"Never Say Never - At this time next year, we may be talking about Mason again" - Lane Davies (from Soap Opera Update, 1991)

As far as my career, I just shot a pilot in April with Teri Garr called GOOD AND EVIL. We're going into production in July. I play the character of Eric, who is involved with Teri Garr. The character is a cardiologist. He's also sexually adventurous, shall we say, falling in love with the good sister at first sight while still being involved with the evil one. It's a half-hour sitcom wit a live audience, something that I'm very familiar with. It's a perfect blend for me--it's like theatre with television money.

Having spent a year-and-a half out of the market--almost two years, seeing that I traveled for seven months--I've found that soap notoriety doesn't really translate into nighttime, unless you're somebody like Susan Lucci, somebody that is just so huge in daytime that you can't help but know who she is. I have found that while some casting people may be aware of you because of the soap, having been on a soap doesn't help you a great deal where the producers and directors who do the hiring are concerned. In al honesty, I think the guy going in next to you has just a much of a chance.

Traveling around the world taught me a lot about myself. Europe was wonderful because SANTA BARBARA is so popular in different countries there. The Third World travel that Todd McKee and myself did, in Africa and India, was incredible. We did Kenya, Israel, Nepal, Egypt...I learned that I don't need nearly as much as I did before. It sort of grabbed my L.A. values, turned them upside down and shook them by the heels. When I saw how little some people are perfectly happy with, it was quite an awakening. I also finally had time to relax and take a look at my life and what was really important...and what I thought would be important for the next couple of decades. I had been in a classic workaholic mode--doing the soap during the day and plays at night-- and wasn't giving myself time to look at myself. I think that's where workaholism may come from; you don't really want to take the time to look at yourself, so you get yourself so busy there's no time for anything else.

A Martinez

Fatherhood has also changed my life, to say the least. I have a son, Thatcher Lee. Thatcher's a family name and Lee is the name of my best friend out here, and one of my best friends back in Georgia. He's eight-months-old, and in that time, he's centered my life in a lot of ways. It's hard to talk about children when you're a first-time father without gushing. I mean I'll start to sound like A Martinez if I'm not careful. And then A would never let me forget it because I made such fun of him when he was gushy about his child. It's really more of a non-verbal state of mind anyway...

I'm still very appreciative of the fans' response to my portrayal of Mason. I hope that never changes. If anything, it worries me that having not been in front of an audience as I was for five years on SANTA BARBARA, I haven't really been visible--other than a few nighttime shots--to people that made a real point of letting me know how much they care about my work. So I'm hoping those people will come along with me into nighttime so that we can re-establish the relationship.

Terry Lester

Every couple of months, I'll click on SANTA BARBARA to see who's working and what's happening with it, but I haven't sat down and watched an entire episode. I think it's unfortunate what happened with Terry Lester, because I have great respect for his work (we have plans for a project in the future together). One of the reasons that I left the show, besides just mental heath, was that I thought the character of Mason had been homogenized, that the writers at that time had lost touch with who Mason really was and what drove him. The character had become uninteresting to play. Nobody really warned Terry, so Terry didn't know to protect Mason from the increasing homogenization. He was becoming domestic as opposed to an active character--making trouble and making things happen. The character became increasingly more reactive and helpless to the situations around him.

As for returning to SANTA BARBARA, I never say never, but I think the Dobsons are perfectly happy with Gordon Thomson, and Gordon seems willing to be there for some time. But never say never...at this time next year, we may be talking about Mason again.

Paul Johansson

I still stay in contact with a few cast members. In fact, we just had a little birthday party yesterday for John Allen Nelson's (ex-Warren) little year-old boy. My son was there. Nick Coster's 10-month-old boy was there. And Judith McConnell brought her little girl. Todd McKee and I were so sick of each other after seven months of traveling, we didn't speak for two months. And we got along fine; we were just each afraid that the other would wear one of the same shirts been wearing for the past seven months...And Paul Johansson (ex-Greg) played Romeo in 'Romeo And Juliet' for me last summer. I think Paul, like Todd, never really got a fair shot to show what they could do on the show. I think they're both much better actors than they got to demonstrate.

My favorite storyline was the one with Harley Kozak as Mary. I still have warm memories about that five years later. I hated the Lily Light storyline...that would probably be down toward the bottom of the heap. I had a lot of fun with Sonny Sprockett. I thought that he should have been much more dangerous and less buffoonish, but you only have limited control over what they write. It certainly was a change of pace after years of playing Mason. It gave me something different to do.

Is this the happiest time of my life? Yes. I can think of wonderful times in my past, but I can't think of any time when I felt quite as centered or as optimistic about the future or simply thankful for what I've got.


Pics #1,4,5 are from Capridge.com