Anthony Geary
Luke Spencer, General Hospital
by Robert Schork

Why he made the list: Traditionally credited as the driving force behind the Luke and Laura phenomenon--which garnered the elusive soap trifecta: critical acclaim, unprecedented popularity (including the highest ratings ever recorded in daytime television history when the couple wed) and mainstream media attention--Geary, through both his performance and his popularity, helped to positively ensconce the soap genre in the mainstream consciousness. Geary commands an unparalleled level of respect in the daytime community--especially on GH, where he enjoys an unprecedented guarantee in his contract which allows him to rewrite his own dialogue at his discretion.

A realization of power: "I'd say it's probably a tossup between the time Genie (Francis, Laura) and I were on the cover of Newsweek magazine, which declared GH 'TV's hottest show,' or, right around that same time, when I escaped to a secluded hotel in Jamaica for a few days. When I checked in that night, I found there were two members of the Rolling Stones waiting to meet me."

Power's greatest reward: "I'd say that whatever power and influence I've achieved has resulted in other people of power and influence listening to me. If you're lucky, they listen with respect--and if you're really lucky, sometimes some of them want to make creative partnerships with you."

Is there a personal price to power?: "Yes, it centers around envy and jealousy--which, for me, results in social isolation. And when your stakes are higher, the risks are higher. Then there's also a kind of weird thing that happens with influence: once you have it, it's a real battle to hold onto it. You don't want to give it up, because nobody wants to go back to where they were. I would rather leave the arena than move too far in the back. I don't know--call it pride. Maybe it's a sickness that comes with power and influence."

Is it really lonely at the top?: "I think you can be lonely at the middle, and you can lonely at the bottom. My social isolation has more to do with that you can't really be 'one of the guys.' Once you're not struggling anymore, the people who are struggling--while I can relate to their struggle--they can't relate to my perspective on it. So that's isolating to me."

His biggest battle: "That would have to be the return of Luke and Laura in 1993, and the difficulties with the series of writers that followed. I mean this in terms of holding on to who these characters were and are, as opposed to being redefined by people who don't have the investment in this couple that Genie and I have."

How power has changed him: "Within the arena of daytime, it's given me a voice, in which I can speak softly--and not have to carry sticks. In my personal life, it's given me a financial solidity. It's a blessing to grow older with a feeling you have accomplished something with your career--whether it was what you intended or not."

The greatest misconception about power... "is that power corrupts. It needn't. People either come to the table of power corruptible or incorruptible--and if it comes to a choice between power and your own sense of morality, and you choose power, then it's corrupting, but not everybody does that. I see people make another choice all the time, because it would not be right for them to make the 'easy' choice."

What is power: "Power is a very subjective thing. I could be really poetic. I could tell you power is the dew that hangs on the leaves in the morning because it reflects the light. I guess power is something you don't feel, but you are perceived to have--and in the perception is the power. The reality is that I don't feel very powerful. I feel like a guy who knows what he's doing, and is quite willing to let my blood run on the walls to let people know I feel strongly about it. If that's power, so be it."