© JPI Studios

It is hard to image our soap opera viewing consciousness, and our daytime television viewing habits without the character of Luke Snyder.  From the minute Van Hansis took over the role in late December of 2005, he infused Luke with a sweetness, a playfulness, sex-appeal, charm, a zest for life, and an impulsiveness.  His Luke was also a romantic at heart.  Throughout the last five years, fans of As the World Turns have watched as Van time after time, story after story, gave a poignancy and honesty to his performances that long after ATWT is gone, will never be forgotten.

And while the big question on everyone’s mind – whether you are a gay soap fan or a straight one – was who would Luke end up with in the end?  Noah or Reid?  That was not the final story that was chosen to be told.  When the powers-that-be cut short the budding romance of LuRe by killing off Reid before the end of the series run, fans were left wondering how it would end for their favorite young hero. As we now know, he does end up going it solo for now, trying to pick up the pieces after the sudden death of the man he came to realize he loved.

In the five years that I have had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Van, we have covered a lot of territory, and a lot of social issues that were relevant to the groundbreaking love story of Luke and Noah; coming out, intolerance and bigotry, family acceptance, and ultimately a young man searching for love. 
Van’s ability to transcend and melt our hearts, make us cry, and laugh at Luke’s perils and his plights, was something that was universal, and his fans base is international in scope.  And for gay young men out there, he gave them someone to relate to, and someplace where they could see a part of their story being played out on the TV screen.  In this final farewell ATWT interview with Van, we hope to answer all of your most burning questions about the series wrap-up, and take a look back and try to see into the future for Mr. Snyder and Mr. Hansis.  Here is On-Air On-Soaps finale interview with Van. 

MICHAEL:

Van, your performance when Reid died was so moving. The fans were so upset and concerned about it being compressed and shortened, as there was not a lot of time to let the beats of the story play out, and it felt so rushed. We all wanted to see more of   you and Reid in those final moments.

VAN:

© JPI Studios

I would have loved to have more scenes because I like doing that terrible stuff.

MICHAEL:

What you did was truly unbelievable.  It broke everyone’s collective hearts!  Did it seem so lickety-split and quick to you?

VAN:

I really was proud of that material, from an acting standpoint.  It is exciting to be able to get some material that really challenges you, and you have to find a way to rise to that kind of challenge.  And I guess in watching it, I realized how quick it all happened, but when we were shooting it, it did not seem quick at all… especially the episode where Reid dies, as we shot that whole episode in one day.  Sometimes we chop up the shooting days a little bit.  I remember there was just so much material that day and so much material I had to do… more so than I can ever remember in one episode.  I spent four or five days memorizing all that.  So for me, it did not seem like something that was so quick.  I was just so focused that I knew all my lines.

MICHAEL:

When you watched it back, what did you think?

VAN:

I went “Wow”.  It happens very quickly.

MICHAEL:

Why didn’t anyone console Luke?  It drove me nuts!  Where the heck was everybody!

VAN:

© JPI Studios

I watched it on YouTube and I saw a lot of comments like that as well.  And again, it was weird, because while we were shooting that I was not even thinking that no one was consoling Luke.  It was such a rollercoaster of a day that at that point it did not even enter my mind.  But then later, I thought, “Why didn’t anyone console Luke?”  I guess, under the circumstances, there was so much happening for all the characters that everybody was kind of in tunnel vision.  Bob and Kim were focusing on their son, Chris.  Margo was focusing on getting the news out to everybody of what happened to Reid, and Luke was just focused on Reid.  And the doctors were just trying to save Chris.  But, I don’t know why nobody was there for Luke.

MICHAEL:

What this poor man went through was so devastating.  Do you think it was fragmented and rushed because the show went, “Oh, my! We only have a few more weeks left and we better get this all wrapped up?”

VAN:

Possibly, I have no idea.  We had only two weeks left, and sometimes that is just how soaps work.  Time is a very strange thing on soap operas.  Sometimes, you will have a day that will be two weeks of shooting, and sometimes characters manage to fly across the world in 20 minutes.  I guess there is a suspension of disbelief that you just kind of have to go with, as far as time goes… but in the shooting of it, it did not come into my mind until I saw it.

MICHAEL:

All of it was so sad.  I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house every time you came on screen.  Just beautiful work!  What did you think when they came to you and said, “We are going to kill Reid and this is how… he gets hit by a train?”

VAN:

At first when I heard Reid was going to die, I was like, “Oh, C’mon!”   But that is also from a really selfish point of view, because the last couple of weeks of shooting I had wanted to not coast, but I was not expecting to have something that was so heavy.  When your character loses someone, or has to make a terrible decision like Luke had to do with the organ donation, you owe it to people who have gone through that in real life not to gloss over stuff like that, because even though soap operas are a very fictionalized world, you’ve got to play it with as much dignity as you can, and try to make it as real as you can. Those people who are watching may have gone through something similar.  I truly believed the ending was going to be, “Who does Luke end up with? Reid or Noah?”  That is what I thought the whole last storyline was going to be and that would have been a much lighter storyline, than obviously, Reid dying.  But then I read all of Luke’s stuff and the scripts.  I saw what was going to happen to him, and then I got excited to play those scenes.  It’s rare that you get something that is really going to test you, I think.  Luke got some really good stuff in a storyline that is really, really, sad.

MICHAEL:

Luke is the emotional center of the show right till the end, and yet, he is the one character left alone.  I was reading in Soap Opera Digest this past week where you said, “His storyline is the only one that does not end happily. Luke is sitting there alone.”  I thought that is kind of cruddy, but in a way most remembered.

© JPI Studios

VAN:

Yeah, that is kind of how I see it, too.  I care very much for Luke and this character I played for the last almost five years.  I would have loved to see him happy in the end.  I guess now it’s kind of like the last time you will see him; he will be alone and working through this stuff.  But, he has got a whole life out there somewhere for him, and he is going to rise above these tragedies.  I think it’s in his character to do that, as that is what he does.

MICHAEL:

What did you think of the final scenes between Luke and Noah?  Noah gave Luke a kiss before heading off to L.A.!

VAN:

Well, Luke tells Noah not to stay in Oakdale, but to go to L.A to pursue his dreams.  And then he takes him to WOAK, where he bought him a nice beautiful video camera for his filming. They have a nice scene, that one day Luke will go visit Noah in L.A.  They say at one point down the line, Luke will come out and visit, but who knows?

MICHAEL:

Do you think Luke should have ended back with Noah at the end?  Nuke fans have been unhappy for quite some time. They have followed the guys since the beginning of their journey together three years ago, and were hoping to see them reunite.

VAN:

I think with what happened with Reid and everything; it would have destroyed Luke’s character completely, if a week after Reid died Luke would get back together with Noah.  I think it would destroy anything that Luke and Noah had, because it would just be so crappy of Luke to do something like that. You don’t see Luke and Noah get back together in the end, but it’s kind of left open that in the future there could be something, or maybe they will just remain close friends.

MICHAEL:

There is a flash forward similar to what Guiding Light did at the end of the ATWT finale.  But Luke is not in the show as much.  How did you feel about that?

VAN:

There is a flash-forward at the end.  It’s a month forward and Luke has a scene with Natalie, his sister, and then he goes to Katie and Chris’s house.  Luke is only in two scenes in the last episodes. The last episode rightly focuses on Bob and Kim, and the people who have been there for a long time.  The other characters come in and out.  There were a lot of people in the episode!

MICHAEL:

But when we leave Luke, he is still grieving in the final episode?

© JPI Studios

VAN:

Yes, he is.  And it won’t be whitewashed over.

MICHAEL:

You know, Van; when I look back with you, we have done almost five year’s worth of interviews together.  We have discussed every plot point that Luke had been involved with!

VAN:

Crazy!

MICHAEL:

It has been crazy, but yet so much has come out of it.  You have done so much for the gay community, and have been an actor and a character that the LGBT audience could relate to, and they went on every step of the amazing journeys of Luke Snyder with you.  So now looking back, does it seem like five years?

VAN:

When I look back on everything, it seems like five years.  Now I have time to reflect on it, and reflect on everything that has happened in the last five years.  Five years is a long time and that is half a decade! What is crazy for me to think is that this was my first real professional job.  I had no idea when I first started; it was like being in such a strange alien world, and working and being a professional actor.  I was doing what I always hoped I would do, and would be lucky enough to do, and to have my first job be something so incredible as this, is such a gift.

MICHAEL:

At the recent Paley Center for Media event and panel honoring ATWT, the shows head writer Jean Passanante, and EP, Chris Goutman, told the audience and you, that the character of Luke Snyder would never have been so effective, if it wasn’t for you.  What did you think when they said that to you?

VAN:

It was a very nice compliment, and it was great thing for them to have said.

MICHAEL:

The Reid and Luke interplay was so fun to watch.  Were you shocked that this duo took off in such a major way?

VAN:

© JPI Studios

I was shocked that it became as popular as it was.  When Reid came in, I did not expect that storyline to go as far as it did, and that the two of them would become an actual couple.  I did not think it would take off the way it did.  That being said, I know there is still a very strong following for Luke and Noah, as well. To have two sets of fan bases, one liking my character with one character, and the other liking my character with the other character, was not something I was expecting at all.

MICHAEL:

We always talked in past interviews that the one thing that Luke never had was a purpose.  Does he have a purpose here at the end?  Is he going to run the Reid Oliver Neurological Wing at the hospital, somehow?  I couldn’t really tell! (Laughs)

VAN:

I don’t know if it is specifically spelled out that he does. (Laughs).  I like to think that out of this tragedy that some purpose will come for him. Having to make those decisions about Reid, and about somebody’s death and a funeral, you actually have to man up and grow up a little bit to make those decisions about someone you love. I think reaching that maturity level leads to having more purpose in life.  We shot these scenes a long time ago, but I don’t have any specific memory of that as his purpose. (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Terri Colombino (Katie) and you worked so well off of each other in the final weeks of the show.  How was working with Terri in those pivotal scenes surrounding Reid’s death, and the aftermath?

VAN:

I loved working with Terri, and you know what, Katie ends up comforting Luke in the end of the last scenes after Reid died.  

© JPI Studios

MICHAEL:

So many fans have been in an uproar as to why did the show have to destroy the happiness of the gay couple and not allow them to be happy, when all the straight couples at the series finale are finding their happiness together.  Instead, the gay couple got a horrible, horrific, and sad ending.  Many wanted Luke so badly to be happy, and have that be the final image in their minds.

VAN:

Yeah, and I understand that, and I feel for the fans in that way, I truly do.  Knowing the people behind the scenes though, I really doubt that they were sitting there going, “How do we ruin the gay couple?”   I know the writers and the producers, and I know they wouldn’t do that.  And do I think it was done to prop up the “straight” couples?  I don’t think so, because I don’t think it was done with malicious intent, and like as you said, out of this Luke becomes the focused character of the end of the show, and he is a gay character.  So, to make him the point of view character for the wrapping up this 54-year-old show is kind of cool, and without the tragedy it would not be the focus of the show and all last week. Even though Reid died quickly, the repercussions were felt all week long.  I think that although it’s a tragedy, you see the tragedy through Luke’s eyes.

MICHAEL:

Luke never had sex with Reid.  Why do you think that was?  Were the writers trying to protect the integrity of Noah and Luke?

VAN:

I don’t know.  These are all questions I don’t know.  You have to ask the writers these questions, not me, but I try to answer that in my head as best as I can.  When I got scripts on the show, I didn’t look at them in terms of story, but in terms of my character.  I think that is the difference between being a writer and an actor.  The writers have to watch the whole story and figure out where the whole story is going, and the actors have to make sure their characters are justified in what they are doing, based on their history and personalities.  For me, I’d like to think it is in Luke’s character to wait to have sex with someone.  He and Noah waited a very long time.  I think in those scenes you got to see with Luke and Noah at the pond prior to the small service for Reid, is where you see Luke regretting not having slept with him.

MICHAEL:

Yes, I loved the scene at the pond when Luke said in a heartbreaking speech, that he did not sleep with Reid, he did not go to a movie with him… I didn’t do this and that.

© JPI Studios

VAN:

I liked that, too.  I think it also shows that Reid and Luke were just starting out, and that is something very sad.  It got cut off before he ever got to do any of those things with Reid.  And, I think one of those was even to go to a Farmer’s Market, and he got nothing. No Farmer’s Market for them anymore!  But, I do think it is in Luke’s nature to wait.  I think it’s also a regret that Luke will live with for the rest of his life.

MICHAEL:

I thought it was very touching that Noah put all his feelings aside and came to Luke at the pond when he was most in need.

VAN:

That is Noah, also.  That is his character and he is a real stand up guy.  He put his plans on hold because he does care about Luke.  I don’t think he showed up there with the intent of, “Oh, Reid’s dead.  Now I can get Luke back! Ha Ha.”  I think he honestly cared about Luke.

MICHAEL:

How was working with Eric Sheffer-Stevens (Reid) and exchanging that rapid fire dialog with each other and those great barbs?  Did Eric say anything to you during the final scenes when he died?

VAN:

I have not spoken with Eric since the end, and that is because I have been jumping around and Eric was doing a show in Vermont.  I think Eric is a great guy.  I would love to see what he is up to.  Eric is incredibly talented.  I am sure I am going to be seeing him on the big screen or the small screen, or the theatre. Working with him was fantastic!  The last episode of where he is all bloodied up and dying, there was a break between a couple of scenes.  I was sitting right across from the hospital set, and he was all strapped into the bed with tubes in him.  He tried to smile, but he gave me the thumbs up.  It was after the deathbed monologue scene.  So that was really nice, having a corpse give you the thumbs up and that you did a good job (Laughs).  I liked the banter between Luke and Reid and it was a lot of fun.  It was fun for Luke.

MICHAEL:

Jake Silbermann (Noah) and you have had this whirlwind journey together for three years.  How was performing your final scenes with him?

© JPI Studios

VAN:

They are sad.

MICHAEL:

Were you sad?

VAN:

When I finished the very, very last scenes… I was sad.  Not weepy sad, but it kind of hit me like, “Wow, part of my life is done and over.  I was on the show longer than I was in college, and longer than I was in high school.”  So it is a very significant chapter of my life, and when a significant chapter of your life ends like that, it’s a bit of a sucker-punch.  I mean it was something that defined me for so long and helped define who I am, and is no more.  There is always some sadness in that.  But as far as with Jake, he is one of my best friends.

MICHAEL:

Jake is just such a great guy!  He is honest, forthright, and there is something about him you can trust.  I don’t find that immediate reaction to someone in a lot of people I have interviewed over the years.  Jake’s directness is so refreshing.

VAN:

He is a fantastic guy, and I definitely feel all that you say.  And working with Jake, there was never any moment where I felt I was being judged in scenes with him.  I would do something where he would think that was not a good choice.  But, there was such an open communication between the two of us that it was OK.  I just felt completely (and even from the beginning) that I could trust him, and that if I messed up in scenes, he would not sell me up the river.  He is a very forthright and honest guy, and he is also very funny.  You did not get to see his humor too much with Noah.  I will miss working with him a lot.  I have seen him since we stopped filming and I was not sad, like, “I am not going to see my friend anymore,” it was just sad that I am not going to get to work with my friend anymore.

MICHAEL:

Noah has gone to Los Angeles.  Reid is dead and Luke is left bereft when As the World Turns comes to its conclusion.  Where would you like to see Luke five years from now?  Remember, there are no writers you have to worry about! This now is all your fantasy of what Luke’s life would look like.

VAN:

He would survive through the loss of Reid, and I think he needs to get the hell out of Oakdale. (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

© JPI Studios

To a big gay metropolis?

VAN:

Yeah, I think he needs to get the hell out of Dodge.  I think he should go back to school in a big city somewhere and get back to his writing.  Because remember, he use to be a writer?

MICHAEL:

Yeah!

VAN:

…And instead of writing short stories, maybe he could get into journalism because he had so much crazy stuff happen to him.  Luke is very passionate and he has very strong views on almost everything, even if he does not know what he is talking about, he has a strong view on it.  Maybe he could be a pundit for a cable news network.  I would just like to see Luke use his passion to get out there and to fight.  That is where I would see him.

MICHAEL:

Do you think he should have a romance and allow himself to open up to someone again down the line?  Do you think he should stay away from men for awhile?

VAN:

That is the thing about romance, it just comes up and knocks you on the back of the head, and you don’t get much of a choice on it.  But for now, Luke should focus on himself and maybe wait a little bit.  He went through a lot romantically in the last several months, and I mean A LOT!  I think one thing is for sure, that Luke and Noah will be in each other’s life in some capacity for the rest of their lives.

MICHAEL:

So are you going to the ATWT cast party Friday?  I heard the cast were getting together to watch the finale at a sports bar in New York.

VAN:

I heard from people on this, too, but I haven’t been invited yet. (Laughs)  I guess I am still grieving. (Laughs)   I saw that one of the casting directors from ATWT wrote on facebook to me, “Are you going to this wrap party?”  And, I go, “What wrap party?  I would love to go, and I will probably go if anyone gets around to inviting me, otherwise I will just sit outside and cry. 

MICHAEL:

© JPI Studios

Whether you go to a party, will you watch the finale?   It’s hard to believe, Van, 54 years and poof, it’s gone.

VAN:

I think so, definitely.  I saw the final promo that said, “After 54 years” and I went, “Oh, God!” You know, it’s crazy to think that people have lived and died in the time that ATWT has been on the air.  Across the board the ratings are down both in primetime and daytime.  I think the biggest and highest rated finale ever was MASH, which I think was in the early eighties.  I think that is the way media is right now.  There are so many choices right now, and so to get a huge group of people to watch one thing is very hard.  That sucks in a way, because shows live and die by their ratings.  If you are trying to just chase the ratings and get the most amount of people to watch your show, that means your show can’t be very edgy, and you can’t risk pissing people off, because then they won’t watch it.  You need those people.  But, if you have a smaller cable network where you can be more edgy, and you can do things that you could not do on a huge show, that is the flip side of ratings eroding, where there are more TV shows and outlets that people can watch.

MICHAEL:

Will you please submit yourself for the Daytime Emmys next year?  Or, at least consider it?

VAN:

Yeah.  I would consider doing that and it kind of depends on where I am.  I would submit myself I think, but it’s kind of far away for me to think about that right now.

MICHAEL:

Most of the Guiding Light actors did not know where or who to turn to, so they could pull their reels together for Emmy competition this past year.  Has the show told you what to do if you decide to enter the competition?

VAN:

I believe they told us what to do, but I don’t know if I was paying attention. (Laughs)  I think I may have to call up a producer and ask again! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

OK, the numerous Luke Snyder plot points… where do we begin.  Let’s see, the long-awaited first kiss of Nuke, where the fans did the endearing online countdown to, the coming out story, the deprogramming story, reconciling with his father, Damian, and the return of Paolo Seganti (Damian)… I could go on and on.  What sticks out in your mind….

VAN:

…There was a lot, wasn’t there?

© JPI Studios

MICHAEL:

…Yes, and I think you and I talked at every plot point for an interview for Advocate.com or On-Air On-Soaps, because they were all so relevant to gay people’s struggles and their families and finding love.

VAN:

And don’t forget getting an Iraqi wife! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Yup! (Laughs)

VAN:

Yes, they are all very topical things. (Laughs)  The first thing that stands out to me is not a story.  I had a scene with Paolo Seganti, and it was a scene when I was first nominated for a Daytime Emmy.  Luke gives his ring back to Damian, and Damian tries to take Luke back to Malta.  And, I remember that was the first time I was like “Wow”, because it was for me one of those first cool and cathartic soap opera moments.  It was over the top, but yet grounded in such reality.  I just remember thinking, for some reason it was a revelation for me in some way, about the style of working on a soap opera and the uniqueness of the genre.  That day really struck me.  I remember leaving the studio that day going, “This is OK.  I know what I am doing.”  It took me about nine months or so to figure it out, but after that I had the confidence I hadn’t had before in myself on this television show.

MICHAEL:

The gay press swooped upon you.  You were everywhere… the media darling.  Did you ever feel pressure because you knew the eyes of GLAAD or other organizations, or the press, were watching how this character would play out on daytime television, since there had never really been a gay male love story between two young men, and a central core gay male character on daytime before?

VAN:

“Pressure” is not the right word.  I felt a responsibility to tell the story correctly, and more so, not for the press as much, but for the fans.  The press can write whatever they want to write, but the fans are the people who are watching.  And, the press seemed in a way commentators or reviewers, or people whose job it is to tell what is going on.  But, for the fans, they don’t have anything that is forcing them to watch the show.  It is their choice.  When the story first started and Luke came out, I think it was important to make sure that the fans were following and connecting to the story.  The story has been a rollercoaster.  There has been such good stuff and bad stuff.   However, it is really great that the fans have stuck it out.  I know that a lot of fans are unhappy with the end.  I am sorry that they are and all I can say is, “thank you” for keeping on watching.  The responsibility for me, first and foremost in my career, is to the people who make my career a reality, and that is the people watching.  And if the people watching did not respond well to Luke’s story three months in, I would not be here, and so that is what the responsibility is for.

MICHAEL:

© JPI Studios

Have you seen an improvement in the fight for equality and Gay rights since you started as Luke?

VAN:

I think so.  In no way do I think this is because of what ATWT did, but I think if you look at what is happening right now in our country, I think Gay Rights is the biggest civil issue that we are facing right now.  And, you look at Proposition 8 and states that have the ban on same-sex marriage, and it has become an issue that has become front and center.  I don’t think it was that way even five years ago.

MICHAEL:

Your fans are very excited about your first psychological thriller/horror flick, Occupant. What is the latest with that?  What is next for you?

VAN:

I want to work next. (Laughs)  Occupant is coming along.  I think I am going to see a screening of it soon, and I am excited about that.  A few weeks ago I did an ADR (Automated Dialog Replacement), which is like if you’re shooting a scene (and we shot in location) and there is car horn that goes off outside, and the scene is really good except one line, you go in and dub your voice over yourself.  The scene is up on the big screen and you watch yourself and you say the line with yourself.  I did that and I saw bits of the film at that time, and that was very exciting.  It is beautifully shot.  I am very excited for it.

MICHAEL:

Would you consider truly doing another soap opera?

VAN:

Yeah, I would.  But I don’t know if I would do a contract on another soap right now.  I might, but it would depend on the character.  I would like to do something like Tom Pelphrey did on ATWT… come back and do a couple months.  I would like to play something so completely different than Luke.  I would love to play a bad guy on a soap.  I think that would be fun.  I don’t feel I am at any place in my career where I can just say flat-out, “no” to anything, or to any genre.  These last five years have been a blast and on a soap.   I don’t think I would ever rule out soaps.

© JPI Studios

MICHAEL:

You and Jake just returned from France over the summer where you guys have such a huge fan base.  In my recent interview with Jake, he informed me that they only show the Luke and Noah scenes there, and they are not as familiar with the rest of Oakdale.

VAN:

I think most of them watch it on YouTube, and the YouTube material is edited for Luke and Noah, and so they watch the story of Luke and Noah and Reid.  My feeling is, it is a Luke and Noah and Reid web series there!  There are a lot of people from the Netherlands who came to the Paris event, because there they have seen the whole show, I believe.  They know all the characters, but I don’t know if the rest of the international fans know the rest of the characters on ATWT.  I should ask that on my facebook page!  The fans internationally, are just as vocal and passionate as they are in the U.S.  We went to Boston as well, and did a goodbye to mostly American fans there.  It’s great to go to these exotic cities like Paris, and these not so exotic cities like Boston (Laughs) and see the fans and it’s fantastic.

MICHAEL:

I can’t believe the time has come for me to ask you these farewell questions.  First, what will you miss most about Luke?

VAN:

I will miss watching his journey and having the ability to reflect on somebody else’s fake life.  That is the cool thing about being on a soap.  You have longevity there.  I know what Luke has done for the last five years of his life, and it’s like having a weird Avatar or something.

MICHAEL:

What will you miss most about ATWT?

VAN:

© JPI Studios

Just the people… and I like working and I like keeping busy.   I think the people and the process are what I will miss the most.

MICHAEL:

What will you miss about these incredible fans that have been so there for you?

VAN:

They are incredible!  It is very comforting to know that people have your back that are strangers.  It is a very surreal thing that is unique to certain professions, this being one of them.  And, I will miss having the interaction that I have had with them.

MICHAEL:

Do you think we all will need hankies at the end of the finale?

VAN:

Yeah, maybe, and maybe a whole box!  This week was not as sad for Luke, but I know the last episode will be very, very sad for a lot of viewers.

MICHAEL:

Are you leaving with a sense of pride and accomplishment?

VAN:

© JPI Studios

Oh, yeah!  I look back at the work I have done there, and more often than not, I am proud of the work I have done. I think it is a really nice feeling to have, and for the rest of my life I will look back at my time on this show with amazement.  It was wonderful!

MICHAEL:

Alright Van. I want to tell you it has been great fun to do all these interviews with you and to deliver this final As the World Turns interview to your legions of fans.  I want to personally commend you for the outstanding work and the lasting impression you have made on people around the world, and to gay people who still struggle every day for equality.  We cheered with you, we got frustrated for you, and we cried with you, but in the end we always enjoyed your immeasurable talent.  Thank you for chatting with me, this one last time.

VAN:

You are very good to talk to!