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A year after his incredibly popular character, the noble but critically
injured Prince Richard, had his heart transplanted into the body of Rick
Bauer, actor Bradley Cole is back in Springfield as Richard's mysterious
look-alike, District Attorney Jeffrey O'Neill. After only a few days on
the scene, he's sparring with Richard's nemesis, brother Edmund (David
Andrew MacDonald) and interacting with Richard's widow, Cassie (Laura
Wright). But is Jeffrey just Richard: Part Two, or do Bradley Cole and
the writers of GL have a surprise or seven up their sleeves? Read our
exclusive interview with Bradley and find out!
SoapCityAlina: Welcome back, Bradley! Can you tell us what prompted
your return to the show?
Bradley Cole: Well, I'm as surprised as anybody. What lured me back
was Guiding Light called me and asked me to take a meeting with
(Executive Producer) John Conboy. I said, "OK, I'll take the meeting."
We had a talk and he told me what his ideas were, and it was a little
bit like, "Wow, let me think about it." It was really a big
surprise to me also; you know how the universe works sometimes. Before
we knew it, we were figuring out how we were going to get me back.
SCA: In the movie Soapdish, Whoopi Goldberg is a soap writer,
and she's told to bring back a character who had been decapitated 20 years
earlier. She yells at her producer, "He doesn't have a head! How
do you expect me to write for someone without a head?" Did you feel
that way about Richard and his transplanted heart?
BC: No, not even. Not even! I mean, if they would have hacked off
every limb of my body and put them into different parts of the universe,
I'd still think that maybe this guy could come back because this is daytime.
But I'm not that person (Richard), so it's not an issue of whether the
heart was removed or not.
SCA: Is it nice to know that you were so valuable to the show that
they created a new character especially for you?
BC: Oh, well, I don't know. It remains to be seen how much value I
am to the show. It was obviously very nice to have John Conboy and (Head
Writer) Ellen Weston and (Executive in Charge of Production) Mickey Dwyer-Dobbin
express their desire to have me back. Of course, that's a nice feeling.
SCA: Did you have much input into who Jeffrey O'Neill was going to
be?
BC: Very little. I think all the actors have a little input, but most
of it is not communicated verbally. I think a lot of the input is when
we interpret what is on the page, and then the writers and the producers
watch it. That's how we communicate. Sometimes I'll have pow-wows with
the writers, and we'll discuss what we both feel is working and what is
not working, just to solidify direction. But for the most part, I am just
giving complete free rein to the writers and they've been coming up with
a lot of great stuff. I haven't had much to really add, except my interpretation
to what they give me. I'm more interested in what the writers and the
creators are coming up with, and how I'm going to interpret it. Jeffrey
does happen to be very unlike Richard, which is nice. It's a very liberating
part. Richard was always very concerned with others and with people's
feelings. Jeffrey obviously does not have that same concern. Richard was
very polite and this guy is impolite. So, it's liberating in the sense
that I get to say all the things that Richard wanted to say, but never
allowed himself to say. Jeffrey just tells it like it is, so it's a lot
of fun. The writers have been giving me some great zingers.
SCA: What about the physicality of a part? Have you changed your body
language to make Jeffrey different from Richard?
BC: I have a little bit. This guy does not move in the same way as
Richard. Richard was very upright and postured and he walked in a very
elegant manner. This guy sort of floats into a room. He is sort of hunched
over sometimes with his hands on his hip and he sort of cocks his head.
So, there are a lot of different mannerisms there. At least, I hope so!
SCA: And what about chemistry? Bradley and Laura as Richard and Cassie
had great chemistry. Do you think that came from the actors or from the
characters?
BC: I think that characters obviously inherit chemistry from the page.
When you're reading a book, you read characters, and you can see how certain
characters gel with other characters. But I think when people talk about
(soap) chemistry, it's the chemistry the actors are creating between characters.
I think that actors can bring a chemistry that isn't planned (to a scene)
so that characters can have a chemistry that was not intended by the author
or the writers.
SCA: Is it different working with Laura now that you're Jeffrey
instead of Richard?
BC: Yes. It's a totally different chemical reaction. In Laura's
case, she's playing that she has been sucker-punched by this character
that looks exactly like her husband, whom she loved more than anything
else in her life. Every time she sees him, it's like someone has just
hit her in the gut, whereas my character is reacting to different things.
I don't know how to describe it; it's just a different chemistry now.
SCA: What about your chemistry with David Andrew Macdonald, now that
you're not playing brothers anymore?
BC: It's interesting, because a lot of the writers writing Jeffrey
are the same writers who wrote Richard. I go on set and the directors
are like, "So, Richard goes here and there..." and they always
have to catch themselves. I even catch myself thinking, "Yeah, Richard
does this..." I am sure the writers, whenever they think of me, they're
thinking of Richard. It's hard to escape it sometimes. But the chemistry
between Richard and Edmund was based on sibling rivalry and a sibling
bond and, once again, like Cassie, the character of Edmund is looking
at Jeffrey and seeing the spitting image of his brother whom he had this
turbulent emotional relationship with. I think that Richard never disliked
Edmund, whereas Jeffrey just looks at Edmund and shakes his head. So,
it's a totally different chemistry and, of course, they don't really like
each other too much.
SCA: With all these complicated relationships on the canvas, can you
give us a preview of what's coming up for Jeffrey this summer?
BC: What you're going to be seeing has a lot to do with the murder
mystery that's going on. Jeffrey is going to be intimately involved in
trying to solve it with Gus, and he is also going to be a thorn in the
side of a certain blossoming couple. I'm not complaining. I did three
years of Mr. Perfect, so now it's fun to be Mr. Imperfect for a little
bit.
SCA: And, in addition to being Mr. Actor, I know you're also Mr. Musician.
What sort of music do you play?
BC: It's sort of a rock, blues and folk kind of a thing. It's very
influenced by the artists that affected me while growing up in the ‘70s,
people like The Beatles and The Byrds and The Animals. Basically, whatever
insects and animal you could think of! My music is a whole different thing
than my acting. It's my lyrics, it's my songs, it's out of me. I am not
answering to anybody there and I'm not interpreting anything except for
what my own expression is. I play guitar, and I've been writing music
for many years. I play with a group in New York, we just released our
third album. It's called In Our Time, and I'm very proud of it.
It's $14.99 and fans can get it by going to our Web site, which is www.nomadicmusic.com.
Or by writing to Nomadic Music, P.O. Box 1852, NY, NY 10163.
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