Justin Gocke A Hollywood Success At 13

from "Sun Sentinel" - October 4, 1991

It`s a hot Thursday afternoon. Waiting at New York City`s famed Rosie O`Grady`s Irish restaurant, a redheaded, pint-sized soap star is noticed, five minutes early. He walks up to the table, introduces himself, then sits down and orders a soda. His name is Justin Gocke, and if you don`t recognize him now, you will. Not only is he a soap star, but he`s going to be a movie star. And he has only just become a teen-ager.

Justin, at age 13, has gotten farther in his acting career than most actors go in a lifetime. Working steadily since age 7, Gocke is fast becoming one of the biggest child actors in the industry. After all, it is not every day that a 13-year-old has an Emmy award sitting in his bedroom, or flies to Australia to film a feature movie for two months. But for Justin, it`s all in a day`s work.

Justin is best known for his role on Emmy-award winning soap opera Santa Barbara, where he portrays prodigal son Brandon Capwell, a role that garnered Gocke the Emmy in 1989.

``Santa Barbara has been a great experience for me,`` Justin says. ``It has given me a lot of acting experience, experience I plan to use in other things.``

The road to success started at an early age for Justin, who made his first TV appearance in the acclaimed ABC movie The Burning Bed with Farrah Fawcett.

``We were only going to try it for a while,`` Justin explains, referring to the time when he and his brothers and sister got involved in the entertainment industry. ``They didn`t really like it. I was the only one who enjoyed it.``

Soap operas and commercials, however, are taking a back seat to his next project. Justin and his mother traveled to Australia during the spring where Justin filmed the upcoming movie Moonride.

``We just got back from filming it,`` Justin says, proudly. ``My character goes to visit my grandfather, and while he`s there, his grandfather dies. He and his friends go to his wake, and then they accidentally resurrect him.``

Moonride, also starring Al Lewis of The Munsters, is to open this Christmas.

However, Justin isn`t leaving the soap world behind. He is still featured heavily on Santa Barbara, where his character is caught between his real mother and adoptive mother.

Lately, he has been dealing with the fact that his adoptive mother, Gina (Robin Mattson), robbed a sperm bank and impregnated herself with the sperm of her ex-husband. ``I can`t believe she would rob a sperm bank!`` Justin says, laughing.

``Brandon is a good guy. If I had to change him, though,`` the actor says with a mischievous smile, ``I`d make him into a little evil kid. Brandon`s getting bad. He`s been suspended from school a couple of times. I`d like to see him be not such a nice kid anymore.``

Success hasn`t changed the young actor much. Justin lives in a quiet suburb outside of Los Angeles with his parents, an older sister and brother. His other brother resides at West Point Military Academy in New York. Justin mainly enjoys hanging out with his friends, playing soccer and rollerblading. But more than anything, Justin likes just being a kid.

However, he cannot help the fact that due to the popularity of Santa Barbara, he`s recognized more often than not.

``I like it. My friends are really good about it, too. They really don`t treat me any differently, which I like. They`re supportive of me, which I think is pretty cool. Actually, when I`m out with my friends and someone recognizes me, they think it`s great.

``Mainly I just like to hang out with my friends, play soccer or go to the movies. For a while, I didn`t have any hobbies. Mainly it was just school and work.``

Justin hopes to continue his acting studies after high school.

``I`ll major in drama, but I`ll always have something to fall back on.`` That should not be so hard. Justin is an A and B student.

``My dream role is to play someone conniving, funny and sarcastic.`` With Justin`s booming career, that opportunity should be right around the corner.