By: Rosemary Rossi
Steve Burton is a rare breed in Hollywood. About eight months ago, the General Hospital star made the leap that many actors fear and left his regular role of junior Mob boss Jason Morgan to tackle the unknown. In no time, he had landed a lead on Semper Fi, the upcoming NBC Marine series producer Steven Spielberg. Yet the Daytime Emmy winner hasn't turned his back on the medium that made him famous. Rather, he is diving back into the suds to bring home Jason to Port Charles for six action-packed weeks.
Welcome Back
Did Burton agree the comeback because he needed the cash? No. He just missed his surrogate soap family, and, as lucky would have it, the downtime that he got before he had to report to work on Semper Fi in October coincided with a high point in the GH storyline of his former lover, Carly Benson, and his former best friend - Carly's new lover, Sonny Corinthos.
"I was in South Carolina for seven weeks, and then I had a little time off," he tells Soaps In Depth. "I was starting to audition for movies-of-the-week and features again, and the last thing I wanted to do was go away for four weeks [to do another film]."
Plus, the longtime GH regular (whose stint spanned nearly a decade) was homesick for Port Charles. "People were telling me, 'No, don't go back to GH! You've already made the jump!' But I missed my [TV] family. I was there for so long, and when you cut that off, it's a weird thing.
"I had the opportunity to go back and to act and to have fun and visit with people for six weeks," he continues. "That's why I'm coming back."
Open Wounds
Certainly, GH has set the stage for an explosive homecoming for Jason. First of all, Sonny and Carly are approaching a crossroad in their relationship. Plus, Elizabeth Webber - the impressed teenager with whom Jason bonded before skipping town - is going through hell with her back from the dead boyfriend, Lucky.
"I think I', going to cause a little trouble, have people cry on my shoulder and then take off again," Burton says, adding that he hasn't asked to be filled in on plot twists that he may have missed. "I don't really want to know until about a week before [I tape], just for character reasons. Jason doesn't know, so I don't want to know.
" All I know is that I'm going to come back, and Sonny is going to be able talk again to somebody...have a friend for six weeks," he continues. "And I'm sure it's going to throw a monkey wrench into Carly and Sonny's think because Carly is psychotic. I'm sure she'll get the wrong idea."
To this day Burton is floored by how much, and how quickly, viewers responded to his pairing with Rebecca Herbst (Liz). "I'm surprised that it got to such a big thing after a couple of scenes together," he marvels, "it turned into something a lot more than anyone expected. When I come back, I don't know what's going to happen. But I'm sure I'll cause a little trouble between her and Lucky."
Onward and Upward
Still, neither Liz nor GH fans should get too attached to Jason. As soon as Burton wraps up his visit, he'll start work as Marine brat Steve Russell on Semper Fi (which means "always faithful")/ My character was raised in a Marine family. His dad, his uncle and his brother are all Marines, so I'm sure he lives a pretty regimented life... disciplined," the actor offers. "So when he enlisted, he kind of became the leader. He's a little arrogant and thought he could do everything better than everyone else."
Ten days before the pilot began shooting in South Carolina, Burton and his co-stars went to boot camp. "Basically," he explains, "It's about getting rid of self and becoming one until because that's the only way they'll survive in war."
Although the athletic performer is in excellent shape, the rigors of his prep work proved to be more strenuous than he could have anticipated. "The strength stuff I had no problem with. But Ill tell you, the philosophy of only working out a couple of times a week goes right out the door in boot camp. The first day you feel like you got hit by a car. You've got to get up and go again. We had to learn to march, use our weapons...I loved it.
"Television can glorify too much or not tell the truth with a lot of things," he adds. "But we came as close as you could to the Marines."
Open Door
Despite the fact that Burton soon will be rising in the ranks of primetime, he promises that he wont ever turn his back on the soap that gave him the star. "I would always come back," he insists. "I would never, ever say, 'No, I'm not coming back. I hate soap operas."
"I've always supported them," he concludes. "When I left, I had to go out and try because I was getting kind of burnt out. I needed some time off. But my head is clear now and I'm read to go"