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THE JOHN MCCOOK INTERVIEW – THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL

By Michael Fairman

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By Michael Fairman

John-main.jpgTV SOAP:

This soap season has been really great for your character, Eric Forrester. It’s been major story!

JOHN:

Yes, major story…. even when I was laying there. I had the scruffy beard, and the bedsores, and it was wonderful. Actually, the bed we had was the most modern hospital bed one can have, and it changes every 20 seconds. It deflates on one side, and puffs up on another, and that’s why it keeps the pressure off one place in your skin. So, it prevents bedsores, and sure enough, I did not get any.

TV SOAP:

Did you love the concept surrounding Eric’s heart attack?

JOHN:

I thought it was great, because it was a heart attack, and nobody realized it wasn’t caused by anybody when it happened. Certainly, none of the actors knew it had been caused by anybody when it happened. I endured a lot of Viagra jokes because it had happened after sex with Donna. I got tired of that. Then, a couple of weeks into his coma, it had been revealed that somebody had caused it and that it was a ‘Whodunit’. Then, that evolved into something else. As Eric recovered, the family worked to keep Donna apart from him. Then, they steal him back, and who does he see? Well, the good news is you’re waking out of your coma; the bad news is, your ex-wife Stephanie is there! Then, it was a really wonderful reunion with Eric and his family after that. Then what happens is that Eric sees Donna and Owen in a compromising position, and it appears to be more than that. Eric freaks out and it almost makes him sick again. They now keep Donna away. But then, this wonderful thing happens of Donna wanting to explain her side of the story, and sneaking into the house to get to talk to Eric. It was pretty cool! It goes on from there.

TV SOAP:

So, Donna pleads her case?

JOHN:

When she first comes to him, he still is monosyllabic. It’s hard for him to wrap his brain around anything, let alone express himself. So, she tearfully explains, “I never lost faith in you. I did not go off with Owen someplace and commit myself. I love you Eric. You are the guy I want to be with. I feel terrible that your family has done this. They are keeping me away from you. They are not telling the whole truth of what happened to you while you were in a coma.” Eric is not able to say, “What are you talking about? Tell me everything?” All of that is in the future with these characters. Right now Eric is still on the edge, and very vulnerable to anyone’s machinations: Stephanie’s or Felicia’s, let alone Donna’s!

steph-eric.jpgTV SOAP:

What does Eric feel for Stephanie? It seems like they will always have feelings for each other, and always drift back towards each other, no matter what.

JOHN:

It seems like that, doesn’t it? That’s the tension. I think what I like about how Brad Bell (executive producer and head writer, “B&B) writes is that he keeps these things unresolved, and these feelings are unresolved. Eric’s feelings for Stephanie are always in flux. He wants to shoot her in the head, and he realizes he owes her so much. He loves her and has been with her for 150 years! (He laughs) I always use to say that, “They used to hunt Bison together. They have been together so long!”

TV SOAP:

But Stephanie and Eric, for all purposes, are an iconic soap couple!

JOHN:

It’s a cliché I suppose, and a staple, and it’s necessary. So for this man to be so dependent, and owe so much to Stephanie, and be adored and loved by Donna is interesting. This is not a pin-up or hot tamale. Donna really loves him. That’s what’s different about this. It starts out as this “hootchie-mama” putting the makes on this older guy, but Eric really loves this gal.

TV SOAP:

What if Owen were to steal Donna away from Eric? How would Eric feel about that?

Owen-Donna.jpgJOHN:

If Donna left Eric for Owen, he would just go, “Donna’s big mistake”, and he would not blame this guy Owen. Owen is just a kid, and a cute kid, who comes around and has hot pants for Donna. If Donna went with him permanently, Eric would just shrug it off. However, he would be sad about Donna.

TV SOAP:

Would it devastate him?

JOHN:

It would devastate him, but he would not blame Owen. I don’t think so. Not to the point of committing a crime or getting into a fistfight with him. I think he would flick him off.

TV SOAP:

What about Eric’s relationship dynamic with daughter, Felicia?

JOHN:

We swept that under the rug; the fact that Felicia offered Owen $200,000 for a crime. They did not go down that road, but they did resolve it in 7 minutes between commercials 2 and 3, where Owen admits it to Donna. (He laughs) He admires her so much, and sees how much she is put upon by her family and Eric’s family. He feels sympathy for her and she admires him for turning it down. That shows that Owen is not some bad guy or some money hungry guy. He turned the money down for good reason.

TV SOAP:

How do you justify all of this? Won’t Eric be hell-bent on getting back at everyone in his family for how they took advantage of him during his coma?

ridge-plug.jpgJOHN:

Eric was very angry with his children prior to the heart attack. I think in the future when all is revealed, and it had not all been revealed to Eric, there is a lot for Eric to learn in regards to what happened to him when he was in coma. He needs to learn how Ridge tried to take the business away from him, and then tried to take the business away from Donna while Eric was down. Ridge wanted to violate Donna’s power of attorney that Eric had put in place. And, he also pulled the plug on Eric, and when Eric finds this all out, it’s going to be stunning! And this business with Ridge, Thorne, and Felicia, is not over.

TV SOAP:

I want Eric to have a backbone. The men on soaps and on “B&B” tend to be portrayed as weak.

JOHN:

These stories are about the women. Women are the manipulators, and fight, achieve, and fail, and I get that. The men are the prizes and are the thing to win or not. So the men have to not be aware of all the machinations going on, which in turn makes us look dumb. Then the scene is happening right in front of us, and you have to say, “I’m sorry, I don’t see that. I am not aware of that? How dumb am I?” And the producers go, “Well, be looking at the fern and pretend you don’t hear it!” So our characters are constantly being compromised by how little we are aware of. It’s true of Ridge Forrester, Eric Forrester, and all the men on the show.

TV SOAP:

22% of the soap viewing audience between the ages 18-49 in last months Nielsen ratings were reported as male. What kind of message does this portrayal of men send to those guys watching it at home?

JOHN:

It’s Ronn Moss’s (Ridge) and my frustration. How the hell am I going to play this and retain Eric’s intelligence at all? These characters are supposed to have achieved something in their lives. They can’t be this dumb or this blind. But, we have to be here. It’s not true on “Gossip Girls”. The men on that show are the prizes, but they are not stupid. As men on soaps, we are constantly having to come up with the spine of the scenes, and make it stronger than what is written for us. I think Eric will be upset when he comes-to, but it would be better if he was angry, rather than upset.

TV SOAP:

Eric needs to write to his children out of his will, like Victor Newman did recently on “Y&R”!

JOHN:

Well, that is a very Victor Newman thing to do! It would be a powerful thing for Eric to do, and to also write Stephanie out of the will, if you ask me. I like when Eric made a decisive choice, like when he chose Donna and he told Stephanie, “I am done with this. I am not coming back to you again. I’m not!” Eric is being nursed back to health after a coma and a heart attack. I think that changes men in business, when they have heart attacks.

wheel-kids.jpgTV SOAP:

Will there be physical and emotional repercussions from the heart attack when Eric tries to regain his life?

JOHN:

That was the thing I talked to Brad about. Does this change Eric? And he said, “No, no, we have to be careful. He did not have a stroke.” He said, “Eric does not have lingering physical or mental changes. He is not injured by it.” But, will he be a different man when he comes back to work? Yeah! It kind of slows a guy down, and makes you doublethink things. “Maybe I do need to ease off a bit.” We move things so fast on our show, that we don’t fully explain things over several episodes so that everyone understands and gets it. We explain it in one episode and one little segment, and if you were not there for that, you have to ask somebody else. I think our show moves too fast at times.

TV SOAP:

How is working with the new Beth Logan, Robin Riker?

JOHN:

I love her as Beth. I can’t wait for her to have more to do. She has a little twinkle in her eye and is a wonderful actress. I think she is beautiful and very attractive. I can’t wait to play with her. I have not worked with her yet, and that’s a surprise. Robin is an episodic television queen. I think I am a big episodic television person, too, but it’s been a long time since I have been out doing it. (He laughs)

TV SOAP:

Susan Flannery’s (Stephanie) moments in the hospital with Eric were wonderful. What’s it like when you work with her now?

JOHN:

It’s wonderful, c’mon! She does not surprise me, but that’s the fullness and the richness of what she does. That’s her skill. That’s her talent, and she does that better than anyone on television, I think.

TV SOAP:

“GL’s” Kim Zimmer (Reva) told me that the level of performance Susan Flannery brings to her role is unparalleled. I have heard that from so many of the top-notch actresses in the soap genre.

JOHN:

Sure they do. They aspire to it. The appreciation these veteran women have for each other is wonderful. They all come back to Susan Flannery all the time, because Susan is powerful and real, and inventive. What surprises me sometimes is how she chooses to do a scene.

TV SOAP:

Does that ever throw you off in your performances?

MacCook-wife.jpgJOHN:

No. I have been married to her for 21 years, and that is almost as long as I have been married to my own wife.

TV SOAP:

How is your wife?

JOHN:

Laurette is great, and she does surprise me all the time.

TV SOAP:

Are there times when you felt your performance was not up to par?

JOHN:

Of course, there are times. I will be in a scene with somebody, and maybe Jennifer Gareis (Donna) or Kyle Lowder (Rick) will say something about their own work like, “I wasn’t very good. Do you think I should do it again?” It’s not being cavalier, but I say to them, “It’s a different scene tomorrow, and that’s the lesson you have to learn. You cannot come out and rehearse and warm up to it in this medium. Nowadays, the first time we rehearse is probably when we are going to shoot it. So, be on it right now, out of the gate. We are all capable of doing that.”

TV SOAP:

How is working with Jennifer?

MacCook-Gareis.jpgJOHN:

She surprises me, to be quite truthful. We have been doing this story for at least a year. When I began, I was very excited to have a story with a young woman, any one woman but Stephanie, because that makes for good story for Eric. I think she was excited because it meant doing something different than she had done before. I had not watched her on “Y&R”, and I saw the ‘sex-kitten’ thing she does really well here at “B&B”. Then as Brad started writing it, I thought, “What are we going to do? Is it going to be Eric and some sex-kitten story?” It’s so, mid-life crisis for Eric. So I went to Brad, and he said, “No. She falls in love with Eric, and then Eric falls in love with her.” Jennifer and I had a quick talk then about how we’re going to approach this, and said, “Let’s make it different than anything we have ever done… for you, Jennifer, and for me, too.” It’s an opportunity to go to an acting place we had never gone before, and she just did fall in love with this guy. Her childlike reaction to loving him is what I reacted to. It was funny, sweet and real.

TV SOAP:

What can we tell your fans to look forward to from Eric in the coming months?

JOHN:

I think they can look forward to the same thing I do, which is really complicated reactions to a very complex storyline. He loves his Stephanie. He is in love and married to Donna, I think. Who is he going to end up with is an overriding story point, but that’s not even the story we are telling. The complex part of the story is, how does he react to the information he learns, and how does it affect him, with this family, kids and wife.

kyle-john.jpgTV SOAP:

When do you see all of this coming into play for the audience?

JOHN:

This will all be coming out between now and Christmas. I don’t know all the answers to those questions, and as we go through fall and come to the end of the year, he is going to know a lot more.

TV SOAP:

Do you think Eric could just fall apart and have a complete meltdown?

JOHN:

Yeah, he could. I would like to see him in an alley in downtown LA, with some of the same people Stephanie hung out with years ago. (He laughs) I think the business is too important to him, so he wouldn’t fall apart. We need to see Eric suffering with the business and bringing it back, and achieving stuff there. We need to see Ridge and Rick there, and see the other kids and everybody in that building, fighting for the millions and millions of dollars that are generated by that family business.

TV SOAP:

How has it been working with Kyle Lowder (Rick)?

JOHN:

Kyle is great, and has a lovely sense of humor. He is an efficient leading man, and it’s fun to fuss with him a little bit, and try to pull him out of that a bit. He is playing good Rick storyline now, and he is pulling that off really well.

TV SOAP:

And finally, you and Ronn Moss have been with the show since the beginning. How is your working relationship with him?

JOHN:

I love working with Ronn. It’s been 21 years. Ronn got better all through the years and every year he has done that. I am staying sort of the same, and Ronn is getting better, and it’s funny. People made fun of Ronn. ridge-eric.jpgIt was so
stunning to see a man who looked like that, even on television. And Ronn has a stunning look, and he is the icon of our show. The jaw, and the zero body fat, and Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke)… the two of the them together in a picture are amazing. But at first, people would make fun of our show because of how Ronn looked. They would go, “How could this guy be any good as an actor, and look like that?” And Ronn proves that he can. He loves the show and the character. We all love being here together, and its great. Ronn says the same thing he said to me the first day, every day. He holds a script up and goes, “What is this?” If I ever win an Emmy, I’m going to thank him and say that! (He laughs)

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Been following John for many yrs!! I was hoping he might remember his roots were once in Tx!! The McCooks were kinsfolk from way back!! He has had a awesome career and I am one of his biggest fans!! I love all the family in what is my favorite soap!!

Interviews

‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Heather Tom Talks Daytime Emmy-Nominated Scenes and What’s Behind Katie’s Deep-Seated Issues with Dylan (Exclusive)

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Heather Tom

The Bold and the Beautiful’s Heather Tom (Katie Logan) is heading into the 53rd annual Daytime Emmys next month with a chance to win not one, but two gold statuettes to add to her collection of six!

Heather is once again a nominee for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama Series, and for the first time a nominee as part of B&B’s writing team in the Outstanding Writing for a Daytime Drama Series category.

Currently, Heather is tied with One Life to Live icon, Erika Slezak (Ex-Viki) as the actresses with the most wins in Daytime Emmy history. An acting victory by Tom would break the tie, although Slezak’s wins have all been for Lead Actress, while Tom literally grew up before our eyes over 35 years in daytime, and has won in all three actress categories: Younger, Supporting and Lead.

Photo: JPI

Whether Tom wins the gold this year, next year is looking even like stronger lock with Heather delivering some of the best work of her career, over the last several months. Who can forget Katie’s showdown with her sister Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) over the creation of her own fashion house named Logan, that slap from Brooke, and eventually being disowned from the Logan family by Brooke and their sister, Donna (Jennifer Gareis). 

This fall, Katie is in full momma bear-mode and being overprotective of her son Will Spencer’s (Crew Morrow) heart and pocketbook. In story, Katie has a massive distrust of Melissa Dylan, who has made her move on her son, while Will is still trying to deal with the break-up with the love of his life Electra Forrester.

During a live chat this week on the Michael Fairman Channel, Heather opened up on a myriad of subjects, including why Dylan gets under Katie’s skin in such a major way, and what scenes earned her a shot at Lead Actress gold at the October 30th Daytime Emmy ceremony.

Photo: JPI

HEATHER TOM’S DAYTIME EMMY SUBMISSION

In daytime, Heather Tom does it all, she acts, directs and writes for The Bold and the Beautiful. When deciding what material to submit for Emmy competition with its eligibility rules of episodes from 2025, it relayed heavily on scenes with her longtime B&B scene partner, Don Diamont (Bill Spencer).

“I submitted material having to do with the Luna (Lisa Yamada) storyline and having to do with Katie and Bill. I love that Katie and Bill have been really trying to find their way back to each other for, honestly, five years. He’s been trying to woo her back. Katie’s been like, ‘No.’ However, they come together, especially over their son, Will (Crew Morrow) and they have a very real relationship-type of discussion. It wasn’t an argument. It was more about, ‘I know you. Don’t do this.’ That’s always kind of been Katie’s relationship with Bill. The scenes with Don Diamont were about Katie and Bill’s history, the pain, and the drama, and especially about their son, seemed very familiar to me.”

Heather added, “There’s also a couple scenes with Will and Luna, when Katie finds out that Luna is pregnant. Katie was like, ‘Nope! Our son is having a baby with somebody, and we’re going to figure this out. We’ve got means and the ability to do this. I don’t care if we have to take this baby away from Luna because she’s crazy, we’ll figure it out.’ They were some really good scenes that I felt very proud of. I thought to myself, “OK, this is Katie really taking a stand for her son, and having these conversations with Bill where I just felt they were real and honest.”

In conclusion to standing by her choices of scenes, Heather explained, “It was nice to see Bill and Katie operating as a parental unit and have her be like, “Yep, we’re not doing this. You know, you can’t force Luna to do anything, so let’s just figure out how we’re dealing with this.” Katie was kind of the adult in the room. Then, the scenes where Bill says to Katie, “You have to come back to me and I need you,” while Katie shed a few tears, she still didn’t take him back, not yet.”

Photo: JPI

DYLAN BROKE THE ‘GIRLFRIEND CODE’

There are specific reasons why Katie has it out for Melissa Dylan. In fact, Dylan went so far as to get her mother Darcy Dylan to town to shut down Katie’s suspicions of her, but it still isn’t swaying Katie away from her stance on the matter. Heather revealed how she is playing the scenes.

“So, here’s the deal. It’s multifaceted,” began Tom. “This girl pushes Katie’s buttons. She reminds her of her sister, Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang), and what Katie’s going through with her sister right now is very unpleasant. I think she looks at this girl and says, “This girl is going to crawl over anyone to get what she wants. And right now, she wants my son, and she’s willing to throw her best friend (Electra) under the bus.”

Heather also said, “Honestly, there’s something known as the ‘girlfriend code.’ Would you like to know what the girlfriend code is? ‘The girlfriend code’ is if your girlfriend, who is also your best friend, dates a guy and is especially in love with him, it doesn’t matter if you break up, that guy is off limits. You need to find yourself another guy.”

KATIE’S TROUBLES WITH BROOKE AND DYLAN MAKE HER TAKE A STAND

Katie clearly draws a similarity to her sister Brooke and Melissa Dylan which is also driving her attitude, which Heather confirmed. “So to Katie, it’s like Dylan broke that code. She is someone who follows her heart just like Brooke and leaves carnage in her wake,” said Tom.

She continued, “I think Katie looks at her and goes ‘Okay, one, you were living in your car. You didn’t call your mother who clearly loves you and ask her for help, but you were more than willing to take help from this, lovely rich guy.’ I think Katie feels like the fact that Dylan has been so expressive of how in love she is with Will, I think she finds that a little weird.  She’s telling him that she’s e in love with him, and he doesn’t say it back to you. So, clearly he’s in not in love with you.”

In story, Katie can’t trust a young woman, who knows her son doesn’t feel the same way about her and yet is still hanging around. Heather shared Katie’s viewpoint to Dylan: “He’s clearly in love with your best friend. So, isn’t it a little unsettling that she kind of keeps saying she’s in love with him? So that’s my multifaceted reason why Katie doesn’t like her. It really has nothing to do with the fact that she came from humble beginnings because Katie did too. That being said, the Spencers are billionaires, so she would have to also look out for that. However, I don’t think that’s the main reason why she doesn’t like this girl or doesn’t trust her. I really don’t.”

You can check out the full conversation from our livestream conversation on the Michael Fairman Channel below.

Now let us know, are you rooting for Heather Tom to win the Lead Actress Daytime Emmy? What did you think of the scenes she submitted? Will Katie be proven right about Melissa Dylan, or will her distrust blow up in her face and she will wind up respecting Dylan when all is said and done? Weigh-in via the comment section.

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Interviews

‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Kelly Sullivan Talks Becoming Darcy Dylan, Who’s Melissa’s Dad, and Future Love Interest (Exclusive)

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Kelly Sullivan

Kelly Sullivan made her triumphant return to daytime on recent episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful in her new role as Darcy Dylan, the mother of Melissa Dylan (Sydney Bullock).

In story, Melissa, better known as just “Dylan,” phoned home to her mother to come to Los Angeles, in an effort to calm the waters with Will Spencer’s (Crew Morrow) nosy mother, Katie Logan (Heather Tom), who doesn’t trust Dylan one iota.

Soap fans remember Sullivan from her previous Daytime Emmy-nominated role sas Kate Howard/Connie Falconeri on General Hospital and as Sage Warner on The Young and the Restless. During a livestream conversation exclusively on the Michael Fairman Channel, Kelly spoke about her time on GH and Y&R, and the wonderful co-stars she shared the screen with, and her excitement on her brand new role on B&B.

Photo: JPI

As to her thoughts on if Darcy will ultimately prove to be a gold-digger, opportunist, but still has a heart of gold (as we saw in recent scenes with her daughter, seemingly), Sullivan explained, “Characters like Darcy can be dangerous. I think Darcy is a survivor and she can charm. She’s a flirt. She knows what she wants. Darcy is self-made, according to her, and she made it.”

THE DYNAMIC BETWEEN DARCY AND HER DAUGHTER, MELISSA DYLAN

However, Melissa plays a big role in what’s next for Darcy! Kelly explained, “She’s got this beautiful daughter and that was her entire life who is now making her way. Let me tell you, I don’t know what Darcy’s retirement plan is, but one would assume she doesn’t have much savings. This is a great opportunity for her to connect with her daughter and get the lay of the land.”

Finding out that Melissa has been dating Will Spencer from the rich and powerful Spencer family in Los Angeles, while initially a shock, could prove interesting if the mother/daughter were to work together for a common cause, their survival.

Sullivan explained, “Darcy’s all about the tabloids and all about this life of illusion and the haves and have-nots, essentially. She would never shy away from an opportunity to see what’s around the corner. I think the interesting thing for me, that I’m excited about is to explore the dynamic between Darcy and Melissa and what is that going to become?”

From all accounts, Darcy is here to stay in Los Angeles, and fans will see much more of Sullivan on their-screens. “Darcy’s not going anywhere”, confirmed Kelly. “I always said to Sydney Bullock, Darcy didn’t buy a round trip ticket. If you think about it, Melissa could be her ticket. She might be Darcy’s only hope. There are serious stakes here if Darcy has been waiting for this moment.”

Photo: JPI

SHARING SCENES WITH HEATHER TOM

Last week, Sullivan had her first on-screen confrontation with Heather Tom. In the scenes, Katie was disapproving of Dylan and let Darcy know it. Eventually, Darcy takes Dylan with her to leave Will’s beach house apartment, but Will stops Dylan.

Recalling the taping of the scenes, Kelly said, “Heather Tom is a real special artist. In the story between Katie and Darcy, you’ve got momma bear and you’ve got momma bear. You can’t fault either of these women for how they feel, and how protective they are of their children.”

There are many things viewers and perhaps the writers have not totally fleshed out about the Dylans. Are their Dylan sisters coming, or to be revealed to rival the Logan sisters? Who is Melissa’s biological father? Plus, some more nuggets as Kelly revealed.

“I think there is a juicy, juicy story there of the Dylans,” previewed Sullivan. “It would also be interesting if they decide who Melissa’s dad is. Who is that? I mean, that’s interesting. You know, when I auditioned for this role, it said on the page that the character was charming, from the Midwest, and dance skills a plus. and I was a Broadway dancer. So, I hope this means there might be an opportunity to dance on the show at some point.”

Photo: JPI

DARCY DYLAN AND WYATT SPENCER PAIRING?

As for the men on the canvas, Kelly was asked what she thought of a potential Darcy and Wyatt Spencer (Darin Brooks) pairing? To which she responded, “That would be so much fun. I’m such a fan of Darin’s work. Oh, I would have a ball working with him. One of the things that really excited me about Darcy when I was coming into audition for her was that they said that they wanted her to have a  comedic sensibility, comedic chops as they said it.”

Sullivan concluded, “To work with Darin, I would be so lucky. He’s such a great actor and he’s got great comedic timing and he’s just really present and phenomenally talented. He’s a great actor, so I would love that. I mean, anyone on the show would be really fun.  You throw it at the wall (in daytime) and say, ‘Is there a thing? Is there something here?’ Chemistry is chemistry.”

Now below, and in case you missed it, you can check out our full video livestream chat with Kelly Sullivan below.

So, what have you thought of Kelly’s performances thus far as Darcy? Do you think Darcy will turn out to be an opportunistic woman, but who deeply cares and loves her daughter, or will it turn out to be a ruse? Would you like to see Kelly paired with Darin Brooks on-screen as a love interest, and who do you think truly is Melissa Dylan’s biological father? Weigh-in via the comment section.

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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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