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When Soaps in Depth asked General Hospital stars Anthony Geary (Luke), Maurice Benard (Sonny) and Steve Burton (Jason) for an interview, we knew what we were in for: strong opinions, sharp insights and a whole lot of laughs. Now that you know what to expect too, make yourself comfortable. Once you start reading this article, you won�t be able to stop!
Soaps In Depth: How do three of the most popular actors on television like working together?
Steve Burton: I never see Tony.
Maurice Benard: Well, Tony and I hardly work together anymore.
Anthony Geary: The Fan Fantasy episode was the first time we�d worked together in years.
Benard: That was great.
Geary: We had a ball. Working with you more is high on my list.
Benard: Mine too. When we did the fantasy, it reminded me of how great is was to work with you and how much we can feed off each other.
Burton: I want to work with Tony more. Maybe Luke needs a right-hand man, too.
Benard: They want Sonny and Luke as enemies, and it didn�t really work out. They didn�t write it like they wrote Jason and Sonny, where they could be enemies, but then they�re not really enemies. Remember, Tony, that time you came up to me and said, �Do you like being Tonto?� I said, �What do you mean?� And you said, �Tonto to my Lone Ranger.� When I said, �Not really,� Tony said, �Go up and talk to those people.� So I went up and told them that I wanted to �act,� and if not, I�d leave. I had only been here like a year. So after that, they gave Sonny a history.
Burton: Now it�s SONNY�S HOSPITAL. (Laughs)
Geary: See how that worked out.
Burton: It�s SONNYWORLD.
Geary: I hear Disney is planning a new theme park in your honor! (They all laugh)
In Depth: Although you�ve all put in a lot of years at GH, Tony gets a few extra vacation days here and there. Is there any behind-the-scenes jealousy?
Benard: We barely see Tony.
Burton: This guy works for a few weeks, then he�s in Europe for 11 months.
Benard: Sounds great to me.
Geary: Hey, when your blood is as thick on the walls as mine is here, they�ll want you to take five months a year away just to keep your mouth shut about petty annoyances and script problems.
Burton: Yeah, I can picture it now: I�ll be the only one here. Maurice will be here for a few weeks, then he�ll spend the rest of the year in Nicaragua.
In Depth: You�re all very popular with your co-stars. Do you ever read what the others say about you?
Geary: I stopped reading stuff about me early on. It was all lies.
Burton: I just read an interview where Maurice called me a pipsqueak. What is that all about?
Benard: When I see you, sometimes you remind me of a pipsqueak.
Burton: Can you give me the definition, please, of pipsqueak?
Benard: When I see a little pipsqueak�(Makes a face like a rat)
Burton: We�re supposed to be friends. So when you do interviews, don�t badmouth me. I don�t say, �Working with Sonny is like working with Erik Estrada.� (They all laugh)
Benard: That wouldn�t bother me.
Burton: Maurice and I can barely get through scenes anymore without laughing. If it�s not one thing, it�s another. And usually, it�s about my hair.
Benard: Sometimes when I look at your hair, I can�t help but start giggling. I mean, how high can it go?! It�s like Jack and the Beanstalk. It keeps growing up and up and up.
Burton: It takes a lot of preparation to work with Maurice Benard nowadays. It used to be � (Adopts a high-pitched voice) � �There�s my teacher. I love him so much. I just can�t wait to act with him.�
In Depth: What has been the most challenging storyline for you to play?
Geary: Without a doubt, the return of Stavros from the dead. That was really, really hard, because it made no sense. It was a massive mistake. It was hard to come to work and face that material.
Benard: It was very difficult to see you in those scenes, because I could tell that you really didn�t care. You did what you had to do. But you�re too good to be thrown into that kind of thing.
Burton: How come we didn�t know someone was frozen in the basement of the hospital? I don�t understand that.
Geary: It was so unbelievable. It denied so much of the past, and yet it was stuck in the past. It was a nightmare.
Benard: For me, what I�ve been doing the last month or two has been the most challenging. I like it because I get to show Sonny�s other side.
Burton: Yeah, this is good stuff.
Benard: We get to go at each other�
Burton: � face off. They�ve always tried to find something that could come between us, and there�s really been nothing. The combination of their situation with Courtney, and Sonny going through a breakdown, is going to make for good story that forces us to go head to head.
Benard: It�s been very challenging and rewarding for me. And everyone has been very good.
Burton: When Sonny goes through a heavy story, and deep story, everyone kind of steps up to the plate. All of the acting has been great.
Benard: Especially Tamara Braun (Carly). She always gets overlooked, and she�s underrated.
In Depth: When was the first time you realized the impact you were making on daytime?
Burton: When I was playing Jason Quartermaine, I would go to an appearance in a mall and maybe two people would show up. People would come and say, �Where�s the tool section?� or, �Is this the place to sign up for a credit card?� That was embarrassing. Now, with the new Jason, the response is great, and fans like what they�ve done with me. I always have a lot of fun meeting fans on appearances.
Benard: Early on, I went to a K-Mart once to sign autographs, and nobody showed up. I started jumping around like a fool to get people to come over.
Burton: �Aisle three � Sonny�s the Blue-Light Special!�
Geary: For me, it was an amusing but annoying little thing. An aunt of mine introduced me as her nephew, �Luke Spencer.� That was surreal but also an eye-opener that it had become more than a job.
Benard: The Brenda/Sonny storyline was the beginning of it all for me. They had their thing, and it really caught on.
Burton: The truth of the matter is, that if I were still Jason Quartermaine, I probably wouldn�t be here anymore. Thank God my character changed. Back then, I was Sonny�s little bitch.
Benard: You still are.
Burton: I�ll be 60 with gray hair, and Sonny will be sitting in his penthouse like he�s Marlon Brando. I can see the scene now � he won�t even move. There�ll be no blocking. He�ll just sit in the chair and talk even lower, if you can imagine that.
In Depth: What is the strangest thing a fan has even given you?
Geary: I had a big pile of mail in the corner of my dressing room that must have sat there for months. In the midst was a box that started to smell when I opened it. Somebody had sent me two Cornish hens. It was their offering for Thanksgiving. If I have any advice for young actors, it�s never eat anything that comes in the mail.
Burton: Maurice gets the best gifts.
Benard: Steve gets tons of gifts too. Sometimes he�ll get packages stacked in front of his room. My ego can�t take it, so I take some of the boxes and put them in front of my room so people who walk by can see that I have some too.
Burton: I get a lot of cool stuff. It�s true.
Benard: But the stuff I get is great stuff. I got a signed Muhammad Ali glove. I�ve gotten autographed photos of everybody from Evander Holyfield to Al Pacino. I really feel bad when I don�t get around to responding to those who send things, but I really do appreciate the gifts I get.
Geary: I get autographed brassiers.
In Depth: Is there a female character on the show, past or present, that you could see your character having a fling with?
Geary: For Luke, Lucy Coe. We almost did it a while back. Lynn Herring and I were good together, too. Actually, there�ve been a lot of women that Luke would have been interested in, but Laura has been his heart and soul.
Burton: Acting with Lynn Herring would be great.
Geary: As I recall, we laughed a lot. She�s fantastic.
Benard: I�ve always thought it would have been interesting for Sonny to have an affair with Laura. She was like a prima donna to him. If they had a friendship and all of a sudden it went further, it would have been very interesting.
In Depth: Is there a story you would love to play out that has yet to happen?
Geary: I�ve always wanted to see Luke go completely bad. Evil bad. I�ve always felt that Laura was his humanity, and if it hadn�t been for her, he would have been a really bad guy. You think he has a good heart, but he�s an anarchist. He totally lives with his own moral code and rejects all others. I think he�s a vindictive man. And I think he�s a lot more dangerous than they�ve allowed him to be.
Benard: The anti-hero.
Geary: Right. They�ve systematically moved me away from anti-hero, and I resent it. Who wants to wear a white hat and be everyone�s hero? I�d like to see Luke go completely evil and do some really loathsome things, cause a great deal of harm and pain to people.
Benard: It would be very interesting for Luke to go in that direction, to be evil. Maybe he could be one of Sonny�s hit men. That would be great!
Burton: What about me? I�m left out in the cold now. I guess you could just freeze me and put me in the basement. Thanks guys.
In Depth: What do each of you think are the others� best traits?
Geary: Maurice is honest, fearless. He doesn�t worry about what people are thinking of him. I find that really attractive, and for an actor, unusual.
Benard: That is a huge compliment. Of course, working with you is easy. It seems like we connected from the get-go, like we always knew there was going to be a friendship there.
Burton: Obviously, everyone knows that Tony is an unbelievable actor. One of the best. Definitely an inspiration to watch. He�s always been very down to earth and accessible � considering he�s Luke.
Geary: Maurice, you probably know this more than I do, but I think Steve�s a work in progress, and that�s a good quality.
Benard: Absolutely.
Geary: He has high standards for himself. He�s always striving to be a better person and a better actor.
Benard: When Steve cares about someone, he cares deeply. As an actor, you�re absolutely 100% solid. You never have a false moment.
Burton: Maurice�s best traits are that he�s so giving, he really does care about people and I know he would do anything for me.
Geary: Well, I hope the two of you will be very happy together!
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