This week, Nikolas has just poured his heart out over Emily’s grave and then gets his first look at the Emily “doppelganger’ hovering in the halls of “GH” while all hell has broken loose in the OR. As the hospital catastrophe reaches epic proportions and people are quarantined from a dangerous biotoxin, Nikolas is smack dab in the middle of all the drama.
Tyler Christopher, everyone’s favorite “Dark Prince”, chatted with me about the return of his on-screen acting partner, Daytime Emmy winner Natalia Livingston, what lies ahead for the duo, the Daytime Emmys, and what it takes to play the noble and complex Cassadine!
Listen to the audio:
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MICHAEL:
On “GH”, there is big story playing out now and well into February. Natalia Livingston (Ex-Emily, now Rebecca) has come back to the show. How has that
been for you, now that she is in a
new role?
TYLER:
It has been great. We planted ourselves into the minds of the fans, and they can’t let it go. We are less apt to bring people back from the dead here. So it’s been good.
MICHAEL:
She looks quite different!
TYLER:
She cut her hair and you put some glasses on her, and nobody will know the difference.
MICHAEL:
Are you having fun with this new character?
TYLER:
Where we stand now, and at where we are at shooting-wise, we have not even had dialog yet. So the anticipation of that is exciting, but we have not gotten that yet. But, I have seen her in the hospital crisis more than enough.
MICHAEL:
As this crisis ensues, what’s Nikolas’s role in what happens?
TYLER:
I think his priority in the beginning of this, in addition to helping people that are injured and who need to be evacuated, is finding out who this woman is and what is her intention, and what is she doing here in the midst of all the chaos?
MICHAEL:
Are you moving people and patients to Mercy Hospital because “GH” is now in a shambles?
TYLER:
I don’t know exactly where we are moving them. We are just moving them out. (He laughs) There is an added obstacle that there is a biotxoin that is airborne, so there is that issue on top of everything else.
MICHAEL:
And as we learn that came out of someone’s body?
TYLER:
That’s what they say and tell me! (He laughs)
MICHAEL:
When you heard, or got the scripts, that it was time for another big “GH” umbrella story that always has elements of disaster, what were your thoughts?
TYLER:
If history prevails, either every November or February we all get together as a cast and we all hang out for a very long time. And big things happen. Things catch on fire, and people die. So it was not a surprise to find out that we were doing
another “GH” crisis.
MICHAEL:
Did you call the other actors when you found this out, like, “Here we go again!”
TYLER:
No. I think we all accepted our fate. (He laughs) That this was the way it was going to be once a year, even though it’s long hours. It’s fun to hang out, and laugh, and be serious when we need to be. For the most part, the times that we have done these crises, ratings have gone up and people have enjoyed seeing it.
MICHAEL:
And Emmys have occurred…
TYLER:
Emmys have been had!
MICHAEL:
Is Claire Coffee, as Nadine, going to have closure with Nikolas? We know that Claire has stated she is now off-contract from the show. Obviously, the two of them seem to be heading towards just being friends. What are your thoughts?
TYLER:
I think all the evidence points towards that now that Natalia is back. It does not take a genius to figure that one out. I think there is some guilt in the beginning to tear himself away from this girl, and his obvious attraction to her, because of her uncanny resemblance to Emily. But, I don’t think Nadine will go quietly.
MICHAEL:
Did you submit yourself for the Daytime Emmys this year?
TYLER:
I did submit myself for Lead Actor this year. In retrospect, I don’t know what I have this year as opposed to what I had last year, which did not hold up!
MICHAEL:
It’s been a tough year for Nikolas trying to move on and get closure from the devastating loss of Emily. All great Emmy stuff, if you ask me. Do you think he finally got closure before all this is heaped upon him?
TYLER:
I think in as much closure as one can have with losing the love of his life. I don’t think he can move on. It’s been over a year and he was just starting to settle in to being by himself and living without her, and this person shows up and stirs up all those old memories over again.
MICHAEL:
So, back to the crisis. You are running traffic in the hospital and all hell is breaking loose?
TYLER:
Well, Jason is also trapped in there. So he is going to put on his fire helmet and police uniform and FBI badge, and come and probably save most of the day. I am doing my part with the added danger of the huge explosion in the hospital. People may or may not know there are many flammable things that are loose in the hospital, and I’m making sure the place does not explode… plus, Elizabeth is in bad shape. So I am trying to save her. It’s just everybody. It’s just one big happy helping hand!
MICHAEL:
Over the past year you had the brain tumor, losing Emily, trying to move on, and meeting Nadine. What was the hardest part in playing Nikolas over the past year?
TYLER:
The staple of this character, since I have played it the second time around, is his relationship with Emily. The very first month I came back five years ago is where we started this relationship with Emily, and just last year is where it ended. The challenge for me, as an actor is, “What is this guy like without this person in his life?” The audience is so used to having this couple around, and for five years on a soap, is an eternity! That’s the history that we have and in just one day it was gone. For me, it was what new fresh thing can we do for this character to fill that void? In the last year we added some humor to the guy, in that he is not just about manners and things of that nature. So, that was a new venture into the character to lighten him up a bit.
MICHAEL:
I don’t like him that way. I like the “Dark Prince”!
TYLER:
Nobody wants him to be happy. Eternal sadness!
MICHAEL:
I know you have your own theatre company: “68 Cent Crew Theatre”. Will you be performing in any outside plays coming up?
TYLER:
We are doing a John Patrick Shanley festival at our theatre, Theatre 68, this winter and spring. For me, with this thing going on, it’s just too much to take on a play at this time.
MICHAEL:
In closing, what can we look forward to from Nikolas as we head into February?
TYLER:
Look forward to an in-depth exploration into this Rebecca character, and him trying to find out what her intentions are. Are they good or are they bad? Also, we’ll have Nikolas struggling with the fact that she looks exactly like Emily.
