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Nic Robuck Interview: OLTL Star Goes To The Dark Side in New TV Movie, Dark Desires!

By Michael Fairman

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Photo Credit: Riker Brothers Photography

Photo Credit: Riker Brothers Photography

Tonight is a big night for Nic Robuck!  The talented young actor that soap fans first noticed and came to love as James Ford on One Life to Live stars in his first film, which will have it’s premiere tonight on the Lifetime Movie Network (LMN) at 8P.M. ET/PT.

In Dark Desires, Robuck plays a young man desperate to be connected to the people close to him.  And … that may lead him to some devious measures to achieve that desire.  When the young man comforts the unhappily married mother of his recently deceased roommate, while she mourns the loss of her son, she realizes that Shane (Nic Robuck) may have been the one responsible for the death of her son.  And that is only scratching the surface of this steamy tale!

On-Air On-Soaps chatted with Nic about his exciting project, Dark Desires, and his lead role as Shane opposite the beautiful Kelly Lynch!  In addition, Nic reveals his hopes for the future, and what his time at OLTL meant to him looking back a year later after he filmed his final scenes in Llanview.  With the brightest future ahead of him, and his startling performance in Dark Desires, Nic will be hard to resist, in more ways than one.  Here’s what Nic had to say about it all!

Looks like the Dark Desires planned released date was moved up!  Even you were originally surprised that it is airing tonight!

Courtesy/LMN

NIC: Yes, correct!  It was supposed to come out in January, and then the distribution company for the film saw a clip of it, loved what they saw, and said, “We need this film immediately for the holidays!”   So then they were on a huge time crunch to get this movie completed, edited and screened before it started to run on Lifetime.  It’s been a whirlwind.

How did you land the part in Dark Desires?  I know you have been very excited about the role and your performance in it. 

NIC:  I auditioned twice, and the second time was for the director.  He shook my hand after I auditioned and he said, “Great job,” and they never to do that.  So, I kind of had a really good feeling about it.  Then I was waiting to hear that I booked it, and they called and said, “We would love you to come back in for a chemistry read with the other actors!”  And I thought, “Oh no. I thought I booked this already.”   So I go in and I read with a couple other actors, but I was reading a whole lot, so even then I had a good feeling about it, because I was now reading with so many other actors.  I found out early the next day that I booked it, and this is my first film, so I couldn’t have been more pleased.  A couple of weeks later there was the table read, and then we began shooting.  This was all a quick process.

The character you play, Shane, was abused.  He is quite the tormented guy!

Courtesy/LMN

NIC:   He has a very rough bringing up.  His mom died very early, and his dad was very abusive.  For Shane to survive it and make it to college and everything, he had to say that he was an orphan.  His dad agreed to it, so he could get a scholarship and an education.   So there wasn’t much love going on between the father and son relationship, even though Shane would have liked that.  The father was very physically and emotionally abusive to him.

So now from there, somehow Shane (ala you) ends up having sex with Kelly Lynch (Laughs)?

NIC:  (Laughs) So he goes to college, and goes to a great school, and is on a wrestling scholarship.  Since he wasn’t loved very much growing up, when people show him love and affection he latches on in a creepy way.  He and his roommate become fast friends, and the roommate takes him home to meet his mom, played by Kelly Lynch.  He sees this family life that he never had, and he really likes that and wants to hold on to that feeling.   He then latches on even more to his roommate, Brandon (Brian Borello), in creepy way. When Brandon gets a girlfriend he starts hanging out with Shane, less and less.  He does what he can to change that situation, and things transpire (laughs) and the roommate dies.  And, in mourning, Shane comforts Caren (Kelly Lynch) and they kind of start this romance.  Her husband is not around to comfort her, and Shane is.  They have an affair, and again, he latches on to her …

… Let me guess!  In a very creepy way?

Courtesy/LMN

NIC:  Exactly … in a very creepy way, and she gets hints and clues to how damaged this guy really is, and the measures that he will take to get what he wants.  Then some other people die and she sees his true colors, and the ending … is a surprise! (Laughs)

Is this a cougar thing with Kelly Lynch’s character?

NIC:  Well, not really.  It’s kind of like this mother thing.  So it starts out that way, but when Shane discovers Caren is looking for sex and a deeper kind of love, and to connect with someone because her husband isn’t doing it, Shane kind of steps in to fill that space and void in her life.  She welcomes it, and they start this very hot, steamy, and sexy affair.

So, Shane desires her!

NIC:  The thing with Shane is that he will take love from any shape or form from his best friend and roommate, from a woman pretending to be his mom, to a woman being his lover.  He will take it, because it’s love and he never received any of that.

So when all was said and done, was playing Shane easy for you to kind of slip into his skin, and envelop playing this type of complex character?

NIC:   Here is the thing: I don’t have a problem being empathetic with any character.  I am a sensitive, emotional kind of person anyway.  I can bring a lot to the table already through that, but I often tend to want to give it all away.  What I found difficult in this role was holding back a bit.  That is when the director stepped in to keep my character strong, but also so the audience would be sympathetic towards Shane.  He reeled me emotionally, but so that it was still there on the surface.  So you see something is going on with, but maybe not the way that I would show it.

Courtesy/LMN

The big question … were the sex scenes easy, or hard to do?  (Laughs)

NIC:   First of all, it’s Kelly Lynch!  But on a soap, you are just kind of under the covers, and it is an illusion that you are having sex.  But in this movie, we are next to having full sex and we are next to naked, and it’s Kelly Lynch!  So of course, I was having some performance anxiety (Laughs).  But she was so professional, nice, and supportive, and she made it easy and effortless… and we were in it together.

I spoke with David Gregory (Ex-Ford) earlier this month and we were reminiscing about his time on One Life.  It’s been a year now since you filmed your final scenes as James.  Looking back, what did you takeaway from your One Life to Live experience?

NIC:    I owe everything to that show.  They took a chance on me; ABC, Frank Valentini and, Brian Frons.  They gave me an opportunity, and I learned how to memorize dialog like there is no tomorrow.  However, I really learned how to act, and to be with different directors, and how to be on set, and handle things in a crunch when things got difficult. Had I not done One Life to Live, I would have not been able to do this shoot.  This movie was shot in 16 days and I am in every scene of it, and there was so much to do emotionally.  Had I not had my experience on a soap, I would not have been able to give the performance that I gave in Dark Desires, which I am very proud of.

Is your goal now that you want to land a primetime TV series?

NIC:  I really would.  I like the thought that on a TV series people can see you every week, and the work is consistent, and it pays well.  But given that, I also had a wonderful time working on this film.  I am not opposed to films.  If they keep coming my way, I would definitely do them.  But my biggest goal right now is to get a part in a dramatic primetime series.

If you were to look at the dramatic primetime series that are currently on the air and you could hand pick a series to have a role on, which would that be?

Courtesy/ABC

NIC:   I would love to do an ABC Family show like Pretty Little Liars.  That is a great show and people love it.  I have a friend on True Blood, and if they called me up and asked me to be on that show, I would love to be on True Blood playing a vampire.  Honestly though, any role that is dramatic, and that I can summon up some emotion and be serious, that is kind of what I lean more towards, and I would love to tackle.  Look, I would take any of them!  I am not that picky! (Laughs)

Have you stayed in touch with your former soap leading gal, Kristen Alderson (Starr, OLTL & GH)?

NIC:   Oh yes!  Kristen only lives a mile from me here in L.A.  We plan day-dates with each other, and we hang out a lot, and talk on the phone.

What was your favorite James moment?  The very beginning with Starr, and the red car?

NIC:  That was fun, but that was also very nerve-wracking.  You know what?  I would have to say getting buried alive was kind of cool, even though it was sort of a non-event; it was a lot of fun.

Photo Credit: Lorenzo Hodges

We are all excited to see you on Dark Desires tonight!  What would you tease to people why they should check it out?

NIC:  You will see me, Nic Robuck, in ways you’ve never seen me before … both dark and naked!

And the fans go, “Yay”!

NIC: Well, hopefully they will go, “Yay!  I am tuning in!” (Laughs)

So soapers, will you be checking Nic out tonight on LMN in Dark Desires? To whet your appetite, check out this sizzling preview clip below!

 

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Anyone know when & if this will be played in Canada? I have looked but could find nothing.
Thanks

If we had had more than a few hours notice, I would have loved to have watched it. Hope is airs in reruns soon.

It airs again;
Sun 11/25 … 3:00pm-5:00pm (central time..

Thanks for the great interview with Nic. It’s wonderful that he hasn’t forgotten his soap roots and the people, like Michael, who he had met along the way. He always was very talented, likable, and er…um…kinda easy on the eyes too!

Great interview. Loved Nic in the movie, he did a great job. Hope we see more of him soon.

Wow! Loved the movie Dark Desire and Nic did a great job! He was very convincing playing his character Shane! I can kinda relate to his character and really felt for Shane. I would love to see more of him! I agree, he is very talented, likeable and easy on the eyes! =) And yes, great interview! I even recorded the movie from LMN, I can watch this movie over and over and over again lol. And when I know it to come on again I will watch it then too…

General Hospital

‘General Hospital’s’ Dominic Zamprogna Shares He Was ‘Happy to Hear’ of The Triangle Storyline Developing Between Dante/Elizabeth/Ric

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Dominic Zamprogna

General Hospital’s Dominic Zamprogna (Dante Falconeri) opened up about the burgeoning love triangle forming between his Port Charles alter-go, Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) and Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst) after recently aired scenes, plus his hopes for the future of a Dante and Liz pairing, during his appearance on the Sunday, April 23 edition of the That’s Awesome podcast with Steve Burton (Jason Morgan) and Bradford Anderson (Spinelli).

On last week’s episodes of GH, Ric has made the decision that he wanted to propose to his ex-wife, only when he showed up at Elizabeth’s front door, he misread the scenario he walked in with Liz tending to Dante’s injured leg from the softball game. From there, the legal eagle’s jealous streak is reemerging which may cause him to act out and do something unforgivable, or will he take the high road? Stay tuned.

Speaking with Steve Burton and Bradford Anderson about where Elizabeth stands in the annals of the long-running soap, Zamprogna said, “She’s up there with Steve and Maurice (Maurice Benard) as one of the most legacy-filled people on the show.”

Courtesy/ABC

HOW DANTE AND ELIZABETH CAME ABOUT

Dominic jokes it’s a far cry for where Dante and Elizabeth previously, recalling, “We had some scenes together years ago and we were both laughing. Becky’s like, ‘Well, I guess we’re not going be paired up anytime soon.’ I remember we laughed immediately after they yelled ‘cut,”‘and said to each other, ‘Well, so much for that!'”

Fast-forward to early 2025 and as Zamprogna remembered it, “Elizabeth Korte (co-head writer, GH) came up to me at the General Hospital Christmas party, and I think it was a year and a half ago and she said, ‘We’re going to have you in scenes with Elizabeth,’ My internal monologue is going, ‘I’m not with Lulu (Alexa Havins) anymore and Sam’s (Kelly Monaco) gone, so maybe they want to see if this works.’ I didn’t want to get scenes with Becky and try to find the chemistry. I just wanted to play whatever honestly was written and came across for both of us and hope it was what people liked, and I don’t know if it is … or not.”

Knowing how beloved Elizabeth is to the GH faithfuls, Zamprogna added, “She got a big fan base with Ric … and a big fan base with with Jason … and you know, you’re going to piss somebody off. But, didn’t Ric drug Elizabeth and put Carly in a panic room?”

Dom and Liz

Photo: ABC

DANTE AND ELIZABETH PAIRING COULD STIR UP STORY FOR OTHERS IN PORT CHARLES

In closing, Dominic felt that the wide-reaching tentacles of a Dante and Elizabeth relationship is something he is 100% down for. “The triangle thing; I was happy to hear it was with Ric and her, because I felt it’s important to have her the top of it as opposed to Dante, Lulu and Elizabeth.”

Zamprogna added, “When you get into relationships on a soap, things seem to fizzle out a little bit, The buildup is what’s the fun part, and the getting to know each other, and the people who are affected by this coming together. When with this case it’s going to affect: Ric, Sonny, Lulu. There’s so much more story here. To me, it’s going to be a fun story to play.”

You can check out Dominic’s visit to That’s Awesome with Steve and Bradford below.

Now weigh-in: Are you rooting for Dante and Liz, or Dante and Ric at this juncture of the story, or neither guy  for Elizabeth? Let us know your thoughts and picks via the comment section.

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Beyond the Gates

‘Beyond the Gates’ Star Mike Manning Lands Role in Indie Horror Feature ‘Deify’

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Mike Manning

While Smitty tries to hold the fort down in his marriage to congressman Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon)  and their two teenaged children, Samantha (Najah Jackson) and Tyrell (Jaden Lucas Miller) on Beyond the Gates, Emmy-winner Mike Manning has also landed another feature film role.

According to Deadline, Manning has joined the cast of Deify with 6 other new cast members for the indie psychological horror film starring Neal McDonough and Skeet Ulrich, which was previously announced last week.

Joining Manning as the latest cast addition are: Dennis Haysbert, Ashley Greene,  Casey Harnett, Kirk Avecdo, Anji White, anf Nicholas Chimera who’s directing the pic also has a part in the film.

WHAT’S THE STORY OF DEIFY?

Taking to his Instagram with the news of his casting, Manning shared, “A movie about a cult? What could possibly go wrong? Come for the enlightenment. Stay because they won’t let you leave. DEIFY is coming…”

The movie is currently shooting in Chicago and in story, “a cult leader is put on trial after causing his devoted followers to be burned alive. The film is inspired in part by events surrounding the 1993 Waco, Texas, standoff between members of the Branch Davidians church and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, one of the largest civilian firefights ever recorded on American soil.”

MIKE MANNING IS A DAYTIME EMMY NOMINEE

In addition, the multi-talented Manning is a producer on the feature. Previously, Mike was nominated last month in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards. He previously won an Emmy for his role on The Bay and for being a producer on the digital drama.

Mike’s previous credits include the role of Charlie Dale on Days of Our Lives and the Manny on This Is Us, plus various primetime and screen credits.

So intrigued to find what role Mike will play in the upcoming horror/cult film, Deify? Enjoying him as Smitty on Beyond the Gates? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.

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General Hospital

GH and OLTL Alum Patrick J. Gibbons Reveals the Story Behind Writing Trina’s Song on ‘General Hospital’ (Exclusive)

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Patrick J. Gibbons

At the conclusion of today’s August 21 episode of General Hospital, Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali) sings a lullaby to baby Dez, that went into a montage to close out the episode as her father Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) reports to Pentonville and winds up in his jail cell.

However, in a fun fact, the song entitled, “A Lonely Heart To Give” was actually written by none other than former One Life to Live and General Hospital actor, Patrick J. Gibbons.

Daytime fans first met Gibbons as Sam Manning on One Life to Live. At the time, when he started on the soap, he was just 5-years-old. Gibbons played the part from 2010-2013 on ABC and Prospect Park’s editions of the show. Fast-forward to 2018, Gibbons shows up on General Hospital as Wyatt Hoover, the scout who seemed always be injured, but in the thick of the drama. Patrick had appeared on GH multiple times as Wyatt including: 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023.

Photo: ABC

FROM HIS GRANDMOTHER’S DEATH CAME THE INSPIRATION FOR HIS SONG

Now in 2026, General Hospital fans are getting to learn about another side of Gibbons’ talent as a songwriter and guitar player after “A Lonely Heart to Give” debuted today! Michael Fairman TV caught up with Patrick, who is now a senior at Penn State entering his final year as a finance major, to get the back-story of how his song wound up on GH!

Gibbons explained he wrote the song in honor of his grandmother who passed away a few years ago with whom he was, very, very close with. “Randomly, my grandmother had a downfall and passed away during the second semester of my sophomore year. I was in my dorm a lot and I was just playing with my guitar. And at the time, I was really into finger-style playing. I wrote the lyric and music to it (with a little help from my guitar teacher Lou), and my mom showed the rough demo to Frank Valentini (EP, General Hospital). He’s like an uncle to me. Frank loved it so much he said, “Finish that up. I want to hear the whole thing, and I want it on the show.”

MAKING MUSIC FOR GENERAL HOSPITAL

Gibbons and his parents took the next steps! “So now, all we needed was a female voice, because I thought that would fit the song well,” Patrick shared. “At the golf club we go to my parents were at a dinner. They liked the singer that was performing and spoke to her about the song, and she says she would like to bring it to her ‘boss’ who ended up being Eric Bazilian of the Hooters fame!” (Bazilian also wrote the smash hit song “One of Us” for Joan Osborne).

Next, “We went in the studio and recorded it and the song came together and it was beautiful. We loved it. They loved it at General Hospital and now they’re putting it the show and they are coming in with a piano, instead of a guitar. Paul Glass, the GH musical director, has been keeping us updated over the last six months of how it was coming along, and when it would air, and how GH put their own arrangement to it. I can’t wait to see and hear what they did with it.”

Photo: JPI

PATRICK’S ONE LIFE TO LIVE FAMILY

Everyone knows that the One Life to Live extended family share a very tight bond, and Patrick said he does stay in touch with a few of his former One Life to Live co-stars, especially those from the Manning family! “I stayed in touch with Kassie DePaiva (ex-Blair) and sent her little videos here and there. She was like my second mom for five years. We keep in contact with Kristen Alderson (ex-Starr) over X the most, and she can’t believe how big I’ve gotten. Like, none of them can! (laughs). I also loved working with Roger Howarth (ex-Todd) and Trevor St. John (ex-Todd and Victor Jr.), and to me since I was so young, they were just my friends, ‘Roger and Trevor,’ not Todd Manning or Victor Jr.”

It was a trip to California and a visit to Port Charles that ultimately led to Gibbons second soap role of Wyatt Hoover. Patrick explains, “In 2016, Frank Valentini invited us out to Los Angeles to visit the set of General Hospital. I think he heard me say, ‘This is so much fun. I miss being on the set.’ He goes, ‘You should come out. I’ll bring you on the show. We can make you a character.'”

A few years later, Patrick’s dream became a reality! “Then, by the summer of 2018, I was playing Wyatt, the scout, and shared scenes with Wes Ramsey (Peter August), and the best was when I shared a scene with Roger Howarth and Michael Easton (ex-John, OLTL and ex-Silas, Finn et al, GH), it was like chemistry from the old days.”

Photo: PGibbons

IT’S ALL IN THE NUMBERS

As to his future aspirations, it’s a career in the finance game that has piqued Gibbons’ real-life interest. But never say never to a return to acting. Patrick explained, “I’ve always enjoyed numbers. And on top of that, one of the biggest parts of finance is being personable and outgoing.”

He continued, “That’s one of the greatest skills I developed growing up. I really love the markets. I’m super interested. I’m never going to close the door to acting. I’m always open to that because I just love it so much. It’s such a great art.”

Take note! If there are any investment bankers or private equity folks among the GH faithful looking for a young analyst next year, Patrick’s DMs are open. You can find him on X at @PatrickJGibbons.

So, what did you think of the song sung by Trina on today’s GH that was written by Patrick J. Gibbons? Did you enjoy Patrick’s performances as One Life’s Sam and GH’s Wyatt? Would you like to see him back on GH at some point? Let us know via the comment section.

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Jonathan Bennett joins the cast of GH as Joe Fitzpatrick. Catch the latest promo! Leave a comment.Leave A Comment

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