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Post by safeandsound on Sept 22, 2013 19:25:44 GMT -8
A 2009 TV Guide interview about the end of Guiding Light.
September 2009
Guiding Light's Justin Deas is one of only three stars in soaps to have won six Daytime Emmys. General Hospital's Tony Geary and One Life to Live's Erika Slezak are also in this exclusive club, but in a way the Deas wins are even more extraordinary because they were earned via three different roles. His first trophy came playing Tom Hughes on As the World Turns (1984), he won two more as Keith Timmons on Santa Barbara (1988, 1989), and three as Buzz Cooper on GL (1994, 1995, 1997). Through it all, Deas-who is married to actress Margaret Colin and the father of two teen boys-has stayed ultra-reclusive, rarely speaking to the press, avoiding Emmy ceremonies like crazy and basically coming off like a cantankerous s.o.b. But I know for a fact that it's all an act. Beneath that crusty exterior lies a sweet, warm, extremely mushy guy (who will probably hunt me down and kill me for revealing that). I spoke with Deas on the GL set during filming of the show's final week.
OK, Mister Curmudgeon, can you relate in any way to how people feel about the cancellation of Guiding Light?
First of all, I have to thank you again for doing me a really solid turn. You once wrote this article about what an a-----e I am, but it was really well written and it was so true that it made my dying mother laugh and she had a really good day, a really good weekend, because of that. So I've always been, "Whatever Michael Logan wants to do, I'll do."
And I have always appreciated that, Justin. You are the rare actor in soaps who has maintained his mystique. So let's ruin that right now! Give me your thoughts on the end of GL.
I don't watch soaps but I can see why people do. My wife, Margaret, watches them. People like them because they're comforting, they like having these characters come into their homes. Me, I don't want any of that. But I can certainly understand the appeal. If the soaps all go off the air, some smart person is going to figure out the right way to do it and bring 'em back. But they'll have to rethink the form and make it bolder. I mean, we in America still haven't gotten over our sex hang-ups! The lesbians on our show can't kiss? What's wrong with us? There's a greater chance that GL would have brought in a donkey for Buzz to have sex with. Come to think of it, maybe it would have saved my career.
For some in the cast, GL is their entire life, their reason for being. For you it's just another gig?
I don't let the cancellation get to me. It's just a job. Granted, a f---ing 9,000-year job, but just a job. Actors get fired. That's what we do. But the friends I've made here are very good people, and there is a sense of heritage around here. People's hearts are in this show. Still, you wouldn't believe the drama and the crying on the set! I don't get it. We're actors, we are by nature unappreciated. What acting school did these people go to that told them they'd put in 20 or 30 years on a job? Keeping an acting job this long isn't even natural. I used to get pissed off at the ones who got fired after two years. They'd be like "My life is over! Can you believe this?" I'm like "Whaaat?" Of course, just look at the headlines today. Everybody's in the same boat with the rotten economy and the job loss. It's like everybody is an actor, man, living the life of insecurity. All the paradigms are wildly shifting.
Well, aren't you a bundle of joy, today!
Oh, the whole world's going to s--t. You pick up the New York Times nowadays and find articles that are so poorly written, they sound like something my kids would say on the way home from school. It's not good reading. It's not intelligent. It's not succinct. It's not good English. It's not a million things! It's just jabber. Before I knew you, I spent 20 years doing plays by dead playwrights in strange cities, and I remember being a kid in school and sitting down and talking with the great Tyrone Guthrie. He said: "You're out of your mind if you think about acting as mass entertainment. The whole world is not going to stand up and cheer. Only a very, very small percentage of people will ever see what you do. That's not what's important. What's important is the pride you take in your work."
Back in your younger days, you were the most daring actor in soaps-the guy who always acted from the ledge. You were our Pacino, our De Niro of daytime. Then a funny thing happened. Pacino and DeNiro got old and sold out, turning into unwatchable, over-the-top hams, but you settled down and got much more subtle, much more real. Why didn't you have that same mid-life freak-out? My attitude was entirely different when you knew me back in my Santa Barbara days, or even my early years on GL. I was always looking to shake it up. Now, I don't do that anymore.
Because?
Because I'd rather get along. I have also found that there's a real challenge in being truthful. I'm so lacking in so many areas of my chosen profession, that I could spend the rest of my life trying to explore being honest. It's hard to do. Maybe in one out of 80 scenes do I accomplish it. Hey, who's that crazy gay guy soap writer with the very Irish name? He's really brilliant.
Um, Patrick Mulcahey?
Right, Patrick Mulcahey! A f---ing genius! Mulcahey…yeah…now, why did I bring that up? Jesus. I can't remember where I was going with this. Help me out.
Being truthful in your acting. Patrick Mulcahey. F---ing genius.
Oh, yeah, so Mulcahey comes to GL and writes my character as this wild and crazy patriarch leading the show and I said, "You have to make me a boring type. That's my meat and potatoes-getting something boring to do and trying to do something interesting with it." Because if your character is all-crazy-all-the-time, how do you pull it back? I kept trying to explore the arch-villain kind of thing for a while, but I don't think it worked.
Yet somehow through all this you won three Emmys.
Go figure. I remember a time I was doing a scene with a really lovely actor and our director, Bruce Barry, said to me, "Pull it back 10 percent." And I got so pissed off that I didn't give a real performance for two years after that. I just came in and would say the lines right off the page. I went through about two or three years of serious sulking-at 50 goddamn something years of age, I'm sulking! Now, I look back on that and think, aww Jesus.
So what's next for you?
My hip hurts today but, if I can get my body working again, I want to do a few plays before I drop dead. And of course we've got the kids - when you're a parent it's all about the kids. I'm not sure how this dad thing happened. When I got together with Margaret, I said, "All I want to do is have sex and act." What happened? I didn't have a plan for fatherhood. But now I'm 61, that time in life when you start to realize you don't get another life.
Were you surprised to end your GL run by getting married?
I think [executive producer] Ellen Wheeler is out of her f---ing mind to give Buzz another wedding. But I adore working with Tina Sloan [Buzz's new wife Lillian]. That lady is connected! Just name anybody, a famous anything, pick a NASA astronaut, and she just had dinner with him. You talk to her about a great book you're reading? She'll say, "Would you like to meet the author?" You're going to Sweden? She knows the king! I just mentioned to her that I might get a hip replacement-I think the hip will probably be arriving on the set here sometime this afternoon.
So you're marrying the right woman!
I think Margaret would think so, too. Yep, Buzz gets married. It's so stupid having a character named Buzz. How can you ever take that seriously? We do a plot: Buzz is dying! Who gives a s--t? Who calls themselves Buzz? I'd love to know how Buzz Aldrin got around that stuff. How does he have serious moments in his life?
Speaking of serious moments, did you ever take any of your Emmys seriously? No.
Some people don't have any at all.
Right, and they're probably much better actors than I'll ever be. Please tell 'em that! It kills me that actors go nuts to win Emmys and Tonys and Oscars. Who gets nominated and who doesn't becomes such a big deal in this business. I go watch a lot of small, independent films at the Claridge Theatre in Montclair [New Jersey] and there is so much fantastic work done that's never going to be seen by people.
Where do you keep your Emmys?
I don't know. In the attic someplace? I wish I had the balls, like Kim Zimmer [Reva], to say, "Here I am with my Emmys. Look at me, I'm great!" But I wouldn't have the courage. And winning doesn't get you any more money. I think my agent tried that. And sometimes you even lose your job. It's like "Take your Emmy and go!"
But you made your mama proud.
Yeah, I did but, more important, you made my mama laugh. I was 45 and she was still asking me when I was going to get a good job. She thought I should become a professional golfer and get on the PGA Tour.
And if you'd taken her advice?
I'd now be a caddy, making more money than I am on Guiding Light. I'd be a really big deal in Hollywood… carrying De Niro's bag!
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