prejudice; having made up your mind about a person, a group or a situation before you have actually experienced it. You form this opinion and therefore the world is that. Don't make decisions until you do it or at least are in the room where it's being done. What peeves you the most in the world?

JJ: Something that not necessarily ticks me off but saddens me is that a lot of people go through life and don't examine it. They just live. My opinion is that the unexamined life is not worth living.

AG: I would concur with that. I would also add that art unexpressed is art destroyed. My art is life, my total experience. It's me.

JJ: Do you believe in predestination?

AG: No, I believe in free will. I think conditions are such, and environments are such, that the stress can create a very loaded deck and ultimately you're the guy that lays the cards on the table. But I don't care if you were abused by your family, that's no excuse to go and shoot your mother. I don't care if they threw you out. That's not an excuse to burn down their house.

JJ: Amen. People are responsible.

AG: They have to be. I am responsible in my life, and there is great joy in it. I take my good choices, I take my bad choices, and at this stage in my life, I go, "You know, it wasn't so bad."

JJ: My opinion is that you shouldn't dwell on either the good or the bad. If you dwell on the bad, you're stuck in a realm of guilt. If you dwell on the good, you get your vanity so high you can't see a thing.

AG: When I was 15, I lived in a small town. It was not unlike your life in that I had a strong, moral family structure. But I was in Utah in a town of 800 people, and you're here on this show. What does it cost you to do what you do in terms of being 15?

JJ: Privacy, that's the No. 1 thing. Not as in not being able to go to high school or the proms, but in not having privacy with the possible women [I meet]. There is a lot of odd insecurity that comes from wondering what they want from you. But I have to come to a point where I'm not going to put weight on finding the perfect woman.

AG: I would hope that at 15 you wouldn't put the pressure of finding the perfect woman on yourself. I'm 50 and not ready to do that.

JJ: I know that as long as I can keep my faith in God, then I will be OK no matter what I find. Because I don't need that.

AG: What happens if she doesn't share your faith?

JJ: Then, it's not going to work. That is the most important thing in my life. That's No. 1.

AG: When would you like to get married? I assume that you'd like to.

JJ: I would love to have a family. There's nothing greater than that. I've always seen myself getting married young.

AG: Let me tell you something. I lost my mom this summer, and my father died five years before that. They were high school sweethearts...the perfect soap opera. I swear. They were never with another person. I know that. And I know that when my father died my mother knew that she would see him again, because they were eternal together. She was like a woman waiting for a bus at the time my dad died. Then the bus came along, and it was a beautiful thing. So I of all people would never dismiss or have any sly feelings about young love. I've seen it, benefited from it and believe in it. So god bless you. I hope you find her. Just don't do it this year. We've got a story to tell.

JJ: I'm in no hurry.

AG: Is there any thread of you that feels exploited?

JJ: That is what this business is [about].

AG: You're like a product, as opposed to a person...

JJ: Sometimes. In certain situations, especially being my age. People don't listen to me a lot of the time. People I work with. That's frustrating. But you always listen to me.

AG: I hope so.

JJ: From day one you listened to me. It was incredible. Know what the weird thing was? That didn't shock me. It shocked me when people didn't. But that's not really exploitation. Give me an example.

AG: OK. Your face, your image, your hard work and the positive feeling that people in the audience have for you is being used to sell magazines, exploited by tabloids and TV programs. I don't experience it as much as I used to, but it used to make me nuts. I felt like my face--without my agreement, without my participation--was used to sell a magazine, a TV show, and things that I had no interest in. If it doesn't bother you, god bless you.

JJ: No, it bothers me, but what can you do about it?

AG: You can't do anything about it. That's not the issue.

JJ: What I dislike is when I got into this business--and I didn't do it for any fame or recognition, I just enjoyed it--I was very uncomfortable with people recognizing me. I didn't like it. I was short with people, so they'd leave me alone. Or I would purposely look intense, so that they wouldn't confront me. I was in denial for 3 1/2 years that I was on TV, that I was out there for millions of people [to watch]. Then, I realized what an amazing opportunity it was, and my attitude changed. I have been put in the position that people want to listen to me for just that fact. If I wasn't an actor I couldn't go on TV and have millions of people listen to my opinions.

AG: So you feel OK with the people like Robert Redford and Jane Fonda using the public forum as a political platform for their own views?

JJ: I definitely agree with that. Personally, there would be no other way to deal with [fame] for me.

AG: That's the difference between us. I will sit with, "I am being exploited," and you will turn it around to, "I have a forum." That's great. I think you'll get a lot further in this business than I did.

JJ: I think definitely in the future I will get more frustrated with it as it gets bigger. Then, there's [the issue of] privacy.

AG: What's amazing is people don't realize how precious privacy is. I have an apartment I bought in Copenhagen about a year ago. My grandfather comes from Odensk. What do I like about it? They don't know General Hospital. Nobody knows me. At 50 years old, after playing this game for 30 years, I have found a place where nobody knows me. Nobody cares. You can't explain to somebody whose privacy has never been invaded how important it is. They don't get it. And if you're on TV, they figure you're not entitled to it. That's what burns me.

JJ: Oh, that's the worst.

AG: Don't come up to me, folks, when I'm in a restaurant and interrupt me and fight over my lamb stew. I'm not happy about that.

JJ: I completely respect that. I, on the other hand...

AG: You can be invaded.

JJ: I hated it for a long time. I still dislike it, but I have chosen to turn around and say, "How can I make this into a positive?"

AG: Know why, my friend? Because you're going to have to do this a lot longer than me. It sounds silly, but you'd better learn to do that because you're just starting this game. But my time is so limited on this planet. Do not interrupt me during dinner. It comes down to that. I hate to cut the romance out, but I have always done that.

JJ: You have.

AG: I've never painted life as an actor as fabulous.

JJ: No, I don't think it is.

AG: Good. At least I've given you that start. I think it's amazing that after this time of working with someone as cynical as me, you still have a joy of acting. About a year ago Genie and I were talking about this. She felt we should be careful around you, as a young man just starting in the business, not to [subject you to] all these sour grapes. It's not quite fair. But I think you've managed to push that plate away very well.

JJ: Believe it or not...what's the word?

AG: Cynicism.

JJ: Through all your cynicism...

AG: A cynic is a romantic who's seen the world. In years to come you'll remember that.

JJ: Yes, I will. But through all of your cynicism, you and Genie have been the best part of what I've done so far as an actor. I've always felt support from you guys. And whether you admit it or not, you still enjoy it. You enjoy rewriting some of the stuff, even if you act like it's a pain in the ass.

AG: I do like a good line.

JJ: And you like a good scene. It still fills a part of your heart.

AG: You know what, Jonathan? You see that because often my cynicism won't play with you, because you're fresh. You're alive. You're looking for the reality of the moment. And that's a gift to the cynic any time of day. So the gift has gone both ways, and Genie would agree if she were here. Genie is a much more idealistic actor than I am. She needs more truth out of the moment than I do. My life is more a fantasy, therefore I can tap dance around the moment. She can't, and I love her for that. I think you're more like her. Idealistic is good. I do enjoy it. I am idealistic, but I'm also...old!