Interview GH: Jonathan Jackson's New Lucky Is a Familiar Face

In an unexpected — and well-received — move, General Hospital announced at the end of September that Jonathan Jackson, the actor who originated the role of Lucky Spencer and won multiple Emmys for his work, would be returning to the role at the end of October. While fans will miss Greg Vaughan, they are welcoming back Jonathan with open arms.

The $64 million question is, how did the folks at GH lure him back? According to Jonathan: “It was pretty standard. They contacted me and said that the role of Lucky was opening up again and asked me if I would be interested in coming back. It’s something that I had thought about vaguely over the years, as people do, but it never really seemed like the right time, for various reasons.

“But this time when it came up, it was really out of the blue for me. I thought about it, talked with my family, prayed about it and just kind of tried to get a sense of whether this would be a fun adventure to step back into.”

In order to enjoy the adventure, Jonathan had some major cramming sessions ahead of him. He hadn’t been watching the show regularly since he left almost 10 years ago, so he “had to have quite a few conversations to fill some of those gaps in.”

If Jonathan had any anxiety about returning to the GH set, all fears vanished within moments of stepping into the studio. “The first day was really smooth. Seeing a lot of people I hadn’t seen in years was fun — actors, people on the crew, the hair and makeup team — so there was a lot to take in on that level. But acting-wise, I was able to sink right back into things pretty much immediately.

“It was interesting, because it was like a lot had changed and nothing had changed — all at the same time. It was really familiar, and yet it felt like a whole new experience.”

Acting alongside old friends helped smooth the transition for Jonathan. “Working with Tony (Geary, Luke Spencer) was really awesome,” he reveals. “It was a fun dynamic having that history with him, and yet it’s been about 10 years since we’ve actually worked together. And yet everything was right there. The same goes for working with Becky (Herbst, Elizabeth Webber) — I was able to settle in really quickly.”

In respect to the Lucky/Elizabeth/Nikolas love triangle, Jonathan is eager to see where it all ends up. “I am jumping into a moving stream when it comes to all of that. There is definitely a lot of tension there to work with, and it’ll be interesting to see how the whole thing plays out.”

Jonathan is eager to get back to basics as far as Lucky’s family and love life are concerned. “There’s a lot available to work with. The relationship with Luke, there’s a lot that could happen there. And I am a big fan of the love story between Lucky and Elizabeth, so there’s a lot of potential there for tapping into some of those original elements we had going.”

As far as Jonathan’s extracurricular activities go, many fans already know that he is a talented musician. His song “Elizabeth” was featured on GH. He fronts a band called Enation, whose breakout single, “Feel This,” was heavily featured on One Tree Hill.

Jonathan tells me: “We just released an EP that went into the top 10 on CD Baby, which is the biggest independent CD distribution company in the country. We are still getting the music out there for the fans. We are mixing a live album that will probably be released around Christmastime. You can go to iTunes, CD Baby or our Web site, enationmusic.com, to check out our music.”

And don't forget to check out Jonathan's return to GH on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

Jonathan Jackson Is Back!

The soap world was a-buzz at the end of last month with the news that Jonathan Jackson (pictured left, photo credit Carol Kaelson/ABC) was back in as Lucky Spencer on General Hospital, and Greg Vaughan was out. I spoke with Jonathan last week about his return to the show. The interview will be printed in its entirety on Oct. 23, but for now, here's a bit of the interview to whet your appetite:

Acting alongside old friends helped smooth the transition for Jonathan. “Working with Tony (Geary, Luke Spencer) was really awesome,” he reveals. “It was a fun dynamic having that history with him, and yet it’s been about 10 years since we’ve actually worked together. And yet everything was right there. The same goes for working with Becky (Herbst, Elizabeth Webber) — I was able to settle in really quickly.”

In respect to the Lucky/Elizabeth/Nikolas love triangle, Jonathan is eager to see where it all ends up. “I am jumping into a moving stream when it comes to all of that. There is definitely a lot of tension there to work with, and it’ll be interesting to see how the whole thing plays out.”

Jonathan is eager to get back to basics as far as Lucky’s family and love life is concerned. “There’s a lot available to work with. The relationship with Luke, there’s a lot that could happen there. And I am a big fan of the love story between Lucky and Elizabeth, so there’s a lot of potential there for tapping into some of those original elements we had going.”

Interview GH: Greg Vaughan Is Happy to Be a Part of Television History

(Super Soap Weekend, Nov. 15, 2008)

Everyone knows the love story of Luke and Laura Spencer. Their wedding on General Hospital back in 1981 was the highest-rated hour in American soap-opera history. Their union has produced three children: Nikolas, Lucky and Lulu.

The royalty status of Tony Geary and Genie Francis isn’t lost on Greg Vaughan, who plays their son Lucky. When Genie come backs to play her recurring role of Laura, Greg admits, “I catch myself watching them (tape their scenes) in awe.”

Greg continues: “I think I speak for Tyler Christopher (Nikolas) and Julie Berman (Lulu) when I say that we are just watching them and thinking, ‘These guys are a part of history.’ Not just the history of daytime, but the history of television. Thirty million people watched these two get married. The foundation they laid for television was great, and just being a part of that history and being able to say, ‘Yeah, Luke and Laura are my parents,’ is pretty great. Most anyone you ask knows who Luke and Laura are, women especially, and just being a part of that is nice.”

While Greg loves being a part of American soap-opera history, he also can’t wait to see what’s coming next for Lucky and his future.

Greg explains: “There is so much about Lucky that is undiscovered. There is much he hasn’t really embarked on. I think there is something greater that has not been told with my character.”

Like most actors, Greg is eager to delve deeper and really get to the crux of Lucky. “I love the character; I just think there’s been a very minimal amount of opportunity to show what this character can do — not just what he has already done, and the history of the character.”

Later this year, Greg will be celebrating a personal milestone. “I will be the first actor to portray Lucky longer than six years. For me, I hope that for the next few years, he gets to do something, something really challenging and interesting. I’ve been waiting for a great opportunity to do something. I’ve only been given one chance with the drug story, and that never really went anywhere. I’m just hanging on.”

And Greg is content to hang on for as long as it takes, because he knows he is a part of something that is much bigger than his character. “There is just so much that is great about General Hospital and the history of the show. It’s been on television for 45 years, and the fact that I am a part of that is really cool.”

Coming next month, you can also see Greg on the original Beverly Hills, 90210, when Season 7 is released on DVD. Some of you might remember that Greg portrayed the recurring character of Cliff Yeager, the hunky firefighter who dates Donna Martin.